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31-year-old Laura Dahlmeier was killed by a falling rock on Laila Peak. (archive picture)
Sven Hoppe/dpa
Laura Dahlmeier died in an accident during an expedition in the Karakoram. Just two months ago, she had spoken out about the risks on the mountain.
Now it is a sad certainty: the former German biathlete Laura Dahlmeier is dead after her mountain accident in Pakistan. The two-time Olympic champion was only 31 years old.
Laura Dahlmeier, who retired in 2019, was hit by a falling rock in the Karakoram mountains at around 5700 meters above sea level on Monday. Her management has confirmed that she did not survive the accident.
It was only at the end of May that she explained in an interview with "Web.de" that she also considers fear to be an important emotion on the mountain. "I think fear is totally important. It's simply a feeling that you need to a certain extent," Dahlmeier is quoted as saying.
However, she went on to qualify this: "If the fear becomes too strong and paralyzing and degenerates into panic, then I think it is out of place, especially on the mountain. Then I have to see how I can get out of the situation as safely as possible or what I can do so that it never happens in the first place."
But you can't do it completely without fear: "If I have no fear at all - or I like to use the word respect - if I have no respect, then I can simply get into any tour carelessly."
Statements from an interview with "Bunte" in 2018 underline how aware the top athlete was of the risks on the mountain. In it, she talked about a serious fall while climbing in which she sustained several injuries: "If I do something wrong while climbing, I could be dead."
