Philipp Horn: calm, confident, ready
With the Loop One Festival in Munich over, biathletes enter the final phase of their season preparation. For Philipp Horn, it's a special situation: his successes last winter have secured him a World Cup starting spot at the season opener. That changes quite a lot for him.
Horn is now one of the experienced athletes on the German team. At 31, with more than 130 World Cup starts, he has already experienced plenty in his biathlon career. Even so, this summer's season preparation was different for him. "In past years, the qualification races in November often decided whether I would get a World Cup starting spot or not. That put me under so much pressure that I made shooting mistakes and didn't make the team," he explains.
The certainty of being guaranteed a World Cup spot, he says, gave him the necessary calm while preparing for the coming winter. He also feels the coaches' trust — not least because the Olympic winter was one of the best seasons of his career so far.
A World Cup podium and competing at the Olympic Winter Games were big dreams of mine. I was able to fulfil both, and I'm very proud of that.
Overall, Horn looks back on last season with satisfaction, even though he narrowly missed the bronze medal in the mass start at the Olympic Winter Games. "I've often thought about that race. It was one of the best races of the season, and yet it still annoys me that Quentin Fillon Maillet overtook me on the final lap."
Loop One Festival – The perfect booster for the World Cup season
His two victories at the German Championships and two top-ten finishes at the Loop One Festival in Munich show him that he is on the right track after the summer training. At his first appearance at the Loop One Festival, it was the atmosphere in particular that impressed him. It felt like racing in a cauldron; the crowd's enthusiasm was clearly noticeable for the athletes out on the course.
What is very valuable for us biathletes is the stress and pressure at the shooting range. You can't simulate that in training. The results give me a good feeling, but I also know they don't mean much for the winter. But of course, the excitement for the World Cup races is huge.
BI69 - In focus - Philipp Horn
Between biathlon and the building site
Alongside biathlon, Philipp Horn has been pursuing another project for two years: together with his wife Antonia, he is renovating a hotel in Oberhof that is set to open later this year.
We want to create a home for athletes and accommodation for active vacationers, teams, and high-performance athletes.
The couple have done much of the renovation themselves, supported by family members and friends. "I enjoy the hands-on work, but of course it wasn't easy to balance it with training. We wanted to be done by now, but it ended up taking more time, energy, and money than originally expected. But we're looking forward to the opening," says the 31-year-old.
Is he already thinking about the end of his career?
In the 2026/2027 season, Horn wants to stand on the podium again. Even more important to the German, however, are consistent performances that could earn him a place in the World Cup's top 15 by the end of the winter. "There can't be any more dips in performance."
Philipp Horn doesn't yet know what comes after that.
After Olympic Games, you do think about how much longer you want to keep doing the sport. But by May at the latest, I felt that it's not yet time to hang up the rifle. I still enjoy biathlon and I'm still motivated for training.
Until the end of his career, his wife Antonia will run the hotel. And if the season goes as successfully as the last one, biathlon fans can look forward to continuing to see Philipp Horn out on the course and at the shooting range.
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