IBU Junior Open European Championships Altenberg: Poland tops the medals table

The Junior Open European Championships in Altenberg were characterized by exciting competitions, top performances from the athletes and surprising victories. Medals were awarded in Individual, Mixed Relay, Single Mixed Relay, Sprint and Mass Start 60.

Valentina Dimitrova from Bulgaria and Grzegorz Galica from Poland, two winners who had never won a race before, stood on the top step of the podium at the start of the title fights. Grzegorz Galica has already been among the top six athletes in the IBU Junior Cup in several competitions this season and was able to show with good performances that he is one of the best athletes. With two misses he managed to secure the European Championship title. Antonin Delsol from France took second place ahead of Artur Iskhakov from Slovakia.

Valentina Dimitrova shot two penalty minutes but was four seconds faster at the finish than Evelina Hakala from Finland, who cleared all 20 targets. For Evelina Hakala it was only the second race this season after she had a start in the IBU Cup. Third place went to Amelia Liszka from Poland, who secured her country's second medal at these championships. She only missed one target at the last shooting.

Poland and Germany at the top of the relay teams

In the mixed relay, the Polish team showed their superiority at the shooting range. With only six reloads, they were the best team on the day. Jakub Potoniec, Grzegorz Galica, Anna Nedza-Kubiniec and Barbara Skrobiszewska finished with a commanding lead of 42 seconds. The silver medal went to the team from France with Camille Grataloup-Manissolle, Antonin Delsol, Lola Bugeaud and Louise Roguet. Third place went to the team from Italy with Davide Compagnoni, Felix Ratschiller, Fabiana Carpella and Sara Scattolo. The final skier, Scattolo, was the first athlete to reach the final shooting stage but had two penalty loops and thus missed out on a top place for her team. Nevertheless, her team-mates greeted her joyfully at the finish line.

In the single mixed relay, the gold medal was only decided on the finish line. Charlotte Gallbronner from Germany and Celia Henaff from France fought for every metre on the final lap. In the end, Charlotte Gallbronner came out on top and took the gold medal with her partner Linus Kesper. Leo Carlier and Celia Henaff were delighted with silver. Elias David and Katerina Pavlu brought home the first medal for the Czech Republic with bronze.

Sprint medals for Germany and France

In the sprint races on Saturday, all the medals went to Germany and France. With a double victory by Fabian Kaskel and Elias Seidl, the German team made up for their mixed results in the individual races. Fabian Kaskel showed a flawless performance at the shooting range and finished two seconds ahead of his team-mate Elias Seidl, who had to go through the penalty loop once. Camille Grataloup-Manissolle secured the bronze medal after narrowly missing out on the podium in fourth place in the individual event. Matthias Riebli from Switzerland achieved his personal career best with fourth place.

Anaelle Bondoux from France was the best of the day in the women's race. A surprising victory for her, as she had to sit out the relays the day before due to illness. But perhaps it was precisely this day of rest that helped her to regain her strength, as she was the fastest on the track. Silver went to her team-mate Coralie Perrin, who stood on the podium for the first time. Charlotte Gallbronner came third.

Galica on the top step of the podium again

Grzegorz Galica dominated the European Championships. He won his third gold medal after four races in the mass start 60. Although he missed three targets, he was convincing on the track and overtook Sondre Slettemark from Greenland on the final lap, who was nine seconds behind the winner at the finish. Martin Botet from France showed his personal best performance at the shooting range in the races in Altenberg and won the bronze medal.

Katerina Pavlu from the Czech Republic surprised even herself with her victory in the mass start 60. She missed two targets but remained clear at the last shooting and was the first to return to the track. She was followed by three Italians, Fabiana Carpella, Sara Scattolo and Sophia Zardini, who narrowly lost the final sprint to her team-mate.

Photos: IBU I Koksarov

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