Wright Lands 12th in Sprint, Two U.S. Men Qualify for Pursuit

The sun finally pushed through the clouds for the men’s 10km sprint, making for a warmer-than-normal day in Antholz-Anterselva, ITA. Campbell Wright led Team USA, racing to 12th place, missing just one target in prone and posting the 16th fastest course time of the day. 

“I’m not much of a thinker,” said Wright when asked about his takeaways from today’s race. “Position doesn’t matter, time back is a lot more important to me and I think I’m about a minute something and I think that’s close enough to have a shot for the pursuit.”

Wright set himself up well for a chance to reach the podium in Sunday’s pursuit, finishing the sprint 1:10 back from the victorious Quentin Fillon-Maillet of France. Norwegian teammates Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen and Sturla Holm Laegreid raced to silver and bronze, respectively. 

Paul Schommer secured two U.S. men in the pursuit, racing to 47th, also with just one miss in prone. He will start 2:38 back from Fillon-Maillet on Sunday. Sean Doherty and Maxime Germain both fell outside of pursuit contention, finishing 65th and 66th, respectively. 

The top 60 finishers in the men’s sprint will compete in the men’s pursuit, where an athlete’s time back in the sprint determines how far back from the leader they will begin their race.