The German roster for the 2026 bett1.de Biathlon World Team Challenge is complete: Vanessa Voigt and Philipp Nawrath will compete as Team Germany 2. The two won bronze together in the mixed relay at the Winter Olympics in Antholz and will return to the VELTINS Arena on Wednesday, December 30, as a well-coordinated duo.
This isn’t the first time Voigt and Nawrath have competed together at Schalke. Back in 2022, they teamed up for the World Team Challenge and finished in fifth place. Four years later, they’re returning to Gelsenkirchen with an Olympic medal, plenty of international experience, and a strong season record.
Philipp Nawrath looks back on the most successful winter of his career so far. With three World Cup podium finishes and a ninth-place finish in the overall standings, he ended the 2025–2026 season as the top German biathlete. He put in a particularly strong performance at the World Cup finals at Holmenkollen: After a flawless shooting round, the 33-year-old finished second in the mass start.
Nawrath also delivered a strong performance at the Winter Olympics in Antholz. In addition to winning a bronze medal with the German mixed relay team, he finished fifth in the individual event and seventh in the mass start. He had already won bronze medals in both the men’s relay and the mixed relay at the 2025 World Championships in Lenzerheide.
The athlete from the Allgäu region is also well known at Schalke. In 2019, he accompanied Laura Dahlmeier in her emotional farewell race, and in 2022, he competed alongside Vanessa Voigt for the first time. Two years later, Nawrath took third place alongside Franziska Preuß.
“I’m really excited to be back at Schalke. Vanessa and I competed together back in 2022, so we know how we complement each other in this unique format. The atmosphere at the VELTINS Arena is always something special, and of course we want to move up the standings this time and fight for a spot on the podium,” says Philipp Nawrath.
Vanessa Voigt won the bronze medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Vanessa Voigt has been one of the most accurate biathletes on the international circuit for years. After a difficult 2024–2025 season due to health issues, the Thuringian made an impressive comeback last winter. She finished 14th in the overall World Cup standings and once again impressed with her exceptional accuracy at the shooting range: she hit the bullseye on 94 percent of her prone shots and 91 percent of her standing shots.
At the 2026 Winter Olympics, Voigt didn’t just win bronze in the mixed relay. In the individual event, she finished fourth—just as she had four years earlier in Beijing—and narrowly missed out on another Olympic medal. She also finished fourth with the German women’s relay team.
Voigt also brings a wealth of experience from major relay races. At the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, she won bronze with the women’s relay team, followed by silver at the 2023 World Championships on home soil in Oberhof. A year later, she won another bronze medal in the relay in Nové Město. Together with Justus Strelow, she also celebrated Germany’s first World Cup victory in the single mixed relay in Antholz in 2024.
“I’m really excited to be back at Schalke and to compete alongside Philipp. We’ve raced together before in 2022 and know how we complement each other as a team. Of course, we want to do a little better this time and finish as high up as possible. But above all, I’m looking forward to the packed arena—you really don’t experience that kind of noise and atmosphere anywhere else in biathlon,” says Vanessa Voigt.
With Voigt and Nawrath, the German Ski Association is counting on two experienced athletes for Team Germany 2 who complement each other perfectly both at the shooting range and on the cross-country course. Both are already familiar with the unique competition format and the atmosphere at the VELTINS Arena from having competed there several times.
There are high expectations for Voigt and Nawrath at Schalke
“With Vanessa and Philipp, we have a second German team that we have high hopes for at Schalke. Both delivered strong performances last winter and won bronze together in the Olympic mixed relay. Vanessa brings her great confidence at the shooting range, while Philipp is one of the strongest skiers in the field. They know each other well and already have experience competing as a team at Schalke. Our goal is clear: We want both German duos to fight for a spot on the podium,” says Bernd Eisenbichler, Biathlon Sports Director at the German Ski Association.
This completes the German roster for the bett1.de Biathlon World Team Challenge. Janina Hettich-Walz and Justus Strelow will compete as Team Germany 1 and return to Gelsenkirchen as defending champions following their victory last year.
More Than Just Biathlon: Winter Village Is Being Adapted to Visitors’ Needs
Outside the VELTINS Arena, the Winter Village has been specifically tailored to visitors’ wishes this year: A new feature is the direct access via the West 2 entrance. Ticket holders can move freely between the Promenade and the Party Zone without having to go through the turnstiles again. In addition, fans in the Winter Village have direct access to the track and can experience the athletes up close. This allows visitors to enjoy the entire event grounds in a more relaxed atmosphere and closer to the action. On the Promenade along the Arena Ring, visitors can enjoy interactive activities, sponsor booths, and culinary delights. In the Party Zone on Rudi-Assauer-Platz, presented by Hitzkopf, DJs will be spinning tunes starting at noon, before the day winds down with après-ski festivities.
Get your tickets and be there live
Tickets for the Biathlon at Schalke on December 30, 2026, are available at tickets.biathlon-aufschalke.de or tickets.schalke04.de, by phone at 0180 | 5378873 or 0209 | 9775 1877, and at the FC Schalke 04 Service Center (Ernst-Kuzorra-Weg 1, 45891 Gelsenkirchen).
