Zero point three seconds separated Dorothea Wierer from the rest of the field and a new biathlon generation. Just a moment, and yet a moment with great symbolism: Look, “Doro” is still there – or again? When the Italian biathlete started the final kilometers of the individual race in Östersund on Tuesday, the clock was running against her.
The Finn Sonja Leinamo had finished the race ahead of her with only one shooting error and now had to watch idly in the finish area as the seconds ticked down. As Wierer dived into the finish, Leinamo realized: my first World Cup victory won’t work. Instead it was the 19th for Dorothea Wierer. Your first since March 2023.
The age difference between Wierer, 35, and Leinamo, 23, is twelve years. Neither the young Finn nor the third-placed Frenchwoman Camille Bened, 25, have ever been on the podium in a World Cup race before. After the last standing stage, Leinamo was nine seconds ahead of Wierer, who started after her and missed two targets while lying down. But the Italian turned up the heat again in the last few kilometers. “That’s really crazy,” she later wondered: “I woke up a little groggy and didn’t sleep all night. I had so many things on my mind.”
For the South Tyrolean, what was probably her most important season could not have started much better. She came second twice in the relays in Sweden, then won the individual over 15 kilometers, with which she took over the yellow jersey of the leaders in the overall World Cup. “This summer was one of the hardest in all the years, so I’m really happy,” she said afterwards. She subordinates everything to one goal: the Winter Olympics in her homeland, the Antholz Valley.
An Olympic victory is missing from her collection of titles. She was world champion four times, won the overall World Cup twice and collected three bronze medals at the Olympic Games. She took part for the first time in Sochi in 2014. This winter should be hers again: “I can’t wait,” she said in an interview with the IBU world association before the season. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event and not many athletes get the chance to compete at the Olympics in the homeland where you grew up and first skied.”
This entails numerous obligations for her, appointments around the games, and a lot of things are straining her mind. She knows this and has learned to deal with the pressure of expectations. In February 2020, at the World Championships in Antholz, she became a celebrated star, won two gold and two silver medals and triggered a hype that continues to this day. “Legendaria Dorothea” wrote Eurosport after her recent victory in Östersund.
It doesn’t just keep the younger ones in check
In order to clear her head for preparation for the Olympics, she set a lot of appointments in May and only started full training in June. The plan is working so far: she not only keeps the younger ones in check, but also the best from the previous season, who grant her success. “I really like her, she’s a cool sock, the absolute killer when it comes to sausage. She’s impressed me a lot,” says Franziska Preuß about Wierer, who is more than just a sports friend for her.
The Bavarian and the South Tyrolean have been part of the Biathlon World Cup for more than a decade, and both know what it’s like when your body doesn’t want it the way your head would like it to. They trained together in the summer. In Antholz, Preuß quickly realized how important her colleague is to her sport: “Doro is branded everywhere,” said Preuß. “I would really like her to be able to realize her dream. I wouldn’t begrudge anyone a medal as much as she would. She has given up her normal life for this goal.”
“Now I’m still there”
Wierer is driven by the desire to triumph again in Antholz. She had often thought about quitting. “I always told myself I’d be done with it by the time I was 30 – and now I’m still at it,” she said recently. When Dorothea Wierer invited people to a press conference, it was easy to assume that she had news to announce about a possible end to her career. And because she is one of the most famous representatives of her sport, journalists were always curious to accept her invitation.
For example, last February during the World Cup in Switzerland. “Dorothea Wierer will be available to answer questions after today’s training,” was the sober announcement. Up until then it hadn’t been her World Cup; breathing problems were bothering her. After finishing 21st in the sprint, she ended the first week of the World Cup early to recover. That and the fact that she invited people to an extraordinary press event didn’t bode well.
But instead her message was: I’m back! “Please give me twelve more months,” she said, referring to February 2026. She had already emphasized that she wanted to continue until then the year before, when she had to end the season early, also due to health problems. She didn’t want to end her career like that: “It would have been a shame to end part of my life in this way without being able to give 100 percent.”
Dorothea Wierer was never really gone, and now she’s really back. At the end of last season, her colleagues gave her the “silver jersey,” an award for the best athletes over the age of 33. In Östersund she is now shining in the yellow jersey. Until then, Franziska Preuß wore that. The world pursuit champion has not yet found her way back on track, just like her teammates. The German athletes made a total of 39 errors in the individual race, Preuss came 29. The next race is this Friday, the sprint (4 p.m./ZDF and Eurosport).
But in the television interviews a certain level of uncertainty and helplessness could be heard. “29th place, that’s just not good enough,” said the Bavarian. She is not yet in her best form, but that wasn’t the plan either. Instead, she improved week by week until the games started – until she reached her personal goal, which she trained towards with Dorothea Wierer: an Olympic individual medal in Antholz.
