According to observations from former biathlete Weronika Nowakowska, far more World Cup stars should consider ending their careers. The fact that a season is often left on after all probably has to do with the fact that one’s own future is not really clear, says the Polish woman.
“I see a lot of people who struggle for much longer than they perhaps should,” says ex-biathlete Weronika Nowakowska in an interview with the IBU World Association: “Because they are afraid of normal life – bills, rent, their own schedule or even shopping. All of these things are rather foreign to you during your professional career.”
The now 39-year-old made her debut in the Biathlon World Cup in 2007. In 2015 she won silver in the sprint and bronze in the pursuit at the World Championships in Kontiolahti, and she achieved a total of three podium finishes in the World Cup. Nowakowska also took part in the Winter Olympics three times before stepping down in 2018.
She then immediately had a plan for a “normal life” after her active sports career. “After my successes, I wanted to take care of other things in my life at some point. Not just sport. I opened a café with my sister. That made it clear that I had a job after the end of my career,” reports the Polish woman.
She recommends that the current biathlon generation prepare in good time for life after their sporting career: “The sooner they think about the time after sport and take care of themselves, the better.” She is now living her “second life”.
Being an athlete is “a large part of our personality. But it shouldn’t be the only thing. Otherwise you run the risk of having to find yourself again as a person in a different role when you’re 30 or so.”
This winter, numerous top biathletes have already said goodbye to the World Cup, including Franziska Preuß, Dorothea Wierer, Paulina Bátovska-Fialková and Simon Eder.
