Biathlon: Shawna Pendry launched the British mixed relay at the world championships in Lenzerheide
This Wednesday afternoon, Great Britain was represented for the very first time in a mixed relay at the Biathlon World Championships since 2015. Back then, in Kontiolahti (Finland), Amanda Lightfoot, Nerys Jones, Lee-Steve Jackson and Scott Dixon represented the Perfidious Albion.
Ten years later, 22-year-oldShawna Pendry was in charge of launching the race for the British. Born in the Midlands, she has lived and trained in Font-Romeu (Pyrénées-Orientales) since she was a child.
She scoured the French national circuit before blossoming in the Junior Cup and IBU Cup. Last December, in Le Grand-Bornand (Haute-Savoie), she discovered the World Cup… before doing the same at the World Championships in this mixed relay.
“I’m so happy with this start to the world championships. My stomach was churning with stress before the start… I was saying to myself, oh my, I really am up against the best in the world! I didn’t know if I could keep up the pace and, in the end, I surprised myself. I had really good skis and, when I was shooting, I managed to stay in my bubble”, the Pyrenean by adoption tells Nordic Magazine.
“She was behind me and, in fact, I was in front of my idol”
But that wasn’t the only thing that made an impression on Shawna Pendry, who with three picks handed over to Chloe Dupont in twenty-first place.
“The big surprise was hearing “Go Ingrid” in the second and third rounds! She was behind me and, in fact, I was in front of my idol, she says with a broad smile, referring toIngrid Landmark Tandrevold. It was a fun experience, but above all it was incredible! I got to ski with her and that gives you confidence.”
To explain her idolisation of Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold, the Briton talks about her relationship with Tiril Eckhoff, a lifelong friend. “They were always smiling and in a good mood. They always supported each other, she says. She’s a biathlete whose journey you can follow because she has her ups and downs, but she always comes back stronger. It’s inspiring!”
Great Britain caught by France before the halfway mark
Although Great Britain was finally beaten by France shortly before the halfway stage, and was still ranked 24th, Shawna Pendry is proud to have helped put her country back on the biathlon map at an event as important as the World Championships.
“It was cool to see the name of our little biathlon nation surrounded by all the big names,” she says.
Her competition is also far from over, as she is scheduled to start the sprint on Friday, the individual on Tuesday and the mixed singles relay on Thursday. “It’s a great programme and I can’t wait,” she concludes.
- Born in the Midlands, a fan of Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold, a member of the Fourcade brothers’ childhood club: who is Shawna Pendry, this British woman training in France?
- First World Cup day for Britain’s Shawna Pendry: “I’m just too excited to be racing in the big leagues”.
- The full programme for the World Championships in Lenzerheide, the highlight of the 2024/2025 season
- Léna Arnaud: my best memory of… Lenzerheide
- Swiss biathlete Arnaud Du Pasquier presents the Roland Arena, the Lenzerheide stadium used for the 2025 World Championships
- Delphyne Burlet on the challenges of the Lenzerheide world championships
- Two of the four reigning world champions have been retained: the French mixed relay line-up for Wednesday’s opening round of the World Championships in Lenzerheide.
- “We decided to follow the sporting logic”: Stéphane Bouthiaux explains how the French mixed relay team for the World Championships in Lenzerheide was put together.
- Quentin Fillon-Maillet annoyed at being sidelined in the mixed relay at the world championships in Lenzerheide: “I thought I deserved more consideration from the staff”.
- “We’re aiming for the title”: one year after their triumph in Nove Mesto, France will attempt to make it two in a row in the mixed relay at the World Championships in Lenzerheide.
- Mixed relay in Lenzerheide: the first day on which Johannes Thingnes Boe could become the most successful biathlete in the history of the World Championships
- Lenzerheide: France, with Julia Simon, Lou Jeanmonnot, Eric Perrot and Emilien Jacquelin, retain their world mixed relay title
- “We couldn’t have got off to a better start than this”: the perfect start for the French team, which won gold in the mixed relay at the world championships in Lenzerheide.
- “I don’t feel like I made a mistake”: Julia Simon recounts her collision with Sweden’s Anna Magnusson during the mixed relay in Lenzerheide
- Julia Simon and Sebastian Samuelsson crash, Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold and Hanna Oeberg fail to shoot: an opening mixed relay full of twists and turns in Lenzerheide
- Lenzerheide: Czech Republic surprise silver medallists in mixed relay
- Lenzerheide: seventh in the mixed relay with Lukas Hofer and Tommaso Giacomel, Italy’s Hannah Auchentaller and Dorothea Wierer battled it out on the difficult Swiss track
