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Leonie Walter with her guide Pirmin Strecker: Paralympic gold in biathlon
Photo:
ISSEI KATO / REUTERS
Leonie Walter surprisingly won Paralympic gold in biathlon.
The 18-year-old prevailed in the class for the visually impaired over ten kilometers and won the second gold medal for the German team in China with guide Pirmin Strecker.
Walter had previously won the bronze medal over the six kilometers in biathlon and over the 15 kilometers in cross-country skiing.
The student shot clean in all four stages and finished 3.7 seconds ahead of Ukraine's Oksana Shishkova, who had previously won gold twice.
On the final lap, the favorite Ukrainian came back after her two penalties, but Walter saved the lead to the finish.
Her teammate Johanna Recktenwald finished fourth, 5:03.4 minutes behind and three penalties, a good three minutes away from bronze.
"Okay, I've got it"
»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'," said Walter on ZDF.
»Sometimes you have a bonus with a flawless shooting, then it runs a lot easier.
It wouldn't have been as successful without the good shooting.«
Martin Fleig had previously won silver in the sitting class of biathletes, Anja Wicker still got bronze in the same starting class for women despite five shooting errors.
"A complete set of medals on the course, that exceeds all expectations," said DBS President Friedhelm Julius Beucher.
hba/sid/dpa