Wright Sprints to World Cup Personal Best
by Sara Donatello
Campbell Wright (Wanaka, NZL/U.S. Biathlon) raced to a World Cup personal best 12th place in the men’s 10km sprint in Ruhpolding, Germany, his second race of the weekend. With only one miss in standing, Wright crossed the finish line just 0.9 seconds behind Philipp Horn of Germany.
“I’m feeling really good on the skis,” said Wright. “Great contrast from Oestersund when I was 100th ski time, so good progression. Just loving it.”
Wright was +50.1 behind the sprint victor, Vetle Christiansen of Norway, who shot clean. Christiansen was joined on the podium by Tommasso Giacomel of Italy and Norwegian teammate Tarjei Boe. Feeding off the energy from his stellar relay leg on Thursday, Wright was able to re-write his previous World Cup personal best 15th from the 2021/22 season in Antholz, Italy.
“Campbell had a really smart race today,” said U.S. Biathlon Team Head Coach Armin Auchentaller. “On the first loop he had Tarjei Boe in front of him and we kept telling him to stay in the draft, which allowed him to save energy for the second loop, where he had one of the best course times. He stayed relaxed and did a good job on the range with a fast shooting time. I am very proud of him.”
Jake Brown (Saint Paul, MN/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) skied to 57th, shooting clean in prone and missing just one target in standing. Brown will race with Wright in tomorrow’s pursuit. Vincent Bonacci (Salt Lake City, UT/Team Crosscut) hit nine of ten targets and finished in 66th. Sean Doherty (Center Conway, NH/National Guard Biathlon) did not start in the sprint.
Racing will kick off tomorrow with Deedra Irwin (Pulaski, WI/Army World Class Athlete Program) racing in the women’s 10km pursuit set to begin at 6:30 ET/12:30 CET. Wright and Brown will follow suit in the men’s 12.5km pursuit at 8:45 ET/2:45 CET. For information on how to watch, visit usbiathlon.org/how-to-watch. For spectator resources, visit usbiathlon.org/spectator-resources.
