NHope for young talent Leonie Walter surprisingly won the second German gold medal at the Paralympics in Beijing. The 18-year-old triumphed in the middle-distance biathlon in the visually impaired class in 41:21.0 minutes, after shooting clean she was 3.7 seconds ahead of the Ukrainian Oxana Shishkova in a heart-stopping final. Previously, the athlete from SC St. Peter had already won bronze in the biathlon sprint and in the classic long distance in cross-country skiing with guide Pirmin Strecker.
“I was at the finish line, I waited and didn’t know if it was enough. At some point everyone jumped up, and then it was clear to me: ‘Ok, I’ve got it’,” Walter said on ZDF: “With a flawless shooting you have a bonus, then it’s much easier. It wouldn’t have been as successful without the good shooting.”
Also Fleig and Wicker with medals
Walter got off to a slow start but continued to work her way up the field with her flawless shooting. On the final lap, the favorite Ukrainian made up a lot of ground after her two penalties, but the German made it to the finish after 10 kilometers with a thin cushion. Her teammate Johanna Recktenwald finished fourth, 5:03.4 minutes behind and three penalties, a good three minutes away from bronze.
Walter completed the German set of medals on Tuesday. Martin Fleig had previously won silver in the sitting class, Anja Wicker won bronze in the women’s starting class. “A complete set of medals on the track, that exceeds all expectations,” said DBS President Friedhelm Julius Beucher.
Highly concentrated: Leonie Walter at the shooting range
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Image: Reuters
Meanwhile, Beucher also clearly criticized numerous classifications during the Paralympics in Beijing. “I was hoping that the IPC would have overcome the classification’s Achilles’ heel,” said Beucher in China on Tuesday: “But the games have already shown that the discussion must be at the top of the agenda. What happened in some disciplines, especially in the alpine area, you just can’t stay silent.”
Beucher accuses the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) of having approached the issue too carelessly in advance. “You can’t say we’ll sort it out after the games,” said Beucher: “You have to ensure understandable and honest competition before the games. So the whole thing has a stale aftertaste.”
Especially among athletes from the host country China, there have been numerous discussions in the past few days as to whether the time factor allocated to them is justified due to their disability. The Chinese had virtually not taken part in any international competitions because of the ban on leaving the country during the coronavirus pandemic. In Beijing, they lead the medal table by a wide margin, having only won a single medal in curling together in all previous games.
