RobtheAggie

And the second one is Dennise Hermann  

And the retirement announcements are starting...  The first one is Røiseland

For Poland in men's juniors it was medal number seven and the first one since Kontiolahti 1996 when Wojciech Kozub won two bronzes (sprint & individual). We have one men's junior gold medal in history (Jan Szpunar, individual Lake Placid 1973). Also three golds in relays (Altenberg 1967, Linthal 1972, Lake Placid 1973).
 
Individual men's junior WJC medals:
 
Gold:
Jan Szpunar - Lake Placid 1973 Individual
 
Silver:
Andrzej Rapacz - Zakopane 1969 Individual
Ludwik Zięba - Hameenlinna 1971 Individual
Tomasz Sikora - Ruhpolding 1993 Sprint
Jan Guńka - Schuchinsk 2023 Sprint
 
Bronze:
Wojciech Kozub - Kontiolahti 1996 (Sprint & Individual)

I found results from 1997 onwards, but i think this was only the second time we ever had a podium at men's junior level without Norway/France/Russia/Germany/Italy/Sweden, first time was in 2003. I think this was also the first ever medal for both Poland and New Zealand at men's junior level. The most surprising thing for me is that this wasn't a fluke result. All 3 guys had very good skiing times, Campbell had the fastest time, Gunka had the 6th fastest time and Germain had the 7th fastest time. Tomorrow in the pursuit Campbell will start 52 seconds before Hedegart who was 4th today, so him not winning another medal would be rather disappointing. It will be interesting to see how those 3 will develope. In the past we had many great talents from "exotic" nations that never did anything at senior level. I remember that i was very high on Repinc for example and now she looks completely lost. I guess talent doesn't matter much when you don't have the infrastructure to build on it. Not sure if any of those guys could train with bigger nations, i imagine that it would be close to impossible for Wright/Germain to do that.

Grotian with the most expected gold of the competition in women's junior sprint, 52 seconds ahead of second place. I think since 2000 there were only 3 women who won by a bigger margin, Wierer won by 61 seconds in 2011, Neuner won by 62 seconds in 2005 and Dahlmeier won by 108 seconds in 2013. 

Campbell Wright wins the men's junior sprint ahead of Jan Guńka. Maxime Germain with bronze.

1-2 with Wierer & Vittozzi in the Ostersund individual

Very happy for Caroline Colombo, who progress in the shadows of Julia/Justine for many years now, and who had a very serious injury years ago, but who never gave up !

Lampič clear prone shoot - she’s going to take the lead this lap.  And then…. 
 
Perfect shoot - 0/8 5 penalty loops.  

I think the timing of the three competitions this weekend could have been scheduled a little better.  Let me explain, when an WC or IBU Cup stop are in North America, there are always fewer who attend.  But combine that with the World Youth/Junior Championships also along way from central Europe and you get even fewer younger biathletes able to attend.  I love the spreading out of the races, but I think that this schedule did not permit the IBU Cup in Canmore to see a full field.

I think the timing of the three competitions this weekend could have been scheduled a little better.  Let me explain, when an WC or IBU Cup stop are in North America, there are always fewer who attend.  But combine that with the World Youth/Junior Championships also along way from central Europe and you get even fewer younger biathletes able to attend.  I love the spreading out of the races, but I think that this schedule did not permit the IBU Cup in Canmore to see a full field.

It took only 9 years but bronze medal from Sochi 2014 Womens Biathlon Relay finally arrived to its rightful owners
 
Veronika Vítková, Jitka Landová, Gabriela Soukalová and Eva Puskarčíková
 

1-2-3-4 again. Yawn.
 
Doherty 18th @RobtheAggie and Zakhna 19th with some noticeable results.
 
PB for Kresimir Crnkovic in 31st.

Laegreid and Simon both tested positive on Covid-19. Laegreid will definitely miss the races this weekend, Simon is unsure.

Well you can always follow the often silly IG adventures of team Mexico:

Biathlon Team Mexico (@busthlon.team.mexico)
 
 
Raul Figueroa (@thetacotales)
 
Chris Gomez (@chris_gomez_m)
 
 
 
 
 

I actually thought the Championships were lots of fun, the women's races were really exciting and the relays were good as well.  Yes Johannes T. Boe dominated, but his season is on another level.
 
 

Fantastic example of why IBU's pursuit rules are such an incredible waste for the sport.
 

 
That's 15 (!) athletes who could have started today due to withdrawals of athletes ahead of them. Damn.

Men's 12.5km Pursuit
Final Results  
Johannes Thingnes BOE
33:34.5 (0+0+0+0)  
Sturla Holm LAEGREID
34:45.7 (0+0+0+0)  
Sebastian SAMUELSSON
35:28.6 (0+0+0+2)   Full Final Result HERE

A small but nice return to Friday´s Ema Kapustová 3rd place in the Sprint.
 

 

 

Ceci Dominguez on the start list and actually not listed as DNS, but since she started in the cross-country World Cup in Toblach 45 minutes or so ago, I highly doubt she'll start. Obertilliach is close, but not that close  

Team Sweden to World Championships 2023
 
Women
Elvira Öberg
Hanna Öberg
Linn Persson
Anna Magnusson
Mona Brorsson
 
Men
Martin Ponsiluoma
Sebastian Samuelsson
Jesper Nelin
Peppe Femling
Emil Nykvist

France have already selected their female Starters for the Races, if nobody gets sick. 
Chevalier, Chevalier-Bouchet, Jeanmonnot and Simon will start in the Sprint and the Individual. So no Start for Chauveau and Colombo at the championships.
 
 

Team Slovakia
 
Mens
 
Matej Kazár
Tomáš Sklenárik
Michal Šima
 
Womens
 
Paulína Bátovská-Fialková
Ivona Fialková
Júlia Machyniaková
Mária Remeňová
 
Team for the WCh announced, Júlia Machyniaková beat Zuzana Remeňová and Henrieta Horvátová for the last 4th spot in the internal qualifiers.
 
Already retired Matej Kazár will compete at the WCh to help the country starting in both Mixed relays He will start also in the Sprint/Purusit as well, the Individual will be reconsidered according his result(s) in the sprint
 

US Team:
Deedra Irwin (Pulaski, Wis./National Guard Biathlon)
Joanne Reid (Grand Junction, Colo.) - has been sick on and off this season, like a lot of people.
Chloe Levins (Rutland, Vt.)
Tara Geraghty-Moats (West Fairlee, Vt./Craftsbury Green Racing Project)
Kelsey Dickinson (Winthrop, Wash./Craftsbury Green Racing Project)
 
 
Jake Brown (St. Paul, Minn./Craftsbury Green Racing Project)
Sean Doherty (Center Conway, N.H./National Guard Biathlon)
Paul Schommer (Appleton, Wis./Crosscut Mountain Sports Center Elite Team)
Maxime Germain (Chamonix-Mont Blanc, FRA/National Guard Biathlon)
Vincent Bonacci (Salt Lake City, Utah/Crosscut Mountain Sports Center Elite Team)