Scross-country skier Marco Maier won his second silver medal at the Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing. The 22-year-old from Oberstdorf was only beaten by Frenchman Benjamin Daviet in the standing class sprint final. 15-year-old Linn Kazmaier won bronze in the visually impaired class with guide Florian Baumann.
“I have an incredible feeling,” said Maier, who maintained his narrow lead over the Ukrainian Grigori Vowtschinski on the home stretch: “Anything could have happened.” The short-distance specialist had started cautiously beforehand. In adverse conditions on wet snow he then ran up to second place, but Daviet was already ahead.
“That’s the Maier turbo,” said Friedhelm Julius Beucher, President of the German Disabled Sports Association (DBS): “That was a strong running but also a tactical performance.” Maier had previously achieved second place in the biathlon sprint in Zhangjiakou on his debut .
Kazmaier, who had already won the silver medal in the biathlon sprint and the long distance in cross-country skiing, finished well behind the victorious Austrian Carina Edlinger and Oxana Schischkowa from the Ukraine. “It was another sensational performance,” said Beucher. Biathlon winner Leonie Walter finished fourth in the same race with guide Pirmin Strecker.
Biathlon bronze medalist Anja Wicker was eliminated last in the semi-finals of the sitting class. “The conditions were no longer possible for me,” said the 30-year-old from Stuttgart: “The arms were also a bit heavy from Tuesday. That’s not a good combination.”
Johanna Recktenwald with guide Valentin Haag also missed the final in third place in the visually impaired class. In Maier’s class, Alexander Ehlers, the oldest German participant at the age of 52, finished second to last. Nico Messinger, with guide Robin Wunderle, was the only starter from Team D in the visually impaired men’s class and failed to qualify.
