On February 24th, the Slovakian Paulína Bátovská Fialková followed her long-time rivals Franziska Preuß and Dorothea Wierer and announced her retirement from biathlon. Two weeks later she celebrated the best individual result of her career at the World Cup in Kontiolahti.
Paulína Bátovská Fialková wrote her own personal biathlon fairytale in Kontiolahti. Two weeks after announcing her retirement, the Slovakian completely surprisingly took third place, achieving the best individual result of her long career.
“I feel rested, I ran well and was also relaxed at the shooting range,” she soberly summarized her fantastic performance in the “STVR” interview.
She had had problems at the shooting range during training the day before, “but today the conditions were ideal. There was no wind, so I enjoyed my time at the shooting range. There was a mistake, but it was still a good result for me,” said the 33-year-old deeply.
Soon-to-be biathlon retiree records best running time
Ultimately, the Slovakian had several reasons to be proud of herself. In addition to the best individual race of her career, she also simply ran away from the best runners in the world on Thursday. Their running time of 37:51 minutes was, among other things, faster than what Elvira (+11 seconds) and Hanna Öberg (+19 seconds) showed on the cross-country ski trail.
The reward was not only a place on the podium, but also automatic qualification for the mass start on Saturday. “I missed it at the Olympic Games. I’ll try to enjoy it at least here in Kontiolahti. I’m glad I can rely on my legs,” said the soon-to-be biathlon retiree, who announced her retirement on February 24th. Unlike Franziska Preuß and Dorothea Wierer, she will still finish the World Cup season.
