How Laura Dahlmeier Became a World and Olympic Record-Breaker?

At the moment, Laura Dahlmeier is one of the best German biathletes. She is 7-time World Champion and 2-time Olympic champion. Let’s dig a little bit deeper and find out more about the star of the German Olympic team.

Laura Dahlmeier was born on August 22, 1993, in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. She got interested in biathlon at a young age. But, she started to compete at the international level only in 2011. At 2011 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival, the biathlete earned 3 gold medals in individual, sprint and mixed relay.

Laura competed at 2011, 2012 and 2013 Junior World Championships. In 2011, she gained 2 bronze medals in pursuit and relay. After winning no medals in 2012, the athlete made a breakthrough in 2013, winning gold in individual, sprint and relay as well as silver in pursuit.

World Championships

Laura Dahlmeier poster

Laura Dahlmeier made a debut at the World Championships in 2013 and finished 5^th in relay. At 2015 World Championships, she gained her first medals: gold in relay and silver in pursuit. More medals were won by the athlete at 2016 World Championships in Oslo. She got gold in pursuit, silver in mass start and 3 bronze medals in individual, sprint and relay.

However, Laura showed her best at 2017 World Championships. She won medals in all the events, setting the new world record. Thus, she became 5-time gold medalist, winning individual, pursuit, mass start, relay and mixed relay, and 1-time silver medalist in sprint.

World Cup

Laura Dahlmeier poster

Dahlmeier debuted at the World Cup in 2012/13 season. In 2013 Sochi, she won her first gold in team relay. The first individual podium of the athlete was at 2015 Antholz, where she became a bronze medalist in sprint. The same year, she won her first individual gold in sprint, competing in Nove Mesto.

In 2015/16 season, Laura finished third overall in mass start. And in 2016/17 season, she gained the overall World Cup title, winning the titles in individual and pursuit as well as finishing overall second in sprint and mass start. In 2017/18 season, the biathlete got the title in mass start.

In general, at the World Cup events Laura Dahlmeier gained 19 individual and 12 team victories. To the date, she owns 33 gold, 18 silver and 10 bronze medals of the World Cup events.

Winter Olympics

Laura Dahlmeier

In 2014, Dahlmeier participated in her first Winter Olympics. She finished 13^th in individual, 46^th in sprint, 30^th in pursuit and 11^th in relay.

In 2018 PyeongChang, the biathlete was more successful. She claimed gold in sprint and pursuit as well as bronze in individual. Laura became the first woman to win biathlon sprint and pursuit in the same Olympics. In other events, she finished 16^th in mass start, 8^th in relay and 4^th in mixed relay.

So, you see that Laura Dahlmeier is a really great biathlete. Though she didn’t start to win immediately after starting her professional career, she has shown great results in the latest years.