Anna Weidel – a home story

For many of us, cycling might be our main sport or leisure activity, and we often spend lots of time and money to get the most out of it.

For others, it is part of a bigger picture, and perhaps a sport they incorporate into their life and training to achieve their goals and aspirations in a different field.

That is exactly the cycling story of biathlete and aspiring Olympian Anna Weidel. Biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and target shooting, requiring huge fitness and control to master.

Anna has been part of the MERIDA family for several years, using her bike to add variety to her training, something that started with an early stint of mountain bike racing before she had to commit fully to being a professional biathlete.

Besides allowing her to work on her strength, endurance and ability to read the trail ahead - all of which are hugely important in biathlon - mountain biking also allows Anna to ‘get away’ from it all, enjoy having ‘time just to herself’, switch off and ‘simply be in nature’.

Our home story video gave us the opportunity to talk with Anna about her goal of going to the next Olympics as part of the highly fought-over German biathlon squad, her joy for cycling and the importance it has for achieving this, plus how she hopes to pass on the positive experiences and feelings her sport has given her to her children and grandchildren. 

Enjoy!