The crazy story behind this biathlon debut

Tara Geraghty-Moats will celebrate her World Cup debut in Bear Bay, as Kontiolahti literally means, at the unusually old age of 29. But it is not this fact that is causing a stir. Rather, it is the American's career that is astonishing. And that doesn't exist twice in the biathlon world, and probably in the entire sports world.

Geraghty-Moats will make her third World Cup debut on Wednesday at 13.15:XNUMX p.m., as she has already competed in the premier classes of ski jumping and Nordic combined in her life. In the latter discipline she even won the first historical overall World Cup. But how does such an athlete end up in biathlon?

A bit of everything Geraghty-Moats was born in 1993. She grew up in the 600-person town of West Fairlee, a winter sports region five hours' drive north of New York City. Her passion for sports, especially winter activities, was already evident in her childhood. The US lady starts early with ski jumping and cross-country skiing, and she particularly enjoys the first discipline. But in 2010, Geraghty-Moats injured himself so badly during a jump that the doctors said: “Ski jumping won’t work anymore.”

Geraghty-Moats is a gifted ski jumper. © AFP / JOE KLAMAR

The then 17-year-old didn't let this get her down and took a new path. Because she was always relatively good on cross-country skis, she tried biathlon. In 2011 she was called up for the Youth World Championships in Nove Mesto, where the star of a certain Dorothea Wierer rose. To further her biathlon career, Geraghty-Moats even moved to Sweden. But once again everything turned out differently. “I told him he was crazy.” Tara Geraghty Moats In 2014 she was training with the US team in Lake Placid when a colleague from Jux registered her for the national ski jumping championship, which coincidentally was taking place in that location at the time. “I haven't trained since my injury. I told my colleague he was crazy, but I gave it a try and came fifth straight away. “That’s when I decided to concentrate on ski jumping again,” she says in a report by Italy Fund cited.

Suddenly she was a combiner Geraghty-Moats only needed a few months to qualify for the World Cup team and made her debut in December 2014. After just a few competitions she jumped into the top 10 and came ninth in Rasnov. Little by little, however, sand got into the gears and so Geraghty-Moats was unable to qualify for the 2018 Olympics. It was just right that the FIS added a new discipline to the World Cup calendar: the Nordic combined for women, which combines ski jumping and cross-country skiing - two disciplines that the US girl is very fond of. So she changed sports again and won the overall ranking straight away.

However, the future of Nordic combined is shaky, especially the women's competition. Women were not allowed to take part in the 2022 Olympic Games, but the same will be the case in 2026. Much to the annoyance of Tara Geraghty-Moats, who decided to change sports again in spring 2021. So she left the “NoKo” behind and wanted to get started again in biathlon. With success, because after she mainly competed in the IBU Cup last year, she now has the chance in the World Cup in Kontiolahti.

A curious, almost adventurous career that Tara Geraghty-Moats has had behind her. And who knows what else the American is planning for the future.

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The crazy story behind this biathlon debut

When the biathlon women compete in their first World Cup race of the season in Kontiolahti on Wednesday, an athlete will also be there whose career is the most extraordinary of the entire field.

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