The German Disabled Sports Association is sending 40 athletes and eight guides to the 2026 Paralympics. Some of them have hopes of winning medals.
The four-time Paralympics champion counts in the Alpine area Anna Lena Forster one of the big favorites. She is the face of German para-skiing and in “Team D”. The 30-year-old was born with a severely shortened left thigh and has been monoskiing from an early age.
She can already claim four Paralympic gold medals and several World Cup titles. This makes Forster the most successful winter sports athlete in the German team. “In 2014 I was the chick, then gold candidate and great hope and now the top favorite”says Forster: “Of course that does something to you.” The 30-year-old has already proven several times that she can handle pressure.
Anna Maria Rieder is another athlete hoping for a medal. The 25-year-old is paralyzed on one side and is one of the best para-alpine skiers in the world. After bronze four years ago in Beijing, she is once again aiming for the podium.
Anja Wicker competes in biathlon and cross-country skiing
Hopes are high in para biathlon and para cross-country skiing Anja Wickerwho travels to Italy with seven World Cup medals in her luggage. The games in Milan and Cortina are their fourth Paralympics. In Sochi in 2014, the paraplegic Wicker won gold (biathlon 10 kilometers) and silver (biathlon (12.5 kilometers), and at the last Paras in Beijing she won bronze in the 10 kilometers.
Also Germany’s para-athlete of the year Johanna RecktenwaldLinn Kazmaier and Leonie Walter have chances of winning precious metal. At just 21 years old, Walter is one of the greatest talents in German para sports – and at the same time he already has a lot of experience. The visually impaired woman from Freiburg won the gold medal and three bronze medals in the 10-kilometer biathlon race in Beijing in 2022.
After silver in Beijing, Maier now wants gold
The men’s category includes biathletes and cross-country skiers Marco Maier among the candidates for the gold medal. The 26-year-old was born with a deformity in his hand. Four years ago in Beijing, Maier won silver in the sprint, and he won gold three times at the World Championships. If he has his way, this time in Italy he should also reach the top of the podium at the Paralympics. “I definitely want a medal. If I could go one better and win gold, that would of course be a dream.”says Maier.
Cross-country skiers Sebastian Marburger celebrates his Paralympics debut in Milan & Cortina. “The tension is at an extremely high level right now”says the 28-year-old. One of the favorites for a medal is Marburger, whose leg had to be amputated in 2020 after a motorcycle accident, despite his Paras premiere and nervousness.
In addition to Maier and Marburger, they also include biathletes Nico Messinger and Lennart Volkert (biathlon and cross-country skiing) are among the favorites in Para Nordic skiing.
Source: with material from sid and dpa
