RobtheAggie

Random news for the day that touches Biathlon. It appears that there is a very odd bidder for the 2029 Asian Winter Games. It is ... Saudia Arabia! The games would include biathlon, hence why I included it here.

Results of the "hill" climb: Women Biathletes: 9. Baiba Bendika 🇱🇻 14. Caroline Colombo 🇫🇷 16. Marketa Davidova 🇨🇿 19. Chloé Chevalier 🇫🇷 22. Maren Wangensteen 🇳🇴 24. Tereza Vobornikova 🇨🇿 27. Emma Lunder 🇨🇦 29. Julia Simon 🇫🇷 31. Lucie Charvatova 🇨🇿 32. Nadia Moser 🇨🇦 34. Lou Jeanmonnot 🇫🇷 36. Tuuli Tomingas 🇪🇪 37. Jessica Jislova 🇨🇿 40. Maren Bakken 🇳🇴 42. Paula Botet 🇫🇷 51. Frida Dokken 🇳🇴 Men Biathletes: 13. Martin Uldal 🇳🇴 14. Quentin Fillon-Maillet 🇫🇷 16. Emilien Jacquelin 🇫🇷 40. Martin Nevland 🇳🇴 42. Eric Perrot 🇫🇷 43. Adam Runnalls 🇨🇦 50. Martin Femsteinevik 🇳🇴 52. Rene Zakhna 🇪🇪 56. Jules Burnotte 🇨🇦 61. Christian Gow 🇨🇦 79. Jules Pessey 🇫🇷

Full Blink Schedule Wednesday August 3 12:15 p.m.: climb of the Lysebotn Opp 7.5 km FT elite and junior ladies 2:00 p.m.: climb of the Lysebotn Opp 7.5 km double push elite men and women 3:15 p.m.: climb of the Lysebotn Opp 7.5 km FT elite and junior men Thursday August 4 6:15 p.m.: start of the Blink Classics 50 km CT in Ålgård 9:00 p.m.: estimated end of the Blink Classics Friday August 5 Biathlon 3:55 p.m.: elite men's and women's shooting contest 5:10 p.m.: qualifications for the men's and women's super sprints 6:55 p.m.: men's and women's super sprints Rollerski 3:30 p.m.: CT prologue for men and women 6:25 p.m.: mass-start 10 km FT ladies 7:45 p.m.: mass-start 15 km FT men Saturday August 6 Biathlon 3:45 p.m.: quarter-finals of the men's and women's mass-starts 7:22 p.m.: men's and women's mass-start semi-finals 8:25 p.m.: men's and women's mass-start finals Rollerski 3:20 p.m.: qualification of the men's and women's FT sprints 5:44 p.m.: quarter-finals and semi-finals of the men's and women's FT sprints 8:10 p.m.: men's and women's FT sprint finals

Looks like over 400 will be at the summer World Championships!

And we have results from a race on snow! The Victorian Biathlon Championships were held last weekend. Sprint Short Individual

Very surprised to see the US there. But that is great. US Summer Nationals are 5-7 August. It will be interesting to see who the US sends.

1973 and 1974 World Champion Yuri Kolmakov died this past week.

Fabien Claude, the winner at Elsenborn races earlier this summer will start at the Martin Fourcade Nordic Festival.

Lithuania gets a female biathlete - 23-year-old Lidia Zhurauskaite. Her great-grandfather was Lithuanian, but she was born in Murmansk. It seems like she started this process about 12 months ago, and it is now finalized.

I know that some of the smaller teams like the summer biathlon better as the rollerskis are only given out a few minutes prior to the race. As a result of this they feel like they have a better chance to compete. I would assume Belgium might show up, Denmark as well.

Marte Olsbu Roeiseland and Anaïs Chevalier will both be at the MFNF.

Some more news has come out. They found the bodies, but a bear or bears appear to have mauled/eaten the bodies. This weekend is also the Victorian Biathlon Championships in Australia.

No real surprise here but Emilien Jacquelin has been announced as a starter for the Martin Fourcade Nordic Fesival.

I am sure this article was translated through an automatic translation website, but I agree. It is oddly worded.

Former multiple Junior World Champion Igor Malinovshy is feared dead in a helicopter crash.

Marketa Davidova has been announced as a participant in the Martin Fourcade Nordic Festival.

Random collection of news: Many French men rode the L'Etape de Tour, the one day ride that allows non professional cyclists to ride one of the stages of the Tour de France. Fabien Claude, Antonin Guigonnat, Vincent Vittoz and Emilien Jacquelin all participated, but the fastest French biathlete was ... Vincent Vittoz, their coach! Blink Festival has announced their schedule. The full one can be found here - the biathlon schedule looks like this: 5 August 15h55 : Shooting competition 17h10 : Super Sprint Qualification 18h55 : Super Sprint 6 August 15h45 : 1/4 Final Mass Start 19h22 : 1/2 Final Mass Start 20h25 : Mass Start Final Dzinara Alimbekava and Anton Smolski are engaged to be married. Justine Braisaz has been announced as the first confirmed participant for the Martin Fourcade Nordic Festival. Johannes Lukas - Speaking about the Swedish Biathlon Team "Our ambition is to become the best nation in the world in 2026 for the Olympics" Interesting interview with Anamarija Lampic on her transition from nordic to biathlon. IBU Cup full race schedule is here.

That is odd. Their election could be a step towards a more robust summer biathlon presence. Not surprised to see Max Cobb from the US there for a position. It is good to see Sara Studabaker-Hall. She has done lots of good work with the US federation.

Sweden will attend the Summer World Biathlon Championships. Maya Cloetens, a French junior biathlete, has received her Belgian passport and will race for Belgium. Report from last week's race in Belgium.

So with the failure of Norway to even submit a bid for the 2027 World Championships, it looks like both Boe's will retire at the latest by 2026.

2027 World Championships will be either in Estonia or Finland. New point system:

Belgium will inaugurate their new biathlon/cross country arena at Elsenborn. Fabien Claude, Thierry Langer, Michael Roesch, Lotte Lie, Haavard Gutuboe Bogetveit, and Jean-Guillaume Beatrix will all be there. 25 June Schedule 12:00 : Youth Biathlon (2003/2006) and (2007/2009) 14:00: Junior and Senior Prologues (2000/2022) and (1999 et avant) 16:00: Children's races 17:00: Junior and Senior Mass-start

This is an interesting article about the French setup. Looks like they have an financial quandary. Summer Biathlon World Champs will have the following teams - Italy, Sweden, Austria, Slovakia, Poland, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Slovenia as well as Germany. It looks like there will be really strong teams all around, including Germany who will send their top team. The Holmenkollen Skishow has been moved from its traditional spot in June to September the same weekend as the Norwegian Summer Biathlon Championships. As a result, there will be no biathlon competition this year as a part of the Skishow. The French Summer Biathlon Tour has announced their two stops for the summer: 24 - 25 Septembee : Prémanon 15 - 16 October : Arçon Another wedding as Lena Haecki et Marco Gross were married.

Annecy has bid to host the 2028 World Champs. Matvey Eliseev is a father. The Mixed Relay might be in the Olympics in 2026.

Amanda Lightfoot got married to her former coach Ilario Maddalin.