Urs Hanhart
At the Swiss Biathlon Cup in Realp, there were completely unusual forms of competition for once. A super sprint was held on Saturday, consisting of a prologue and a pursuit race. A single-mixed-relay followed the next day, whereby the teams, mostly consisting of one male and one male athlete, were drawn at random across categories. This led to some rather strange constellations within the squadrons.
Anja Fischer was one of the outstanding actors, especially when it came to shooting. The Engelberger won the Supersprint prologue (3000 meters/2 shots) thanks to her accuracy. She only missed one shot and relegated the competition, who made a lot of mistakes, to their places. She finished fourth in the pursuit race. In the relay competition, Fischer even cleared all 20 targets in four shooting bouts, for which she only needed a few spares. Because their partner Kilian Birchler, a youth athlete, who was assigned to them, did not go as they wished at the shooting range, this duo only ended up with sixth place. Nevertheless, the multiple season winner emphasized:
I think this format is great. I enjoy relays because you can push each other. That was a welcome change.
Study and training in Norway
In addition to the super sprint prologue in Realp, Fischer also won the sprint and pursuit in Lenzerheide this winter. In the overall ranking of the Swiss Cup, she is in third place, just a few points behind leader Ladina Meier-Ruge (SC Obergoms). At first the athlete from Nordic Engelberg was slow to get going. Her reason: At the beginning of the season I had to fight a stubborn cold. That’s why the running form was a long time coming. But now it’s getting better and better. Now Fischer hopes to get one or the other squad for the IBU Cup. This is the second highest international level of competition after the World Cup.
The accurate marksman has taken a rather unusual path. In the summer of 2018 she completed her high school diploma at the sports school in Engelberg. She then began a part-time study in sports science in Meraker, Norway. She has been studying in Trondheim since summer 2021 and is training with the Trondheim Biathlon Team. My goal is to reconcile top-class sport and studies as best as possible, said the original Swiss.
My sister Lea gave me the idea of studying in Norway. She went the same way. In Trondheim there is an optimal training infrastructure. It has always been my goal to study abroad.
She always returns home at the beginning of winter to compete in Switzerland. Immediately after the end of the season, she flies back to the far north. In the long term, Fischer has a clear goal in mind: I want to make it into the World Cup and take part in the World Championships at home in Lenzerheide in 2025.
Results: swiss-ski-kwo.ch
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