Even half a year after the tragic accidental death of former German top biathlete Laura Dahlmeier, her former teammate Franziska Preuß is still deeply affected today.
“Laura’s death has deeply occupied me, and still does,” explained the overall World Cup winner of the 2024/25 season to the Süddeutsche Zeitung . “She is missed as a person and as an athlete, especially in biathlon, because she continued to be involved as an expert.”
Franziska Hildebrand, Laura Dahlmeier, Franziska Preuß and Vanessa Hinz (from left) celebrate their World Championship relay triumph 2015
The former roommates entered the World Cup almost simultaneously and together celebrated great successes, such as at the 2015 World Championship in Kontiolahti, where they jointly won relay gold.
Biathlon: Preuß mourns legend Dahlmeier
“When I think back to that time, we actually always had fun in the room,” emphasized the 31-year-old. “Laura guided me well into everything. She had already been in the World Cup for a season longer, knew her way around better. And I was able to learn a lot from her.”
Above all, Dahlmeier’s mentality impressed Preuß: “Laura was very straightforward. If she set her mind to something, she saw it through. I was sometimes more emotional. Laura helped me to shed that. If she had a goal, she pursued it uncompromisingly.”
Dahlmeier, who had ended her career in 2019, died in a climbing accident in Pakistan at the age of 31 at the end of July 2025.