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Page 1Yesterday’s news
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Page 2″If there is no more snow, that would be a good solution”
They call it summer biathlon, but in Dresden it’s raining and the maximum temperature is 13 degrees. Even sub-zero temperatures in the Slovenian highlands don’t seem to bother the athletes as much as the German autumn: Even when he’s already shivering from the cold, Norwegian Olympic champion Tarjei Bø signs every jersey that’s held out to him and grants every request for a selfie. “I have to change,” he finally calls out apologetically to a group of fans when they want to take a third photo with him.
The City Biathlon in Dresden is one of four international races a year in which the athletes who normally compete in winter can also be seen in summer. The event features prominent participants: the brothers Johannes Thingnes and Tarjei Bø, Lisa Vittozzi, Jakov Fak and Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold – Olympic champions, world champions, World Cup winners.
Smaller and narrower than in winter
All of them and the 10,000 fans who have come are enjoying the special atmosphere in Dresden. “You are never as close to the spectators as you are here in the stadium, it is something very special,” says Johanna Puff, 22 years old, from Rosenheim, who came second on Sunday. In Dresden everything is a little smaller and closer than at the World Cups in winter, almost like a family. When the biathlon circus travels from place to place from November to March, the spectators are usually far away. In Dresden, the stars jog past the spectators on the track to cool down after the race.
In the Saxon capital, there are no World Cup points at stake, and the prize money is also significantly lower than in winter – but that doesn’t make the competition any less important. “It’s very important for me to have races like today’s in summer, so that I can compete with other athletes and know where I stand,” says Lisa Vittozzi, who won the overall World Cup last winter and now also in Dresden. Apparently, she likes the races in the city: her victory on Sunday was already her third in a city biathlon, and she will “definitely” be back next year.
Past the Semperoper, along the banks of the Elbe
Much of the action in Dresden is similar to that of a winter race in Ruhpolding, Oberhof or Kontiolahti: a running lap is followed by a shooting session, cowbells ring and trumpets blow in the stands. But here the athletes do not run through wide fields and forests, but on a 2.3-kilometer circuit through the city center, past the Semper Opera House, along the banks of the Elbe. In the Heinz Steyer Stadium, the athletes alternate between shooting lying down and standing at five targets each, which are set up 50 meters away, just like in winter.
© Lea Dohle
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The biggest and most obvious difference: instead of snow, the athletes run on asphalt. The corresponding roller skis are about half as long as normal skis and have a wheel at the front and back.
