During his childhood, Benedikt Doll spent time in the “Sonnenhof” hotel near Hinterzarten. The reason was that his parents Charly and Friederike Doll ran this hotel. The father had his hat on in the kitchen, or rather the hood, and his son Benedikt watched him and helped a little. Having outgrown his childhood, Doll decided against becoming a restaurateur. Instead of receiving guests, the 33-year-old has been a permanent guest in international hotels and guesthouses for almost two decades, as long as they are close to cross-country ski trails and shooting ranges. He has retained one thing: his early-learned sense of subtlety – be it in taste – or with the rifle.
Perhaps the excursion into the early phase of the biathlon artist Benedikt Doll will help to give an idea of what was on his mind in the later phase of his sporting career. More people were interested in this on Wednesday evening than in a long time. The Black Forest Doll had just completed a biathlon competition in the Ochoza Forest in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. He finished third – and because this race is part of the World Championship event series, a large number of reporters acknowledged this in their own way, i.e. with a lot of questions.
Doll often stood in the mixed zones and spoke into the microphones; many people wanted to hear him speak in 2017, when he won World Championship gold in the sprint in Hochfilzen, or a year later after his bronze run in the Olympic pursuit in Pyeongchang. Six years after his last major success, Doll had once again left hints of medal ambitions this season, but after his best disciplines – sprint and pursuit – some observers had already written him off. “We had our highest hopes in the sprint, only to be so disappointed,” said Doll on Wednesday evening. “Our service people were also extremely dissatisfied; they really worked hard again on Monday and Tuesday.” When hardly anyone believed in him anymore, Doll hit one again.
“I’m crying inside,” says Benedikt Doll, but because he’s already so numb, “the tears don’t come out.”
Earlier on Wednesday evening, there was a collective trembling among the people in the yellow jackets of the German Ski Association. Two Norwegian biathletes set out under the floodlights to snatch the World Cup medal from the German in the 20-kilometer individual event. Doll was already at the finish, in third place behind the Norwegian brothers Johannes Thingnes and Tarjei Bö. Doll had hit nineteen of twenty targets, it looked promising, but there were two other Norwegians on the track: Sturla Holm Laegreid and Johannes Dale-Skjevdal. Both now had the last five targets in front of them – and set out to hit them all; That would probably have been enough for both of them to displace Doll. But then Laegreid missed twice – and Dale-Skjevdal missed four times. After Janina Hettich-Walz’s individual silver the day before, the German team could not take away their second medal.
Benedikt Doll stood in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the yellow ski jackets, his teammates threw their arms around him, DSV boss Felix Bitterling clenched his hand into a fist. “I’m happy for Benni because he didn’t have an easy time,” said Bitterling. Doll “struggled with shooting, today he showed everyone.” Doll was also relieved at this moment. He accepted hugs and congratulations before making his way to the microphones.
One is running ahead: Benedikt Doll on the way to the bronze medal in the individual race at the World Championships.
(Photo: Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
Great emotions are suitable for TV cameras in such moments, such as when Doll’s teammate Vanessa Voigt cried with disappointment after Sunday’s pursuit race before she had tears of joy in her eyes two days later. And Doll? “I’m crying inside,” said the 33-year-old, “but since I’ve become emotionally numb from competitive sports after so many years, the tears don’t come out.” Big emotions, loud cheers? Doll seemed more like someone who felt a certain inner satisfaction. “I’m just incredibly happy that I was able to prove that to myself again.”
Doll has proven his world class many times. Six World Cup victories and 39 podium places as well as three individual and five relay medals at the World Cup and the Olympics speak for him. Only at this World Cup, which was undermined by warmth and rain, did he recently get to listen to a lot. Germany is not least a biathlon country, and Doll’s role is that of the front podium candidate. His teammate Roman Rees said on Wednesday after the race about Doll’s medal potential: “Benni was the one who was always able to do it.”
Is. And was. This is of course also what it’s all about for Doll, who will reach the high biathlete age of 34 next month, the mark at which the most successful active DSV biathlete, Denise Herrmann-Wick, ended her professional career until a year ago. Before the start of the season, Doll had announced that he would only announce after the World Cup (which ends on Sunday) whether he would continue beyond the season. Will he possibly stop after Nove Mesto? Of course you don’t ask something like that on an evening when you’re in a rush of success, although Doll seemed rather sober. Or to put it more precisely: In these moments he didn’t just seem like someone who was currently feeling satisfaction and relief.
The man who once learned to cook in the hotel left the impression on Wednesday evening of someone who had told everything far too often. As if he had had enough of some things. Competitive sport is more than what is shown on TV: constant strenuous journeys, doping tests early in the morning, packing and unpacking your suitcase every week. The least you notice is that Doll has the finest sense of taste recognition of all the DSV biathletes. Thanks to his father, who became a chef himself after his sports career. And his son? He said on Wednesday evening: “Let’s see what the chefs have conjured up for dinner, that’s what I’m looking forward to the most.”