Janina Hettich-Walz and Philipp Horn are the first German champions of 2026. On Friday both defended their short individual titles on the opening day of the German Biathlon Championships at Notschrei in the Black Forest. The women raced 12.5 km and the men 15 km, each with four shooting stages.
Rollerskis and penalty loops
The races at the Nordic Center Notschrei were held on rollerskis. As at last year's championships, the rules for the individual were changed: penalty loops replaced time penalties to put more weight on skiing performance. The women's field featured 37 DSV athletes plus guests Alina Stremous and Susanne Meinen.
Hettich-Walz wins by more than a minute
Janina Hettich-Walz of SC Schönwald cleaned her first stage, then missed one target in each of the next three. Despite three penalty loops she crossed the line 1:04.8 minutes clear. The Schwarzwälder Bote said she used her home advantage. In 2025, after returning from maternity leave, she won the short individual and sprint titles at the championships at Arber, plus silver in the pursuit.
Johanna Puff (SC Bayerischzell) took silver, missing two targets in her final stage only. Puff had to cut last season short because of myocarditis and had considered retiring.
Julia Tannheimer (DAV Ulm) took bronze. She opened with two misses, followed up with two clean stages and then had to ski three penalty loops after the decisive stage. According to xc-ski.de, a strong performance on the rollerskis secured her the bronze medal, completing the podium in her home stadium. The Schwarzwälder Bote called her another local athlete and noted that she attended the ski boarding school in Furtwangen. The paper said both Hettich-Walz and Tannheimer experienced the opening day as a home race.
BiathlonFrance biathlon: Seven men fight for five World Cup spots in Geilo- 4. Julia Kink (4 misses)
- 5. Vanessa Voigt (clean shooting)
- 6. Julia Vogler (SC Gosheim)
Clean Horn, local podium for Kaskel
Philipp Horn (SV Frankenhain) hit every target across four stages and won the 15 km in 35:14.6 according to xc-ski.de, or 35:14 according to the Schwarzwälder Bote. The paper said the DSV squad athlete thus repeated his individual wins of the past two years.
Lucas Fratzscher was second, as he was last year, with three penalty loops, 1:23.8 minutes back. xc-ski.de lists his club as WSV Oberhof and the Schwarzwälder Bote as SV Oberhof. Behind him came 22-year-old Fabian Kaskel of SC Todtnau, 8.4 seconds back according to xc-ski.de and eight seconds according to the Schwarzwälder Bote. The local athlete led for a long time and only picked up his one penalty loop in the final stage.
Roman Rees of SV Schauinsland, described by the Schwarzwälder Bote as the athlete with the shortest journey to the venue, finished 13th with five misses and praised the conditions.
