Biathlon. The best races, achievements and high-profile statements of Magdalena Neuner

Magdalena Neuner(German Magdalena Neuner; born February 9, 1987, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, Germany) - German biathlete, one of the most titled athletes in the history of this sport. Two-time Olympic champion in 2010, 12-time world champion (women's record), three-time World Cup winner (2007/08, 2009/10, 2011/12), winner of seven small World Cups, three-time world champion in summer biathlon. Best Female Athlete of the Year in Germany 2007, 2011 and 2012.

Sports career

Magdalena's childhood passed in the small Bavarian village of Wallgau, 15 km from Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Study skiing She started at the age of four. Later, as a member of the SC Wallgau ski club, she tried herself in different winter activities sports. Magdalena was brought to the biathlon section by her parents at the age of nine, where she immediately liked it very much. Even then, her talent manifested itself, but the decision to play seriously in the sports field was made by Neuner only at the age of sixteen, after graduation. The results at the initial levels of the biathlon competitive hierarchy were not long in coming: in the first four years of performances, Magdalena won seven top awards in the biathlon world championships among youth and became a multiple winner of the national youth biathlon championships in Germany. Lena got her first medals from the Junior World Championship back in 2004, when she won the relay and sprint, and also finished second in the pursuit. A year later, she took three more medals from similar competitions: gold in the sprint and two silvers (in the pursuit and relay). The 2006 Junior World Championship was also marked for Neuner with three awards: two gold (in pursuit and relay) and one silver for sprint performance. At her last junior world championship in 2008, Neuner again won victories in the sprint and pursuit. These successes opened her way to the second most important echelon of world biathlon - the European Biathlon Cup. In the 2005/2006 season, Magdalena won three races and took the final fifth place in overall standings. Such significant results allowed the head coach of the German national team Uwe Myussigang to include Neuner in the main national team to participate in the World Cup.

The debut of Magdalena Neuner in the World Cup took place on January 13, 2006, where she, acting as a reservist, replaced the temporarily retired Uschi Diesel. The first race, a sprint in Ruhpolding, Germany, turned out to be unsuccessful for her - 41st final place without credits in the overall World Cup standings. But a few weeks later, on March 16, in Finnish Kontiolahti, Magdalena managed to finish fourth.

The first victory in the framework of the World Cup was won by Neuner already in next year. January 5, 2007 Magdalena was unmatched in the 7.5 km sprint. A little later, the first victories at the World Championships came - in Anterselva, Neuner showed outstanding results, winning individual victories in the sprint and pursuit, and taking the third gold for herself as part of the relay team. Thus, Neuner became the youngest three-time biathlon world champion in history. As a result, at the beginning of 2007 in Germany, Magdalena Neuner was recognized as the best athlete in winter sports at the end of the season and entered the recognized best sports team(women's German biathlon team). At the end of the year, German sports journalists chose her as the best female athlete of the year in Germany.

The following season brought Magdalena three more top World Championship awards (in Östersund she had no equal in the race from the general start, and the German relay teams in the relay and mixed), victory in the overall World Cup and two Small Crystal Globes (in sprint races and races from the general start).

The 2008/2009 season was not as successful for Neuner as the previous ones. Despite the fact that at the end of the season she won another Small Crystal Globe for herself (this time in individual races), she did not manage to win a single personal award at the Pyeongchang World Championships, nor did she achieve significant success in the World Cup - according to At the end of the season, Lena remained below the line of winners of the overall standings.

Today, February 9, the next biathlon world championship starts in Hochfilzen. And on the same day, one of the greatest biathletes in the history of the German Magdalene Neuner turns 30 years old. She won her first victories at the stages of the World Cup and World Championships in 2007, and five years later she ended her brilliant career. Now she lives in her native Wallgau, together with her husband brings up two children and from time to time calls to clean up the world biathlon from doping.

How to break into the world of biathlon

She made her debut in the World Cup a month before her 19th birthday, and it took her only a year to fly from a rookie to the very top. On January 5, 2007, she won the sprint race in Oberhof, and only a month later she became a three-time world champion in Antholz, taking gold in the sprint, pursuit and relay.

