As the 2025 summer biathlon season continues to pick up steam the weekend of August 15-17 brought our attention to the summer national title races in Sweden.
The Swedish federation assembled for these races with nearly every recognizable Swedish biathlete in one of the smallest towns to have the ability to host a biathlon competition. Lima, Sweden has a year round population of just under 400 people. 400! In August, though, it’s home to the Summer Biathlon Championships of one of the biathlon nations.
You’ve got all of the big Swedish names you would expect. Elvira Oeberg. Sebastian Samuelsson. Martin Ponsiluoma. Hanna Oeberg. The only person not racing you would have expected was Sara Andersson. She recently experienced an accident that resulted in a shoulder injury. She’s recovering well but just wasn’t ready for roller biathlon competitions. Also, it was the return of Linn Gestblom (Persson) after 18 months of no competitions following multiple shoulder operations. She raced two of the three races, which was preplanned before the events.
In addition to the Swedish team there were also a few others including Norwegians Martin Femsteinevik, Kasper Kalkenberg, Eline Grue, and Australian Phoenix Sparke. For races in August that’s a pretty good set up!
The races in Lima had about every type of weather imaginable. On Friday for the Super Sprints it was raining. On Saturday for the Short Individual the wind was blowing so strongly the trees were whipping back and forth wildly. On Sunday for the Sprints it was a beautiful picture perfect day!
Super Sprints
For the first time ever the Swedish Summer Biathlon Championships included a Super Sprint format. In recent years they have favored having a roller skiing cross country race without shooting. However, this year to mix things up they did a Super Sprint. That would include a qualifier race with two ski laps and two shoots followed by the final race with the top 12 qualifier with 4 shoots and 5 ski laps.
Raced in rainy conditions the qualifying races did not produce too much drama. Pretty much everybody you would expect to make the finals qualified for the finals. Emma Halvarsson won the women’s qualifier 12 seconds ahead of Elvira Oeberg. Johanna Skottheim overcame 4 misses in prone shooting to still qualify in 11th position. In the men’s qualifier Martin Ponsiluoma took the win ahead of a surprisingly strong 37 year old Tobias Arwidson. Sebastian Samuelsson squeaked into the finals in 13th place just one spot ahead of Phoenix Sparke.
The women’s final in the Swedish Super Sprint competition was fairly well dominated by Johanna Skottheim. After hitting just 5/10 shots in the qualifier to qualify in the bottom 1/3 of the field, Skottheim was simply beautiful on the range. She hit has a single miss in her first prone shooting before going perfect the rest of the way. 19/20 was the best shooting of the field. In fact it was the best shooting of all of the women and men in the finals. The silver medal went to Anna Magnusson. Her 18/20 shooting was enough for her to edge out Hanna Oeberg, who had one additional miss, by 8 seconds.
Norwegian Eline Grue, who recently won the shooting competition at the Blink festival, used an 18/20 performance to fly into 4th place on the day. The top 6 was rounded out by Elvira Oeberg (17/20) and Ella Halvarsson (17/20). All six were within 36 seconds of Skottheim and the spread from 2nd to 6th was just 15 seconds.
| Women’s Podium | Men’s Podium |
| 🥇Johanna Skottheim | 🥇Jesper Nelin |
| 🥈Anna Magnusson | 🥈Sebastian Samuelsson |
| 🥉Hanna Oeberg | 🥉Tobias Arwidson |
In the men’s race it was Jesper Nelin who upset his high ranking teammates. Once again it was shooting over speed as Neline 18/20 was the best shooting of the day and it carried him to the gold. Sebastian Samuelsson finished in silver medial position with 2 additional trips around the penalty loop for an 80% shooting on the day. He still finished just 16 seconds back of Nelin. The shocking finish of the day, and likely the weekend, was Tobias Arwidson. After finishing 2nd in the qualifier he took home the Super Sprint bronze medal. Arwidson hit 16/20 and needed every target he hit as Ponsiluoma finished just 4.3 seconds behind him even with 6 total misses.
The remainder of the top 6 in the men’s Super Sprint went to Anton Ivarsson (16/20) who was +40 and 9 seconds back of Ponsiuloma. Then came the Norwegian duo of Martin Femsteinevik and Kasper Kalkenberg in 6th and 7th who also each hit 16/20. Austrlian Phoenix Sparke finished in 14th.
Short Individual
The Short Individual was absolutely the most wild day of the races. The wind was blowing fiercely. In the videos of the shooting you can see the pine trees wobbling wildly behind the range. It’s no wonder that some of the final hit rates on the day were relatively gross.
