Preuss dominates the Total Score, Grotian strikes at the top and Uldal matches Laegreid’s early success. Meanwhile, JT Boe closes on Bjoerndalen’s record in a Trimester packed with milestones!

First Christmas in yellow: Preuss’ odds look increasingly good

Finishing 5th, 4th, and 3rd in Kontiolahti, 1st and 3rd in Hochfilzen, and 2nd, 1st, and 2nd in Annecy - Le Grand-Bornand, Franziska Preuss is firmly in the lead in the Total Score standings with 565 points - for the first time after the Trimester 1 - as the BMW IBU World Cup heads into Christmas break. For comparison: Julia Simon had 471 points at the end of the first Trimester in her Total Score-winning season 2022/2023. And Lisa Vittozzi had 386 points in the same period last season as she built her way toward clinching the Total Score title in Canmore.

JT Boe’s edges ever closer to Bjoerndalen’s record

Competing in the league of his own, Johannes Thingnes Boe won three races in Trimester 1, upped his career tally to 88, and edged closer to Ole Einar Bjoerndalen’s record of 95 individual wins in the World Cup, World Championships, and at the Olympic Winter Games. Oh, and with Tarjei's win in the Mass Start in Annecy - Le Grand-Bornand, the Boe brothers celebrated their 25th Boedium!

Grotian 20, follows in the footsteps of German biathlon legends!

Selina Grotian’s triumph in the Mass Start in Annecy - Le Grand-Bornand marked a dream end to a phenomenal Trimester for the German women’s team. Grotian achieved her career-first World Cup win aged 20 years, 8 months, and 28 days - the sixth youngest women’s winner in the World Cup. When Magdalena Neuner won in the Oberhof Sprint in 2006/2007, she counted 19 years, 10 months and 24 days. Uschi Disl’s first World Cup win came in the Sprint of Albertville in the 1990/1991 season when she was 20 years and one month old. Martina Glagow was 3 months older than Disl when she won in the Antholz-Anterselva Sprint in the 1999/2000 season.

Martin Uldal matches Laegreid’s lightning start

Winning in the Annecy - Le Grand-Bornand Sprint, Martin Uldal matched Sturla Holm Laegreid’s record of triumphing in his only fifth individual World Cup start - Laegreid took the Individual in Kontiolahti in the 2019/2020 season. There is a nuance in this comparison for Uldal won at 23 and Laegreid 22. JT Boe, on the other hand, won in his 9th individual World Cup start - at age 20. And Tarjei in his 14th World Cup start - at age 22.

Two legends hit 400 World Cup starts mark in France

In the Annecy - Le Grand-Bornand, Dorothea Wierer and Jakov Fak had their 400 starts in the World Cup. Wierer did so in the Pursuit and Fak in the Sprint. Wierer debuted in the World Cup in the Sprint in Oberhof in the 2008/2009 season. She went on to win two Total Score titles, three individual gold medals at the IBU World Championships and one individual medal at the Olympic Winter Games. Fak was 19 when he participated in the Hochfilzen Sprint in the 2006/2007 season. He is a two-time World Champion and the winner of two individual medals at the Olympic Winter Games.

Photo: Vianney: IBU; Manzoni: Nordic Focus