From a Bold Idea to a Bronze Medal

After the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the FISU World University Games, formerly known as the Universiade, are the third-largest international multi-sport event in the world. Held every two years over eleven days in different host cities, this year’s winter edition took place in January in Turin, with more than 1,500 students from 54 national university sports federations competing. Among them was Luise Müller from the University of Bayreuth, who participated in the biathlon. Originally from Rosenthal-Bielatal in Saxony, she is now in her third semester studying Environmental and Resource Technology in Bayreuth. She first took up biathlon at the age of 13 in her home region of the Ore Mountains.

Now 24 years old, Müller was once considered one of Saxony’s most promising young biathletes. In 2022, she won silver in the relay at the Junior World Championships in the USA and became vice European champion with the junior relay team. A year later, however, she made the surprising decision to retire from competitive sports. “The further you progress in elite sports, the less attention is paid to athletes’ personalities and individual needs, in my opinion. That’s why I decided to take a different path,” Müller explains.

She began her undergraduate studies in Bayreuth in the winter semester of 2023/24, and skiing has since become just a hobby. “My friend Frederik Madersbacher Eide, whom I know from my competitive sports days and who now studies at FU Berlin, came up with the idea last autumn to compete together in the FISU World University Games,” Müller recalls. No sooner said than done. They applied for a spot in Team StuDi, Germany’s student team, and from 13 to 23 January, they joined Janik Löw from the University of Leipzig to form the German biathlon team.

“To prepare, I first focused on jogging, road cycling, climbing, and ski touring to build my general fitness. In winter, my training shifted more towards biathlon,” Müller says. For shooting practice, she travelled back home to Altenberg, and over Christmas, she trained in the Antholz Valley in South Tyrol.

Then came the long-awaited arrival in Turin in January – just one day before the official opening ceremony. “The opening in the Inalpi Arena in Turin was truly impressive, with so many international participants, show performances, speeches, and a piano recital by Giovanni Allevi,” Müller recalls. The very next day, shuttle buses took the athletes from their biathlon hotel in Pragelato—where they were accommodated alongside coaches, physiotherapists, and sports technology experts from the German University Sports Federation (adh)—to the first competition. “Over the eleven days of the event, we alternated between competition and rest days. On our rest days, we often watched other sports, especially cross-country skiing,” Müller reports.

Despite the immense challenge, Luise Müller achieved top-ten finishes in her first four races. In the single mixed relay with Frederik Madersbacher Eide, they narrowly missed out on a bronze medal. “Knowing there was one last race ahead was a real motivation to give it my all,” she says.

In the 12.5-kilometre mass start, Müller quickly established herself in a leading group and even took the lead at one point. However, the third shooting stage, where she had her only two misses of the day, set her back. After clearing the final shooting round without errors, the final lap turned into a thrilling battle for silver and bronze against a Ukrainian and a French competitor. With a determined sprint to the finish, Müller secured a celebrated third place, earning a well-deserved medal for herself and the German biathlon team.

University President Prof. Dr. Stefan Leible congratulated the medal winner: “Respect for this outstanding achievement! We wholeheartedly congratulate Luise Müller and are delighted that, in a way, the University of Bayreuth also made it onto the podium with her.”

“In my first races at the World University Games, I struggled with my shooting, but I was able to make up for it with my skiing. That was also thanks to the fantastic skis – the adh technicians did an excellent job,” Müller reflects.

Looking back, she is still glad to have left competitive sports behind. “I can now experience competitions with a certain distance and entered the races with a more relaxed mindset. But I have to admit, in the stunning landscape around Pragelato, I was often more drawn to the mountains than to the ski tracks.”