Biathlete Selina Grotian celebrated her first individual World Cup victory shortly before Christmas.
Photo: image/CEPix
Selina Grotian and Julia Tannheimer are young, fast and successful. The two talents have now become an integral part of the German biathlon team – even comparisons with legends like Magdalena Neuner or Laura Dahlmeier are already being made. Like Dahlmeier, Grotian also comes from Garmisch-Partenkirchen and often runs into the superstars of yesteryear.
The 20-year-old thinks it’s an “honor” to be compared with such top athletes, but she also says clearly: “I’m Selina and not Laura 2.” The 19-year-old Tannheimer also doesn’t want to be lumped in with the two exceptional athletes , as she revealed in the “Extrarunde” podcast: “I’m pleased with the results. Records aren’t that important at my age.”
The two five-time junior world champions, Grotian and Tannheimer, have the necessary self-confidence. The two have already proven this winter that they have the necessary skills to be among the world’s best. With their strong performances in Hochfilzen, they made a significant contribution to the first German relay victory in four years. Tannheimer also sensationally stormed to fifth and sixth individual places at the World Cup opener in Kontiolahti, Finland. Selina Grotian even celebrated her first individual World Cup victory in Le Grand-Bornand shortly before Christmas – also boosted by Tannheimer’s successes at the start of the season.
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»Selina was happy about Julia’s successes. But she also said: ‘I can do that too’. She allowed herself to be picked on and came out of the blocks at the next World Cup as if she had been bitten by a tarantula,” says Felix Bitterling. The sports director of the German Ski Association (DSV) hopes that Grotian can bring her excellent form of the past few weeks back to the slopes at the home World Cup in Oberhof. The German women will be starting the sprint this Thursday.
Bitterling sees a “brutal dynamic” among the young German athletes, which also include Julia Kink (20) and Marlene Fichtner (21). This group, which has already been successful at the junior level, gives hope for a new gold generation among German biathlon women. Especially since the current overall World Cup leader Franziska Preuß still has a “mom” – as Selina Grotian lovingly put it – available in whose shadow the youngsters can develop undisturbed.
It quickly became clear that Grotian and Tannheimer were something special. Grotian was nominated as a substitute for the World Championships in Nové Město, Czech Republic last winter by coach’s decision and sensationally stormed to fourth place in the 15-kilometer race. Her reward was a place in the relay, where she won bronze with the German team. »She is a natural person, loves her dog and needs time to build trust. “Selina has to feel everything – then she can get going,” says Bitterling, describing his young World Cup winner.
Julia Tannheimer also made a name for herself among adults for the first time last winter. At the home World Cup in Ruhpolding, she was the exclusive focus of 15,000 fans because of her high starting number and ran completely unimpressed to an extremely strong 15th place. What was even more surprising to Bitterling than her performance was that she and her parents initially rejected any further World Cup appearances. Instead, she preferred to concentrate on her high school diploma, which she completed with an impressive average of 1.1.
The 19-year-old comes from an extremely sporty family from Ulm. Her brother Lukas, who is two years younger, is also a biathlete. Nevertheless, the teenager’s path to the world elite was rather unusual. This is one of the reasons why Tannheimer has exceptional character traits. »Her nickname is Rocket because she is extremely strong. Despite all of Julia’s successes, you will never find that she thinks she is better than herself,” enthuses Bitterling.
»She has a sweet smile, but she shows no respect on the track. That’s a sensational attitude that you can’t teach anyone,” exults the DSV sports director. All of this gives hope that Julia Tannheimer and Selina Grotian can actually follow in the great footsteps of the German biathlon legends in the coming years.
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