Laura Dahlmeier facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Laura Dahlmeier

Dahlmeier in 2018
Personal information
Nationality	German
Born	(1993-08-22)22 August 1993 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, Germany
Died	28 July 2025(2025-07-28) (aged 31) Hushe Valley, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
Website	http://www.laura-dahlmeier.de/
Professional information
Sport	Biathlon
Club	SC Partenkirchen
World Cup debut	2013
Olympic Games
Teams	2 (2014, 2018)
World Championships
Teams	5 (2013–2019)
World Cup
Seasons	7 2012–13–2018–19
Individual races	124
All races	152
Overall titles	1: 2016–17
Discipline titles	2: 1 Individual (2016–17) 1 Pursuit (2016–17)
Medal record Women's biathlon Representing  Germany Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 2 0 1 World Championships 7 3 5 Olympic Games Gold 2018 Pyeongchang 7.5 km sprint Gold 2018 Pyeongchang 10 km pursuit Bronze 2018 Pyeongchang 15 km individual World Championships Gold 2015 Kontiolahti 4 × 6 km relay Gold 2016 Oslo 10 km pursuit Gold 2017 Hochfilzen 10 km pursuit Gold 2017 Hochfilzen 15 km individual Gold 2017 Hochfilzen 12.5 km mass start Gold 2017 Hochfilzen 4 × 6 km relay Gold 2017 Hochfilzen Mixed relay Silver 2015 Kontiolahti 10 km pursuit Silver 2016 Oslo 12.5 km mass start Silver 2017 Hochfilzen 7.5 km sprint Bronze 2016 Oslo 15 km individual Bronze 2016 Oslo 7.5 km sprint Bronze 2016 Oslo 4 × 6 km relay Bronze 2019 Östersund 7.5 km sprint Bronze 2019 Östersund 10 km pursuit World Cup Event 1st 2nd 3rd Sprint 4 9 4 Pursuit 11 4 3 Mass Start 4 5 2 Individual 3 0 2 Relay 12 3 3 Mixed Relay 1 1 0 WC podiums including the Olympic games and World championships races Junior World Championships Gold 2013 Obertilliach 12.5 km individual Gold 2013 Obertilliach 7.5 km sprint Gold 2013 Obertilliach 3 × 6 km relay Silver 2013 Obertilliach 10 km pursuit Bronze 2011 Nové Město 10 km pursuit Bronze 2011 Nové Město 3 × 6 km relay European Youth Olympic Winter Festival Gold 2011 Liberec 10 km individual Gold 2011 Liberec 6 km sprint Gold 2011 Liberec Mixed relay

Laura Dahlmeier was a famous German biathlete. She was born on August 22, 1993, and passed away on July 28, 2025. Laura started competing in World Cup races in the 2012-13 season. She quickly became known for her amazing skills.

Laura achieved many great things in her career. She won two gold medals and one bronze medal at the Olympic Games. She also earned seven gold, three silver, and five bronze medals at the World Championships. In 2017, she set a record by winning five gold medals at a single World Championship event. She was also the first woman to win both the biathlon sprint and pursuit races at the same Olympics in 2018. Laura retired from the sport in May 2019 when she was 25 years old. After her sports career, she even wrote a children's book!

Laura Dahlmeier's Amazing Career

Early Biathlon Success

Laura Dahlmeier showed her talent early on. At the Junior World Championships in Obertilliach, Austria, she won three gold medals. She also earned a silver medal there. After this, she joined the German team for the World Championships. She helped her team take the lead in the relay race.

Laura then competed in her first full World Cup season. She continued to do well in team relay races. However, she did not win any individual medals at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

First World Cup Wins and World Championship Medals

Laura's 2014-15 season started a bit late because of an injury. But in December 2014, she made her World Cup debut in Pokljuka. Just two months later, she won her first World Cup race in Nové Město na Moravě, Czech Republic. She then earned six more podium finishes. She also won her first two major World Championship medals. These were a silver in the pursuit and a gold in the women's relay.

