What a sensation: Leonie Maria Walter is the new Paralympic champion. The 18-year-old delivered a flawless performance in the ten-kilometer biathlon for the visually impaired and relegated the big favorite Oksana Shishkova of Ukraine (two shooting errors) to second place by 3.7 seconds in a heart-stopping final.
First biathlon gold for the German team
“I was at the finish, I waited and didn’t know if it was enough. At some point everyone jumped up and then it was clear to me: ‘Ok, I’ve got it'”said Walter im ZDF. The podium on Tuesday (March 8th, 2022) with Walter and Schischkowa was completed by the Chinese Yue Wang (four penalties, +1:54 minutes). Johanna Recktenwald, the second German in the field, finished fourth with a clear deficit (three penalties, +5:00).
Walter had already won bronze in the biathlon sprint and in classic cross-country skiing with her guide Pirmin Strecker in the past three days. It is Team D’s first biathlon gold medal at the Beijing Paralympics and second overall after Anna-Lena Forster’s victory in the alpine super combined.