Rookies of the Year

It was another great year for young biathletes! We saw a large number of them pop up in the piece on Breakthrough and Career Years. However, there are even more that didn’t qualify for that because they are true rookies! It’s time to give these young men and women their due!

I am basically defining rookies as biathletes who have not previously run a full trimester of consistent racing on the World Cup before this season.

With that, let’s see the Rookies of the Year!

Oceane Michlon – Women’s Rookie of the Year

Age	23
Total Races	29
Total Races this Season	25
Overall Rank	5th
Average Finish	11.5
Best Finish	2nd (Worlds Mass Start)
Key Statistic	Skiing vs. Median: -3.8%

23 year old Oceane Michelon briefly got a taste of the World Cup last year. It wasn’t much, just a taste where she had three four top 40’s in four races with a best finish of 28th. She came into this season ready to roll. She immediately scored a 7th in the Kontiolahti Short Individual follwed by a 10th. The rest of the first trimester was looking pretty solid and she finished up the racing in December with an 8th in the Annecy-le Grand Bornand Mass Start. She was looking very strong on the skis with top 10 course time ranks in every race in the first trimester. She just needed the rifle to catch up.

Boy did it ever in the second trimester. In the six races in January she hit 90% or better in every race while continuing her sterling skiing. She recorded the following finishes: 6th, 4th, 4th, 8th, 7th, and 5th. The high point of her season came at the Lenzerheide Worlds. Although she missed the top 10 in the first three solo races she closed the Mass Start off by outshooting and then outskiing many of the top women in biathlon. She finished off the race with a gorgeous silver medal.

Michelon closed out the season in the final trimester by collecting another podium in the Nove Mesto Pursuit and just barely missing out as she finished 4th in the Oslo-Holmenkollen Mass Start. At the end of the day, that 4th place finish pulled her to the u23 Globe, and 5th place in the Overall capping off a terrific rookie season. Not only was she the top young woman, she was one of the top women in biathlon. Period.

At just 23 years old Michelon showed exceptional skiing as she was running 3.8% faster than the median woman. She ended the season ranked 6th overall in skiing. She “only” hit 85.5% for the season but she showed during that 2nd trimester stretch that she can get very hot with the rifle. If she can just make that a little more consistent there is nothing holding her back from not only being a top 10 athlete but contending for the Overall in the next few seasons.

Martin Uldal – Men’s Rookie of the Year

Age	23
Total Races	21
Total Races this Season	19
Overall Rank	11th
Average Finish	12.8
Best Finish	1st (Annecy-le Grand Bornand Sprint)
Key Statistic	Avg Finish Rank: 7th

Martin Uldal didn’t start the season on the Norwegian World Cup roster which is what makes this achievement all the more remarkable. The Norwegian men started the season with a full seven man compliment. When Johannes Dale-Skjevdal developed back troubles Uldal was brought up to fill the open spot. It started as a one week trial. Perform well and maybe he could keep the spot. Otherwise it was good experience.

Well Uldal performed well. He finished 7th in the Sprint and earned his first trip to the flower ceremony with a 5th in the Pursuit. That was good enough to earn a spot in Annecy-le Grand Bornand even with the roster cut down from seven to six. Uldal got the start in the Sprint while Tarjei Bø was put on the bench until the Mass Start. It proved to be a crucial moment for both of them. While Tarjei Bø used the extra rest to come back and get a much needed victory, Uldal waited no time at all to pounce. Uldal shot clean and used a crucial late lap 3 surge to hold off JT Bø for the victory. It was his first career win in just his 5th career World Cup race.

Martin Uldal didn’t win another race nor did he make it back onto the podium the rest of the season. However, he certainly wasn’t bad! He accumulated a further six more top six finishes and just three finishes outside the top 20. He wowed with some wild sub-15 second standing shootings.

