PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Anamarija Lampic is doing her first season as a biathlete this year.
And she has made a big impression on the Swedish riders.
– She plays and drives eights around us, reads the Swedish summation of the Slovenian’s achievements so far.
As Stina Nilsson so chose the Slovenian Anamarija Lampic to exchange cross-country skis for biathlon. She started by competing in the IBU Cup, but in December she had to make her debut in the World Cup in Hochfilzen. That time she shot full in the prone shooting and finished in an impressive fifth place to say the least.
“Drive eights around us”
For obvious reasons, her progress has not gone unnoticed, and now she receives great praise from the Swedish side.
– It’s like the rest of us are stopping blocks, she plays and runs figure eights around us it feels like. She rides extremely well technically and with an explosiveness from the start that I can only manage in a sprint. She gets really exciting to follow, says Mona Brorsson to Aftonbladet.
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Despite the good start in biathlon, Lampic has not closed the door to the cross-country WC in Planica, which starts in February, and she has previously said that she drew inspiration from the Swede Stina Nilsson. Both in cross-country skiing but also in biathlon.
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Stina’s tribute
Stina Nilsson, like Mona Brorsson, is also impressed by the Slovenian’s results.
– I am also very impressed by what she has done, both in the IBU Cup and the World Cup. The way she carries herself is kind of fun. She was fifth in Hochfilzen and doesn’t even ride the chase start afterwards, you have to be pretty cool to say no to that. She really seems to do it her way. It’s exciting and impressive, says Stina Nilsson.
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Stina Nilsson hasn’t really got it right since she switched to biathlon, but admits that Anamarija Lampic seems to have had a bit more fluency on that point.
– I think that all career changes are tough in different ways, depending on what you were good at before. I was one type of cross-country skier before and Lampic was another. She seems to have handled it extremely well, but for me it was quite challenging to have a weapon on my back. I don’t know what has been challenging for her, but she is handling it very well.
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