The German team presents itself in medal form for the Paralympics.
The German Para biathletes celebrated three more victories at the conclusion of the home World Cup in Notschrei. In Sunday’s sprint races, Anja Wicker, Lennart Volkert, and Johanna Recktenwald prevailed in their respective start classes, raising significant medal hopes for the Paralympics. Nico Messinger also finished second. In total, the athletes of the German Disability Sports Association (DBS) secured five victories at the home World Cup, less than two months before the start of the Winter Games.
Johanna Recktenwald, Germany’s Para Athlete of the Year 2025, set the perfect final touch, winning the concluding 7.5-kilometer sprint with guide Emily Weiß with an 11.9-second lead over China’s Wang Yue. Paralympic champion Linn Kazmaier also showed improvement in her second race of the season, finishing fourth, but still needs to catch up on the cross-country course. Leonie Walter finished in sixth position with four penalty loops.
Otherwise, Volkert and Messinger, in particular, were guarantors of success in the visually impaired men’s class. In the final race, 22-year-old Volkert won decisively ahead of Messinger with flawless shooting; in the opening individual event, the order was reversed. Additionally, they secured second and third places in the sprint pursuit.
Wicker comfortably prevailed in the sitting class in the absence of her long-time rival Oksana Masters, despite two shooting errors, ultimately having a 1:05.4 minute lead over China’s Zhai Yuxin. In the first two races, the athlete from Stuttgart, who is competing in a new sled for the first time at Notschrei, had finished second behind Masters in both.
Last day’s winner Marco Maier had enormous problems at the shooting range in Sunday’s standing class sprint, finishing only in eighth place with three penalty loops, in the race won by China’s Liu Xiaobin.