The sports shooter from Lengdorf talks about his successes at the World Championships in Cairo, the stress of the final and competitions around the world.
Lengdorf/Cairo
– The World Shooting Championships in Cairo are over – and Maxi Dallinger returned with a bronze medal.
The 26-year-old policeman from Lengdorf rates his entry into the final of the small caliber three-position fight even higher.
He didn't expect that himself, he said in an interview with the local newspaper.
Mr. Dallinger, how normal has it become for you to compete all over the world?
Of course, I still need many, many miles for the Lufthansa bonus system.
But yes, before a trip I'm much more relaxed now.
I used to be busy packing my suitcase three days in advance and then forgot something.
In the meantime I'm looking for my bag three hours before departure.
And didn't forget anything?
Hey, it can happen.
Then you buy it there.
Everything was there this time.
And the airline didn't forget any suitcases either?
Since we are traveling with weapons and ammunition, the airline makes sure that our luggage is assigned to us.
Otherwise they are not allowed to disembark at all.
Back to Cairo - did you see a lot?
I was here and at the pyramids in the spring.
This time I was on the road for two days to see the area.
I went camel riding, experienced the Khan El Khalili Bazaar – the oldest in the world, I think.
An absolute mess but interesting to look at and a tourist trap of course.
Many houses look relatively modern, almost Italian style.
But there is also so much rubbish lying around.
That in turn reminded me a lot of India.
And the sports facilities? Are they comparable to Hochbrück?
Not at all.
The Munich Olympic facilities are over 50 years old.
At the World Cups, European and World Championships, we shoot on much more modern facilities.
Most are new and all set up the same.
The plant of Rio…
…where the Olympic Games took place in 2016…
This plant has provided standards to which everyone conforms.
The conditions are the same everywhere – and that's relatively fair from a sporting point of view, apart from the lighting conditions and the weather.
How was Cairo?
Very tricky.
There is never still wind, but you can take it into account.
Because the wind here is very constant, very honest.
The lighting conditions are difficult because the competitions lasted until 4 or 5 p.m.
Then you shoot at relatively dark targets in the twilight.
They had a tight schedule anyway.
It was seven competitions in nine days.
How do you manage to stay focused for so long?
The competitions last between 50 and 90 minutes.
But you can't focus on shooting for the entire ten days.
Nobody can do that.
You have to switch off too.
The more I stress myself out, the more energy it takes. The only important thing is that you have your routine.
A concentration phase 45 minutes before the competition is enough for me.
Are you one of those athletes with the huge headphones?
Music - that's what a lot of people do.
But I don't have access to it.
I prefer to go to the preparation room, which is available at many locations.
There you do dry training, aim the rifle at a wall, go through the sequence of movements.
And a lot also depends on the team.
We all know each other well, everyone knows how the other works, when they need a break, when we do something together.
What was your personal highlight of this World Cup?
In any case, my entry into the final in the three-position fight.
Since the winter, my rimfire performances have been mixed.
Shortly before the DM, the performance leveled off.
My work from spring paid off and I just about qualified for the World Cup.
It was the first time in years that I didn't go to a competition like this as a favorite among the Germans.
That makes it more relaxed.
And quite honestly, I have rarely shot a competition so uncompromisingly.
Uncompromising?
In bad phases you quickly start thinking and make more weaker shots.
At the World Cup I squashed it completely.
I would do every shot exactly the same way again.
They finally made it to the final.
It was a very strong competition and it was so close.
I was tied in eighth with ninth and tenth.
The value of my tens then decided.
And then the final.
After the preliminary fight with 20 shots per position, ten shots were fired in the final, then the first two were eliminated.
After kneeling and lying down I was even fourth.
In the end, however, I was two tenths down – and I came out seventh.
For a quota place for the Olympics…
...I should have finished fifth.
But it was very, very close and my result was great.
Especially since the pulse is always very high in the final.
I don't know how others do it.
You're supposed to drive down there, but my pulse has other plans.
It tears me halfway.
Another great success was the bronze medal in mixed with Jolyn Beer.
The day before we had just about qualified for the bronze fight – against the Norwegian duo, of all things, against whom we lost the World Cup final in spring.
I was really happier about the bronze at the World Championships than I was about the silver back then.
Oh well…
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In Cairo, Dallinger used his time for a camel ride.
© Private
Yes, that's the way it is.
I don't want to belittle the silver at all.
But before the bronze match, you know that if you lose, you're left with nothing.
Honestly, I've seldom been as happy as after this medal.
And the rest was good too.
I couldn't foresee that I would have so many top ten finishes.
Could anything have gone better?
I can't say exactly now.
I think the details were spot on this time too.
I didn't miss a competition either.
Oversleep?
Before our world title in Korea, I was woken up by the coach.
I used my credit card to scoop my breakfast cereal out of the bowl on the way to the shooting range.
I'm glad that I was able to put my work into practice this time.
You can't influence everything, because the result always depends on the competition.
But this time the outcome was great.
And it could be that the DOSB will make more money available through seventh place in the World Cup final and that I will move from the perspective squad to the Olympic squad.
I don't want to shout it out, but it's quite possible that I'll be at the World Cup in Lima next year.
Until now, only the women were scheduled for Peru due to their strong performances.
And I would also like to take part in the European Games and the World Cup in Baku.
That's all next year.
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Dallinger and Beer celebrate their joint success.
© Private
And what's going on at the moment?
Now I'm looking forward to the air rifle Bundesliga.
It will be exciting, also because I moved from Niederlauterbach to Coburg.
When is police service announced again?
It is planned for the end of December/beginning of January.
The office is not clear yet.
I have to get out of my apartment in Haar.
Let's see where it takes me.
I think Freising is really nice.
Dallinger's World Championship Record
Bronze in KK-Prone-Mixed;
7th place KK three-position individual;
place 4 KK prone;
place 35 air rifle individual;
5th place air rifle team;
9th place three-position mixed team.