Without Andreas Eskau and Anna Schaffelhuber, many medals were not expected at the German Paralympics selection. But already on the first day there was a shower of medals for “Team D”.
Linn Kazmaier, who is only 15, and Leonie Walter, who is three years older, won silver and bronze in biathlon at the Paralympics. The youngest German participant ran in second place on Saturday (local time) in Zhangjiakou, China, among the visually impaired over six kilometers with one miss in 20:14.6 minutes, Walter also came in second with a missed shot in 20:51.5 minutes three. On the first day of the biathlon competitions, the Paralympic champion was Ukraine’s Oksana Shishkova in 20:09.0 minutes.
“The medal means everything to me”
Marco Maier also finished second in the men’s standing class. After a flawless performance, only Grigori Vowchinsky was 47.7 seconds faster. The 33-year-old won the first gold for Ukraine, which was so badly hit by the Russian war of aggression. A short time later, Oxana Schischkowa followed suit with her triumph in front of Kazmaier.
For all three Germans it is the greatest success of their careers. At Maier’s, a competitor’s protest because of an allegedly illegal weapon was dismissed. “It’s incredible, I can’t find the words,” Maier told SID: “I’m over the moon. The medal means everything to me.”
Flag bearer Martin Fleig, on the other hand, missed a medal at the start. The 32-year-old from Freiburg finished fifth in the biathlon sprint in the seated class 14 hours after the opening ceremony. Victory went to China’s Liu Zixu, who gave the hosts their first gold medal of the Games.