Feature: Germany's youngest fulfils her dreams at 2022 Paralympics earlier than expected

BERLIN, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Linn Kazmaier vividly remembers the day she fell in love with winter sports as if it was yesterday.

"I couldn't stop talking on the way back for over two and a half hours. I told my parents all the time how terrific biathlon and cross-country skiing is," Germany's youngest competing athlete at 2022 Paralympic Games said.

"I was thrilled by the sports from the first moment on," the 15-year-old said after winning the silver medal in the para biathlon women's sprint vision impaired.

Six years ago, her parents took their nine-year-old daughter to a winter-sports workshop in the Black Forrest, and that's where it all began.

Her desire never stopped since that trip to the mountains, later she headed to a winter sports academy near Freiburg that gave her better training options. Coaches soon discovered her unique talent and she started to aim big.

For Kazmaier, the medal of the 2022 Games in China somehow came as a surprise, "I didn't expect that now; I thought about a medal when I am around 20 or so," the German athlete stated.

Putting on her sunglasses, she competes and trains to follow her trustworthy personal guide, 20-year-old Florian Baumann, who guides her with directions.

The young star at Paralympics also mentioned the cherished moments of training with her mother, they would laugh together even going on the wrong tracks, "My mother told me about my impatience, as I always told her to focus on the right direction," she added with a smile running over her face.

Today the German talent has become a determined athlete knowing exactly where to go. "She is one of the greatest talents in her sports," the German association president Julius Beucher said.

Over the years, Kazmaier has developed a strict pre-competition procedure. Before competitions, the German would only listen to inspiring and cheerful songs to stay calm, "I feel relaxed now as nobody expected anything from me due to my age," she said.

The outgoing girl is competing in four more races at the 2022 Paralympics.