In the 2015-16 season, Laura won five World Cup races. At the World Championships in Oslo, she won her first individual gold medal in the pursuit event. She also took home a silver medal in the mass start. Plus, she earned bronze medals in the sprint, individual, and women's relay races.

Becoming a World Champion

The 2016-17 season was Laura's best. She won the overall World Cup title. At the World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria, she was incredible. She won five gold medals and one silver medal. She almost got a sixth gold, missing it by just four seconds in the sprint. Laura was the first woman in biathlon history to win five gold medals at a single World Championship!

Olympic Glory and Retirement

Laura focused on the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. At these Games, she made history. She became the second German woman to win an Olympic gold in the sprint. She shot perfectly, hitting all targets even in windy conditions. She then won a second gold medal in the pursuit race. She also earned a bronze medal in the individual event.

Her 2018-19 season was tough due to illness. Still, she won a World Cup race at Antholz in January 2019. She also earned two bronze medals at the 2019 World Championships in Östersund, Sweden. After the season ended, in May 2019, Laura announced her retirement. She said she no longer felt the strong passion needed for professional biathlon.

Life After Biathlon

After retiring from biathlon, Laura Dahlmeier stayed active. In October 2019, she released a children's book. It was called Die Klima Gang: Laura Dahlmeier und Freunde im Einsatz für die Natur. She wrote it with others.

Laura also worked as a sports commentator for the German broadcaster ZDF. She shared her expert knowledge during the 2019-20 Biathlon World Cup season.

She also started competing in mountain running. In June 2019, she won a 39-kilometer race in Grainau, Germany. In September 2019, she won another 52-kilometer race in Austria and set a new record! She even competed in the 2019 World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships in Argentina.

A Sad Farewell

Laura Dahlmeier passed away on July 28, 2025. She was involved in a mountain accident while climbing Laila Peak in Hushe Valley, Karakoram, Pakistan. Rescue efforts were difficult due to bad weather. Her team later confirmed that she had died. Laura had made a special wish that no one should risk their own safety to recover her if an accident happened. Her body remained on the mountain, as she had wished.

Laura Dahlmeier's Biathlon Achievements

Laura Dahlmeier's results come from the International Biathlon Union. She announced her retirement from biathlon on May 17, 2019.

Olympic Games Medals

Laura won 3 medals at the Olympic Games: 2 gold and 1 bronze.

Year	Age	Individual	Sprint	Pursuit	Mass start	Relay	Mixed relay	Single mixed relay
2014 Sochi	21	13th	46th	30th	—	10th	DSQ	N/A
2018 Pyeongchang	25	Bronze	Gold	Gold	16th	8th	4th

*The mixed relay was added as an event in 2014.

World Championships Medals

Laura won 15 medals at the World Championships: 7 gold, 3 silver, and 5 bronze.

Year	Age	Individual	Sprint	Pursuit	Mass start	Relay	Mixed relay	Single mixed relay
2013 Nové Město	20	—	—	—	—	5th	—	N/A
2015 Kontiolahti	22	6th	4th	Silver	7th	Gold	—
2016 Oslo	23	Bronze	Bronze	Gold	Silver	Bronze	—
2017 Hochfilzen	24	Gold	Silver	Gold	Gold	Gold	Gold
2019 Östersund	26	4th	Bronze	Bronze	6th	4th	—	—

*During Olympic seasons, competitions are only held for events not included in the Olympic program.

**The single mixed relay was added as an event in 2019.

Junior World Championships

Laura also won many medals at the Junior World Championships.

Year	Age	Sprint	Pursuit	Relay	Mixed relay
2011 Nové Město	18	12th	14th	Bronze	Bronze
2012 Kontiolahti	19	16th	37th	34th	6th
2013 Obertilliach	20	Gold	Gold	Silver	Gold

European Youth Olympic Winter Festival

Laura also excelled at the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival.

Year	Age	Individual	Sprint	Mixed relay
2011 Liberec	18	Gold	Gold	Gold

World Cup Standings

Here's how Laura placed in the overall World Cup standings each season.

