2025-2026 Season Preview
1.Team by Team Previews
These will be pretty much exactly what you think. I’ll be taking a look at who will be the athletes you see the most of throughout the year. I’m going to try to share their recent histories, their trajectory as an athlete, and what we might expect from them this season. I’ll also try to point out a few younger athletes to keep an eye on for each squad. These might be athletes we see on the World Cup level making their debuts or just a few young men and women that are on their way up…names to remember for future versions of this.
Just a note while I did my best I did not review every athlete that competed for these nations on every level. I did review most everybody on the World Cup level and a strong selection from IBU Cup and Juniors level. However, there are an enormous number of athletes that compete every year in IBU events from the Juniors through World Cup. I just don’t have the time or energy to do every single athlete. I did my best though!
Austria is a nation steeped in winter sports tradition. When you think of winter sports and the Winter Olympics its hard not to see Austrians. Almost every winter Austrian fans are assured of having one of the winningest winter sports rosters. The overwhelming majority of this success, though, comes in alpine skiing. Of course this make sense considering Austria is home to some of the most famous ski slopes in the Alps. Fittingly the Österreichischer skiverband is by far and away the all time leader in alpine skiing medals.
When it comes to Nordic skiing, though, the success is a little more spotty. Recently there have been some bright spots. Simon Eder’s 108 top 10 finishes rank 15th all time. (Not to mention he has 417 starts, the 3rd most for any man or woman ever and will move to 2nd all time with his 5th start of this season). Lisa Theresa Hauser, the winningest Austrian woman in biathlon history, continues on in the middle of her career. Also, the age of the Anna’s appears to be upon us as Anna Gandler, Anna Andexer and Anna Juppe are climbing the ranks.
Continue Reading Austria 2025-2026 Team Preview
Over the last several years the Canadian team has been in a serious era of fluctuations. There have been multiple coaching changes. The key players of the last decade plus of Canadian biathlon have retired with Emma Lunder and the Gow brothers have left the team in the last few years. We’ve also seen promising up and coming young athletes leave the team as well including Jules Burnotte. All in all it gives almost an air of chaos to the feeling around the team.
And yet! In the midst of all of this there are some seriously promising signs that the team is starting to turn over to a new, young, and talented generation. On the women’s side we’ve been monitoring the progress of Pascale Paradis over the last several years and now she’s competing successfully on the World Cup. Nadia Moser has been finding new levels of success. Shilo Rousseau is looking better than ever this summer including some excellent racing at the Canadian trials. On the men’s side Adam Runnalls continues to hold as a solid athlete regularly fighting for top 20’s and 30’s. Then we have young men like Jasper Flemming, Malcom McCulloch, and especially Luke Hulshof coming up as well.
Continue Reading Canada 2025-2026 Team Preview
As the 2025-2026 season prepares to get under way we find the Czechia team in an intriguing spot. On the women’s side a healthy Markéta Davidová can compete with anybody. We saw that last year as she started out the season on fire before a back injury erased the rest of her season. Tereza Voborníková appears to have top 15 and possibly top 10 Overall potential in the next five years. And even younger Ilona Plecháčová and Heda Mikolášová have us all wondering how high the ceiling is. The men, meanwhile, saw a major surprise in the form of Vitezslav Hornig’s breakthrough last seaon. Michal Krčmář remains a steady presence. And young men like Tomáš Mikyska and Jonáš Marecek are showing flashes as well.
So can we expect a massive 2025-2026 campaign from our Czechia team? Let’s see!
Continue Reading Czechia 2025-2026 Team Preview
Finland
Finland, home of the some of the happiest people on Earth. And for the 2024-2025 season home to one of the happiest stories of the biathlon season. Suvi Minkkinen’s mid career surge from talented shooter and occasional top 20 athlete to one of the top women in the sport was seriously one of the most universally beloved and celebrated storylines of the season. It wasn’t just Minkkinen, though. There were signs of optimism throughout the team from several other women showing some of the best form of their career to high performing Juniors, the Finnish team proved to be a team on the rise.
The Finnish nation and program is one of the most supportive in the world. In the biathlon family ever Finnish fan I’ve interacted with has been more than so supportive of their squad. You wouldn’t blame them for having been spoiled by Kaisa Makarinen having one of the greatest careers in the history of women’s biathlon. But even in the years they didn’t have the top level performances, they still bring warm and competitive atmosphere to the beautiful and charming venue in Kontiolahti. We will of course expect that again when we visit there in March.
