Martin Härtl from because home is the Guide the visually-impaired biathlete Clara Wise. Together, the two have won in the world Cup.
Weilheim – visually Impaired cross-country skiers and biathletes will need in the Competition “guide runner”. One of these special helpers Martin Härtl is because home. The 43-Year-old is Clara Smart, a kind of traffic controller on skis. In February, the Duo will start at the world Championships in Prince George (Canada). According to the previous results in the world Cup Wisely and Härtl are among the absolute favourites.
In his role as “coach of Nordic skiing & Biathlon” has the customs officers in the year discovered in 2012 Smart and your Talent. Together, the visually impaired child of Munich and Härtl (also works as your Coach) have achieved since then, a lot of. Since 2014, the Duo of the Paralympic national team belongs to. In the spring, the two got along better and for the first time properly on the international stage, won the world Cup in Finsterau three medals (2 x silver, 1 x Bronze). At the Paralympics in 2018 in PyeongChang in South Korea got Smart and Härtl, twice a Bronze in the Biathlon.
In this Winter, it runs better even a bit. To Start in Vuokatti (Finland) took place in the Biathlon, two wins (Sprint/pursuit) and a second rank (middle distance). At the recent world Cup in Östersund (Sweden) were Smart/Härtl, for the first time in the long run, on the podium, on the long-distance about 13 kilometers, you were Second in 45:13,9 minutes. In the following Biathlon races (Sprint/individual) won the two Bayern each with a clear lead ahead of the Ukrainian Oksana Shyshkova. Crucial, not least Klugs Top shooting performance (zero error in both competitions). The visually impaired people shoot lying down with a laser gun. The distance to the target is ten meters, the proximity to the target surface is displayed to the athlete wears when shooting a pair of headphones, with a variable sound.
The shoot has to keep Härtl as a Guide a distance on the track he is challenged all the more. “You have to be faster than the Athlete, permanent commands, and everything around it in the field of view,” says Härtl. All of the accompanying runners in the national team, “have a sporting history, are former athletes”, so the weilheimer. The communication with the athletes running acoustically, that is to say with short words. It goes in curves, Härtl, not only the direction, but also in their expression – for example, the “links nine”, or “right-two”. For some terrain unevenness, there are special code words. To be fast, it needs an accurate tuning, and courage. In the case of departures Clever and Härtl reach the 50 km/h and more.