About
Swiss cross-country skier turned biathlete (competes for the Gardes-Frontière/Swiss Border Guard sports unit), now racing under her married name Lydia Mettler. As a cross-country skier she competed in the 10km freestyle at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, but permanently switched to biathlon in the 2022-23 season. She missed the 2024-25 season after becoming a mother, then returned in 2025, winning bronze in the sprint at the German National Championships and bronze in roller skiing at the Swiss Nordic Weekend - largely within biathlon and off-season roller-ski events rather than FIS cross-country World Cup racing.
FIS's cross-country biography page is registered under her married name 'Lydia METTLER'; she is now primarily an active biathlete (International Biathlon Union athlete profile: hiernickel-lydia/BTSUI22312199601) rather than a current cross-country World Cup competitor, despite the 'Swiss national team' label request referring to cross-country.