Wright 7th, Irwin 13th to Close World Cup 3 in Le Grand Bornand

Campbell Wright (Wanaka, NZL/Waiorau Nordic Skiing) and Deedra Irwin (Pulaski, WI/Army World Class Athlete Program) represented the U.S. as the sole mass start starters on the final day of racing in Annecy-Le Grand Bornand, FRA, both leaving everything on the course before heading into a well-deserved Christmas break.

The women’s 12.5km mass start opened the day with Irwin wearing bib 24. After a single miss in her opening prone stage, she surged back into contention by cleaning her second prone shooting, climbing to 12th position. One miss in her first standing stage only fueled her push, as she laid down the second-fastest lap four time. Irwin then delivered under pressure, cleaning all five targets in the final standing shoot and skiing a strong final lap to secure 13th place overall and the seventh-best ski time of the day.

“The atmosphere is so great, the music is so amazing, it really pumped me up for the races,” said Irwin post-race in an interview with NRK. “I think I had a really good week. The skis were amazing today, and the course was so firm, which was nice to ski. I felt awesome. I was feeling the Christmas energy!”

Later in the afternoon, Wright toed the line for the men’s 15km mass start to close out World Cup 3. Starting from bib 12, he opened confidently, cleaning his first prone to exit the range inside the top six. Two misses in the second prone dropped him back, but Wright responded with composure, cleaning both standing stages to head out on the final lap in tenth. From there, he emptied the tank, overtaking Sweden’s Sebastian Samuelsson and France’s Emilien Jacquelin, two of the fastest skiers on the circuit, and opening an 11-second gap to secure a seventh-place finish.

With trimester one complete, the team now heads into a Christmas break. Irwin, Wright, Maxime Germain (Chamonix-Mont Blanc, FRA/National Guard Biathlon), and Margie Freed (Apple Valley, MN/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) have all secured qualification for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic Winter Games and will return to racing at World Cup 4 in Oberhof, GER in the new year. The remaining four Olympic spots will be decided on January 6 following U.S. Biathlon’s timed trials in Antholz, ITA. Click HERE to view the athletes competing in the trials.