However, she recovered and set the fastest course time in 14 of the remaining 18 races from January onwards. In the 2009–10 Olympic season, Neuner again started slowly in December, but came back finishing among the top three fastest skiers in 17 of her 21 races. She had her second best winter in 2010–11 when she set the fastest or second fastest skiing time in 90% of her 21 races. Neuner had been a fast cross-country skier from an early age. When she was eight years old, she won the first cross-country skiing competition she entered at her local ski club. At junior level, her lap times at the German Student's Cup were comparable to older or male opponents. At the age of 15, Neuner managed to set the same skiing times as her coeval male training partners. In preparation for the 2006–07 season, Neuner skied in training; she increased the volume to for the 2007–08 season. Because of her ski speed, she has often been able to compensate for one or sometimes two or three shooting errors (a penalty loop is long and normally takes 21 to 26 seconds). During three of her 32 World Cup wins (2007 World Championships pursuit, 2008 World Championships mass start, and 2009 Ruhpolding pursuit), Neuner skied three additional penalty loops compared to the second-place finisher. In March 2008, she came in second in the Khanty-Mansiysk mass start race, despite completing five penalty loops. She also reached third place in the Oberhof pursuit in January 2007 with six missed targets. At Neuner's first World Cup victory in the individual discipline in January 2010, she compensated for a total time penalty of two minutes on the cross-country course (incurred by two additional shooting errors). Neuner averaged a career shooting accuracy of 78%. Her career average in the prone position was 88%, while her career average in the standing position was 67%. Her shooting results in the prone position were similar to other top contenders. The standing shoot had long been her weak point and her hit percentage was well below average in the World Cup field, although it had improved considerably in her later seasons. With a 78% accuracy, Neuner had solid shooting results during her 2005–06 season debut. Her average dropped to 74% in her first complete season in 2006–07. Neuner won the 2007–08 Biathlon World Cup with a shooting accuracy of 73%, which is the lowest result for an Overall World Cup winner ever and roughly ten per cent below the previous three winners' averages: Andrea Henkel (84%), Kati Wilhelm (87%) and Sandrine Bailly (81%).