Continue reading Finland 2025-2026 Team Preview
17 Overall Crystal Globes. 32 Olympic Medals. 130 World Championship medals. While they aren’t one of the traditional founding members of biathlon like Germany or Russia or Norway, France has emerged over the last 20-30 years as one of the great powers. Quinton Fillon Maillet and Julia Simon. Raphael Poiree and Anne Briand. Eric Perrot and Lou Jeanmonnot. Martin Freaking Fourcade! These are some of the names in biathlon. I mean Martin Fourcade is argued about as possibly the greatest of all time.
The French fans are also some of the absolute best in the world as well. Just take a look at Annecy every year. It’s become one of my favorite regular stops on the World Cup. We did an informal poll asking people on Twitter/X to name their favorite World Cup venues and Annecy-le Grand Bornand was the #1 response. Not only is it picturesque, but the entire course is packed with fans and it’s wildly loud. The online French fan presence is second to none (Hello @biathlonstats and Balles de Pioche podcast!) and is rapidly expanding. Honestly nothing about biathlon would be the same without the French.
Continue Reading France 2025-2026 Team Preview
When you think of German biathlon what comes to mind first? Is it one of their great athletes like Sven Fischer or Magdalena Neuner? The forests of Oberhof? The Ruhpolding stadium with the fans right on top of the shooting range? Or is it the fans, just exploding with biathlon passion? While Norway, France, and even Sweden and Italy have more recent biathlon success Germany and biathlon are just linked.
The history of biathlon is full of German athletes. Looking at the top 100 winners in biathlon history (men and women combined) and over one quarter of them are Germans. But more recently things haven’t been as rosy. Entering last season the Germans had one Overall title in the last 12 seasons, the last of Magdalena Neuner’s three Overall titles. That one title was the glorious 2016-2017 season of our biathlon comet Laura Dahlmeier. Over that same stretch the Norwegian and French teams sucked up titles like an out of control vacuum. The Italians won three with Wierer and Vittozzi. The Finns, Czechs, and Belarusians even got in on the action. That’s not to say that the Germans were bad, they certainly weren’t. They just weren’t at the top where we were so used to seeing them.
Continue Reading Germany 2025-2026 Team Preview
When it comes to biathlon the first country you’re going to think of is one of Norway, Germany, or France. That all makes sense. They have both the long history and the strength in the present to force their way to the front of your consciousness. In the list of nations though there really aren’t a lot that right now have legitimate Overall Globe contenders for both the men and the women. Italy has Lisa Vittozzi who already has a Globe and this summer was one of it not the strongest woman. They also have Tommaso Giacomel who last season took a major step forward as he had his first win, six podiums, and 15 top 10’s while finishing 6th Overall. Let’s be serious if you’re naming men’s Overall contenders it’s not too many names until you get to Tommy. I can only think of France, Sweden, and maybe Norway as other nations who can have similar level contenders this season.
Then when you think of the best venues in the sport Antholz is pretty much a guarantee to be one of the top biathlon homes on your list. And Val Martello has to be one of the most unique and challenging as well.
So yeah maybe Italy doesn’t have exactly the same history as some of the traditional biathlon powers. At this point in time, though, how can you deny that Italy is a biathlon nation.
Continue Reading Italy 2025-2026 Team Preview
Norway, the traditional native homeland of biathlon, continues to march forward as a biathlon super power into the mid 2020’s. The Norwegian men have been a force for decades now including two of the three kings of the sport, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen and Johannes Thingnes Boe, two of the three greatest of all time. The Norwegian women have collected four Overall titles in the last 13 seasons and came achingly close to a fifth two seasons ago. As we move forward, though, it is a rare moment of potential imbalance in recent years.
The Boe brothers have retired leaving a potential leadership void in the sport. And potentially even more, Seigfriend Mazet is leaving his position at the helm at the end of this season. Sturla Holm Laegreid and Isak Frey definitely have the physical talents to continue the Viking reign of dominance into the next decade. Will the rest of the young men continue to come along and will there be great coaches to fill the lollypop shaped void at the head of the team?
Continue Reading Norway 2025-2026 Team Preview
Nestled into the Southern Alps lies one of the most beautiful nations that so many people never think of. Slovenia never fails to absolutely stun. A photographer would struggle to take a bad photo there! We are so lucky that the the nation contains the world class venue in Pokljuka so we get to visit there almost every season. Well maybe we weren’t so lucky last season when the weather was absolutely dreadful.
