Poor results at the Olympics
Franziska Preuß with plain language on the future of German biathlon
03/02/2026 – 12:28 p.mReading time: 3 minutes
Franziska Preuß has only been retired from biathlon for a few days. In her first TV appearance as a former athlete, she revealed what she won’t miss at all.
A week after her last race, Franziska Preuß sounds relaxed. The 31-year-old talks about sun, breaks – and the feeling of suddenly being on the move without any pressure. The end of her career changed a lot for the biathlete from Ruhpolding.
Preuß particularly raves about cross-country skiing on “Blickpunkt Sport” on Bayerischer Rundfunk. Not just because of the movement in nature, but because of the new freedom. “In the sunshine, without a clock. You could stop, you could stop by. That’s something new and I’m really enjoying it right now,” she said.
The Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo did not go as hoped for them. It was already clear that these would be their last games. She was denied another individual medal. “Olympics and I, we just won’t be friends. There was a worm in there,” said Preuss.
Shortly afterwards, however, pride takes over. Her career record is impressive: two Olympic bronze medals, two World Championship gold medals, six World Championship silver medals and three World Championship bronze medals. There is also the large crystal ball for the overall World Cup victory, the small crystal ball twice in the mass start and once in the sprint.
The path there was characterized by discipline – and mental strength. Injuries and illnesses kept setting them back. Preuss did a lot to stay healthy. Her family spent Christmas in the garden, sometimes wearing three masks, her partner Simon Schempp moved into the guest room before important races.
“The topic of health in particular was always present for me. I wanted to do everything I could for that because there is nothing worse for an athlete than being sick in the winter. You train all year long and sacrifice so much and then you can at least be ‘part of the game’ and not be sick on the sofa at home,” said Preuß.
A special moment in her career was the gold medal in the pursuit at the 2025 Biathlon World Championships in Lenzerheide. She started the final lap without any shooting errors and with a lead of just under a minute. Looking back, she said: “I never thought I would be able to experience that. (…) I was really amazed.”
