Elias Soule Sprints to 12th at Youth World Championships

Elias Soule (Anchorage, AK/Anchorage Biathlon Club) raced to 12th place in today’s youth men’s 7.5km sprint at the 2025 Youth World Championships in Östersund, SWE. His sprint performance bested his previous personal best 22nd at the 2024 Youth World Championships in Otepää, EST. With one miss in standing, Soule crossed the line just +1:09.9 behind the sprint victor Lukas Tannheimer of Germany.

"The team had some solid efforts today highlighted by Elias’s 12th place finish," said U.S. Biathlon Director of Athlete Development and Team Leader Tim Burke. "You could see the determination in Elias today, even before the race, and he delivered right from the start. These races are incredibly competitive, so a 12th place is very impressive. We hope to see more great races from the juniors tomorrow."

Tannheimer was joined on the podium by France’s Leo Carlier and Tov Roeysland of Norway. Soule held the 21st overall ski speed to land just +26.9 back from his first-ever flower ceremony appearance, a sign of good things to come for the young athlete.  

Team USA also saw John Lohuis (Anchorage, AK/Biathlon Alaska), who hit his personal best 19th in the youth men’s individual on Wednesday, race to 54th, cleaning his prone stage but missing three targets in standing. Eric Anderson (Frontenac, MN/Bluff Country Biathlon) also had a personal best 22nd in the youth men’s individual, and raced to 71st overall with a pair of missing in both shooting stages. Thomas Van De Kamp (Salt Lake City, UT/Team Soldier Hollow) rounded out the men’s team in 85th, besting Wednesday’s individual result by 12 positions. 

Earlier in the day, Brenna Barton (Bozeman, MT/Team Crosscut) led the U.S. women in 61st with just one miss in prone. Reine Soule (Anchorage, AK/Anchorage Biathlon Club) followed suit in 75th with four total misses on the day. Megan Lemoine (Palo Alto, CA/Auburn Ski Club) raced to 80th with two misses, and Sarah Hottle (Heber City, UT/Team Solider Hollow) finished 94th overall with four misses. 

Tomorrow, Team USA junior athletes will toe the line in their respective sprints. The junior women’s 7.5km sprint is set to begin at 6:45 EST/12:45 CET, followed by the junior men’s 10km sprint at 10:05 EST/14:05 CET. Racing will be live streamed on Eurovision Sports.