Biathlon for the first time in Munich: prone shooting at the Olympic Lake

Half a century ago, men set out with rifles and cross-country skis, they set off for Lödensee in Ruhpolding, which had a lot more water back then, and then they set off. That means they cocked their rifles and fired at round targets across the lake. The goals were 150 meters away at that time; twelve men competed in the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo. If you were to compose a song for them, it would be a hymn to twelve lonely hunters, to a lake – and a single spectator.

In Ruhpolding, targets are now being shot a little further southeast. Five kilometers from Lödensee is the Chiemgau Arena, where tens of thousands are flocking these days, the newly composed Ruhpolding anthem (“Mia san of the best biathlon team”) booms up to the Hörndlwand. And the contemporary witness from the past is now one of the most prominent of all the guests: Wolfgang Pichler is now working as a training consultant, the targets have become smaller compared to 1972 and have moved a hundred meters closer to the shooters. And on Wednesday, there were no longer twelve athletes, but 103.

The start of the German ski hunters in Ruhpolding is mixed

The accuracy of the German ski hunters at the opening race in Ruhpolding proved to be improvable. Justus Strelow achieved three perfect series in the individual before incurring a penalty minute in the last shooting session and finishing eleventh. Johannes Kühn (two errors) came 17th, Philipp Nawrath (three errors) finished 22nd. The Norwegian Vebjörn Sörum won ahead of the French Emilien Claude (both zero) and Andrejs Rastorgujevs from Latvia (one mistake).

It has been a long time since a rifle bullet has flown over the Lödensee in Ruhpolding. To this day, lakes are suitable for this purpose, at least as long as boat traffic is suspended there. At least this is the conclusion reached by the World Biathlon Federation (IBU), which presented an innovation on Wednesday.

Biathlon will be held for the first time in its history Come Munich. The season opening is scheduled to take place in the big city this year and then in 2027. On the weekend of October 18th to 19th, 2025, “the best biathletes in the world” will compete in the Olympic Park, explained IBU General Secretary Max Cobb in Ruhpolding. The 1.7 to 1.8 kilometer long loop is supposed to go around the Olympic Lake – and the shooting lanes run across the lake, as an animation shows. The loop goes into the loop three times, shooting once each while standing and lying down. If you miss, you don’t have to go into the penalty loop as usual, so you don’t have to run extra meters. “There will probably be a penalty box,” the IBU said. A kind of modern prison where sins are served at the shooting range.

The two-day competition is like a different kind of Oktoberfest. The IBU’s intention is that it should make it easier for families from the city to have access to the sport of biathlon. There will be space for 5,000 to 7,000 spectators in the amphitheater, and “a grandstand will be built above it.” In the so-called super sprint format, a total of 60 biathletes start in the preliminary run, divided into four groups of 15. It is conceivable that the three fastest in each heat qualify directly for the final – as well as three lucky losers. The skiing is done on roller skis, so without artificial snow. World Cup points are not distributed, but according to the IBU, all associations have agreed that their best athletes will take part – provided they are healthy.

Fancy a penalty box? What she associates with Munich is “party and beer,” explains former world champion Dorothea Wierer from Italy. “This is the future of sport,” says German Danilo Riethmüller, who missed shots so often on Wednesday that the deer on the Zirnberg had to worry. However, it should be mentioned that the 25-year-old had the second fastest running time of all 103 athletes and would have won without his seven mistakes. Franziska Preuß from Ruhpolding, who will compete at home this Thursday in the singles in the yellow bib of the World Cup winners, explains that she has previously known the Olympic Park as a concert location. She likes the idea of ​​doing laps there – and shooting over a lake like she once did in Ruhpolding.