On February 4, 2007, it became clear that Neuner came in earnest and for a long time. In the sprint to the top, she lacked quite a bit, but in the pursuit race, young Magdalena tried to catch up with all the then world biathlon stars, but no one succeeded.

How to save a team and become a champion

On March 13, 2011, at the World Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk, she had one of the most outstanding races in her career. In the relay, she ran the final stage and left more than one minute behind the leaders. But on this day, Neuner was simply unstoppable. She left for the last segment of the distance with a lag of 25 seconds from the Ukrainian Oksana Khvostenko, and in the end brought her about the same, rushing along the distance like a rocket.

A year later, at the last World Championships in Neuner's career in Ruhpolding, the team repaid her in the same way - after an extremely unsuccessful Magdalena stage, other biathletes pulled the team into first place.

How the idols left. The most unexpected departures of sports stars

Politics, the church, the role of a functionary, a house in the village and a change in playing roles and other reasons that made the legendary athletes leave the sport.

How to become a double and not get into the relay

But not always Neuner had such a rosy relationship with colleagues from the national team. Suffice it to recall the Olympics in Vancouver, when Magdalena did not get into the relay four. There is still no clear explanation for this circumstance, while in personal races then Neuner won two gold and silver awards.

Someone claims that the rest of the athletes simply did not want to run with Neuner, fearing that her doping test would give positive result and the whole team will be stripped of a possible medal. Magdalena allegedly remembered 2008, when journalists from the German channel ARD and the Austrian edition of Kurier began to spin the story of blood doping, in which three dozen elite German athletes were involved, including her. But then Hayo Seppelt was still preparing for future investigations, and the scandal only affected cyclists.

Someone says that coaching staff preferred the phenomenally fast athlete to Martina Beck, who was reliable in shooting, so as not to lose a practically guaranteed award. The German team eventually won bronze.

How to shock the whole world

In December 2011, she sensationally announced that at the end of the 2011/12 season she would end her sports career. This statement caused the effect of an exploding bomb. Leave the sport at its peak, at 25? Why?

“For me, there have always been other things in life besides sports. I have always wanted to have a family. Be a mom and come home. sports goals ended for me. 100 World Cup wins have never been a motivation for me. I wanted to become Olympic champion, world champion and achieved all this. It's time to start another life," Neuner explained.

Neuner: there is nothing in life more important than family

Magdalena Neuner, in an exclusive interview with Championship.com, said that she misses the team, and not only biathlon will be watched in Sochi.

But there were other versions of her departure. Surprisingly, this decision of Magdalena coincided with the introduction of the steroid part in biathlon biological passport. In some sports, this has already been done and worked: the famous speed skating Claudia Pechstein disqualified for two years precisely on the basis of the testimony of the biopassport.

How to remove teams in full force

Just a couple of days ago, Neuner, in an interview with the Stuttgarter Zeitung, spoke on the topic of doping in biathlon.

“Teams whose athletes are systematically caught doping should be completely excluded from participation in competitions. This is a tough but correct measure, because otherwise nothing will change, and this will strike at 98% of athletes who compete honestly, ”said Magdalena. In the same interview, she supported the French Martin Fourcade in his intention to boycott competitions in the event of IBU indecision in the fight against doping.

This is the loudest statement Neuner has ever made regarding doping. Magdalena never mentioned the Russian team in this interview, but a month ago she already said that the IBU should have taken the data from the report with maximum attention. McLaren. And these data were collected only for all Russian sports. In general, Neuner herself was never convicted of anything, but it would be absolutely great if Magdalena ended her call for suspension with the words: “You can check any of my samples at any time.” But no one heard this phrase.

German biathlete, six-time biathlon world champion. Silver medalist of the 2010 Olympic Games in the sprint. The youngest winner in the overall standings of the World Cup (season 2007/08) in history. Three-time world champion in summer biathlon. After winning 3 gold medals at the World Championships in 2007, Neuner became one of the most popular sportswomen in Germany. Best Sportswoman 2007 in Germany.

