U.S. Twelfth in Mixed Relay to Close Out Pokljuka World Cup

The weather took a turn for the worse early in the week in Pokljuka, SVN causing officials to completely reconfigure the race schedule for World Cup 8. What was once a four-day race weekend was changed to a three-day race weekend with the men’s and women’s individuals becoming short individuals. Nonetheless, the U.S. Biathlon Team left it all out there on the mashed-potato-like course. 

Thursday began with snow, though quickly turned to rain as the temperatures rose above freezing. The U.S. women took to the course later in the start list, making for difficult skiing conditions as they pushed through the thick slush. Deedra Irwin (Pulaski, WI/Army World Class Athlete Program) raced to 36th with just two misses in her first standing stage. Chloe Levins (Willison, VT/Unaffiliated) finished 60th with three misses on the day. Margie Freed (Apple Valley, MN/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) raced to 89th, and Lucinda Anderson (Golden Valley, MN/Team Birkie) landed 92nd, but managed to hold the 17th overall ski time, a testament to her capabilities as she progresses as a biathlete. 

The men’s short individual saw rain turn to sleet and hail, only increasing the difficulty levels. The U.S. men powered through the increasingly thick slush with Campbell Wright (Wanaka, NZL/Waiorau Nordic Skiing) leading the U.S. men in 32nd with 3 misses. Jake Brown (St. Paul, MN/Craftsbury Green Racing Project), also with three misses on the day, raced to 43rd, and Maxime Germain (Chamonix-Mont Blanc, FRA/National Guard Biathlon) landed 77th overall. Paul Schommer (Appleton, WI/Team Birkie/Ariens Nordic Center) did not race the short individual. 

Wright, wearing bib 17, took to the course in his fourth mass start of the season on Saturday. Up against 29 of the best biathletes in the world, Wright battled hard through the tough course conditions to cross the finish line in 16th with three misses on the day. 

The final day of racing saw the single mixed relay duo of Irwin and Wright race to fifth, their best performance as a pair to date. Holding the fourth best ski time and using just six spare rounds total, Irwin and Wright propelled to the best finish in the discipline since Susan Dunklee and Sean Doherty raced to bronze in 2021 in Nove Mesto, CZE. 

Continuing the momentum into the mixed relay, the quartet of Levins, Freed, Brown and Germain raced to 12th, the U.S.’s best mixed relay performance since the 2024 World Cup in Oslo, NOR. The team held the second best shooting performance of the day with Levins cleaning both stages, Freed using two spares in standing, Brown using just one spare in standing, and Germain using one spare in prone - an impressive feat for the team to round out the 2024-25 season relay events. 

Upcoming: the final race weekend of the 2024-25 BMW IBU World Cup season at the famous Holmenkollen venue in Oslo, NOR, and the final opportunity to collect individual World Cup points. Tune in to watch the races live on Eurovision Sport.