Denise Herrmann

	Denise Herrmann
nation	Germany
birthday	December 20, 1988 (age 33)
place of birth	Schlema , GDR
size	175 cm
Weight	61kg
job	sports soldier
Career
discipline	Cross-country skiing ; biathlon
society	WSC Erzgebirge Oberwiesenthal
Trainer	Kristian Mehringer , Florian Steirer
national squad	since 2016 (biathlon)
status	active
medal table
participants in cross-country skiing
winter Olympics
participant in biathlon
winter Olympics
Biathlon World Championships
Nordic Junior Ski World Championships
German championships
Placements in the cross-country skiing world cup
World Cup debut	February 13, 2009
Overall World Cup	09. ( 2013/14 , 2014/15 )
Sprint World Cup	02nd (2013/14)
Distance World Cup	16. (2014/15)
Tour de Ski	08th ( 2015 )
Placements in the Biathlon World Cup
World Cup debut	December 9, 2016
World Cup victories	11 (7 individual wins)
Overall World Cup	3rd ( 2019/20 )
Individual World Cup	3rd ( 2019/20 )
Sprint World Cup	1st (2019/20)
Pursuit World Cup	5. (2019/20)
Mass Start World Cup	6th (2019/20)
	last modified: February 7, 2022

Denise Herrmann (born December 20, 1988 in Schlema ) is a German biathlete and cross-country skier . She became the 2019 World Pursuit Champion and the 2022 Olympic 15 km Champion in Biathlon . Herrmann is a sports soldier in the Bundeswehr Sports Promotion Group in Frankenberg , Saxony , lives in Ruhpolding and trains at the base there in the Chiemgau Arena .

Career

cross country skiing

beginnings

Herrmann came to cross-country skiing through her father Lutz , a former handball player in the DDR-Oberliga . At the age of eight she took part in competitions for the first time, four years later she switched to the ski school in Oberwiesenthal , 35 kilometers from her home town of Bockau , where she had been training at the WSC Erzgebirge since the beginning of her career . In the years that followed, Herrmann competed in various regional races; from 2004 she also competed in international junior races. Greatest success during this time was the victory over 7.5 kilometers in free style at the European Olympic Winter Youth Festival 2005 , which took place at the end of January 2005 in Monthey , Switzerland . In the winter of 2006/07, Herrmann started consistently in the Alpencup , where she finished second overall thanks to consistently good results. She achieved the greatest success of her career up to that point in March 2007, when the 18-year-old reached the final at the Junior World Championships in the classic sprint and took bronze behind Astrid Jacobsen and Charlotte Kalla .

Doping ban and first World Cup appearances

In November 2007, Herrmann was banned by the German Ski Association (DSV) for one year because she had tested positive for clenbuterol after taking a cough syrup and had thus violated the doping guidelines. After the ban, she took part in international competitions again in autumn 2008, where she continued to be successful and therefore made her first appearance in the World Cup in February 2009 . In Valdidentro, Italy, the German finished 37th among 64 participants. So that she gained experience, DSV Herrmann used more frequently in the World Cup in the following season ; among other things, she started at the Tour de Ski , where she reached the quarterfinals in the sprint in Prague for the first time and as 28th collected her first three World Cup points. In addition, this winter she became U23 Vice World Champion in the freestyle sprint and once again achieved third place in the overall Alpencup ranking.

Already at the beginning of the 2010/11 season , Herrmann achieved further successes: First, she moved into the semi-finals of a sprint for the first time at the home World Cup in Düsseldorf , where she retired after a fall, but still finished twelfth. This meant half meeting the World Championships norm , for which athletes had to finish either in the top fifteen twice or in the top eight once. The 22-year-old achieved the final qualification at the start of the Tour de Ski : There she took seventh place in the prologue as the best German, leaving behind the multiple World Cup winner Petra Majdič and the reigning sprint world champion Arianna Follis . Herrmann himself was surprised by the good result and explained that this was not to be expected.

First podium finishes and participation in the Olympics

Herrmann at the Cross-Country World Cup in Canada, 2012

Denise Herrmann achieved her first podium place in the World Cup in the 2012/13 season on December 7th in a team sprint with Hanna Kolb in Québec . She achieved her best individual result in the cross-country skiing World Cup on December 15, 2012 in the sprint in Canmore , where she finished fourth. In her first complete Tour de Ski, in January 2013 , Herrmann finished 13th in the overall standings, after having placed fourth twice in the seven individual stages. Her best results at the 2013 Nordic World Ski Championships in Val di Fiemme were tenth in the sprint and seventh in the relay. She finished the season in 13th place in the World Cup Total Score. At the beginning of the 2013/14 season , she achieved two more podium finishes with third place in the sprint in Davos and in the team sprint in Asiago . Also at the Tour de Ski 2013/14 , which she did not finish, she achieved some top ten placings. Two more podium finishes followed in the sprint races in Szklarska Poręba and Toblach . At her first Olympic participation in 2014 in Sochi , she came eighth in the sprint. Together with Stefanie Böhler , she just missed a medal with fourth place in the team sprint. She won bronze in the relay. For this, on May 8, 2014, both were awarded the Silver Laurel Leaf by Federal President Joachim Gauck . She finished the season in ninth place in the World Cup total score and second in the sprint score.