The Slovenian biathlon team has on occasion, stunned on the snow as well. There have been moments of excellence from this federation including the two podiums that the women’s team achieved in the mid 2000’s on the strength of Tadeja Brankovic and Teja Gregorin. And more recently the stubborn persistence of Jakov Fak, who even at age 37 put up another top 10 overall season last year.
Do the Slovenians have more fun and excitement in store for us in this Olympic season? Well it’s certainly possible. They’ve got the horses to compete for a couple of medals! Let’s dive in!
Continue Reading Slovenia 2025-2026 Team Preview
Sweden shares a border and a friendly, but intense, rivalry with their Norwegian neighbors. It’s a constant competition in everything. While historically one sided, the biathlon battle is starting to heat up! The Swedish women, boosted by the Öberg sisters, finished ahead of the Norwegian women in the Nation’s Cup in the 2022-2023 season for the first time in a decade. After the Norwegian women retook the 2nd spot in the rankings in the 2023-2024 season Sweden stormed back last year and finished an easy #2 behind the French freight train. They appear poised again to be the top challengers to the French women. Meanwhile on the men’s side Sebastian Samuelsson continues to strive to *finally* overtake the Norwegian powerhouse. Thus far his Swedish men have not been able to topple the Norwegians but maybe now with the Bø bros gone Sebbe can get his boys on the winning side a little more frequently?.
As we enter the 2025-2026 season there is reason for optimism for both the men and the women. Samuelsson is in what should be his peak years. Last year he had two wins and only three men had more victories last season. He will absolutely be a threat for Olympic medals and World Cup podiums. Fee men can claim to be faster than Martin Ponsiluoma on the skis. Can he get his rifle under control? The Swedish men’s relay team could be better this season as well! On the women’s side the Öberg sisters should continue to fight for wins every time out. They have at least eight women who could be good to very good World Cup competitors. Meanwhile the women’s relay team should once again be in contention for the relay title this season.
Continue Reading Sweden 2025-2026 Team Preview
We are in the midst of the best run in the history of Switzerland biathlon. Over the last three seasons the Women’s team has finished 6th, 6th, and 5th in the Nations Cup while the Men finished 5th, 6th, and 5th. Those are the best ever finishes for those teams We’ve seen Niklas Hartweg win the u23 Globe in the 22-23 season and then Lena Haecki-Gross had the best season in Swiss biathlon history as she climbed all the way to 6th in the Overall in 23-24. The established stars are performing. There are some young athletes coming up strong. All things are coming up roses right now for a nation that whose winter sports history has been defined by success in the alpine skiing and not the nordic.
Who can we credit for this? Was it the Benny Weger and Selina Gasparin generation? Is it Sandra Fluger’s new style? Is it just a total attitude shift amongst athletes and coaches? Probably all of the above. After the last three seasons I’m eager and ready to be delighted by this team once again!
Continue Reading Switzerland 2025-2026 Team Preview
If you’re an American biathlon fan then you know the statistic. We hear it every four years: Biathlon is the only Winter Olympics event that the United States has never won a medal in. In some ways it’s remarkable that a nation with over 330 million citizens has never won a single biathlon medal. And yet…it’s also not surprising at all.
Biathlon normally gets basically no attention. With the demise of the Olympic channel, and even Peacock no longer carrying biathlon, the sport is relegated to streaming on the IBU website. For diehard fans this is great. However it makes growing the sport more and more difficult. During those fleeting years when the World Cup was on the Olympic channel I actually had a handful of friends who finally watched it and actually really enjoyed it. But not being as in love with it as me, they’ve since stopped following. It’s just another barrier to entry into this wonderful world.
But wait…things might be changing.
Continue Reading United States 2025-2026 Team Preview
2. Schedule Preview
November 29 – December 7 in Oestersund
December 12 – December 14 in Hochfilzen
December 18 – December 21 in Annecy-le Grand Bornand
January 8 – January 11 in Oberhof
January 14 – January 18 in Ruhpolding
January 22 – January 25 in Nove Mesto Na Morave
February 8 – February 22 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Antholz
March 5 – March 5 in Kontiolahti
March 12– March 15 in Otepaa
March 19 – March 22 in Oslo Holmenkollen