Soliloquy, hole in the glove, pop music – that’s how it should work with gold!
At the Biathlon World Championships in Oberhof, Olympic champion Denise Herrmann-Wick (34) is the hottest German medal candidate. The ex-cross-country skier has always been great on the trail. But now she’s also become a stable shooter. Your hit rate this winter is 85 percent. She’s never been so good. Especially in standing she has improved enormously – from 72 to 84 percent.
Belgium star wired to hear everything! How awesome would that be in the Bundesliga?
“I’m in a relaxed mode this year. That’s why more targets fall,” says Herrmann-Wick. “I’ve always done well in training over the past few years.
But in competition, the stress and your own expectations come along. You have to come to terms with that first. So far I’ve managed not to drive myself crazy anymore.”
The new strength at the shooting range has reasons. When it comes down to it, Herrmann-Wick uses special tricks.
As she steps onto the mat, she calls out key words like “trust” and “love.” “It helps me to calm down and focus on what’s important,” she says. She developed this auto-suggestion technique together with mental trainer Thomas Baschab.
Herrmann-Wick has the motto from former national coach Frank Ullrich (65), biathlon Olympic champion in 1980: “Winners don’t doubt, doubters don’t win.”
In order to get into the right competitive mood, Herrmann-Wick likes to listen to popular music before the starting gun. “It helps me to loosen up,” she says.
Mickie Krause (“Ten Naked Hairdressers”) is very popular. She last met him at the World Cup in Ruhpolding, where Krause made an appearance. The Oberhof World Cup song “OO-Oberhof” by “Dorfrocker” is entirely to Herrmann-Wick’s taste.
Shooting range tricks also include scissors: Because Herrmann-Wick has a small hole in the right index finger of her glove. Here she sticks her index finger through when she pulls the trigger. “It gives me more feeling in my fingers,” she explains.
Despite her Olympic victory last winter, Herrmann-Wick had a new rifle stock built before this season. “Now it feels even better in the hand. Little things can make all the difference,” she says.
The prerequisites for a successful home World Cup are therefore in place. The first chance for a medal for Herrmann-Wick is the mixed relay today from 2.45 p.m. This is followed by the sprint on Friday (2.30 p.m.).