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Germany's Franziska Preuss competes in the women's 10 km pursuit during the IBU Biathlon World Championships. Preuss said on Friday she will end her glittering career after the season, with the upcoming Olympic races possibly her last. Martin Schutt/dpa
Reigning biathlon World Cup champion Franziska Preuss of Germany said on Friday she will end her glittering career after the season, with the upcoming Olympic races possibly her last.
"It will be over after the season. I thought about it over the summer. The way things have developed over the last few weeks, I'm fine with that now," Preuss said in an online news conference.
Preuss will race at the Milan/Cortina Winter Olympics which open on February 6, but she left it open whether she would also compete at the final three World Cup stops afterwards.
"I don't know yet what the journey will be. It just takes a 110% effort," she said. "But it can be that I will compete over the whole trimester."
Preuss won the World Cup for the first time last season when she also claimed a first individual world title in the pursuit race. She has a relay gold as well and 11 medals overall from the worlds. At the Olympics she will aim to better her tally of a relay bronze from 2022.
Preuss has been in the World Cup since 2013, after winning four golds at the 2012 Youth Olympics.
She has won five World Cup races, four of them in her best season 2024-25 when she beat French rival Lou Jeanmonnot in a dramatic finale for the World Cup title in Oslo, and won four medals at the world championships in Lenzerheide.
Preuss has had various health setbacks in the past, not fully fit at the 2022 Olympics and 2023 worlds.
They returned this season when she missed several races due to a coronavirus infection and influenza. He first podium did not come until last week, third place in an individual race in Nove Mesto.
"I'm finding it harder to get into that flow. It's definitely not the easiest phase right now. But I'm not giving up. I'll give it my best shot every day. There's no question about that,’ Preuss said.
At the Olympics, she will be aiming for an elusive individual medal for which however she said it will "take a perfect day.
"It is incredibly difficult. You need a lot of luck," she said.
Preuss has been the face of the German team over the past years and will be difficult to replace but she is not concerned, given talents like Selina Grotian or Julia Tannheimer who however still lack consistency to got top results.
"It always continues. I am not the first one to quit. There are young girls with huge potential. You don't have to be concerned," she said.
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