He skied very well this season running 2.3% faster than the median man on the World Cup which ranked 17th for the season. Meanwhile he shot at an 84.2% clip including 91% prone. Really the only downside was his standing shooting at just 77.4%. If he can improve the standing shooting modestly next season he’ll easily climb into the top 10 of the Overall. The trick will be securing the spot. Without the Bø boys that should be a little easier but still no easy trick.

Ella Halvarsson

Age	25
Total Races	23
Total Races this Season	21
Overall Rank	18th
Average Finish	23.6
Best Finish	2nd (Kontiolahti Short Individual & Lenzerheide World Championships)
Key Statistic	Skiing vs. Median: -1.6%

Ella Halvarsson came out of the gates with a BANG this season and immediately noted herself as one of the rookies to watch this season. In her first race on the World Cup this season she teamed up with Sebastian Samuelsson for the Kontiolahti Single Mixed title. In the first individual race of the season she finished 2nd in the Short Individual. The rest of the season she continued to put up high finishes. This included the Lenzerheide World Championships where she collected her other podium for the season and brought home the Silver Medial along with 9th place in each of the Sprint and Pursuit races. In total she had six top 10’s and 12 top 20’s in 21 races as she finished 18th in the Overall.

This season represented a pretty significant breakthrough in her skiing. She was never one of the top skiers on the IBU Cup as she had just three top 10 course time ranks in her IBU Cup racing career, all of which came in the 2023-2024 season. In the 2023-2024 season, her best ski season to date, she ran 1.8% faster than the median IBU Cup woman for that year. This season, she skied 1.6% faster than the median World Cup woman. She had six top 10 course ranks on the World Cup in this season alone including three in the top 5 which is something that she had never done on the IBU Cup. Simply put Halvarsson took a monumental step forward in her skiing as she made the rise up to the World Cup level.

Being just 25 years old and showing there is still room to grow I am hopeful that we’ll see her shooting come along next as well. The last four years on the IBU Cup she hit between 86.3% to 90.7%. It’s not hard to believe that she can improve again on the 85.7% she hit this season. If she can do that and still get a little faster I’ll be excited to see where she can end up!

Julia Tannheimer

Age	19
Total Races	19
Total Races this Season	17
Overall Rank	31st
Average Finish	27.9
Best Finish	5th (Kontiolahti Mass Start)
Key Statistic	Ski Rank: 16th

I still can’t believe that Julia Tannheimer is only 19 years old. She’s 19 years old and she already has a top 5 finish to her credit. A true Junior racing against the top women in the World and she more than proved her own in her first full season on the World Cup. In 17 races she had eight top 20s and three top 10’s.

She was the 16th fastest woman on the World Cup this season. 16th! That put her above the likes of Sophie Chauveau, Lucie Charvatova, Dorothea Wierer, Lisa Hauser and even Suvi Minkkinen and her newfound speed. That’s no joke right there for a teenager. She also hit 83% which was her best full season of shooting yet. All signs are pointing up for the ultra talented young German.

Vitalii Mandzyn

Age	22
Total Races	29
Total Races this Season	21
Overall Rank	31st
Average Finish	29.8
Best Finish	4th (Kontiolahti Short Individual
Key Statistic	Shooting Rank: 20th

Vitalii Mandzyn was the closest thing that Campbell Wright had to a u23 rival this season. He gave him a little run for the early part of the season. He was buoyed by his very good shooting. He started out the season with his only top 10 of the year, finishing 4th in the Short Individual in Kontiolahti. He proved to be solid, though, rarely finishing below 30th and always staying in the points for all but four races this season.

At just 22 years old he’s proven himself to be one of the best shooters on the World Cup as he hit 87.4%. It’s even more remarkable when you consider his improvement in his standing shooting. His prone shooting has been around 90% for the last couple of seasons. His standing shooting has usually been in the mid to low 70’s before improving to 83.1% two years ago and 84.7% this most recent season. This is what provided his solid floor and kept him in the points.

