Sara Scattolo is one of the Azzurre's hopes. © IBU/Deubert

IBU Cup: The gates will soon open in Martell

The second most important competition series in biathlon, the IBU Cup, is coming to Martell in a month and immediately after the turn of the year, where a total of six competitions will be held between January 4th and 7th.

04 December 2023

From: pm

In the past few weeks, several national teams have taken advantage of the optimal snow conditions that exist in the Martell Valley and trained diligently at the Grogg Biathlon Center. In the middle of them, of course, was local hero Felix Ratschiller, who worked on his form with his colleagues from the Italian B team - be it on skis or at the shooting range.

At the beginning of the new year, Martell will also be the venue for the fourth stage of the IBU Cup, which will now travel from Kontiolahti to Idre Fjall in Sweden and Sjusjoen in Norway before the aspiring ski hunters come to the South Tyrolean biathlon stronghold in the first week of January . The competition program of the IBU Cup in Martell includes a short individual competition for women (4 km) and men (12,5 km) on Thursday, January 15th. On Epiphany, two sprints are on the program at the Grogg Biathlon Center, while the traditional Martello Biathlon Week will conclude on Sunday, January 7th with the thrilling pursuit competitions. The two official training days are also scheduled for Wednesday, January 3rd and Friday, January 5th.

Preparations are underway

“Preparations for the IBU Cup in Martell have been in full swing for weeks. We are lucky that we are a well-rehearsed team and everyone now knows exactly what needs to be implemented and when. It's fun to work in such a motivated group. We will once again do everything we can to ensure that the biathletes, their coaches and supervisors, as well as the media representatives and guests feel at home with us,” promises Georg Altstätter, Mayor of Martell and President of the OK Biathlon Martell.

By the way, the OK Biathlon Martell is looking forward to Brezno-Osrblie (Slovakia), where the Open European Championships will take place from January 24th to 28th, 2024. In just over a year, Georg Altstätter's team will be hosting the continental title fights for the first time, from January 28th to February 2nd, 2025.