Erik Lesser speaks about the young talents in German biathlon. The two-time world champion believes that the Norwegians and the French “do something better” than the Germans.
Former biathlon star Erik Lesser has expressed concern about the German work in the youth sector. “What is missing in the next step to the World Cup is the speed,” Lesser said before the mixed relay race on ARD .
He added that they have many talents who “bring medals at the Junior World Championships”. Lesser continued: “I think we have the young talent. We need to optimally support the young talent and the individual talents.”
Lotta de Buhr is one of the greatest German talents
In February, the German junior mixed relay team, consisting of Alma Siegismund, Lotta de Buhr, Fabian Kaskel and Linus Kesper, surprisingly won gold at the World Championships in Östersund, Sweden.
But so far, none of the German quartet has made the leap into the World Cup.
Biathlon: Perrot and Uldal show how it’s done
Other nations are often more successful in this regard. Lesser cited the shooting stars Eric Perrot (France) and Martin Uldal (Norway) as current prime examples and asked: “Where are our athletes? They were also there. What’s the reason for that?”
Now it’s about turning the right screws and drawing the right conclusions: “That we also bring our athletes, who have successfully achieved something in the junior sector, one step further up.”
They are not so bad, but “apparently it is the Norwegians and the French who do something better in the transition from the junior to the senior sector.”
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