At the beginning of the following season she reached 14th place at the Nordic Opening in Lillehammer . She finished the Tour de Ski 2015 in eighth place. At the 2015 Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun , she finished 17th in the sprint, sixth in the relay and fourth in the team sprint with Nicole Fessel . She ended the season in ninth place overall. In March 2015 she became German champion in the 30 km classic mass start race. In the 2015/16 season she came 29th at the Nordic Opening in Ruka and 22nd at the Tour de Ski 2016 . Her best World Cup individual result of the season was sixth place in the Toblach sprint . At the end of the season she finished 28th at the Ski Tour Canada and finished 23rd in the overall World Cup and 12th in the Sprint World Cup.

At the end of March 2019, she finished second in the team sprint together with her sister Nadine Herrmann at the German cross-country skiing championships in Reit im Winkl .

biathlon

Denise Herrmann at the Biathlon World Cup in Oberhof in January 2018

At the end of April 2016, Herrmann announced that she would switch to biathlon for the 2016/17 season . She has been training for the new discipline in Ruhpolding since May 1, 2016 .

First biathlon season 2016/2017

She won her first international race, the IBU Cup sprint in Beitostølen , Norway . In windy conditions, she used her running strength and, despite six shooting errors, took first place. Two days later, again in a sprint, she was back on the podium in third place. In Ridnaun she only started in the mixed relay and together with Nadine Horchler , Lukas Rombach and Matthias Bischl she took 3rd place.

On December 9, 2016, Herrmann made her debut in the Pokljuka sprint in the Biathlon World Cup and, with two shooting errors, achieved 18th place through good running performance, she finished the pursuit in 21st place. At the European Biathlon Championships in Duszniki-Zdrój , Poland , she missed a medal by just ten seconds with a 5th place in the sprint. Another win in the sprint and a 3rd place in the pursuit followed at the IBU Cup in Brezno .

After the World Championships , she was accepted back into the World Cup team after Miriam Gössner and Franziska Preuß ended their season prematurely due to illness. After finishing 25th in the sprint and 33rd in the pursuit, she started in Pyeongchang in her first relay race in the World Cup together with Nadine Horchler, Maren Hammerschmidt and Franziska Hildebrand . After a clean prone stage, Herrmann had to complete a penalty loop after the standing stage and handed over to anchor Hildebrand, just behind. In the end, the German women's relay team won the race and Denise Herrmann her first race in the Biathlon World Cup. Herrmann finished her first Biathlon World Cup season 2016/17 in 49th place.

Season 2017/2018

Herrmann celebrated her first individual victory in the Biathlon World Cup on December 1, 2017 in the sprint race in Östersund. Just two days later she also won the pursuit race in Östersund. In her second biathlon season , 2017/18 , Herrmann was already 12th in the overall World Cup standings. She finished 6th, 11th and 21st at the February 2018 Winter Olympics .

Season 2018/2019

In the mixed relay with Vanessa Hinz , Arnd Peiffer and Benedikt Doll , she won her first medal in a major event with silver at the 2019 World Championships in Östersund . The next day she finished sixth in the sprint and became world champion in the pursuit. After narrowly missing out on the podium in fourth place in the relay and single mixed relay, she ended up winning the bronze medal in the mass start race. At the end of her third biathlon season , 2018/19 , Herrman was ranked 8th in the World Cup Total Score.

Season 2019/2020

In the 2019/20 season, Denise Herrmann often placed in the front field in the World Cup. She won three runs. At the 2020 World Championships in Antholz , Italy , Herrmann came fourth in the mixed relay and fifth in the sprint. With her silver medals in the pursuit and the relay, she again won several medals at a world championship. At the end of the 2019/20 World Cup season , Herrmann was in 3rd place and thus achieved her best result so far in the overall World Cup ranking.

Season 2020/2021

In the 2020/21 World Cup season, which was heavily influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic , Herrmann showed mixed results. Although she did not win, in addition to many lower places, there were also three second places. At the World Championships in 2021 , she was only able to win a medal with the women's relay. At the end of the 2020/21 World Cup season , Herrmann was in 10th place, well behind her placement from the previous winter.

Season 2021/2022

The Olympic season started with a 3rd place in Östersund. After that, Herrmann was no longer able to place in the front. Before the start of the 2022 Winter Olympics , she was ranked 18th in the 2021–22 World Cup Total Score . Her Olympic victory in the individual over 15 km was therefore surprising – the greatest success of her sporting career so far.

awards

Herrmann received the Silver Laurel Leaf on May 8, 2014 for winning the bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics .

On October 23, 2014, the sports soldier received the Bundeswehr Cross of Honor in gold together with Eric Frenzel .

