Short Individuals to Hettich-Walz and Horn

The Championships weekend opened on a very warm Friday with Short Individual, using penalty loops instead of time penalties. The women’s 12.5 km kicked off the weekend, with Janina Hettich-Walz taking the title in 34:39 with three penalties. The 2026 Olympian’s solid skiing carried the day, finishing 1:04 ahead of Silver medalist Johanna Puff who recorded just two penalties. Bronze went to Julia Tannheimer, 1:08 back with five penalties. Farther down the results, Vanessa Voigt in fifth,1:51 back was the only clean shooter in the 39-strong field.

The mid-afternoon’s men’s 15 km title went to Philipp Horn who took control from the start, shot clean, finishing in 35:14.6. Lucas Fratzscher with three penalties, finished a distant second for the Silver medal, 1:23.8 back. 22-year-old Fabian Kaskel, who won two medals at the 2025 IBU YJWCH finished with Bronze, with a single penalty in the last standing stage, 1:32.2 back. Olympic Mixed Relay Bronze medalists Justus Strelow and Philipp Nawrath finished fourth and fifth, with two and six penalties, respectively.

Franz Schazer Surprises Men’s Sprint Field

Although Hettich-Walz is an old hand at winning German Championships’ titles, Franz Schaser racked up his first-ever German Championship later on Saturday afternoon, shooting clean for a 23:36.5 victory. The 23-year-old closed last season with a clean-shooting IBU OECH sprint Silver medal and got his first taste of the World Cup with two starts at Oslo. Philipp Horn was faster on the tracks, but his two penalties left the veteran with the Silver medal, 18.7 seconds back. Schaser’s victory was a surprise but the Bronze medalist was even bigger. 21-year-old Nils Schneiderling who competed mostly in regional events last season grab closed 9-of-10 targets, finishing just 1.3 seconds behind 2026 Olympian Horn and ahead of Friday’s Short Individual Gold medalist Rees and Nawrath, fourth and fifth, respectively.

Hettich Walz Hat Trick; Horn Tops Men’s Pursuit

After handily winning on both Friday and Saturday, Hettich-Walz sealed her hat trick with a wire-to-wire Pursuit win in 29:32.3. With a sizeable gap at the start, she cleaned both prone stages before missing one shot in each of the two standing stages. Johanna Puff won her third Silver medal, going 19-for-20 on the range, 25.9 seconds back. As in the previous competitions, Julia Tannheimer was fast on the track, winning Bronze despite five penalties, 1:13.9 back.

Horn rebounded from his second in Saturday’s Sprint to claim his second Gold medal of the weekend, taking Sunday’s 12.5 km Pursuit in 31:08.7, with four penalties. Behind him, Nawrath and David Zobel battles for the two other podium spots. Nawrath’s ski speed prevailed for the Silver medal, with four penalties to Bronze medalist Zobel’s three, 17.2 to 19.1 seconds back.