Wright Seventh, Irwin and Doherty Back in the Top 20
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by Sara Donatello
Racing in Hochfilzen, AUT started with a bang for Team USA. Beginning the day with the men’s 10km sprint, Campbell Wright (Wanaka, NZL/Waiorau Nordic Skiing) delivered yet another standout performance, racing to seventh place. Wright hit all ten targets and crossed the line just 3.6 seconds shy of his second flower ceremony result of the season. The men’s sprint podium was topped by Italy’s Tomasso Giacomel, followed by France’s Eric Perrot in second and Germany’s Phillip Horn in third.
Wright put it very simply, “Today was great. Shot zero, zero, skis were good. Let’s go tomorrow!”
Sean Doherty (Conway, NH, Army World Class Athlete Program) turned in his best result since the 2022/23 season, placing 17th, also with perfect shooting. Paul Schommer (Appleton, WI/Team Birkie/Ariens Nordic Center) cleaned his prone stage and missed just one standing shot to finish 34th, while Maxime Germain (Chamonix-Mont Blanc, FRA/National Guard Biathlon) crossed the line in 54th, successfully qualifying all four U.S. men for tomorrow’s pursuit.
On the women’s side, Deedra Irwin (Pulaski, WI/Army World Class Athlete Program) returned to the top 20 for the first time in over a year with a strong 17th-place finish. Adding to the excitement of the day, Irwin’s result also puts her in contention for an Olympic qualification per U.S. Biathlon’s phase two Olympic selection criteria.
Chloe Levins (Williston, VT/Mansfield Nordic Pro) placed 57th, securing two U.S. starters in Sunday’s women’s pursuit. After earning the necessary IBU qualifying points, Joanne Reid (Grand Junction, CO/Colorado Biathlon Club) made her return to the World Cup start line in Hochfilzen, but two prone and three standing misses left her 96th and outside of pursuit qualification.
Tomorrow’s men’s 12.5km pursuit begins at 6:00 ET/12:00 CET, followed by Irwin, Levins, Margie Freed (Apple Valley, MN/Craftsbury Green Racing Project), and Reid teaming up in the women’s 4x6km relay at 8:15 ET / 14:15 CET. Racing will be streamed live on Eurovision Sports, with live updates available on the IBU App. For more information, visit usbiathlon.org/how-to-watch.
