Niklas Hartweg has once again experienced a preparation full of setbacks. Despite illness, a fall and faltering training, he firmly believes that his Olympic form will lead him to the podium.
03.12.2025, 05:00
03.12.2025, 06:57
SDA
It fits the picture: the competition season is off to a tough start for biathlete Hartweg. He had to miss last weekend's relays at the World Cup opener in Östersund due to illness. He should be ready again for the individual race on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old can already look back on a summer that challenged him more than he would have liked. The number one in the Swiss biathlon team, who impressed with consistent top ten results at the home World Championships in Lenzerheide last February, had to take several breaks - before the Olympic season of all things.
After the summer of 2024, when a shoulder injury after a mountain bike crash threw him off his rhythm and made an operation necessary, Hartweg experienced a repeat of sorts this year. Once again, the preparation was characterized by difficult signs. This time it was mainly his health. "I was ill three or four times," he told Keystone-SDA. "These are the kind of things that always pull you out of training a bit, so you have to fight your way back."
The return to training was tough every time. For an athlete like Hartweg, who builds up his strength through consistency, clearly structured blocks of exercise and precisely set intensities, such interruptions have an immediate impact. "That's why I miss the interval areas in particular, where you have to give yourself time after an illness."
Wakeboard accident
The illnesses were compounded by another scary moment. In Croatia, he lost his balance while wakeboarding and hit his head on the board. The boat driver had probably accelerated too much, says Hartweg. The blow to the back of his head briefly knocked the biathlete unconscious and he was diagnosed with a mild concussion.
He also failed to implement his intention of rebuilding the rifle to bring the center of gravity closer to his body in the standing position. In the end, the accurate shooter preferred the tried and tested.
"The summer wasn't perfect, unfortunately. Before an Olympic season, it would have been more pleasant if it had been perfect," he summarizes his preparation, which demanded a lot of patience from him.
It worked once before in 2025
However, the lack of consistency in building up his form only worries him to a limited extent. "The goal for this winter is to build up my form in such a way that I'm in top form when I compete for the medals," says Hartweg. The fact that he already achieved this last winter gives him a boost. He is buoyed by the progress he made back then: "I have the confidence that I will do well again this season. Hopefully in a slightly better form than last year. And with the necessary competitive luck to make it work," he adds.
The potential for a coup is there for the taking at the Olympic Games in Antholz in two months' time. Hartweg has already stood on the podium twice in the World Cup after a single or a mass start, three times together with his single-mixed partner. "If the preparation and everything else goes well, then I've got it in me," he says. However, he knows just as well that in biathlon many things have to work at the same time - on the run, at the shooting range and sometimes it takes a mistake by a competitor. "You can't force it. A lot of things have to come together."
He even draws a spark of hope from the World Championships in Lenzerheide, where one miss cost him the medal. "Maybe I've stored up all the competition luck and can hopefully let it out in February," he says.
Hartweg's preparation was less than perfect. Setbacks threw him back, but not off track. The crucial weeks still lie ahead of him. In them, he wants to find the form he needs for what could be the most important competition of his career.
