Biathlon: from the top to the bottom of the rankings in one week
Martin Uldal got his individual 2025-2026 World Cup season off to a perfect start. The 24-year-old Norwegian took two podiums on the Östersund stage, in the individual and then the sprint. This enabled him to finish4th overall in Hochfilzen.
A week later, he left the Austrian resort in 8th place in the rankings. 52nd in the sprint on Friday 12 December with two faults, he didn ‘t even finish the pursuit on Saturday. After his fourth run on the shooting range, he had accumulated 7 faults and was one minute off the points. The Kristiansand native then decided to give up. ” I just didn’t see any point in going all the way to the finish line, because I was so far behind,” he explained to TV2.
Rested for Sunday’s relay?
Speaking in the mixed zone, he shared his surprise at the difference in results from one week to the next: “It’s a shock. Things were going really well in Östersund… It’s crazy that it could turn out so badly. Biathlon is really unpredictable”, but refused to let it get him down: “I’m motivated to pull myself together. I need to recover for the next race, take a little break, but I feel great physically.
Will the Norwegian coaching staff hear his message when it comes to putting together the men’s quartet for the relay on Sunday 14 December (12:00)?
- The full programme for the Hochfilzen World Cup, the second stage of the 2025/2026 season
- Caroline Colombo: my best memory of… Hochfilzen
- Julia Simon makes her comeback, Oscar Lombardot replaces Antonin Guigonnat: the French team selection for the Hochfilzen World Cup revealed
- Corinne Niogret, 1992 Olympic relay champion, on the return of Julia Simon after her suspension: “She was punished, she’s back and I wish her a good season”.
- “She had a strong desire to return to competition as soon as possible”: Stéphane Bouthiaux on Julia Simon’s return to the French team for Hochfilzen
- Hochfilzen: Eric Perrot second in the sprint dominated by Italy’s Tommaso Giacomel
- Hochfilzen: after the sprint, Johan-Olav Botn keeps his yellow bib as overall leader
- “I had no fear”: Tommaso Giacomel’s risky but successful gamble on the standing sprint shot in Hochfilzen
- “I’m happy to already be in the match”: after the “rage” of Östersund, how Eric Perrot picked up the gauntlet to take second place in the Hochfilzen sprint.
- The joy of Philipp Horn, who scored his first World Cup podium in Hochfilzen: “I’ve finally managed to have a perfect race”.
- Hochfilzen: Lou Jeanmonnot triumphs in the sprint, Camille Bened takes flowers, Julia Simon returns with a top 20 finish
- Hochfilzen: Sweden’s Anna Magnusson snatches the overall leader’s yellow number from Suvi Minkkinen, with Lou Jeanmonnot in second place
- “I wanted to focus on the manner”: a change of mindset synonymous with victory in the Hochfilzen sprint for Lou Jeanmonnot
- Julia Simon, 19th in the Hochfilzen sprint on her comeback: “It’s difficult to get back on a train that’s already moving”.
- Julia Simon rested, Camille Bened starts: the French women’s relay team in Hochfilzen
