Biathlon: the IBU wild-card race has reached its verdict
The Biathlon World Cup in Ruhpolding (Germany) marked the end of the long qualifying period for the Olympic Games in Milan/Cortina 2026. It also marked the end of the race for wild-cards awarded by the International Biathlon Union (IBU).
The deal was simple: biathletes had to finish in the top twelve of the IBU qualification points ranking to offer their country a quota, with a maximum of two. It should be remembered that this hierarchy only concerned nations that had not obtained quotas at the end of the 2024/2025 season (countries outside the Nations Cup top 20).
According to the final rankings published by the IBU, Jacques Jefferies and Shawna Pendry have earned Great Britain quotas for the Milan/Cortina 2026 Olympic Games. Although this has yet to be confirmed by their Olympic Committee, they are expected to get their first taste of competition next month in Antholz (Italy).
Denmark’s Anne Bunemann de Besche and Greenland’s Sondre Slettemark and Ukaleq Slettemark did the same, already announcing their official selection on social networks. Australia’s Darcie Morton has also secured a place, as have Croatia’s Anika Kozica, Matija Legovic and Kresimir Crnkovic.
Moldova, China, Croatia, South Korea and Slovakia also won Olympic tickets.
It should be noted that, for the last country mentioned, the selection has already been announced and that Tomas Sklenarik, who brought back one of the two tickets, has not been included in the selection, Jakub Borgula being preferred to him.
The winners of the wild-cards for the Milan/Cortina 2026 Olympic Games
Men
- Maksim Makarov 🇲🇩
- Sondre Slettemark 🇩🇰
- Jacques Jefferies 🇬🇧
- Pavel Magazeev 🇲🇩
- Vladislav Kireyev 🇰🇿
- Kresimir Crnkovic 🇭🇷
- Matija Legovic 🇭🇷
- Asset Dyussenov 🇰🇿
- Yan Xingyuan 🇨🇳
- Tomas Sklenarik 🇸🇰
- Simon Adamov 🇸🇰
- Timofei Lapshin 🇰🇷
Ladies
- Alina Stremous 🇲🇩
- Chu Yuanmeng 🇨🇳
- Anne Bunemann de Besche 🇩🇰
- Anika Kozica 🇭🇷
- Ukaleq Slettemark 🇩🇰
- Anastasia Tolmacheva 🇲🇩
- Meng Fanqi 🇨🇳
- Ekaterina Avvakumova 🇰🇷
- Aisha Rakisheva 🇰🇿
- Olga Poltoranina 🇰🇿
- Shawna Pendry 🇬🇧
- Darcie Morton 🇦🇺
Quotas obtained by country for the Milan/Cortina 2026 Olympic Games
Men
- 2: Moldova 🇲🇩
- 2: Kazakhstan 🇰🇿
- 2: Croatia 🇭🇷
- 2: Slovakia 🇸🇰
- 1: Denmark 🇩🇰
- 1 : Great Britain 🇬🇧
- 1: China 🇨🇳
- 1: South Korea 🇰🇷
Ladies
- 2: Moldova 🇲🇩
- 2: China 🇨🇳
- 2: Denmark 🇩🇰
- 2: Denmark 🇩🇰
- 2: Kazakhstan 🇰🇿
- 1: Croatia 🇭🇷
- 1: South Korea 🇰🇷
- 1 : United Kingdom 🇬🇧
- 1: Australia 🇦🇺