Sports career

For the first time, Magdalena was brought to the biathlon section by her parents at the age of nine, where she immediately liked it very much. Even then, her talent manifested itself, but the decision to seriously concentrate on the sports field was made already at the age of sixteen, after graduating from school. The results at the junior levels of the biathlon competitive hierarchy were not long in coming: Magdalena is a seven-time biathlon world champion among youth and a multiple winner of the national youth biathlon championships in Germany. In 2005, in Germany, she was recognized by sports journalists as the junior athlete of the year. Lena got her first medals from the Junior World Championship back in 2004, when she won the relay and pursuit, and also finished second in the sprint. A year later, she took three more medals from a similar championship: gold in the sprint and two silver (in pursuit and relay). The 2006 Junior World Championship was also marked for Neuner with three awards: two gold (pursuit and relay) and one silver for sprint performance. At her last junior world championship in 2007, the German was content with victories in the sprint and pursuit.

These successes opened her way to the second most important echelon of world biathlon - the European Cup competition. In the 2005/2006 season Magdalena won three stages of the European Cup (final fifth place in the overall standings) and became the bronze medalist of the 2006 European Championship in the relay. Victories in the European Cup allowed the head coach of the German national team Uwe Myussigang to put the athlete on the World Cup.

The debut of Magdalena Neuner in the World Cup took place on January 13, 2006, as a reservist instead of the temporarily retired Uscha Disl. The first race, a sprint in German Ruhpolding, was unsuccessful for her - 41st final place without credits in the overall World Cup standings. But a few weeks later, on March 16, 2006, in the Finnish Kontiolahti, Magdalena managed to finish fourth.

The following season, on January 5, 2007, she won her first race, a 7.5 km sprint. The distinctive style of Magdalena at the beginning of the 2006/2007 season was very high speed on the track, but uncertain shooting, especially from a standing position. Therefore, many sports commentators and experts consider her the direct "heiress" of Uschi Disl, an outstanding German biathlete who had the same features. Although on this occasion Magdalena personally noted: “Each person is unique. I will not be the second Uschi Disl, but I will be the first Magdalena Neuner.” However, by the end of the season, the athlete managed to significantly improve her shooting performance and win a number of races at the Biathlon World Championship and the last two stages of the 2006/2007 World Cup. As a result, at the beginning of 2007 in Germany, Magdalena Neuner was recognized as the best athlete in winter sports in the 2006/2007 season and entered the recognized best sports team (German women's biathlon relay team). At the end of 2007, German sports journalists chose her as the best female athlete in Germany for the whole year.

In addition to biathlon, Magdalena is fond of music (playing the harp), motorcycles and needlework. Officially, she is a customs officer. In addition to his native German, he speaks English. Among fans, sports journalists and fellow athletes, she is known by the diminutive name "Lena" and has the nickname "Shooting star", in itself a pun: on English language this phrase means "meteor", and literally translates as "shooting star" - which quite accurately reflects the occupation and perception of Magdalena by fans.

Shooting Neuner

The average shooting accuracy for a career is 74%. Magdalena's highest percentage of accuracy was in her debut season - 78%. In the 2006-2007 season, the average percentage of accurate hits fell to 70%, in the victorious 2007-2008 season for her, this figure was 73%. In the 2008-2009 season, it was equal to 76% (this is the 78th result out of 113 participants). 73% of which Magdalena Neuner showed in the 2007-2008 season became worst result among the winners of the World Cup (for comparison: Andrea Henkel - 84%, Katya Wilhelm - 87%, Sandrine Bailly - 81%). Neuner's shooting was often a topic of discussion in the German media.

Ski training Neuner

Neuner is one of the fastest biathletes in the world. In the 2006-2007 season, out of 24 races she conducted, she was in the top three fastest races in 19. The following season, in 19 out of 25 races, she showed the best time at a distance, and in the remaining 6 she was in the top three. Magdalena conducts a very intensive preparation for the season (during the preparatory cycle for the 2006-2007 World Cup, Neuner covered 5300 km on skis and rollerskis).

