Fischer The Clear Number One Again In Biathlon

With her victory in the Mass Start, the closing event, Sweden’s Hanna Öberg provided the Fischer Race Family with a golden finale at the Biathlon World Championships in Oberhof, Germany. With 10 golds, 11 silvers, and 8 bronze medals, 44% of all medals awarded were won with Speedmax skis and boots. With that, Fischer once again confirmed its position as the most successful ski, boot, and binding brand in Nordic skiing.

Conditions in Oberhof were a major challenge for service team members. They experienced every type of weather over the eleven days: from sunny and cold, to relentless rain and warm. Speedmax skis and boots, together with TURNAMIC® bindings, were up to the task: with only two exceptions, that was the gear of choice for every world champion.

One particularly outstanding athlete at these world championships was Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø. The 29-year-old broke numerous records, and, among other successes, he was the first male athlete to win seven medals at the World Championships. Every single one of his starts resulted in a medal. When it comes purely to the skiing, he is simply unbeatable. Johannes Thingnes Bø is taking five golds, and one each of silver and bronze home with him, yet he remains humble, explaining, “You have to be good to haul in seven medals, I’m not going to downplay that, but Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt are in a whole other league.” Countryman and sibling Tarjei Bø took second in the Sprint for what was tagged the “Bødium”, then stood on the podium again with his brother with silver in the Relay. 

Among the women, the most successful athlete also came from the Fischer ranks: Sweden’s Hanna Öberg, two-time world champion in the Individual and the Mass Start, also took home silver and bronze in the Sprint and in the Relay. On the final day the amiable Swede’s face was glowing with happiness as well as exhaustion. “It’s like a dream,” she commented. “The last couple races were especially tough. But our team put in tremendous performances- I had unbelievable skis and that was a huge help.” Teammate Linn Persson’s Individual silver as well as Relay and Sprint bronze also contributed to the successful showing of the Fischer Race Family’s Swedish contingent; as did Martin Ponsiluoma with silver in the Mass Start; and Anna Magnusson and Peppe Femling with Relay bronze each.

Another success story was Denise Herrmann-Wick of Germany in her home World Championships. She withstood the pressure and followed up her Sprint World Champion title with silver in the Pursuit and in the Relay. Quentin Fillon Maillet was denied an individual title in this year’s event, but the Frenchman was pleased with his Relay gold and Mixed Relay bronze. The Austrian duo of Lisa Theresa Hauser and David Komatz secured silver in the Single Mixed Relay. In addition, Fischer’s next-generation hopefuls shined in their World Championship debut. Hannah Auchentaller of Italy gave an impressively controlled effort on her way to Women’s Relay gold with her Italian teammates, while Sophia Schneider of Germany raced to silver in that same Women’s Relay event.

This all adds up to a positive scorecard for Fischer. “We’re very satisfied with these results. The first week was an especially tough challenge for our gear set-ups due to the extreme changes in conditions. All our gear functioned really well in all conditions,” recounted Gerhard Urain, Head of Nordic Racing. “After a somewhat lackluster start in the Mixed Relay, our athletes- who were really fast on the track right from the beginning- also had that little bit of necessary luck with the shooting that’s just part of being successful in biathlon.”