Biathlon: Norway, France and Germany ready for Pokljuka. Here are the players called up for the world championship event

Less than a week from the start of the Pokljuka World Championships, the selections that will be competing in the world championship competition take shape, from 9 to 21 February 2021. Norway, France and Germany summon ten athletes, between men and women.

Wednesday 3 February 2021 6 minutes reading time

Norvegià was one of the first teams to announce the squad for the world championships. For two weeks, in fact, the names of the ten Norwegian biathletes, announced by the federation, who will be competing on Slovenian soil, have been known. Among the men, in addition to the winner of the last World Cup, Johannes Thingnes Bø, capable of winning twenty world medals in his career (of which ten golds), his brother Tarjei, also with twenty world medals at the active, Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen, Johannes Dale and Sturla Holm Lægreid, making their world debut. Five Norwegian girls will also be on the track in Pokljuka: leading the patrol will be the first two athletes of the current general classification of the World Cup, Marte Olsbu Røiseland and Tiril Eckhoff; in addition to the two top athletes just mentioned, Karoline Knotten, Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold and the debutante Ida Lien have also been called up. No surprise regarding the French call-ups. Also in this case there will be ten transalpine biathletes (between male and female sectors) who will be staged in Pokljuka. The biggest hopes are pinned on Emilien Jacquelin and Quentin Fillon-Maillet, who are the two active French athletes with the most world championship medals. The other three athletes selected are Fabien Claude, Simon Desthieux and Antonin Guigonnat. Among the women, in addition to veteran Anaïs Bescond (33 years old, winner of eight world championship medals in her career), Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, Chloé Chevalier and Julia Simon have been called. On Monday the names of the ten Germans, between men and women, who will be on the track in Pokljuka also arrived. Orphaned by Simon Schempp, who announced their retirement a week ago, Germany will rely on the experience of Benedikt Doll (gold in the 2017 Hochfilzen World Cup sprint), Erik Lesser (seven career world champions) and Arnd Peiffer (sixteen times on the podium at the world championships, including five on the top step). Together with the three top men of the German selection, Johannes Kühn and Roman Rees were also ordered. No surprises among women: Denise Herrmann will try to conquer the second world gold of her career (she won the pursuit at Ostersund 2019), Franziska Preuss, author of an excellent season so far, will try to expand her world championship, which currently has six medals; Vanessa Hinz will also be a key player for the German team, especially in the relay. The other two athletes called are Maren Hammerschmidt and Janina Hettich. The first race of the Pokljuka World Championships, therefore, will be the mixed relay, scheduled for Wednesday 10 February at 3 pm.