Every athlete and team starts the new season with big dreams and new goals. Yet the harsh reality is that only a few of the most gifted and sometimes lucky reach meet of exceed their ambitions. With that in mind, here are a few out-on-the-limb scenarios that might just occur in the 2023/24 BMW IBU World Cup season.

World Cup Winner Lou Jeanmonnot

Lou Jeanmonnot went from 2021/22 IBU Cup Total Score winner to breakout star in her first full World Cup season, 11th in the Total Score driven by 89% shooting, exceeding her goals by a wide margin. “My coach thought I could get into the top 20 (Total Score); almost into the top ten with two individual podiums far exceeded my expectations.” A summer filled with show competitions found the 24-year-old’s with podiums at Blink and City Biathlon, a cross-country win at the Fourcade Festival, capped by a sprint/pursuit double at the September French Summer Champs. Jeanmonnot, fast on the tracks and accurate on the range took plenty of big-name scalps along the way. She is primed for her first World Cup victory and very likely a top five finish in the Women’s World Cup Total Score.

Medals for the Home Team, Czechia

Marketa Davidova won the last IBU World Championships medal for Czechia, taking 15 km Individual Gold at Pokljuka in 2021, a year after the team won Mixed Relay Bronze at Antholz. Last season the men’s relay was in the medal mix until a disastrous anchor leg dropped them to a very disappointing fourth place. Now, 11 years after Czechia’s first-ever big splash Mixed Relay Bronze in the Vysočina Arena, the home team will get back on the podium. The boisterous passionate crowds will drive the talented Davidova back to the podium after near-miss sprint 6th and mass start 5th in Oberhof. Two medals for Davidova, another in the mixed relay with the core of Davidova, Michal Krcmar, and Tereza Vobornikova, maybe that elusive men’s relay medal…and the crowd will go crazy!

Podium and a medal for Anamarija Lampic

Last season, Slovenia’s Anamarija Lampič made the big jump from cross-country, following in the recent footsteps of Denise Herrmann-Wick and Stina Nilsson. Lampič’s work ethic and seemingly boundless energy netted two surprising World Cup fifth places and second place in the Ridnaun IBU Cup mass start 60. Although her shooting is far from perfect, Lampic teasingly showed her potential with blazing ski speed in that second place, skiing 5 penalty loops (an extra 750 meters) finishing just 9 seconds behind clean-shooting Gilonne Guigonnat. After another summer on the range with Coach Ricco Gross, expect to see Lampič grab her first World Cup podium in the first two trimesters. Beyond that, look for her big smile when she wins her first IBU WCH medal in Nove Mesto na Morave next February.

Total Score to Lisa V

Should Julia Simon fail to defend her World Cup Total Score title and Elvira Oeberg misses multiple competitions, the World Cup Total Score is likely to end in the hands of the phoenix-arising-from-the-ashes Lisa Vittozzi. Vittozzi came enticingly close last season, finishing third behind the Simon Steamroller. Sixteen top tens, including eight podiums and a career-best 89% on the range reveal the consistency necessary to capture the big Crystal Globe. Vittozzi is no rookie in the Globe battle. She finished a very close second in 2020 behind teammate Dorothea Wierer. Regained confidence and inner peace are the keys that will carry Vittozzi to her biggest season ever. “I’ve gone through moments doing biathlon when it was not fun anymore; I do not want to live through that again.” Now she says it is all about “enjoying the experience and giving it all I’ve got.” Shortly after Vittozzi turns 29-years-old, she will likely be kissing the big Crystal Globe.

World Cup-Winning Young Guns

Everyone expects JT Boe to rack up another season of impressive wins, but unless he now has superpowers, the Norwegian will not sweep the season. That leaves many opportunities for a trio of young guns: Vebjoern Soerum, Niklas Hartweg and Tommaso Giacomel to get their first victories. Soerum did not win the IBU Cup Total Score last season for one basic reason, knee surgery that kept him out at Ridnaun or Osrblie. After returning, he was on fire: 11 individual IBU Cup podiums including four wins. A strong second leg in Norway’s relay win in Oestersund showed he was ready for the “big show.” Look for this double Junior World Champion to make his mark on the World Cup this year.

Blue Bib (under 25) winner Niklas Hartweg closed last season with three clean-shooting days in Oslo that included second place in the season-ending mass starts behind JT. Likewise, Hartweg opened the season with second place in the Kontiolahti 20 km individual. His 90% shooting percentage kept the 23-year-old in the Flower Ceremony mix all season. Watch for Hartweg to grab a win in a four-stage competition very early in the season.

While Giacomel is not as accurate on the range as Hartweg, the Italian makes up for it with his skis. Giacomel’s ski times were among the best in every competition. The path to his first World Cup win is, “Consistency (on the range) … I have managed to shoot zero in a sprint, but not yet in a four-stage.” Ski speed and that elusive zero times four will make this 23-year-old a World Cup winner.

Photos: IBU/Christian Manzoni, Petr Slavik, Igor Stancik, Archive