Individual Race Wins

Laura won 22 individual races in her career. These include sprint, pursuit, individual, and mass start events.

No.	Season	Date	Location	Race	Level
1	2014-15	7 February 2015	Nové Město, Czech Republic	7.5 km Sprint	World Cup
2		17 March 2015	Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia	12.5 km Mass start	World Cup
3	2015-16	12 December 2015	Hochfilzen, Austria	10 km Pursuit	World Cup
4		19 December 2015	Pokljuka, Slovenia	10 km Pursuit	World Cup
5		9 January 2016	Ruhpolding, Germany	10 km Pursuit	World Cup
6		10 January 2016	Ruhpolding, Germany	12.5 km Mass Start	World Cup
7		6 March 2016	Holmenkollen, Norway	10 km Pursuit	World Championships
8	2016-17	30 November 2016	Östersund, Sweden	15 km Individual	World Cup
9		9 December 2016	Pokljuka, Slovenia	7.5 km Sprint	World Cup
10		10 December 2016	Pokljuka, Slovenia	10 km Pursuit	World Cup
11		19 January 2017	Antholz, Italy	15 km Individual	World Cup
12		12 February 2017	Hochfilzen, Austria	10 km Pursuit	World Championships
13		15 February 2017	Hochfilzen, Austria	15 km Individual	World Championships
14		19 February 2017	Hochfilzen, Austria	12.5 km Mass Start	World Championships
15		2 March 2017	Pyeongchang, South Korea	7.5 km Sprint	World Cup
16		4 March 2017	Pyeongchang, South Korea	10 km Pursuit	World Cup
17		11 March 2017	Kontiolahti, Finland	10 km Pursuit	World Cup
18	2017-18	16 December 2017	Annecy, France	10 km Pursuit	World Cup
19		20 January 2018	Antholz, Italy	10 km Pursuit	World Cup
20		10 February 2018	Pyeongchang, South Korea	7.5 km Sprint	Winter Olympic Games
21		12 February 2018	Pyeongchang, South Korea	10 km Pursuit	Winter Olympic Games
22	2018-19	27 January 2019	Antholz-Anterselva, Italy	12.5 km Mass Start	World Cup

*These results include races from the Biathlon World Cup, Biathlon World Championships, and the Winter Olympic Games.

Relay Race Wins

Laura also helped her team win 13 relay races.

No.	Season	Date	Location	Level	Teammate
1	2012-13	10 March 2013	Sochi, Russia	World Cup	Henkel, Sachenbacher-Stehle, Neureuther
2	2013-14	12 December 2013	Le Grand-Bornand, France		Henkel, Preuss, Hildebrand
3		8 January 2014	Ruhpolding, Germany		Sachenbacher-Stehle, Preuss, Hildebrand
4	2014-15	25 January 2015	Antholz, Italy		Kummer, Preuss, Hildebrand
5		13 March 2015	Kontiolahti, Finland	World Championships	Hinz, Preuss, Hildebrand
6	2016-17	11 December 2016	Pokljuka, Slovenia	World Cup	Hinz, Hammerschmidt, Hildebrand
7		12 January 2017	Ruhpolding, Germany		Hinz, Hammerschmidt, Preuss
8		22 January 2017	Antholz, Italy		Hinz, Hammerschmidt, Hildebrand
9		9 February 2017	Hochfilzen, Austria	World Championships	Hinz, Peiffer, Schempp
10		17 February 2017	Hochfilzen, Austria		Hinz, Hammerschmidt, Hildebrand)
11	2017-18	10 December 2017	Hochfilzen, Austria	World Cup	Hinz, Hildebrand, Hammerschmidt
12		13 January 2018	Ruhpolding, Germany		Preuss, Herrmann-Wick, Hildebrand
13	2018-19	8 February 2019	Canmore, Canada		Hildebrand, Hinz, Herrmann-Wick

Overall Race Record

This table shows Laura's overall performance in all her races.

* These results include races from the Biathlon World Cup, Olympics, and World Championships.

See also

In Spanish: Laura Dahlmeier para niños