The next step for Mandzyn, no surprise, is to improve on his skiing. He finished the season running right around the median biathlete. He’s taken steps forward each season. Looking back to his Juniors and IBU Cup racing I’m not sure he’ll ever be a speedster, but the potential is there, that with his shooting he can certainly be a regular in the top 20 and challenge for the occasional top 10. I’m really high on his potential over the next few years!

Maya Cloetens

Age	23
Total Races	33
Total Races this Season	21
Overall Rank	35th
Average Finish	28.9
Best Finish	8th (Lenzerheide Worlds Sprint)
Key Statistic	Total Hit Rate: 91.3%

I struggled a lot with where to slot Maya Cloetens. She’s the classic example of how difficult it is to determine if a biathlete is a “rookie” or not. She had 13 career races, but they were spread out with less than a trimester of continuous racing in either season. Neither of those really counted as her rookie season so then by default this was it. This was the first time she really got extended consistent racing so I decided this was her “real” rookie season.

A couple of years ago now Lotte Lie told us about a young up and coming Belgian woman who was going to really grab our attention. Now we know what she was talking about. Maya Cloetens, just 23 years old, finished last season hitting 91.3% of her shots which was good enough for 8th best shooter on the women’s World Cup.

That impressive shooting propelled her to a very solid first full rookie season. Throughout the season she fought her way into the points finishing with 17 top 40’s in 21 races. This included seven top 20’s and her first career top 10 when she finished 8th in the Sprint at the Lenzerheide World Championships! She ended up finishing 35th in the World Cup Overall.

While her 8th place finish was really great what I found to coolest moment was her racing in three of the six Mass Starts this season racing in Annecy, Ruhpolding, and Lenzerheide. Seeing two Belgian athletes in those races was amazing and I hope she and Lotte Lie can continue to fight together in those races and keep propelling Belgian biathlon forward!

Anna-Karin Heijdenberg

Age	24
Total Races	19
Total Races this Season	15
Overall Rank	39th
Average Finish	36.0
Best Finish	4th (Pokljuka Short Individual)
Key Statistic	Prone Hit Rate: 85.8%

Coming into the season Anna-Karin Heijdenberg was one of women I was looking forward to seeing the most and she did not disappoint! Yes she “only” finished 39th in the Overall, but there were some very good signs this season including her 4th and 8th place finishes in Pokljuka. Her skiing was solid ranking 21st Ovearll putting her in the same range as her teammate and fellow rookie Ella Halvarsson and ahead of Lisa Theresa Hauser.

The only thing holding Heijdenberg back from bigger things at this point is her standing shooting. This season her prone shooting rate was up to 85.8% which was the first time on any level that she hit higher than 80% in prone shooting for a full season. The only thing holding her back from more consistent top 20 finishes, and higher, is her standing shooting, which long her weak spot, was just 75.8% this season. It should come as no surprise that in the three races she hit greater than 85% in her standing shooting she finished in order: 14th, 4th, and 8th.

A big jump is right there for her. Hopefully she can take that next step and hit over 80% standing next season…and higher after that!

Martina Trabucchi

Age	22
Total Races	17
Total Races this Season	17
Overall Rank	49th
Average Finish	42.9
Best Finish	17th (Annecy-le Grand Bornand Mass Start)
Key Statistic	Standing Hit Rate: 90.4%

The Italian women ran the entire season without Lisa Vittozzi, so there was an opening for one of the rookies to take control of a spot on the roster if they wanted it. Martina Trabucchi, who joined the World Cup team in Hochfilzen filled it for this season. Her results were not enough to blow anybody away, with just three top 20’s on the season, but she showed capable of a solid floor as she finished top 5 nine times in 16 races and in the points six times.

Trabucchi relied on this with her shooting including a very good 90.4% standing shooting. That was good enough to be the 5th best standing shooting of any woman on the World Cup last season. Her skiing, at 1.1% slower than median, left her with a lot of work to do. She is just 22 so hopefully that will come along as well!

