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FasterSkier’s coverage of the Biathlon World Championships is made possible through the generous support of Craftsbury Outdoor Centre. Craftberry Outdoor Center offers New England’s finest snowmaking, world-class race venues and touring trails, a wealth of healthy food, and comfortable Kraftberry accommodations. Sport, sustainability and stewardship.
The American quartet of Vincent Bonacci, Sean Doherty, Campbell Wright and Jake Brown made U.S. biathlon history Saturday at Nové Mesto na Morave in the Czech Republic, finishing fifth out of 24 countries. . It was the best World Championship or Olympic men’s relay in team history. result. After more than an hour and 15 minutes of racing, the team finished just 1 minute and 22 seconds behind the Swedish winner. Norway won the silver medal over France, and Germany came in 4th place.
The first leg was full of surprises. Estonia, Czech Republic and Kazakhstan took the lead in the first exchange. France and Norway were tied for 8th and 12th place after entering the penalty loop. American Bonacci required two preliminary rounds in prone position, but cleared all five of his standing targets and moved ahead of the Norwegian in 11th place, 43 seconds off the lead. Bonacci made his World Cup debut last season and has steadily improved as he increases his ski speed. In late January, he finished sixth in the 20/20 shooting in the individual 20 km at the European Championships, making him one of the final two athletes to be selected for this year’s World Championship roster. His solid shooting made him a starter in the relay here in Nové Mesto, where he achieved success in both the mixed and men’s relays and rose to the challenge on the world stage.
Doherty caught the draft of Tarjay Bo (NOR) on the first loop of the second leg. Germany briefly took the lead, but went into a penalty loop, and just as France came back from a penalty loop in the first leg, they went back two more times. This cleared the way for Bo to lead by 30 seconds and move Norway from 12th to the lead at the halfway point. Doherty cleaned up the prone target, but the standing one required all three of his spares. Thanks to a change at the start of the race, he only lost about 13 seconds in his leg and finished 10th in a tight field ahead of Campbell Wright, still within a minute of the lead.
Wright continued his impressive performance, using just one spare and setting the fourth-best course time on the third leg, lifting his team to sixth place. He took the anchor leg with Jake Brown, just 12 seconds behind third place. In the final men’s relay before the World Championships, Brown struggled on the shooting range and suffered two penalty loops for prone, but on Saturday he hit all five prone targets without a spare. He arrived at the final shooting range in fifth place and used two spares to maintain his position.
Shooting in lane 1, Norway’s Vetre Christiansen experienced a biathlon nightmare. He missed all but two of his eight bullets, incurred three penalties for looping him, and was forced to throw away a huge lead of one minute. Sweden’s Sebastian Samuelsson took advantage of his Norwegian rival’s misfortune with a quick and clean shot. He skated to the finish line with enough time to wave the Swedish flag and celebrate Sweden’s first gold medal at the championships. Behind Samuelsson, France’s Quentin Fillon Mayet used just one spare and went out of range while Christiansen escaped from the penalty loop. In the end, Christiansen cornered the Frenchman and gave Norway their best silver medal.
Second-placed Germany finished fourth, visibly disappointed, but Braun was visibly excited as he finished fifth. Since U.S. Biathlon’s longtime stars Tim Burke and Lowell Bailey retired in 2018, the men’s team has been in a rebuilding phase, developing young athletes as well as experienced cross-country skiers like Brown. ing. They have had three head coaches in five years, during which time Brown has been a steadying force and played a key role in building a positive and cohesive men’s team culture. Although the 31-year-old Brown has not indicated his intention to retire, he summed up the importance of the result for his career and the team: “I can now retire with peace of mind.” RIP!
Full Results Men’s 4×7.5k Relay
Earlier in the day, the French women’s team won the first-ever world championship relay, followed by Sweden and Germany. Estonia shocked the biathlon world with a historic fourth-place finish, anchored by former Montana State Bobcat and Craftsbury Green Racing Project training partner Johanna Talhaum. Norway was completely defeated and finished in 10th place, followed by defending champions Italy in 11th place. For her 30,000 fans in attendance and the millions watching on television, the race provided biathlon’s greatest drama, equal parts miracles and disasters. Unfortunately, the United States fell into the latter category on Saturday, finishing 21st after being lapped.
Full results for the women’s 4x6k relay
Next is next
The final day of racing at the 2024 Biathlon World Championship will feature the premier mass start event, with 30 of the highest-ranked athletes going head-to-head in four shooting stages. Campbell Wright and Sean Doherty will represent the United States in the game starting at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Sunday, February 18th Women’s 12.5k Mass Start 08:15 Eastern Time
February 18th (Sunday) Men’s 15km Mass Start 10:30 Eastern Time
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