No vision: biathlete Weidel desperate at the shooting range

Status: 02/15/2023 5:00 p.m

It was exasperating: Millions of TV viewers watched live when biathlete Anna Weidel almost despaired during the 15 km individual race at the Oberhof shooting range.

After her drama at the shooting range, Anna Weidel shed tears. In the Oberhof World Championships, something in the biathlete’s sights obstructed her view, making normal shooting impossible for the 26-year-old on her World Championships debut halfway through the race.

“I couldn’t see clearly anymore, I didn’t get it out at all and I had a lot of problems,” said the native Austrian on Wednesday. She was already in tears after the third shooting and had to be comforted at the finish.

“It was a struggle for survival”

For what felt like an eternity, she lay on the mat in front of 13,500 spectators during the third shooting. She blew into the diopter, wanted to make things better somehow and called the referees for help. She then tried despite the obstructed view and fired her shots, only one found the way to the target. “It went pretty badly,” said Weidel. After that she was tense and just wanted to make it to the finish somehow. “It was then just a struggle for survival,” she said.

More than 14 minutes behind

Already in the morning during dry training she noticed “that I have something small in my diopter”. However, Weidel thought he had removed this completely. “I saw perfectly clear when I zeroed in,” she said. In the end, Weidel finished more than 14 minutes behind in her first World Championship appearance at the Rennsteig and finished 87th out of 90 starters with a total of eight shooting errors.

“You’re actually a bit helpless there,” said Olympic champion Denise Herrmann-Wick in the direction of Weidel: “Of course, the day was over.” At the finish, there was a hug from the pursuit world champion, who finished 15th in Thuringia. “I’m really sorry,” said ARD expert Erik Lesser after Weidel’s desperate struggle for a clear view.

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