Winter Olympics 2010

The Olympics, currently taking place in Vancouver, was the first for Magdalena in her career. In her debut Olympic race, the 7.5-kilometer sprint, Magdalena, leading along the distance, had every chance of winning. But a mistake made on the second firing line became fatal. The time spent on the passage of the penalty loop delayed the Olympic triumph of Neuner, who lost as a result to the representative of Slovakia Anastasia Kuzmina a second and five tenths. The result of the race for Magdalena was a silver Olympic medal and every chance of successful performance in the pursuit.

2009/10

First round of the 2009/10 season. in Ostersund, Sweden, Magdalena missed due to a viral infection. Therefore, the report of her performances is conducted from the second stage in the Austrian Hochfilzen. At this stage, Neuner competed in the sprint and pursuit, placing 29th and 28th respectively.

At the next round in Pokljuka, Slovenia, Neuner finished 18th in the individual race, and in the next two races Magdalena was on the podium both times, placing 3rd in the sprint and 2nd in the pursuit.

The fourth stage of the World Cup at home in the German Oberhof was also missed by her like the first. This time for back pain.

At the fifth stage in Ruhpolding, Magdalena showed an excellent ski run, but poor shooting, and took two third places (in the sprint (2 misses) and the mass start (5 misses)). And her completely unsuccessful shooting in the relay, where Lena "earned" 2 penalty loops, largely determined that the German team was outside the prize podium.

The last pre-Olympic sixth stage in the highlands in the Italian Antholz-Anterselva was a triumph for Magdalena. In the individual race, for the first time in the season, she climbed the first step of the podium, which was her first victory in her life in this type of racing. Lena showed great ski training, and despite 3 penalty minutes, came to the finish line first. In the next race in the sprint, she again showed excellent physical form and with one miss on the standing, she again outstripped all competitors, thereby issuing her 16th individual victory at the World Cup. In the pursuit race that took place on the basis of the results of the sprint, Magdalena had a chance to score a hat-trick at the stage, but a miss at the last firing line allowed her teammate Andrea Henkel to get ahead of Lena and score a victory. Neuner finished second.

2008/09

According to the results of the 2008/2009 Biathlon World Cup (including the World Championship in Pyeongchang, South Korea), Magdalena Neuner took 4th place in the overall standings (891 points). Lagging behind the owner of the Big crystal globe Helena Jonsson and runner-up with the same number of points (952) Kati Vilhelm (Jonsson won the BCG with additional indicators) amounted to 61 points, from the third place, which was taken by Tura Berger - 3 points. In the 2008-2009 season, Magdalena Neuner became the owner of the Small Crystal Globe in the standings individual races.

2007/08

According to the results of the Biathlon World Cup 2007/2008. out of ten stages (including the World Championship in Östersund, Sweden), Magdalena Neuner took 1st place in the overall standings (818 points). Superiority over the closest pursuer, Sandrine Bailly, was 13 points. In general, the season turned out to be uneven for the athlete, even before it began, some sports commentators and journalists doubted Magdalena's ability to consolidate the success achieved a year earlier, referring to the “second year syndrome” among the newcomers who clearly showed themselves and illness during late pre-season training. The first stages did not really bring finishes on the podium, however, they allowed me to score a significant number of points both in the overall standings of the World Cup and in its individual disciplines. Starting from the stage in Slovenian Pokljuka, Magdalena's results have improved significantly, she managed to finish several times in the prize-winners, both in personal and team competition. Her first individual victory of the 2007/2008 season. was the mass start in Thuringian Oberhof, where the athlete finished with a very significant advantage with the flag of Germany in her hands. The series of victories and podiums continued at the World Championships in Östersund, which was also included in the World Cup points standings, and its beginning was very disappointing for Magdalena - on her birthday, leading the sprint race on the track, she made three misses in standing shooting and ended up far beyond the winners. But in the mass start, as well as women's and mixed relay the athlete became the world champion, and the team races of the German national teams were won largely thanks to her participation. The next stage, in the South Korean Pyeongchang, was successful in the sprint, but in the subsequent pursuit Magdalena got lost on the track and lost more than a 20-second advantage over Sandrine Bailly and failed to impose a fight on either her or the other winners. However, after another successful stage for her in Khanty-Mansiysk, Magdalena led the overall World Cup standings and won the "small globe" in the mass start, despite another upcoming race in this standings. Despite mediocre results in the final races in Holmenkollen, Norway, the athlete also won victories in the sprint and overall World Cup standings, as her main rivals Andrea Henkel and Sandrine Bailly performed even worse.

