Italy's mixed relay teams not in the medal race

The mixed relays filled the Youth and Junior World Championships for Biathletes on Friday. In both cases, Italy's quartet played only a supporting role. The victory once again went to the favorites, while some "smaller" nations were at least able to make a few pinpricks.

28. February 2025

From: lm

The day began with the mixed relay in the U21 category, and things got off to a disastrous start for Italy, as the first runner, Gaia Gondolo, had to complete four penalty laps in the first shooting. This meant that the train to the front had long since left the station, and the rest of the relay team could only try to limit the damage. The very strong performance of the young Pusterer Julian Huber must be highlighted, as he brought his team far ahead, so that the 13th place finish was still somewhat acceptable.

Norway won the competition with ease, ahead of Germany and France - the usual suspects in current biathlon. The Czech Republic provided the pinpricks mentioned above with a strong performance from the two women and Canada with a sensational fourth place.

In the juniors, things started off very promising for the Azzurri, especially since Fabiana Carpella kept the team on course for a medal. Ilaria Scattolo, on the other hand, is not currently in top form as a runner, and after the penalty lap that Nicolò Betemps incurred, all hopes of a medal were buried. In the end, Christoph Pircher had an interesting duel with the Pole Fabian Suchodolski for 8th place, but came up short and crossed the finish line in 9th place.
Gold went to Germany, which beat France (with four penalty laps!) and Austria.