Biathlon: Dorothea Wierer wants to come out on top on home soil
On Sunday, on the slopes of the Chiemgau Arena in Ruhpolding (Germany), Dorothea Wierer thought she had secured her first individual podium finish on the biathlon World Cup since 12 March 2023, when she won the mass start in Östersund (Sweden).

Beaten by Franziska Preuss and Jeanne Richard in the final hectometres of the final race of the weekend, the Italian nevertheless sent out more than positive signals. After her summer preparations were truncated by her time at the Paris Olympics, the Italian arrived at the 2024/2025 winter without any real points of reference.
“I try to live it day by day”.Dorothea Wierer at Fondo Italia
Thirteenth in the overall rankings, the four-time world champion arrives in Antholz (Italy) this week with ambitions. All the more so as it will be the last time in her career that she takes part in these World Cup competitions. “Everyone reminds me of it, so it’s impossible to forget [Laughs]! It’s obviously nice, but I don’t think about it. I try to take it day by day and concentrate on the races,” she tells Fondo Italia. There’s no point thinking about it now. We’ll see next year when the pressure will certainly be greater.
Even though Dorothea Wierer will be returning to the Trentino-Alto Adige region in 2026 for the Olympic Games in Milan/Cortina (Italy), she is still feeling a little pressure in a resort where she won gold in the individual and pursuit events at the 2020 World Championships.

“From the outside, I look cold. But that’s not true. I keep a lot of things to myself,” she admits. It’s not my style, even if inside I’m nervous before every race and I always have doubts about myself. But I keep it to myself.
Starting this Thursday, the star of the Italian national team will have the chance to shine on home soil in the women’s sprint. An event already eagerly awaited by the local public, who are expected to turn out in force once again: “It’s great to see everyone once a year. It brings back fond memories of my youth”, she says;
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