2006/2007

According to the results of the Biathlon World Cup 2006/2007. out of nine stages (including the World Championship in Antholz-Anterselva, Italy), Magdalena Neuner took 4th place in the overall standings (720 points). The backlog from the winner Andrea Henkel was 150 points, from the third place occupied by Anna-Karin Olofsson - 140 points. The advantage over the closest pursuer, Florence Baverel-Robert, was 49 points.

The first full season in the World Cup was more than successful for Magdalena, although its beginning turned out to be inexpressive: the only success before the start of the “golden classic” (three stages in Oberhof, Ruhpolding and Antholz-Anterselva) was a silver medal in the relay in Austrian Hochfilzen. The first career victory came during the sprint race in Oberhof, but before the start of the World Championships, despite a couple more successes, few people seriously took the opportunity of Magdalena's participation in the fight for championship medals. All the more unexpected were her two victories in a row in the sprint and the pursuit race, and in the first race Magdalena did not allow a single miss and created such a big reserve for the pursuit race that she confidently finished first there, despite four misses on the firing lines while standing. third gold medal the athlete won as part of the German women's relay team. The series of victories and podiums continued after the World Championship, the final stage of the season in Khanty-Mansiysk was especially successful for Magdalena: 1 victory and 1 second place. On the other hand, a large number of shooting misses and a confident performance by her rivals did not allow her to rise above fourth place in the overall World Cup standings, although the demonstrated potential left no doubt about Magdalena's ability to fight for all the highest places and biathlon titles.

Though Magladena Neuner considers herself a completely ordinary girl, however, all over the world she is famous for her undeniable popularity. Having achieved incredible success in sports and possessing female attractiveness, she is considered the most beautiful athlete in the history of biathlon.

Magdalena "Lena" Neuner(Magdalena Neuner) was born on February 9, 1987 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Bavaria) - a professional German biathlete who ended her career in March 2012.At the moment she is the most successful woman in the biathlon world championships - 12 victories and a two-time Olympic champion (she won the pursuit and mass start race in Vancouver in 2010)

At 21 Magdalena won the Biathlon World Cup and became the youngest owner of this trophy.During her career, she won the Biathlon World Cup three times - in 2007-08, in 2009-10 and in 2011-12.

Magdalena spent her childhood in the Bavarian city of Wallgau. At the age of six, Lena's parents brought her to the ski section. Three years later, having come on an excursion to the biathlon center and having shot from a rifle, the girl switched to biathlon. Lena won seven victories at the junior world championships from 2004 to 2008.Along with competitions at the level of youth teams in 2005, Neuner begins to play in the second most important tournament - the European Cup in Biathlon. Having taken 5th place at the end of the season, Lena received an invitation to main team country. At that time, she was not yet 19 years old.

Successes in the main Bundesmanschaft came after a year of performances - in January 2007, the first gold at the World Cup.And a month later, Lena the gold medal of the world champion appeared in the piggy bank and not one, but three - thanks to victories in the sprint, pursuit and relay.Over the seven years of her performances at the world cups, Lena has 34 wins and 64 podiums. 17 medals have been won at the World Championships, 12 of which are gold.

Photogenic and open Lena immediately led to advertising contracts and photo shoots. She first starred in an underwear commercial.

Then I got an offer to appear in a magazine. Playboy which Lena refused. And after the end of her career, Magdalena is the advertising face of the company Adidas.

Magdalena is fond of not only sports, among her hobbies are knitting and playing the harp.

As for personal life in 2009 Lena announced a relationship with a former school friend Joseph Holzer.

It is expected that in the summer of 2012 Lena will work as a journalist and report on events summer olympic games in London.

Three-time world champion in summer biathlon. After winning 3 gold medals at the World Championships in 2007, Neuner became one of the most popular sportswomen in Germany. Best Sportswoman 2007 in Germany.

