Italian Lisa Vittozzi finished her 2018/2019 BMW IBU World Cup season with the best results of her career: second in the overall, a silver medal at the IBU World Championships in the individual and a bronze in the mixed relay, as well as her maiden World Cup triumphs in Oberhof. Yet, the 24-year-old was not fully satisfied and has been working hard since the very first day of her off season to do even better in the upcoming winter.

In this first episode of our series of interviews called “Women on the Rise”, the girl from Sappada shared her thoughts on some of the key topics of female biathlon, revealing that, behind her gentle manners and shy personality, lies an ambitious champion.

“My winter was good but at the end of the season I missed something, I was nervous and not calm like I usually am. This reflected on my shooting and it is the reason why I lost the overall,” said the Italian, who is motivated to transform those difficult days in Holmenkollen into a valuable experience.

For Vittozzi, the level of women’s biathlon is really high, with numerous women who are fighting for the podium spots. Yet, she wants to be up there on a constant base, not just for the medal events.

“My goal is to be consistent and not just focused on the IBU World Championships. Obviously, I don’t want to repeat the same mistakes of the past winter, so enjoying the moment and not thinking all the time about the Overall.”