Released in 2013 for five euros
Former biathlon star Dahlmeier talks about being arrested by Russia
February 17, 2024, 9:09 a.m
A bet with her father landed Laura Dahlmeier briefly in Russian arrest ten years ago. After their World Cup debut in 2013, the two climbed to the summit of Russia’s highest mountain – but had to deal with soldiers.
After her successful World Cup debut eleven years ago, Laura Dahlmeier made a bet with her father – to go to the summit of Elbrus. But the adventure ended in arrest at short notice. Russian soldiers held the later two-time Olympic champion after she climbed Russia’s highest peak at 5,642 meters with her father Andreas and three friends.
“We were too close to the Georgian border, which we weren’t aware of at all. The soldiers absolutely didn’t want to let us out until my father started biathlon, the Olympics and Sochi,” said Dahlmeier.
When the soldiers realized that Dahlmeier was a ski hunter and would be taking part in the 2014 Winter Games in Russia, “they listened. Ultimately we paid a fine of the equivalent of five euros and everything was fine again.” Eleven years later, the seven-time world champion is back in Nove Mesto as a ZDF expert – the place where her successful career began.
Dahlmeier, now 30 years old, has been an enthusiastic climber and mountaineer since her childhood. With the recommendation of three titles at the Junior World Championships, Dahlmeier was appointed to the squad for the 2013 World Championships in Nove Mesto. Without being involved in the World Cup, the then 19-year-old was surprisingly used in the relay. She was the only one of the quartet to shoot clean and temporarily put the team in the lead. In the end it was only enough for fifth place.
A few years earlier she had made a bet with her father. “If I win a world title, he’ll climb Elbrus with me,” Dahlmeier said at the time and added with a mischievous laugh: “I’m fit. But he has to train now.” Both of them managed the climb easily, as she reported years later.