Skiing Guns: Germany's 2011/12 Biathlon World Cup Team
The 2011/12 Biathlon World Cup begins November 30 in Östersund, a city in central Sweden aptly called the “Winter City.” After taking first in the women's and second in the men's team competitions last year, Germany's skiing guns will try to make this season, which will be strewn across nine locations and end on March 20, at least stand up against the year previous, if not surpass it. The weightiest tour stop this year will be in Germany, when the southeastern Bavarian city of Ruhpolding hosts the World Championships from March 3 to March 11. Ruhpolding will certainly hold special meaning for the German squad, but as Coach Uwe Müßiggang told the International Biathlon Union recently, expectations for Germany extend beyond one tournament: “Of course our goal is to win the Nation's Cup again. When you did that last season you can't go and say we only want to be second or third this year.”
As the name suggests, the winter biathlon consists of mixing two events, cross-country skiing and shooting, into a series of structured competitions varying from sprint to relay. Points are collected during the season for both individuals and teams. Below is a photo gallery featuring members of the German team.
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Cheering on their own, German fans coax Andrea Henkel to the finish line at last year's biathlon stopover in Ruhpolding. This year Ruhpolding will host the World Championships. (© picture-alliance / Augenklick/Rauchensteiner) -
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Rolling through September training: Germany's Magdalena Neuner will look to help the women's team repeat as World Cup champions in 2011/12. By the time the season starts, the training wheels will come off. (© picture alliance / dpa) -
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Andreas “Andi” Birnbacher pushes forward, leaving behind a blurred winter landscape. Whether Birnbacher and the men's squad can jump one spot and match the ladies' first-place performance from last year will start to clear up tomorrow. (© picture alliance / dpa ) -
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Kathrin Hitzer, who grew up playing soccer and swimming competitively, now carries a rifle when she plays sports. Here she sports a pistol, too. (© picture-alliance / Augenklick/Rauchensteiner) -
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Tina Bachmann of the women's side, gun in hand, blows fog. (© picture-alliance / Günter Schiffmann) -
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24-year-old Arnd Peiffer will look to sail into the 2011/12 season on the wind of his gold medal last year in the 10-km sprint at the World Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. (© picture-alliance / Sven Simon) -
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One of the young guns on the German side, 21-year-old Miriam Gössner was part of the relay team that took gold at the World Championships last year. (© picture alliance / dpa) -
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Slowing the pulse, regulating air-intake and fortifying the nerves, Michael Greis takes dead aim. (© picture alliance / dpa) -
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Gun overheating? Sabrina Buchholz, who is in a romantic relationship with fellow biathlete Christoph Stephan, has fanned another sort of flame in the Germans' locker room. (© picture-alliance / Augenklick/ Foto Rauchensteiner) -
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Buchholz's beau, Christoph Stephan, stares expectantly as he coasts down a hill. (© picture-alliance / Augenklick/Rauchensteiner ) -
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German star Andrea Henkel will look to fatten her trophy-take this season after crowning her successful 2010/11 campaign with a second-place overall prize. (© picture-alliance / Sven Simon) -
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A bit pensively, Magdalena Neuner holds her gun during last season's events in Ruhpolding. (© picture-alliance / Augenklick/Rauchensteiner)
