The following interview took place with Andrea Henkel at her home in Oberhof, Germany. Rick Halling, Nordic Director for Atomic USA, conducted the interview over the phone. Andrea was a three time Gold Medalist at the Junior World Championships and she has become an internationally competitive senior on the German Biathlon Team. She won Gold Medals in the 15 km and the Relay at the 2002 Olympics and she continued her success into last year’s World Championships with Gold in the 15 km.
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RH: You and the rest of the German team were very successful at the 2002 Olympics. Will you and your team mates be just as dominant at Torino?<br />
AH: I believe so. We have seven very strong girls on the team. We can only enter four girls in each event. There is very tough competition for Germans just to go to Olympics and tough competition to be in each event. This year we have very good depth.</p>
<p>RH: Who will be your toughest competition at the Olympics?<br />
AH: The Russian girls are very strong. A new team that is very competitive is the Chinese. They could win medals too.</p>
<p>RH: Was your training for this past summer much different than your training the summer before the Salt Lake Olympics?<br />
AH: The training is pretty much the same. We had good results in Salt Lake. We do the same training.</p>
<p>RH: Your website has a picture of you road riding with the German Biathlon team. Has cycling become an important part of cross training?<br />
AH: We, the German Biathlon Team, are doing a lot of riding now. We went for a 10 day tour in May. </p>
<p>RH: What do you ride for a bike?<br />
AH: Giant</p>
<p>RH: Besides cycling, what do you like to do for cross training?<br />
AH: We stay pretty specific. Weight lifting, roller skiing and running. My most favorite thing is running through the forest, the Thuringerwald.<br />
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