Sports career

The following season, on January 5, 2007, she won her first race, a 7.5 km sprint. Magdalena's distinctive style at the beginning of the 2006/2007 season was very fast on the track, but hesitant shooting, especially from a standing position. Therefore, many sports commentators and experts consider her the direct "heiress" of Uschi Disl, an outstanding German biathlete who had the same features. Although on this occasion Magdalena personally noted: “Each person is unique. I will not be the second Uschi Disl, but I will be the first Magdalena Neuner.” However, by the end of the season, the athlete managed to significantly improve her shooting performance and win a number of races at the Biathlon World Championship and the last two stages of the 2006/2007 World Cup. As a result, at the beginning of 2007 in Germany, Magdalena Neuner was recognized as the best athlete in winter sports in the 2006/2007 season and entered the recognized best sports team (German women's biathlon relay team). At the end of 2007, German sports journalists chose her as the best female athlete in Germany for the whole year.

In addition to biathlon, Magdalena is fond of music (playing the harp), motorcycles and needlework. Officially, she is a customs officer. In addition to his native German, he speaks English. Among fans, sports journalists and fellow athletes, she is known by the diminutive name "Lena" and has the nickname "Shooting star", which in itself is a pun: in English this phrase means "meteor", and literally translates as "shooting star ”- which quite accurately reflects the occupation and perception of Magdalena by the fans.

Shooting Neuner

The average shooting accuracy for a career is 74%. Magdalena's highest percentage of accuracy was in her debut season - 78%. In the 2006-2007 season, the average percentage of accurate hits fell to 70%, in the victorious 2007-2008 season for her, this figure was 73%. In the 2008-2009 season, it was equal to 76% (this is the 78th result out of 113 participants). 73% Magdalena Neuner showed in the 2007-2008 season was the worst result among the winners of the World Cup (for comparison: Andrea Henkel - 84%, Katya Wilhelm - 87%, Sandrine Bailly - 81%). Neuner's shooting was often a topic of discussion in the German media.

Ski training Neuner

Neuner is one of the fastest biathletes in the world. In the 2006-2007 season, out of 24 races she conducted, she was in the top three fastest races in 19. The following season, in 19 of the 25 races held, she showed the best time on the course, and in the remaining 6 she was in the top three. Magdalena conducts a very intensive preparation for the season (during the preparatory cycle for the 2006-2007 World Cup, Neuner covered 5300 km on skis and rollerskis).

Winter Olympics 2010

The Olympics, currently taking place in Vancouver, was the first for Magdalena in her career. In her debut Olympic race, the 7.5-kilometer sprint, Magdalena, leading along the distance, had every chance of winning. But a mistake made on the second firing line became fatal. The time spent on the passage of the penalty loop delayed the Olympic triumph of Neuner, who lost as a result to the representative of Slovakia Anastasia Kuzmina a second and five tenths. The result of the race for Magdalena was a silver Olympic medal and all the chances for a successful performance in the pursuit.

2009/10

The fourth stage of the World Cup at home in the German Oberhof was also missed by her like the first. This time for back pain.

At the fifth stage in Ruhpolding, Magdalena showed excellent skiing, but poor shooting, and took

and two third places (in the sprint (2 misses) and mass start (5 misses)). And her completely unsuccessful shooting in the relay, where Lena "earned" 2 penalty loops, largely determined that the German team was outside the prize podium.

The last pre-Olympic sixth stage in the highlands in the Italian Antholz-Anterselva was a triumph for Magdalena. In the individual race, for the first time in the season, she climbed the first step of the podium, which was her first victory in her life in this type of racing. Lena showed excellent ski training, and despite 3 penalty minutes, she came to the finish line first. In the next sprint race, she again showed excellent physical condition and with one penalty on the standing she again outstripped all competitors, thereby registering her 16th individual World Cup victory. In the pursuit race that took place on the basis of the results of the sprint, Magdalena had a chance to score a hat-trick at the stage, but a miss at the last firing line allowed her teammate Andrea Henkel to get ahead of Lena and score a victory. Neuner finished second.

