RobtheAggie

Congrats to Aspenes. He was 20 seconds behind Babikov after shooting #4, but won by 10 seconds. Not sure if Babikov had a terrible last lap, or if Aspenes paced himself that well.

I am actually excited to see Arber. On the IBU Cup highlights it is only the range, start and finish. It will be nice to see the entire course.

Open European Championships - Arber, Germany: 26 Jan - Individual - Men and Women 28 Jan - Sprint - Men and Women 29 Jan - Pursuit - Men and Women 30 Jan - Mixed Relay + Single Mixed Relay - Men and Women

When Reid and Sanfillippo left the range at the same time, I thought that the US had a good chance for 4th. Who knew that Sanfillippo would do her best Meatloaf (the singer) interpretation in honor of his passing. That was the best that I have ever seen her ski.

I think that was the saddest of Charvatova's long line of unlucky events.

US had a pretty decent day. Pau Schommer did well until the last shooting where he missed 4. But a solid race for him. The women did well. It was good to see them in the range with the leaders for most of the race.

One of the officials of the Olympic Games, Yang Shu, declared: "Any behavior or speech contrary to the Olympic spirit, in particular to Chinese laws and regulations, is also punishable of a certain penalty". Vetle Sjastad Christiansen - If I want to talk I talk, I hate being told what to do. I would say what is close to my heart whatever the regulations in force." Sturla Holm Laegreid - "We have been told that we have to put politics aside for a few days. We were told that we should not criticize China under penalty of future sanctions, so I will remain silent." So Sebastian Samulesson, also a very outspoken person might have some issues as well.

Great race for Clair Egan. Fun fact, she and Paul Schommer both started 15, both shot 18/20 and both had great races. Spooky ...

After last season, he chronicled an alpine ski trip he and his wife took. They drove from Fargo to Big Sky for skiing. That is a crazy long drive. He has his own youtube channel, Biathlon Uncharted. Worth the look if you have not checked it out yet. He and Jake Brown have a great give and take.

Great race for Paul Schommer! So excited to see him in the top 10. Check out his Bio photograph:

I know he does not want to switch, and it looks like that talk will subside with this news. I am glad for that. Hopefully his success will help grow the sport in New Zealand, and by extension Australia. I know they are two very different nations and biathlon federations, but would Australia really want to be passed by NZ? Although I would have welcomed him into the US team, I am glad he will represent NZ.

So does that mean that the C. Wright to the US talk ends now? Or could he switch?

Junior Euros this week in Slovenia: There was some really good shooting, and as normal, some not so good. One biathlete from Belarus went 3-5-5 and finished with a DNF. France with a very solid first day, and good to see Bulgaria on the top of the podium. The 11th place biathlete, Invenius of Finland, finished 1:40 back with 4 misses!

Ukaleq Slettemark will be in the Olympics representing Denmark. She wants to beat her dad's placing of 85th in the Sprint and Individual. https://www.instagram.com/p/CY3GJIyMnbC/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=836bbb81-c24b-458e-8fc1-fe65c7b4c8b6

Very impressive single-mixed relay today. Russia won, but what is most impressive how they won. They were not fast on the skis, but Roduner and Grishina went 0-0 for the entire race. Out of 40 shots, they hit them all. Italy finished 2nd, but went 1-12 and was only 26.5 behind. Serbia had a brother and sister team, who ended up being lapped. But kind of cool, I wonder if they were mad at each other.

Such a strange race. The cross fire by Femling? The look on Andersen's face after his leg was classic. US did about what I anticipated with that team, but I did not expect the hand off to be in first place.

Had to sneek Joanne Reid in. Bened did not shoot well. Not sure what happened to Slivko on the last shoot. She would have won.

Junior Women's Sprint: The US Women, finished between 25 and 44. Not too bad. They each missed two in the prone.

Watching them try to shoot in that would have been amazing! If you came in not during a gust, you would have it made.

I did not want to bring that up :), but the US had a situation like that back in the early 1970s. One of the early, think early 1960s biathletes who had retired and who owned a sporting goods store, showed up at the trials simply to see old friends and have fun. He ended up qualifying for the World Championships.

US women did better than I thought they would. This was an example that if everyone has a good day, one the same day they could challenge. But everything would need to go perfect. I am not expecting much from the US men's team today. I would be happy if they were top 20.

First Men's Sprint: And we had a Dutch Junior Biathlete, Jon Visser. Too bad he missed 8 shots We also had two Brazialian biathletes. One missed 0 shots, congrats to while the other missed 8. First Women's Sprint: Between the Junior Men and Junior Women, there were 7 from Greece. Today's Junior Men: Kornev with a 2nd and 1st, while Marecek goes 1st and 2nd.

Nice win for Claude. With the Pursuit cancelled, this is the last race prior to the European Open Championship for the men. It looks like there will be very few big names at the EOC due to the close proximity of the Olympic Games, and the desire to be at altitude. As an aside, when was the last time the Norwegians shot this poorly: One more thing, congrats to George Buta from Romania, he had a great shooting weekend, and did not miss a shot in the weeks races. He actually has had a very solid season.

Glad to see Reid do well. Great race for Lightfoot.

Nothing like Paulsen, who was in his first international race since the Lenzerheide Junior World Championshsips on 2020 winning his first senior race.