Erik Lesser – successful biathlete, now sports show expert. In the winter sports podcast he looks back on his retirement and talks about his future as a coach and in front of the TV camera.
sports show: Erik Lesser, how can one imagine your life after your retirement in early 2022?
Eric Lesser: I’m a sports retiree who doesn’t regret retiring. I tried to use every minute that was given to me now for my family, to be there for my daughter. I also said when I was playing that I would like to become a coach and I’ve been a student at the Coach Academy in Cologne since October. The biggest fear I have is the thesis that I’m supposed to do because I’m not a theoretician at all.
sports show: What did your family say when you announced that you were retiring from biathlon?
Lesser: I didn’t get up in the morning and say: I’ll quit. It was a gradual process. Starting with the birth of my daughter in 2019, who was then number one and no longer sport. There were always concerns about back injuries. And the times when I was really successful are now a bit behind. I don’t need to leave my daughter at home alone so I can fight for 30th place. Of course it’s always cool to be on the road and if I didn’t have a family I probably would still do it.
sports show: When you resigned, you were showered with praise from colleagues and competitors. How is the contact with the others now?
Lesser: The contact has always been there, and I also attend one or the other training session, look at the guys and give a tip here and there. I’m super interested and of course I have to be interested when I’m in Kontiolahti for the first time as a sports show expert.
sports show: But you’re already a bit involved in the coaching role, aren’t you?
Lesser: That may have been the case before, because I always saw the training group in such a way that you are only as good as the worst link in the chain. For example, it doesn’t do me any good if I’m significantly better than the others in terms of shooting time, just relax and celebrate. It would be much more desirable to become even better yourself. And I can only do that if there is someone in the training group who can call up similar performance, so that you challenge each other.
sports show: This certainly also helps to keep reaching your limits as a competitive athlete. Was that also something you missed in the end? The motivation to give your all?
Lesser: I often didn’t feel like it anymore. I had very long phases when I asked myself: why am I still doing this? It was always fun with the people, but the training just didn’t pick me up anymore. I trained the same way year after year, it was no longer fun. I then changed everything a year before Beijing 2022, went to the coach with my new plan and he went with me. Of course it was a giant step to change everything a year before Beijing, but fortunately it was a successful season.
sports show: Now you’re doing everything differently again, you’re now a sports show expert. How did you prepare for this role?
Lesser: Not at all (laughs). I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but they want me as an expert, because they see me for who I am, and if I’m different than I used to be, then I’m no longer who they actually wanted me to be . I’m trying to be as neutral as possible, I’m looking forward to comments, it will be very exciting. But I can only learn that if I do it. I can’t sit down at home and chat next to a recording.
sports show: Your ex-colleague Denise Herrmann-Wick says she already has beads of sweat on her forehead because of you. You too?
Lesser: … Of course. Of course, I also have high standards for myself. I want to make it clear to people that biathlon isn’t just about CDs, toilet paper rolls and 50-meter distances, but also about many more facets that you just don’t see on TV. But I just have a hard time with the fact that you always have to pick everyone up at home. In football, no one constantly explains what is offside. There is so much analysis in football that you could do all of that with us.
It’s about top performance and about the fact that not everything is always peace, joy and pancakes. Until the race, it’s all a pig’s job. You have to think about so much and not think at the right time. This is sometimes a bit neglected. Then stories about memory games are shown or something. I don’t want that, that’s nonsense.