Biathlon season 2019/20: The tops & flops

TOP Dorothea Wierer: When it comes to Wierer, you're slowly but surely running out of superlatives. The 29-year-old was the first biathlete to defend her overall World Cup victory since Sweden's Magdalena Forsberg in 2002. Doro once again proved how strong her nerves are, after all, the pressure before the home World Cup in Antholz was enormous. But Wierer delivered and even exceeded expectations with two gold and two silver medals each. The South Tyrolean didn't let herself be disturbed at the World Cup final in Kontiolahti, even though Tiril Eckhoff had a better starting position before and during the last race. One thing is certain: Wierer is already one of the most successful biathletes of all time.

Johannes Thingnes Bø and Martin Fourcade: On Saturday, the most successful biathlete of all time (alongside Ole Einar Bjørndalen) competed in his last race and won it: We're talking about Fourcade. The Frenchman has proven this season that he can still stand up to Bø after being clearly put in his place by the Norwegian in the previous season. This was an unusual situation for Fourcade at the time, after all, he had previously won the overall World Cup seven times in a row and had dominated the sport of biathlon for years. Even though it wasn't enough to win the overall World Cup after an exciting finale this year (Bø collected 7 points more), the Frenchman left with more than just dignity. And there isn't much more to say about his competitor Bø, after all, the Norwegian would have clearly won the overall World Cup this year without a maternity break. The Norwegian is in a class of his own, especially on the cross-country ski trails. Fourcade (left) and Bø had some exciting duels this winter. © APA/afp / JUSSI NUKARI

Tiril Eckhoff and Marte Olsbu Røiseland: While this winter the Norwegians and French were above all men and mostly fought for the top places, the Norwegians were particularly convincing among the women. As an example of this, Eckhoff & Co. won all of the women's relays this season. The excellent performances of Eckhoff and Marte Olsbu Røiseland were primarily responsible for this. Even though the former missed the overall World Cup victory in the last shooting event of the season, she is still one of the newcomers. Their 7 wins this season also speak for this. Eckhoff has improved enormously in standing shooting, even if she fell short of expectations at the World Championships in Antholz. Her teammate Røiseland shone particularly well in the title fights in Pustertal. If the five-time world champion from Antholz had taken part in all the World Cup races, she would certainly have been a threat to Wierer in the fight for overall victory.

Italy's mixed relay: It was already clear in the run-up to the mixed relay in Antholz that Lisa Vittozzi, Dorothea Wierer, Lukas Hofer and Dominik Windisch were among the hottest medal candidates. After all, in this constellation they already won the bronze medal at the World Cup last year and at the 2018 Olympic Games. The fact that the Azzurri performed like that at the home World Cup and won silver was extremely strong. The mixed relay team also shone with a victory at the World Cup opener in Östersund this season.

The World Cup in Antholz: Antholz has once again shown itself at its best. What stands out is the successful organization of the World Cup: from the shuttle services, to the food, to the always friendly helpers, everything was top notch. The weather was also mostly good and the crowds were enormous. From a local perspective, Wierer's performances contributed to the atmosphere. In any case, Antholz more than deserves the 2026 Olympic Games. The fans in Antholz were (mostly) treated to fantastic weather. © APA

Flop Doping confusion surrounding Alexander Loginov: The sporting events of the World Cup in Antholz briefly took a back seat when a special Italian police unit searched the hotel room of sprint world champion Alexander Loginov and woke the Russian from his sleep. The background was allegations that Loginov had again violated the anti-doping rules. There has been no evidence of this so far. But this topic briefly cast the sport of biathlon in a dark light. The fact that the biathlon audience, which is considered to be particularly fair, whistled at Loginov's achievements in Antholz before the raid also doesn't really fit with this sport. Alexander Loginov left Antholz early and no longer took part in the mass start. © Biathlonworld.com/Petr Slavik

Italy's women's relay team: The Azzurre did not make it into the top 6 in any of the 5 relay races this season. Even though Vittozzi had a difficult winter, she was mostly able to impress in the relay races. Especially at the World Championships in Antholz it became clear that the Italian women - behind Wierer and Vittozzi - are missing other top athletes. But when you look at the performances of the local girls at this year's Youth World Championships in Lenzerheide, you can look to the future with peace of mind.

IBU in the crossfire of criticism: The Biathlon World Cup was one of the few sporting events that still took place until last Saturday - despite the global coronavirus crisis. The last two World Cup stages took place behind closed doors, but there was still harsh criticism of the World Biathlon Federation (IBU). In particular, the decision to allow competitions to take place in Kontiolahti was met with incomprehension by many athletes.

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Biathlon season 2019/20: The tops & flops

The 2019/20 Biathlon World Cup has been history since Saturday. SportNews has compiled the tops and flops of the past season.

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