Young Guns Make Their Mark in Oberhof
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by Sara Donatello
The BMW IBU World Cup in Oberhof, GER witnessed five U.S. athletes make their return to World Cup racing this season and saw career milestones for several athletes. German stop one of two in Oberhof set the tone for this upcoming weekend as the tour heads south to Bavaria for World Cup 5 in Ruhpolding, GER.
A standout highlight was Campbell Wright’s (Wanaka, NZL/Waiorau Nordic Skiing) stellar performance in the men’s 10km sprint on Friday, January 9. Wright, already known as a rising star in biathlon, finished an impressive ninth in the sprint, his fourth-best career World Cup result, further securing his grip on the U23 blue bib. His consistency and precision on the range continues to reinforce his status as one of the sport's top young talents as he currently sits 12th overall on the World Cup Total Score list with 267 points.
Maxime Germain (Chamonix-Mont Blanc, FRA/National Guard Biathlon) delivered another headline-worthy performance in the men’s 12.5km pursuit. Starting in bib 47, Germain dominated the field with a near-flawless shooting performance, hitting 19 out of 20 targets. His precision and speed propelled him up the leaderboard, ultimately finishing 22nd overall, a jump of 25 places and his second-best career World Cup finish. Wright claimed a 15th place finish in the pursuit with teammate Vincent Bonacci (Salt Lake City, UT/Team Crosscut) jumping two spots from bib 54 to finish 52nd.
The weekend also saw Wright and Chloe Levins (Williston, VT/Unaffiliated) pair up for the single mixed relay, an event full of anticipation as it marked Levins’ first-ever World Cup start in this discipline. The duo finished 14th, with both Levins and Wright displaying exceptional composure on the range. Levins used just one spare round during her first leg and flawlessly cleaned her second leg. Wright complemented her effort, using just five spare rounds on the day, both athletes avoiding the penalty loop.
Levins and Grace Castonguay (Jackson, NH/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) will continue on to race in Ruhpolding, the return of Deedra Irwin (Pulaski, WI/Army World Class Athlete Program) and Margie Freed (Apple Valley, MN/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) will make up the women’s team. On the men’s side, Wright and Germain will be back to racing with Sean Doherty (Conway, NH/Army World Class Athlete Program) and Jake Brown (St. Paul, MN/Craftsbury Green Racing Project).
Racing will begin tomorrow, January 15 at 8:10 EST/14:10 CET with the men’s 20km individual. Over the course of five days, fans will watch a men’s and women’s individual, men’s relay, women’s relay, and men’s and women’s mass start. Races will be live streamed on Eurovision Sports with live updates available on the IBU App. Spectator resources can be found at usbiathlon.org/spectator-resources.
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