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 Career Best Seasons. 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!

Camille Bened – 10th Overall

In the fight for the rookie of the year there really was only one option. Yes Isak Frey took the u23 Globe for the men. But it was Camille Bened who was the star rookie this season.

It started when she made the French women’s World Cup team. That was no small feat alone. It meant that she had to be in top form right at the start of the season in November. She left nothing to chance with three sterling races at the selection event. Just making that team alone makes you one of the best women in the world.

She confirmed that the very first race of the season with a podium 3rd place finish in the Individual. She was on fire the rest of the first trimester earning five total trips to the flower ceremony in the first eight races of the season. She returned in the second trimester and showed no let up. After a solid week in Oberhof she put up a 10th in the Ruhpolding Sprint before grabbing her 2nd podium of the season with a 3rd in the Pursuit. She then finished 5th in the Mass Start in Nove Mesto and 6th in the Olympic Individual.

All totaled she earned 600 points and secured 10th in the Overall. She ended the season the 4th best French woman on the World Cup which is a hell of an accomplishment. The future is no sure thing because every season she’s going to have to earn (and keep!) her position on the World Cup. That’s going to mean fighting for it every week.

As she does that, though, she has one incredible strength, which is her shooting. Last year she hit 92.6% which was good enough for the 2nd best hit rate on the World Cup. And that was no fluke as she’s always been a great shooter. The hope now, is that working alongside such great skiers like Lou Jeanmonnot, Julia Simon, and Oceane Michelon etc is that she will be able to bring along her skiing. After running 0.7% faster than average last season, with an average ski rank of 29th, she’s going to be looking to be a touch faster next season in her hopes of backing up her top 10 Overall with another!

Isak Frey – 15th Overall

It’s almost hard to qualify Isak Frey as a rookie this year since he did race five times on the World Cup to close out the 2024-2025 season. However, I chose to call him a rookie this season. And since it’s a committee of one making the decisions then I guess you’ll just have to blame me for this one if you disagree!

Frey was clearly the top rookie on the men’s World Cup. He finished his season with 14 top 20’s, seven top 10’s, and his first career podium when he finished 5th in the Sprint in Ruhpolding. After an up and down 1st trimester he settled down the rest of the season.

To be fair to Frey, his position was seemingly always changing that first trimester. First he was relegated to the World Cup to make room for Johannes Dale-Skjevdal. But then he was brought back up due to illness. Then he was supposed to go back down due to the drop from seven starting bibs to six for Annecy-le Grand Bornand, but he immediately came right back. Sadly, after the passing of Sivert Bakken, and with Botn and Laegreid out to start the second trimester, Frey was more secure in his position and raced with confidence.

From the Oberhof to the end of the season he had six of his seven top 10’s including his podium finish and only finished outside the top 20 three times.

We don’t even need to look at the statistics this season. We know what there is to hope from for Frey. He has demonstrated for several years now sensational ski speed and even better shooting. This was his “worst” shooting in his four senior level seasons as he hit 85.4%. If that’s a significant dip for you, then you’re doing okay.

This is completely subjective, but this felt like the floor of what we’ll see from Isak Frey for the next many years. The talent is phenomenal, and now seemingly more confident and secure in his position hopefully we’ll see him bloom in to the star that we know he can be!

Sverre Aspenes – 27th Overall

If you’ve been more than a casual fan of the sport for the last several years you’ve likely been aware of Sverre Aspenes. For the last half decade he’s been racing very well on the Norwegian ASKO Cup and pops up regularly on the IBU Cup with success including eight wins and 16 podiums. However, prior to this season he had only raced on the World Cup six times, all of which occurred in the 2021-2022 season.

He was given a new chance at the World Cup this year in Oberhof and responded with 19th and 16th place finishes. After a forgettable week in Ruhpolding he really showed what he can do in Nove Mesto finishing 8th in the Short Individiaul and then his first career podium with 3rd in the Mass Start.

He was off the World Cup for the next several weeks but returned in Oslo with finishes of 27th, 14th, and 11th. It wasn’t spectacular but it was far from disappointing.

He showed a solid level this season. His skiing was okay running 1.8% faster than median with an average course time rank of 22nd. He hit 85.3% with perfectly even splits. It was certainly competitive throughout the season.

And just look at the list of guys that finished on the podium of the World Cup this season. Aspenes was one of thse men. He proved he can do it. Now the question is how many more chances will he get? With Stroemsheim and Soerum presumably healthy next season the Norwegian team is going to once again be difficult break into. For his part shooting in the mid 80’s is good enough. He really needs to find the extra skiing to be competitive with this bunch.

Marlene Fichtner – 36th Overall

Think back on Marlene Fichtner’s 2025-2026 season and the first thing you remember will likely be her DSQ in the Nove Mesto Single Mixed Relay. She failed to proprely situated her rifle on her shoulders as she was getting up off the mat which is by the book an automatic DSQ. In this instance it took away a magical win from Fichtner and Pfund. But don’t let that be the only thing you remember.

