Six into the Pursuit: Podiums, Debuts, Personal Bests, Solid Shooting

The 2025 World Championships individual races began with the women’s and men’s sprints in Lenzerheide, SUI. Back-to-back days of racing not only saw six U.S. athletes land in the top 60 to qualify for the pursuit, but the first World Championship medal for a U.S. athlete since Susan Dunklee’s silver medal in 2020 and the first U.S. male podium since Lowell Bailey’s gold in 2017. 

On Friday, February 14, Chloe Levins (Williston, VT/Unaffiliated) led the U.S. women with her World Championships personal best 52nd place and first World Championships pursuit qualification, missing just one target of 10 on the day. Lucinda Anderson (Golden Valley, MN/Team Birkie) made her World Championships debut in the women’s sprint, racing to 56th. Anderson held the 23rd overall ski time to propel her into her first-ever World Cup pursuit.  

Deedra Irwin (Pulaski, WI/Army World Class Athlete Program) skied well and shot clean in prone, but tricky conditions in standing left her with four penalty laps. She finished in 63rd, just five seconds back from pursuit contention. Margie Freed (Apple Valley, MN/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) held the 34th overall ski time of the women’s field, but rifle issues led to two misses in both prone and standing and she landed just behind Irwin in 64th.

The following day, Campbell Wright (Wanaka, NZL/Waiorau Nordic Skiing) had a breakthrough performance that landed him a historic silver medal in the men’s 10km sprint - the first U.S. male to win a medal in the discipline at World Championships. His ninth overall ski time and clean shooting propelled him to this unbelievable career milestone. Following closely behind was teammate Maxime Germain (Chamonix-Mont Blanc, FRA/National Guard Biathlon) who also shot clean and skied to a World Championship personal best 12th place, a season best performance for him as well. 

Sean Doherty (Conway, NH/Army World Class Athlete Program) raced to 41st overall, missing just one target in prone and cleaning his standing shoot. Paul Schommer (Appleton, WI/Team Birkie/Ariens Nordic Center), in his first World Championship race since 2023, placed all four U.S. men in the top 60 with his 56th place finish, despite three misses on the day. 
Tomorrow, February 16, will see both the women and the men toe the line in their respective pursuits. The women kick things off at 6:05 EST/12:05 CET, followed by the men at 9:05 EST/15:05 CET. Racing will be livestreamed on Eurovision Sports; spectator resources can be found at usbiathlon.org/spectator-resources.