Yesterday was the biggest day in Sonja Leinamo’s biathlon career. She left the last standing stage in the Oestersund Women’s 15 km Individual in first position with a 9-second bulge over Dorothea Wierer, only to have the Italian veteran snatch victory in the final meters by a mere .3 seconds. Regardless, Leinamo finished in a brilliant second place, then shared hugs and tears of joy with teammate Suvi Minkkinen, celebrating the 23-year-old’s first-ever World Cup podium.

Now, for a little background on this young Finnish biathlete:

Leinamo started her Nordic career as a cross-country skier, winning the Finland’s 2019 Junior Pursuit National Championship. The next year, she represented Finland at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne, finishing 24th in the cross-country sprint.

In the 2020/21 season, after a minor injury set her back, she switched to biathlon following in the footsteps of Finnish biathlon legend Kaisa Mäkäräinen.

Leinamo never won a medal in her four appearances at the IBU YJWCH, but did make the Flower Ceremony with 6th in the Mass Start 60 at the 2024 Championships in Otepaeae. However, she did earn a Sprint Silver medal at the 2024 European Junior Championships in Jakuszyce.

The Vuokatti resident hit 69% of her shots in the past two World Cup seasons, with only one career clean-shooting day in her previous personal best 8th place last January at Oberhof. That day, she playfully commented, “I've never shot 0-0, so I don't really know what happened there!”

In the summer of 2024, Leinamo philosophized about shooting in an Instagram post, “You can’t fly to the moon with a 50% hit accuracy. The core question of the summer games: What works? What not yet? We got answers that will continue until the ground is white.”

Leinamo hit 18-of-20 shots in her breakout second place yesterday…that’s 90% shooting. Quite a step up!

Keep watching…Sonja Leinamo’s star is rising very rapidly!

Photos: IBU/Per Danielsson, Christian Manzoni, Nordic Focus