Emotional farewell: Elisa Gasparin ran her last World Championship race on Saturday
Image: Keystone
Champagne shower: Elisa Gasparin is given a fitting farewell by her teammates
Image: Keystone
Surrounded by friends, sisters and teammates: (from left) Aita Gasparin, Amy Baserga, Elisa Gasparin, Lena Häcki-Gross, Selina Gasparin and Lea Meier
Image: Keystone
The fans in the stadium also celebrated Elisa Gasparin
Image: Keystone
A big hug: Elisa Gasparin (left) with head coach Sandra Flunger
Image: Keystone
Emotional farewell: Elisa Gasparin ran her last World Championship race on Saturday
Image: Keystone
Champagne shower: Elisa Gasparin is given a fitting farewell by her teammates
Image: Keystone
Surrounded by friends, sisters and teammates: (from left) Aita Gasparin, Amy Baserga, Elisa Gasparin, Lena Häcki-Gross, Selina Gasparin and Lea Meier
Image: Keystone
The fans in the stadium also celebrated Elisa Gasparin
Image: Keystone
A big hug: Elisa Gasparin (left) with head coach Sandra Flunger
Image: Keystone
Tears to say goodbye: Elisa Gasparin's last World Championship race with the Swiss biathlon relay team doesn't go according to plan. Champagne and a standing ovation nonetheless.
22.02.2025, 16:00
22.02.2025, 16:56
SDA
They were all in a hurry, the Swiss biathletes. After final skier Lena Häcki-Gross entered the stadium - in a disappointing fourteenth place - there was still plenty of cheering. Her teammates surprised Elisa Gasparin with champagne and flowers.
Emotional rollercoaster ride
The middle of the three Gasparin sisters is hanging up her skis and rifle at the end of the season and ending her career. She was bid farewell by thousands of fans in the finish stadium. "It's an emotional rollercoaster ride today," Gasparin told the media some time later, while a tear or two were still rolling down her cheeks. "I'm very disappointed with my race (Gasparin had to go into the penalty loop as the start skier despite three reloads). And now it's mega sad and mega beautiful at the same time."
They were all quite nervous in the morning. "Maybe we put too much pressure on ourselves," speculates the 33-year-old from Engadin. "We knew it was possible to win this medal." But she already had chicken skin and was shaking all over during the run-in. The record crowd of 17,000 spectators in the stands and along the course - including a hundred from Gasparin's family - did the rest.
Four Olympic diplomas, three World Cup podiums
"The sport of biathlon is still quite young in Switzerland, we first have to get used to this situation," she says, explaining why she was (too) nervous. Elisa Gasparin has played her part in biathlon becoming more and more established. She has never quite been at the forefront, but with four diploma places at the Olympic Games - two individually, two with the relay team - and three relay podium places in the World Cup, she has nevertheless been a defining athlete of the last 15 years.
She wants to try and enjoy the races at the last three World Cup stages a little more. After that, a formative time ends for Elisa Gasparin.
