Germany’s Julia Tannheimer left Kontiolahti filled with good memories, fueled by the first two Flower Ceremonies in her budding career with her first podium now a realistic possibility.

Tannheimer was tagged as Germany’s next big star even before her stunning BMW IBU World Cup debut last season, a clean-shooting 15th place in the Ruhpolding Sprint. The 19-year-old prodigy previously captured three IBU Youth World Championships Gold medals and an IBU Cup Mass Start 60. After Ruhpolding, she starred at the 2024 IBU Junior World Championships, adding two Gold and two Silver medals to her trophy case. Fast forward to Kontiolahti, a disappointing short individual (57th,5 penalties) morphed into a clean-shooting personal best 6th place in the sprint. Sunday, she went one better with one penalty in her first-ever World Cup Mass Start, missing the podium by a mere 1 second, but picking up another personal best, fifth place! After a cooldown and some food back at the hotel, Julia answered our Five Burning Questions about her big week and revealed her secret talent.

Biathlonworld: What was the shooting adjustment you made after the short individual that keyed your success in the sprint and mass start?

Julia Tannheimer: I tried a different technique to hold my breath better, so I am not breathing during my shooting (squeezing the trigger).

BW: Did your debut last year in Ruhpolding help take away some of the nerves about this first full week in the World Cup?

JT: Yes, definitely, even though the World Cup has the best athletes, for me it was just a completely normal biathlon race, and I had to do the same things that I do in the IBU Cup or training.

BW: What has been the biggest challenge for you going from the Junior and IBU Cup to the World Cup?

JT: The biggest challenge was that I needed to learn I cannot ski with every athlete (laughing)… in the World Cup because they are just a little bit too fast for me sometimes.

BW: What was it like battling your two more experienced teammates in the final stages of the mass start?

JT: Today was really fun for me, battling with Franzi and Vanessa, because I know them, and I could be excited for them because they did such an amazing race. That was pretty nice experience!

BW: What would your reaction have been if I told you last week that you would be in your first two Flower Ceremonies before you left Finland? JT: I probably would not believe you if you had told me I would get two times to the Flower Ceremony, because (in Ruhpolding) I was zero-zero and fifteenth. My shooting was not so good before, I always had one mistake: not good enough for me to be in the Flower Ceremony.

Biathlonworld Bonus Question: What is your secret talent that few people know about?

Julia: My secret talent is probably that I can play the violin! That’s it!

Keep your eyes on Julia Tannheimer; more great things to come...

Photos: IBU/Romans Koksarovs, Christian Manzoni, Nordic Focus/Leo Authamayou