In 2019 she was appointed Ambassador of the Ore Mountains .

On January 11, 2020, Denise Herrmann was named Saxon Sportswoman of the Year 2019. This makes her the first biathlete to be named Saxon Sportswoman of the Year.

private

Denise Herrmann lives in Ruhpolding and is in a relationship with former cross-country skier Thomas Wick . Her sister Nadine is also a cross-country skier.

Placements in the cross-country skiing world cup

World Cup Stats

The table shows the placements achieved in detail.

1st-3rd place: Number of podium finishes
Top 10: Number of finishes in the top ten
Points ranks: Number of placements within the points ranks
Starts: Number of races run in the respective discipline
Note: The distance races are classified according to FIS.

placement	distance race ^a					Skiathlon pursuit	sprint	stage race ^b	total	team
placement	≤5km	≤10km	≤ 15km	≤ 30km	> 30 km	Skiathlon pursuit	sprint	stage race ^b	total	sprint	series
1st place
2nd place							3		3	1
3rd place							3		3	1
top 10	5	3				3	23	1	35	7	5
scores	17	16	1			15	53	4	106	11	7
launches	20	26	2	1		27	71	8th	155	11	7
Status: end of season 2019/20

^aincluding individual starts and mass starts according to FIS classification

^bEntire race, not individual stages, e.g. B. Tour de Ski, Nordic Opening, season finale

World Cup Overall Placements

season	total		distance		sprint
season	Points	place	Points	place	Points	place
2009/10	3	124	–	–	3	87
2010/11	139	41	41	44	96	23
2011/12	192	39	63	41	129	28
2012/13	535	13.	250	17	205	11.
2013/14	704	9.	144	18	496	2.
2014/15	548	9.	215	16	169	13.
2015/16	399	23	118	29	229	12.
2016/17	20	90	–	–	20	54

Placements in the Biathlon World Cup

World Cup victories

All Biathlon World Cup victories, listed separately for individual and relay races. The columns can be sorted by clicking the symbol in the table header.

single race

relay race

No.	date	location	discipline
1.	December 1, 2017	Sweden Ostersund	sprint
2.	December 3, 2017	Sweden Ostersund	persecution
3.	February 16, 2019	United States Soldier Hollow	persecution
4.	March 10, 2019	Sweden Ostersund ( WM )	persecution
5.	January 24, 2020	Slovenia Pokljuka	singles
6.	March 5, 2020	Czech Republic Nove Mesto na Morave	sprint
7.	March 13, 2020	Finland Kontiolahti	sprint

No.	date	location	discipline
1.	March 5, 2017	Korea South Pyeongchang	season ¹
2.	January 13, 2018	Germany Ruhpolding	season ²
3.	February 8, 2019	Canada Canmore	season ³
4.	January 16, 2021	Germany Oberhof	season ⁴

¹with Nadine Horchler , Maren Hammerschmidt and Franziska Hildebrand

²with Franziska Preuss , Franziska Hildebrand and Laura Dahlmeier

³with Vanessa Hinz , Franziska Hildebrand and Laura Dahlmeier

⁴with Vanessa Hinz, Janina Hettich and Franziska Preuss

Biathlon World Cup Placements

The table shows all placings (including Olympic Games and World Championships depending on the year).

1st-3rd Place: Number of podium finishes
Top 10: Number of finishes in the top ten (including podium)
Points ranks: Number of placements within the points ranks (including podium and top 10)
Starts: Number of races run in the respective discipline
Relay: including mixed relays

placement	singles	sprint	persecution	mass start	series	total
1st place	1	3	3		4	11
2nd place	1	2	3		7	13
3rd place	1			1	3	5
top 10	3	17	15	6	29	70
scores	11	36	32	17	30	126
launches	11	43	34	17	30	135
As of December 31, 2021

World Cup Ratings

Results at Biathlon World Cups (disciplines and overall World Cup) according to the points system

season	singles		sprint		persecution		mass start		total
season	place	Points	place	Points	place	Points	place	Points	place	Points
2016/17	–	–	40	79	53	35	–	–	49	114
2017/18	40	19	14	149	7.	197	15	112	12.	477
2018/19	29	39	15	170	6.	254	9.	148	8th.	611
2019/20	4.	112	1.	314	5.	155	6.	164	3.	745
2020/21	6.	80	9.	238	9.	197	14	106	10	667

winter Olympics

	Individual competitions				relay competitions
	singles	sprint	persecution	mass start	women's relay	mixed relay
PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics Korea South	–	21	6.	11.	8th.	–
Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics China People's Republic	1.					5.

World Championships

	Individual competitions				relay competitions
	singles	sprint	persecution	mass start	women's relay	mixed relay	S.-M. Squadron
World Championships 2019 Ostersund Sweden	–	6.	1.	3.	4.	2.	4.
World Championships 2020 Antholz Italy	12.	5.	2.	12.	2.	4.	–
World Championships 2021 Pokljuka Slovenia	15	4.	8th.	–	2.	7.	–