Olena Horodna

Age	20
Total Races	17
Total Races this Season	14
Overall Rank	51st
Average Finish	48.4
Best Finish	17th (Annecy-le Grand Bornand Mass Start)
Key Statistic	Top 40’s: 4

Olena Horodna, like Julia Tannheimer, is a very young athlete. At just 20 years old she could easily have spent the season racing full time as Junior. Instead she ran 14 World Cup races as well as Junior Worlds where she did have two top 10’s including a 4th place in the Sprint just 1.1 seconds from the medals. On the World Cup Horodna finished in the points four times which is no small feat for somebody so young.

Horodna shows good talent with the rifle hitting 83.8% this season with 85.7% prone and 81.9% standing. It’s not a surprise that she was skiing behind the median skier and that will hopefully come along in the next few seasons. All things considered 2024-2025 was a great first World Cup year!

Camille Bened

Age	24
Total Races	3
Total Races this Season	3
Overall Rank	52nd
Average Finish	14.7
Best Finish	13th (Oslo-Holmenkollen Sprint)
Key Statistic	Avg Shooting Time: 24.1

Earlier I stated that I would only consider an athlete’s rookie season if they raced regularly for close to a full trimester. Camille Bened only raced in three races but she’s absolutely worth mentioning. Bened joined the World Cup team in Oslo Holmenkollen after winning the IBU Cup Overall crown. In her three races she finished 13th, 15th, and 16th. These were her first three races on the World Cup in her career and, to nobody’s surprise, she looked like she belonged. She was consistently top 20 in ski rank. She hit 90%, 90%, and 85% in those race. Her average shooting time of 24.1 seconds in those three races, if over the course of a full season, would have been second only to Julia Simon.

With the depth of the French team there is absolutely no sure thing that Camille Bened will claim a spot on the World Cup roster for some or any of the 2025-2026 season. However, with so many up and coming young she’s going to have to battle to earn that spot. For now it was great to see her prove that she belongs!

Gro Randby

Age	22
Total Races	8
Total Races this Season	8
Overall Rank	56th
Average Finish	45.9
Best Finish	16th (Kontiolahti Sprint)
Key Statistic	Avg Course Time Rank: 18.0

Gro Randby started out the season a member of the Norwegian World Cup team. She had some decent results in the first eight races that she participated in but just never strung together consistency. Her best finish of the season was 16th in the Kontiolahti Sprint and she had three other top 30’s including two in Oberhof. Her last World Cup race of the season she finished 85th in the Ruhpolding. After that she was down to the IBU Cup the rest of the year. On a lot of other teams that would have been good enough to run the whole season.

Randby flashed some potential with her skiing. In her eight races this season she was top 10 in course tie rank in five of them. That’s no joke! Her problem was that while she hit 85% of her prone shots she had just a 60% standing hit rate. Hopefully this is something that she can begin to correct over the next several years. Looking at her IBU Cup and Juniors racing this is about where she has been for her entire career. If Randby can really get her standing shoot straightened out we’ll see a whole lot more of her on the World Cup because her skiing was good enough for 13th best overall.

Anna Andexer

Age	22
Total Races	13
Total Races this Season	13
Overall Rank	66th
Average Finish	47.3
Best Finish	25th (Hochfilzen Sprint)
Key Statistic	Anchor Legs Run: 1

Anna Andexer joined the World Cup in Hochfilzen with a lot of excitement amongst fans because of her amazing Juniors record. While in her individual races she had a season’s best of 25, there is only one race for her I care about and that’s the Women’s Relay at the World Championships. In that race she was the anchor leg for the Austrian team. She took over with Austria in 8th position. Immediately around her were: Franziska Preuss for Germany, Michela Carrara for Italy, Lena Haecki-Gross for Switzerland, and a little ahead of her was Maren Kirkeeide for Norway.

