On Monday (March 7th, 2022) her parents would still have “amazed” – on how Leonie Maria Walter snagged her second unexpected bronze medal at these Beijing Winter Paralympics in the mammoth cross-country skiing 15-kilometer race in classic style behind teammate Linn Kazmaier.
Emotional call home
However, what the 18-year-old then did barely 24 hours later at the middle-distance biathlon of the visually impaired competition at the shooting range and on the cross-country ski run in Zhangjiakou leads to a lack of appropriate descriptions for it.
But it doesn’t even need that. It is enough to simply listen to the phone call between the new Paralympic champion Walter and her mother Renate in St. Peter, located between Freiburg and Furtwangen, during the Sportschau interview.
“That’s unbelievable, that’s unbelievable – we both cried, unbelievable. That’s so, that’s incomprehensible, child!”cried Renate Walter through the handset of sports show reporter Laura Trust’s smartphone, her voice tearing up with tears of joy: “God, what a great thing, everyone is proud of you.”
With “you” was the barely speaking daughter Leonie Maria and the one standing by her side Guide Pirmin Strecker meant.
Dramatic final against Schischkowa
Previously, both had – once again – had the best competition of their lives, which Walter finished in 40:56 minutes after four penalty-free stages and ten kilometers of cross-country skiing. She knew, Walter then reported in the ZDF, “Anything is possible with zero in biathlon.” But first she lay exhausted behind the finish line, waiting and wondering: “‘Was it enough, wasn’t it enough? When is the time?'”
Just over half a minute passed between her own finish and that of her biggest competitor – the four-time Paralympic champion Oksana Schischkowa from the Ukraine.
“And at some point everyone jumped up, and then it was all clear to me, ‘okay, I’ve got it!'” The top favorite Schischkowa, twelve years older than her, could not avoid two mistakes in the second shooting. In a dramatic finale, the 30-year-old was 3.7 seconds behind Walter. Third was Yue Wang (4 penalties, +1:54 minutes) from China ahead of Walter’s teammate Johanna Recktenwald.
national coach: “She’s just a cool sock”
All the effort and torment had paid off. “Leonie! Awesome, isn’t it?! Gold!”fell into her national coach Ralf Rombach’s arms and was impressed: Like her “Keeping your nerve at such a young age is very special. It’s just a cool sock.”
Even the already 75-year-old Julius Beucher, President of the German Disabled Sports Association (DBS), had cheered Walter on the last few meters in the sprint. “This is beyond all expectations”Beucher cheered, also thinking about the four medals previously won by Walter and her teenage roommate Linn Kazmaier.
“Everyone is waiting for you here in St. Peter”, Renata Walter let her daughter know shortly before hanging up. However, in view of the upcoming competitions, the loved ones who stayed at home will need a few more days of patience.
Who knows what the coming days and competitions will bring – maybe Walter or Kazmaier will have to get back on the podium before the end of the games in Beijing next Sunday.