Fichtner ultimately had a fairly magical year. She earned a spot on the World Cup squad to start the season. She didn’t stick there, but she earned her way back in Nove Mesto. That same weekend of the Single Mixed she finished 16th in the Short Individual and then 21st in the Mass Start. That was just the appetizer though.

She returned from the Olympic break in Kontiolahti and finished 5th in the Individual and 4th in the Mass Start, demolishing her prior career bests from Nove Mesto. Oh yeah, and in the middle there she raced at the European Championships with finishes of 4th, 10th, and 6th. Not bad at all!

She concluded the season with eight total finishes in the points including seven finishes in the top 30. That took her to 36th in the Overall with only 13 starts on the season.

At just 23 years old Fichtner showed some really good things. For one, she kept shooting like a star hitting 89.5% with nearly perfectly even splits. That was the 12th best hit rate on the World Cup this season. Her skiing was significantly improved year over year. On the IBU Cup she improved from 2.7% faster than median to 4.5% faster. On the World Cup she went from 4.5% slower to just 0.8% slower.

Fichtner has been an intriguing youngster in the German women’s team for the last several seasons. However, she has never had quite the profile of Grotian or Tannheimer. If she keeps up this trajectory though, she will join those two in being a very strong core for the team possible for the next decade.

Leonhard Pfund – 49th Overall

The other half of that tragic Single Mixed Relay duo in Nove Mesto, Leonhard Pfund has firmly established himself as part of the future for the German men. Pfund looked quite intriguing going into the season after some very good summer competitions. He certainly showed well on the IBU Cup to start the season with finishes of 4th and 7th the first week of the season. He continued to race competitvely throughout the IBU Cup season including finishes of 7th, 6th, and a Pursuit silver medal at the European Championships. He followed that up by grabbing his first IBU Cup win the Pursuit in Sjusjoen.

As for his World Cup racing, after a very strong 13th and 15th in the Short Individual and Mass Start in Nove Mesto, he looked solid if not great the rest of the season. All totaled he had five top 40 finishes over seven races. he clearly fatigued towards the end of the season, which was understandable considering he raced 22 times at just 22 years old.

Pfund’s highlight of the season, thoug, was that ill-fated Single Mixed Relay. He was sensational. In the final leg he went head to head against a very tough Tero Seppala. Seppala has teamed with Suvi Minkkinen many times with excellent results. Pfund showed no fear. He made a big time move on the 2nd lap of the final leg to close the gap down on Seppala. It could have been a bit too much. Maybe his youth had him over stressing himself? Not at all. He has just 1 extra round used vs 2 for Seppala. Pfund went on to pull away from Seppala with another furious push on the final lap. For a brief moment it looked like an absolutely glorious win.

The ceiling for Pfund is so intriguing. The young man showed a well rounded performance. On the World Cup he skied 0.8% faster than median with an average ski rank of 32nd. He had an 85% overall hit rate as well. That appears to be his baseline as he hit 85.7% on the IBU Cup this year and 85.3% on the IBU Cup the year before.

The German men are looking to their young men to rediscover the magic. Leonhard Pfund has the chance to be part of reaching that goal.

Estere Volfa – 50th Overall

Coming out of the summer, Latvian veteran Baiba Bendika was very high on her two young teammates. She felt like Estere Volfa and Elza Bleidele had the potential to help raise the level of Latvian biathlon significantly. And so far they have been proving her correct. This season Estere Volfa was excellent on multiple levels.

On the Junior Cup Volfa was pristine. She raced nine times on that level and finished no lower than 7th. In total she had four wins and seven podiums including gold and silver in the Sprint and Mass 60 at the Junior World Championships. She was the fastest woman in every race she ran on the Juniors level but one. In that race she tumbled all the way to 2nd.

On the World Cup, Volfa started out strong in the first trimester collecting top 30’s in the Oestersund Individual and Pursuit. She took her performance to a new level though at the Olympics. After 36th in the Individual she went 16th and 11th in the Sprint and Pursuit. She then scored a new career best 9th in the Otepaa Sprint and then 13th in the Pursuit.

The only reason Volfa ranked “only” 50th Overall was because her great finishes in the Olympics didn’t count towards her Overall score, and the break she took from the World Cup to go dominate the Juniors during the second trimester.If she had raced only on the World Cup, though, there is no doubt that she could have collected another 52 points to be at least 41st in the Overall or better.

We already discussed Volfa’s impressive skiing on the Juniors level. On the top circuit this had her running 0.5% faster than median with an average ski rank of 35th. As a 21 year old that’s excellent. Her shooting, though, was actually better. She hit 88.8% of her shots on the World Cup and 85.7% in her Juniors races.

Estere Volfa looks like she’s going to be carrying the flag for Latvia once Baiba Bendika decides to officially hang up her rifle. While Bendika has done great things for Latvian biathlon Volfa (and Bleidele!) look like they could take it to the next level.