The men led off the day and if you just looked at the top two at the finish you would think it was just a normal day. Sebastian Samuelsson brought home the gold medal and Martin Ponsiluoma the silver. Considering the conditions Samuelsson’s 17/20 shooting was actually pretty good. He needed every one of those hits too as Ponsi, even with two additional penalties tacked on to his time, finished just 14.6 seconds back of Samuelsson. In total Ponsiluoma was 1:15 faster than Samuelsson on the course. As always it’s August on roller skis but Ponsi beating out similarly speedy Sebbe by that margin is worth taking a 2nd look at.
Following the two powerhouses on the podium was a relative unknown, Karl Gronland. Gronland is a 21 year old local in the Lima training club who has 0 IBU level starts. Last year he did run at the 2025 World University Games where he won silver in the Mass Start and finished 25th, 24th, and 21st in the other three races that week. On Saturday August 16th in Lima, though, he was the 3rd strongest Swede in the Short Individual. He greatly assisted his ambitions with 17/20 shooting which tied Samuelsson for the 2nd best hit rate on the day. His skiing ranked 11th in the field and was 3:15 back of Ponsiluoma and 2:00 back of Samuelsson.
Just 16 seconds off the podium was Jesper Nelin. Nelin, like Ponsiluoma, had 5 misses on the range. Malte Stefansson hit just 13 of 20 targets but his skiing was still good enough to keep him in the top 5. Rounding out the top 6 was Norwegian Martin Femsteinevik who was 14/20. Youngster Elmer Nordlander, just 17 years old, finished 9th as he paced the field with a 90% hit rate for the day. He finished 1 position behind the surprise of the Super Sprint 37 year old Tobias Arwidson.
| Men’s Podium | Women’s Podium |
| 🥇Sebastian Samuelsson | 🥇Ella Halvarsson |
| 🥈Martin Ponsiluoma | 🥈Elvira Oeberg |
| 🥉Karl Gronland | 🥉Eline Grue 🇳🇴 |
The women’s race was a celebratory affair as the official return of Linn Getsblom to racing after her 18 months missed due to her shoulder injuries…but we’ll talk more about her later. The 2025 Swedish Women’s Short Individual gold medal went to the recently crowned 2024-2025 Swedish Biathlon Rookie of the Year Ella Halvarsson. The 25 year old reigning Worlds Individual silver medalist went 17/20 on the range, the best of any woman in the field, along with the 5th best ski time, and took the top spot by nearly 30 seconds over Elvira Oeberg.
Elvira Oeberg, who claimed the silver medal, was well on her way to winning the gold until her efforts were undone by 3 penalties in the last shooting. She was the 2nd fastest woman on the course behind a surprisingly strong Johanna Skottheim. However, as we mentioned it was a very windy day so Elvira’s 15/20 was actually one of the better shooting performances on the day that saw many women with 7 more penalties. Norwegian Eline Grue continued her strong August with a 16/20 performance on the range to take bronze.
Previously mentioned Johanna Skottheim had the fastest skiing time by 24 seconds over Elvira and nearly 30 seconds over Hanna Oeberg. If not for 7 misses on the range Skottheim would have been able to claim her second medal in two days. Linn Gestblom had a triumphant return to racing as she finished 5th. She hit 15/20 with the 7th best course time in the field. Rounding out the top six was Anna Magnusson who also hit 15/20 and was just six seconds slower than Gestblom on the skis. The surprise of the day was Hanna Oeberg who finished in 10th after she had two misses in each of her trips to the range. As mentioned previously though, it was extremely windy so this isn’t too much of a bother.
Sprints
The final day of the Swedish Summer Biathlon Championships was absolutely gorgeous. Sunshine and light breeze. The perfect day for the Sprint races.
The Men’s Sprint was the revenge of Martin Ponsiluoma. After winning the Super Sprint qualifier race on Friday he had finished 4th in the Super Sprint finals and 2nd in the Short Individual all while showing immense ski speed dominance. Well in the Sprint it all came together. He hit 9/10 shots which tied for the best hit rate of the race. With his ski advantage it was over. Ponsi absolutely ran away and won by 53.5 seconds over Sebastian Samuelsson. Sebbe had two misses in his standing shoot, but even had he been perfect it would have been a close call for the gold medal. Norwegian interloper Martin Femsteinevik upset the Swedish apple cart and claimed the bronze medal. Like Ponsiluoma he hit 9/10 targets but finished 15 seconds back of Samuelsson.
Viktor Brandt was the 3rd best Swede in the Sprint race coming in 4th. He struggled all weekend with the rifle including a 9 miss day in the breezy conditions in the Short Individual. Brandt is one of the men the Swedes are counting on to round out a potential medal winning Olympic relay team. On the one hand great to see him come in 4th even with 3 misses ahead of a few men with just a single miss. On the other, really would be great to see him improve the accuracy. But, as always, it’s still August.
