DSV started in Östersund without Rees and Kühn

Roman Ress at the Loop One Biathlon Opening Festival at the Olympic Park in Munich on October 19, 2025. However, the veteran player was not in the squad for the season opener in Östersund.

Source: SVEN SIMON


German biathletes will enter the upcoming World Cup season without long-time top players Johannes Kühn and Roman Rees. As the German Ski Association (DSV) announced via Instagram, Lucas Fratzscher, Simon Kaiser, Philipp Horn and Danilo Riethmüller were also part of the squad at the start in Östersund, along with Justus Strelow and Philipp Nawrath.

Fratzscher won the internal qualifier in the biathlon team

The quartet won after the final elimination race in Idre, Sweden. Fratzscher took first place in the combined qualifying rankings of the German championship and the first snow competition in Idre, including winning the second sprint there against top-class international competition.

Kaiser received his ticket as second on this list, Horn and Riethmüller were nominated based on the coach’s decision. Apart from Kühn and Rees, David Zobel and youngster Leonhard Pfund also failed in the elimination race. You must now recommend yourself to the second class IBU Cup.

A decision for women will be made later

A decision on the women’s World Cup squad will only be taken after the final qualifying competition in Ruhpolding next weekend. Franziska Preuß, Selina Grotian, Vanessa Voigt and Julia Tannheimer were seeded based on their performances in the previous season.

Laura Dahlmeier died after falling rocks in a mountain accident

The former biathlete is very sad: Laura Dahlmeier died in a mountain accident in Pakistan. The athlete has also been an avid mountaineer for many years.

July 31, 2025 | 2:47 min


The German biathlon relay team finished on the podium at the 2014 Winter Olympics

Returning participants Janina Hettich-Walz and Sophia Schneider are among those fighting for the other three places for the race which takes place in Östersund from November 29 to December 7. The highlight of the season for biathletes is the Olympic races in Antholz in February.

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Source: Reuters


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Source: SID, dpa