Germany's youngest para-athlete

"It's like when someone with normal eyesight goes outside in the summer and forgets their sunglasses," explains Linn Kazmaier, the youngest member of the 24-strong German team at the Paralympics, which get underway on Friday.

Kazmaier, 15, has been visually impaired since birth. Her sight is blurred and unclear, and her eyes are particularly sensitive to sunlight.

Nevertheless, she will be making her Paralympics debut in Beijing, competing in five different events (twice in biathlon, three times in cross-country skiing) — and she's not fazed by competing against opponents older than her.

"I'm used to always being the youngest, it's normal for me," she told DW. "But I still can't really believe it."

Training away from home

Kazmaier hails from the small town of Oberlenningen in Baden-Württemberg, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of Stuttgart in southwestern Germany. Since last autumn, however, she's been staying at a residential sports college in Freiburg, 160 kilometers further southwest.

"I have better training facilities there than at home," she said.

When she was 8 years old, Kazmaier's parents sent her on a biathlon and cross-country skiing course for visually impaired and other children in the Black Forest. The young athlete quickly took to the sport, and her potential didn't go unnoticed.

Over the past 12 months, her career has soared to new heights. In March 2021, she made her World Cup debut in Planica, Slovenia, before recording three top-10 finishes at the World Championship in Lillehammer, Norway.

Her reward: a place at the Paralympics.

Mum doesn't always know best

Visually impaired skiers and biathletes compete with the help of a guide. In Kazmaier's case, that's Florian Baumann, a 20-year-old international biathlete himself, who skies out in front of Kazmaier, providing both orientation and encouragement.

"Florian has a really good feeling for what I need," said Kazmaier. "He does a great job."

Better, with all due respect, than Kazmaier's mother, who guided her during one fateful competition.

"We thought we'd got lost," recalled Kazmaier. "Then I got angry with her during the competition. It wasn't a good experience."

And it remained a one-off experiment.

Hitting the right notes

When it comes to the biathlon shooting range, however, Kazmaier is very much alone. Aiming at the target in front of her with a laser rifle, she receives an acoustic signal via earphones. The nearer she is to the target, the higher the pitch.

"And then you just shoot," she said. "If I then hear a short high-pitched tone, followed by a deeper one and then another high one, I know I've hit the mark. If it's a long, deep tone, that means I've missed."

And that, just like in regular Olympic biathlon, means a penalty.

Eyes closed, deep breath

For Kazmaier, the nerves kick in the evening before a competition, so she has compiled a playlist of '80s and '90s hits to help her. "No sad songs, just happy ones which push me," she said.

And on the day itself, she turns her phone off in order to concentrate solely on the race. "Then, at the start, I close my eyes one more time and take a deep breath."

Kazmaier will be employing the same techniques in Beijing, where she is comfortable in her role as an underdog.

"The good thing is that no one expects anything from me," she said. "My coach just says I should try to ski as well as I can."

The primary aim is to gain experience. Still only 15, there will be a lot of that to come.

Translated and edited by Matt Ford.