Feature: Germany's golden biathlete nearly misses the 2022 Beijing Games due to poor shooting results

BERLIN, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Following a strict but unusual strategy made Denise Herrmann win the Biathlon gold medal in the women's 15 km individuals at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

The 33-year-old's success now stands for another chapter of uncountable surprises in Olympic history and strengthens the particular charm of the world's most important sports event.

Before being overwhelmed by her emotions standing next to the Zhangjiakou track the German athlete had to go through challenging times.

Herrmann entirely focused on the season-high Olympic Games, which meant to not take World-cup events too seriously.

Instead, she attended altitude training camps to prepare her body for the particular requirements of the Chinese venue situated at an altitude of 1700 meters.

"I didn't get much approval for that; I was under fire and not many people liked my strategy," she reported.

Placing everything on one card even endangered her participation in the German team for Beijing. Her poor shooting performances in the pre-Olympic events didn't amuse her coaches, the fans, and many of her national teammates.

Herrmann dropped out of the list of expected medal delivers.

The remarkable return to glory in China might have changed the perspective regarding her preparation efforts.

In Zhangjiakou, she became the second German female winter athlete to win Olympic medals in different sports after Susi Erdmann (1992/1994 luge/2002 bob).

In 2016 Herrmann changed from cross-country skiing to biathlon.

The 2022 gold is her second Olympic medal after winning bronze with the German team in the 2014 cross-country relay.

Six years ago, she somehow felt stuck in her sport and decided to take a step into the unknown as she had to add shooting to her skiing.

"Everyone knows, I have often cursed my rifle and shooting," she said. "But I decided to accept, wired interplays of setbacks and victories are part of biathlon."

And more, biathlon is a mind-thing. "It's not only about skiing and shooting, but your mental state also makes you win or end up somewhere behind the first."

She decided to forget about the past and the future and to continue to only aim at the Olympics and only train to be at her best for the day of the biathlon singles.

"At the 2022 Games I tried to entirely focus on my race; to feel confidence and trust in my abilities," she added.

In Zhangjiakou, she only failed one of her 20 shots and achieved her best season result. She concluded the fourth and last shooting station is the decisive one.

"Stay calm, only think about your race," she said, aware 15 kilometers in biathlon would be providing enough lonely moments not making her lose concentration.

The single event is about hitting your shooting targets when everyone is exhausted at the fourth station; running times are less important, she concluded after endless training sessions with her rifle.

Other than most of her medal competitors, she delivered five successful shots and finished her journey to gold.