2008/09

According to the results of the 2008/2009 Biathlon World Cup (including the World Championship in Pyeongchang, South Korea), Magdalena Neuner took 4th place in the overall standings (891 points). Helena Jonsson, winner of the Big Crystal Globe, and Kati Wilhelm, second with the same number of points (952), (Jonsson won the BCG with additional indicators) was 61 points, from third place, which was taken by Tura Berger - 3 points. In the 2008-2009 season, Magdalena Neuner became the owner of the Small Crystal Globe in the standings of individual races.

2007/08

According to the results of the Biathlon World Cup 2007/2008. out of ten stages (including the World Championship in Östersund, Sweden), Magdalena Neuner took 1st place in the overall standings (818 points). Superiority over the closest pursuer, Sandrine Bailly, was 13 points. In general, the season turned out to be uneven for the athlete, even before it began, some sports commentators and journalists doubted Magdalena's ability to consolidate the success achieved a year earlier, referring to the “second year syndrome” among the newcomers who clearly showed themselves and illness during late pre-season training. The first stages did not really bring finishes on the podium, however, they allowed me to score a significant number of points both in the overall standings of the World Cup and in its individual disciplines. Since the stage in Slovenian Pokljuka, Magdalena's results have improved significantly, she managed to finish several times in the prize-winners, both in individual and team competitions. Her first individual victory of the 2007/2008 season. was the mass start in Thuringian Oberhof, where the athlete finished with a very significant advantage with the flag of Germany in her hands. The series of victories and podiums continued at the World Championships in Östersund, which was also included in the World Cup points standings, and its beginning was very disappointing for Magdalena - on her birthday, leading the sprint race on the track, she made three misses in standing shooting and ended up far beyond the winners. But in the mass start, as well as in the women's and mixed relay races, the athlete became the world champion, and the team races of the German national teams were won largely thanks to her participation. The next stage, in the South Korean Pyeongchang, was successful in the sprint, but in the subsequent pursuit Magdalena got lost on the track and lost more than a 20-second advantage over Sandrine Bailly and failed to impose a fight on either her or the other winners. However, after another successful stage for her in Khanty-Mansiysk, Magdalena led the overall World Cup standings and won the "small globe" in the mass start, despite another upcoming race in this standings. Despite mediocre results in the final races in Holmenkollen, Norway, the athlete also won victories in the sprint and overall World Cup standings, as her main rivals Andrea Henkel and Sandrine Bailly performed even worse.

2006/2007

The first full season in the World Cup was more than successful for Magdalena, although its beginning turned out to be inexpressive: the only success before the start of the “golden classic” (three stages in Oberhof, Ruhpolding and Antholz-Anterselva) was a silver medal in the relay in Austrian Hochfilzen. The first career victory came during the sprint race in Oberhof, but before the start of the World Championships, despite a couple more successes, few people seriously took the opportunity of Magdalena's participation in the fight for championship medals. All the more unexpected were her two victories in a row in the sprint and the pursuit race, and in the first race Magdalena did not allow a single miss and created such a big reserve for the pursuit race that she confidently finished first there, despite four misses on the firing lines while standing. The athlete won the third gold medal as part of the German women's relay team. The series of victories and podiums continued after the World Championship, the final stage of the season in Khanty-Mansiysk was especially successful for Magdalena: 1 victory and 1 second place. On the other hand, a large number of shooting misses and a confident performance by her rivals did not allow her to rise above fourth place in the overall World Cup standings, although the demonstrated potential left no doubt about Magdalena's ability to fight for all the highest places and biathlon titles.

Awards

Sportswoman of the Year in Germany - 2007.

Rookie Biathlete of the Year - 2007.

Biathlete of the Year - 2007, 2008.

Laureate of the "Golden Ski" of the Association ski types Germany (DSV) - 2007, 2008.

Biathlete of the season at Forum Nordicum - 2008.

Personal life

Neuner has lived in the small Bavarian town of Walgau since birth. In 2007, she bought an apartment here for her grandmother. Neuner dated and corresponded for two years with former Austrian biathlete Franz Peyrvin, whom she met during the 2006 Biathlon Youth World Championships. In January 2008 they broke up. Magdalena is fond of knitting and this was often mentioned in the media. She has a knitting blog. In February 2007, Neuner turned down an offer from Playboy magazine.