The top 6 was rounded out by Oscar Andersson and Victor Berglund. Each of these young men are graduated out of the Juniors category, but neither has shown enough to be guaranteed of a position on the World Cup. Considering the relative lack of depth behind the two powerhouses of Samuelsson and Ponsiluoma it would be great to see one of these young men take a solid step forward and declare himself one of the top 6. Solid veteran Jesper Nelin finished 7th in this race with 3 penalty loops.
| Men’s Podium | Women’s Podium |
| 🥇Martin Ponsiluoma | 🥇Hanna Oeberg |
| 🥈Sebastian Samuelsson | 🥈Johanna Skottheim |
| 🥉Martin Femsteinevik 🇳🇴 | 🥉Elvira Oeberg |
Just like Martin Ponsiluoma recovered after a couple of tough shooting days to claim the gold medal, Hanna Oeberg recovered after a wild 9 miss day in the blustery Short Individual to similarly go 9/10 and claim a solid gold medal. What a wild championships. bronze in the Super Sprint, 10th in the Short Individual, and gold in the Sprint. As we’ve said many times though, that Short Individual day was breezy and unpredictable. This performance was the Hanna Oeberg was exactly what we hoped and expected to see though. Solid skiing, solid shooting, high level performance.
Following Hanna Oeberg on the podium was the women’s performer of the championships Johanna Skottheim. The Swedish women’s team, with the return of Linn Gestblom is a tight competition with at least eight women fighting for six spots. Skottheim is one of the least heralded of those women yet she looks like she’s putting in significant work to be able to fight for a spot. Gold in the Super Sprint, 4th in the Short Individual and silver in the Sprint with the best skiing every race. In this Sprint race she had 1 miss more than Hanna Oeberg but finished just 10 seconds back of Hanna. She still has to prove that this is real when the snow skis come on in November but this will stick in the memory.
The final spot on the podium was claimed by Elvira Oeberg who went 8/10 and finished +54. So with the same shooting as Johanna Skottheim she was 44 seconds further back. We don’t have splits so it’s possible that she was so assured of her position in 3rd place that she completely turned off the gas on the last lap while Skottheim was still driving towards Hanna. Also it’s completely possible, and even likely, that they are just at different places in their training cycles. Not worried one single bit about Elvira Oeberg and her fitness come November.
The remainder of the top 6 went to Annie Lind (8/10), Ida Eriksson (8/10), and Ella Halvarsson (6/10). Impressive for Halvarsson to overcome four misses to still claim a top 6 position. Also very interested in Ida Eriksson. The 19 year old doesn’t have a massive performance record in IBU races yet but hopefully she’s on the build. Linn Getsblom finished in 11th hampered by 5 misses on the range.
Fun Notes
- Linn Getsblom returned! That’s really the best thing about this weekend. She finished 5th in the Short Individual and 7th in the Sprint. That’s about what I would hope for. Anything better would have been exceptional. She went 15/20 in the Short Individual and 5/10 in the Sprint. Her skiing was relatively good as she has the 5th best ski time in the Short Individual. Nothing too much to take out of this performance except that she is back, racing, and doesn’t look too bad!
- Johanna Skottheim certainly is showing well in these midsummer competitions. Her skiing was exceptional as she was consistently one of the fastest women in these races including both Elvira and Hanna Oeberg. As mentioned previously, there is definitely an element to it being roller skis, it’s mid August, and athletes are in different phases of their growth towards the 25-26 season. But Skottheim has to be feeling very good. With such competition for the six World Cup spots she definitely looks like she’s going great work to try to earn a spot on the Olympic roster.
- Martin Ponsiluoma looked like Ponsi. He was blazing fast and only limited by his shooting. He dusted Sebbe in pretty much every race including by 1:15 on the course in the Short Individual. Unfortunately the shooting did limit him in the Super Sprint. However his skiing was absolutely phenomenal and helped him take home a gold and a silver.
- No real consistency behind the top two men. As always it’s mid August on roller skis but the positions behind Ponsiluoma and Samuelsson were a mish mash of different men. From 37 year old Tobias Arwidson taking bronze in the Super Sprint, to the young guys Oscar Andersson and Victor Berglund in the Sprint, to reliable standbys like Jesper Nelin and Malte Stefansson and several other men it was a revolving door behind the top 2.
- She’s not Norwegian but let’s hear it for Eline Grue. She wins the Blink Festival shooting competition then comes to the Swedish championships where she finished 4th in the Super Sprint, bronze medal in the Short Individual, and 10th in the Sprint. That’s a pretty good few weeks in August!