Siri Skar – 60th Overall

In the 2024-2025 season Siri Skar raced most of the season on the IBU Cup running up an impressive tally of nine top 10’s in 13 races. At that point it was easy to think that she might find her way on the World Cup sooner rather than later. It took a little longer than I thought it might but Skar made her World Cup debut in Ruhpolding this season. After a finish of 27th in the Sprint and 36th in the Pursuit she traveled to Nove Mesto and and secured the first top 10 of her World Cup career. That 7th in the Short Individual came as she relied on her strength and hit 19/20.

This season Skar was more reliant on her shooting than her skiing. After running consistently in the top 10 in ski rank on the IBU Cup in the 24-25 season she only cracked that mark twice this season. On the World Cup her best weekend of skiing came in Nove Mesto with ski ranks of 25th in the Short Individual and 21st in the Mass Start. Her shooting, though, remained very good hitting 88% on the World Cup.

Skar ultimately only raced two more times on the World Cup with finishes of 59th and 83rd. But that 7th place finish was clearly the highlight of her season and hopefully the piece that she keeps in her mind as she trains this offseason.

Rihards Lozbers – 62nd Overall

Rihards Lozbers is 17 years old. I just want to make sure that we all keep that in mind. Physically he’s build like he’s in his early 20’s, but really he’s still just a kid.

With that out of the way, Lozbers just had a crazy season. On the Juniors level he won gold and two silver medals at the Youth World Championships. Three top 20’s and five top 30’s in five races on the IBU Cup. At the Olympics he finished 32nd in the Sprint. He had five finishes of 32nd or better on the World Cup level in eight races including a career best 21st in the Olso Sprint.

The most remarkable thing is he did all of that on the World Cup while only hitting 75.7%. His skiing was sensational considering his age. He was running faster than median already and he finished top 30 in ski rank six times in eight races.

Lozbers is potentially going to be around for a LONG time. But he’s so young I don’t want to let myself get too excited.

Henning Sjokvist – 66th Overall

On the other end of the age spectrum is Henning Sjokvist. Sjokvist made his World Cup debut racing the Sprint in Oslo at the end of the 2022-2023 season. At that point he had to feel like he would be back sooner rather than later. But after no World Cup races in 23-24 and 24-25 that had to feel like it was ages ago. That changed this season.

After a very solid start to the year on the IBU Cup, the 28 year old earned his way back to the World Cup. He raced to a 29th place finish in the Sprint in Annec-le Grand Bornand. Ultimately he finished in the points four times this year getting himself to 66th Overall.

Just like another man on this list, it proves that sometimes it takes longer than you might hope, but it’s possible to reach your goals!

Grzegorz Galica – 68th Overall

Grzegorz Galica was actually the first of the teenagers to come up to the World Cup this season, beating our Lozbers by a few weeks. Galica debuted at Hochfilzen and immediately made an impact. He finished in 24th becoming the youngest man to ever score points at the World Cup level. He only held that record until Lozerbs broke it. Galica finished in the points four times including a career best 23rd at the Oberhof Pursuit.

He also raced at the Junior Worlds this season where he won gold in the Sprint and 6th in the Mass 60.

Statistically Galica had a very solid season. He hit 80% of his shots and skied just a little slower than median. Considering his age that’s excellent. Pair him up with Jan Gunka and Konrad Badacz and the Polish men have a little something coming along here.

Shilo Rousseau – 69th Overall

The 25 year old Canadian Shilo Rousseau earned a spot on the World Cup team following a strong offseason in which she displayed the best skiing potential of her career. While she likely started the season a little slower than she may have hoped, she showed this potential off in the second trimester. In four races she had each of her finishes in the top 50 including a career best 21st in the Oberhof Pursuit. That race was actually even more impressive than the final result though. Through 3 shoots she was actually racing in the top 10 as she was 15/15 on the day. Ultimately she dropped back after the last shoot, but it showed where she can get to.

Focusing just on that stretch of racing she had course time ranks of 17, 47, 50, and 55 while hitting 90% of above each race. That was the clear peak of her season and shows what, with a bit more consistency in the shooting, she can hope to achieve in her career. The Canadian women definitely have a little bit of a spark here!

Nicola Romanin – 70th Overall

This is a situation where the numbers don’t tell the whole story. Nicola Romanin, the 70th Overall in the Men’s World Cup, was one of my favorite stories last season. He admitted in an interview with Fondo Italia this season that he had sort of thought that his chances at achieving what he did this season had passed him by. After making his World Cup debut in the Oslo Sprint at the end of the 2024-2025 season, he returned to the World Cup in Ruhpolding. In those races he finished 34th and 30th. That, along with his IBU Cup racing this season, was enough for him to earn a spot on the Olympic roster.

This was a complete surprise. Romanin turned 32 in February of this season. He had just three World Cup races to his credit and he made the Olympics. He justified the staff’s faith in him when given the opportunity to start the Sprint. He raced to a significant career best 16th. That was backed up by a 28th in the Pursuit earning him a position in the Mass Start, the first of his career.

None of that scored him any World Cup Overall points, but all of it made his story thatmuch more remarkable. Nicola Romanin, at 31 years old, lived out a dream he thought had long since passed him by. Definitely a goosebumps story for me!