2025-26 IBU Cup Season Recap: Comebacks, Breakthroughs and Home Soil Successes

The 2025-26 IBU Cup season showcased steady progress, breakthrough performances, and encouraging depth across the U.S. team. From veteran comebacks to personal bests and historic relay results, the season highlighted both resilience and forward momentum as athletes took on a deep international field.

A Strong Start in Obertilliach

The season opened in Obertilliach with a notable return to international racing from veteran Joanne Reid. Demonstrating both experience and competitiveness, Reid quickly re-established herself on the IBU Cup circuit. She was joined by Jake Brown in delivering early season highlights, with both athletes securing top-25 finishes in the pursuit race at IBU Cup 1, placing 24th and 22nd respectively.

Personal Bests and Growing Confidence

Momentum continued in Arber, where Joanne Reid achieved a milestone performance in the short individual, racing to a personal best 5th place and earning her first career flowers at the IBU Cup level. Chloe Levins also delivered a breakthrough performance with a 9th place finish, marking her personal best at the time and signaling more success to come later in the season.

At the 2026 Open European Championships in Sjusjoen, Vaclav Cervenka matched his IBU Cup career-best result with a 9th-place finish in the sprint, with five U.S. athletes placed inside the top 35 in the sprint competition: Jake Brown in 21st, Chloe Levins in 23rd with clean shooting, Bjorn Westervelt in 31st, and Vincent Bonacci in 35th. The women’s relay team also delivered one of the strongest range performances of their season, finishing 11th while tying for best overall shooting accuracy and posting the third-fastest shooting time of the field.

Continuing the momentum in Sjusjoen the following weekend for IBU Cup 6, Jake Brown raced to his first top-20 finishes of the season, placing 14th in the sprint and 18th in the pursuit. Vincent Bonacci also made an impressive jump in the pursuit, gaining 16 positions from bib 43 to land 27th. 

Breakthrough Performances in Lenzerheide

Lenzerheide proved to be a standout venue for the team, producing some of the strongest relay performances in over a decade. The mixed relay team of Jake Brown, Bjorn Westervelt, Joanne Reid, and Luci Anderson combined strong skiing and composed shooting to secure an impressive 5th place finish. Jake Brown and Joanne Reid returned to the start line later the same day for the single mixed relay, demonstrating remarkable endurance and competitiveness as they raced to a 7th place finish. Individually, Luci Anderson and Joanne Reid continued their strong form, racing to top-10 finishes in the sprint, placing 8th and 10th respectively.

A Memorable Home IBU Cup in Lake Placid

And what a privilege it was to close out the season racing on home soil in Lake Placid in front of friends, family, and supporters. Chloe Levins kicked things off on a high note, delivering a career-best performance in the short individual, tying for 6th place and earning her first IBU Cup flowers in front of a home crowd.

Jake Brown continued his strong season with a series of impressive results across both weeks of competition, finishing 7th, 8th, and 12th. Vaclav Cervenka also delivered a strong performance in the men’s sprint, shooting clean to land 15th. 

The Lake Placid IBU Cups also marked important milestones for emerging athletes, with Logan Moore and Thor Sheppard making their IBU Cup debuts, and Zoe Noble raced her first IBU Cup of the season, all gaining valuable international race experience and contributing to the team’s future depth.