Biathlon star reveals harrowing details: “He took his own life”

biathlon Neuner
The former Olympic and World Champion opens up about a challenging period in her life.

The former Olympic and World Champion opens up about a challenging period in her life.

The German biathlon star, who won multiple Olympic and World Championship gold medals during her career, reveals that she was stalked for years throughout her time as an active athlete.

Magdalena Neuner shares that the stalking and constant surveillance led her to develop an eating disorder and severe sleep problems. She says she never left her home before nightfall.

“I knew he was there every single evening. He was outside my apartment every night,” the 38-year-old says on Monika Gruber’s podcast.

The biathlon legend remembers one training camp in Finland when the anxiety became unbearable. Neuner says she didn’t sleep for four consecutive nights before returning home.

Climbed onto her balcony, took his own life

The stalker also delivered letters to her every single day.

“I drove to the police every day and showed them the letters. But the police did nothing,” Neuner recalls.

Eventually, the police did intervene when the stalker climbed onto Neuner’s balcony. In the podcast, she explains that it later became clear he had a mental illness and that he took his own life.

After the news of the balcony incident broke, Neuner received a wave of sympathy.

But the stalking had already impacted her health and sense of safety, and she retired at just 25 years old.

Since then, the German biathlon star has worked on overcoming the trauma of being stalked, including with the help of a mental coach.

Frida Karlsson stalked for several years

Neuner is not the only skier who has suffered from stalking.

Earlier this year, a man in his mid-60s was convicted of unlawful harassment of Frida Karlsson. The man had followed her for years, approached her at home, during training, and at competitions, and had more than 7,300 photos of the Swedish star on his phone.

Dominated biathlon

Magdalena Neuner dominated international biathlon for seven years. She made her World Cup debut in 2006 and retired after the 2012 season, which was also her best.

The German star won two individual Olympic gold medals and one silver, all at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. She competed in six World Championships, collecting 12 gold, four silver, and one bronze medal — no female biathlete has more World Championship titles than Neuner. She also won seven junior world titles between 2004 and 2008.

Neuner claimed the overall World Cup crystal globe three times (2008, 2010, and 2012) and won seven discipline titles. She raced in 175 World Cup competitions, reaching the podium 62 times, including 33 victories.

Today, Neuner lives a family life. She is married to Josef Holzer, and the couple has three children together.

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