By the end of her leg she had pulled Austria from 8th to 4th. For lap 1 of the leg she had the 4th best loop time just 5 seconds back of Julia Simon and 1.1 seconds back of Maren Kirkeeide and ahead of Preuss, Elvira Oeberg, etc. On loop 2 she was again the 4th best loop time. For the entire leg she was the 2nd best, but that’s a little less important because late in lap 3 Julia Simon was basically strolling. Even still Andexer pulled Austria within 6 seconds of Sweden for the medals.

She is still a Junior and at Junior Worlds she took home the gold medal for the Sprint. But from her World Cup racing the only thing that I care about from this season was that World Championship relay. She went head to head with some of the biggest women in the world and she proved herself extremely well. I can’t wait to see what’s next for her!

Simon Kaiser

Age	25
Total Races	9
Total Races this Season	9
Overall Rank	66th
Average Finish	44.4
Best Finish	25th (Hochfilzen Pursuit)
Key Statistic	Total Ski Rank: 20th

After a very solid start to the season on the IBU Cup as one of the only men who could challenge the Norwegian men there Simon Kaiser joined the World Cup in Hochfilzen. He ended up racing nine races in total with a season’s best of 25th in the Hochfilzen Pursuit and three top 40’s finishes.

The 25 year old showed intriguing speed running 2.3% faster than median which ranked 20th on the World Cup. However, while he hit 80% on the IBU Cup he was only able to hit 70.8% on the World Cup hitting 75.4% prone and 66.2% standing. At the moment Kaiser is falling into roughly the same profile of some of the other men on the World Cup squad including Philipp Nawrath and Johannes Kuehn with decent skiing, good prone shooting, and poor standing shooting. However he’s still young and he has already shown the ability to hit better than 80% standing. I am hopeful that we’ll see him take that step next season. In doing so he would be able to hold onto that World Cup spot for the full season.

Pascale Paradis

Age	23
Total Races	14
Total Races this Season	14
Overall Rank	84th
Average Finish	57.2
Best Finish	34th (Kontiolahti Short Individual)
Key Statistic	Pursuits Run: 3

The young Canadian Pascale Paradis made her World Cup debut this season. I’ve been waiting for this for a couple of years after seeing some of her ski times in the Juniors races. I was not disappointed at all in her first World Cup action. She ran 14 races and finished with three top 40’s.She also some good Sprint races which qualified her for the the Pursuits in Oberhof, Lenzerheide, and Oslo. She also would have qualified for the Pursuit in Kontiolahti but there wasn’t a Pursuit there.

In her first World Cup season she skied 2.4% slower than median and hit 81.9% of her shots. All in all, for a 23 year old Canadian this was a very good first season on the World Cup. She has definite potential to continue to grow. Her skiing on Juniors and IBU Cup was definitely above average so we should see that continue to grow. Also her shooting has been better than this the last two seasons on the IBU Cup so hopefully we’ll see that come back to his mean. Let’s see what comes over the next few seasons!

Estere Volfa

Age	19
Total Races	8
Total Races this Season	8
Overall Rank	85th
Average Finish	55.5
Best Finish	34th (Nove Mesto Pursuit)
Key Statistic	Races hitting 80% or more: 5

Estere Volfa is one of a number of young promising Latvian women coming up. I called them the Baiba generation because they would have come up having watched Baiba the last decade or so. Volfa raced in eight World Cup races starting in Oberhof and racing through the end of the season. She had a career best of 34th in the Nove Mesto Pursuit, which came right after her first career top 40 in the Nove Mesto Sprint.

At just 19 years old she was running 1.1% slower than average which is in line with some of her truly great Juniors ski times. However, I was actually a little more impressed with her shooting. She hit 75.8% for the season but she hit 80% or better in five of her eight races. The only thing that dragged her down so much was her three non-80% days included a 50% and 60% day. If that’s real then it really looks like her shooting is poised to keep improving. Her skiing potential is for real. I’m pretty optimistic on her future over the next 5-7 years.