Wright 10th, Anderson World Cup Personal Best in Oberhof
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by Sara Donatello
Team USA kicked off the New Year in Oberhof, GER with standout performances. Highlighted by Campbell Wright (Wanaka, NZL/Waiorau Nordic Skiing) racing to 10th place in the men’s sprint and Lucinda Anderson (Golden Valley, MN/Team Birkie) hitting her World Cup personal best 21st place in the women's sprint, there’s no doubt this is just the beginning for Team USA in 2026.
Wright crossed the line just +50.8 seconds back from the victorious Tomasso Giacomel of Italy, despite two misses in standing, setting himself up nicely for a pursuit battle on Saturday. Giacomel was joined on the podium by Germany’s Philipp Nawrath, in front of a home crowd, and Johannes Dale-Skjevdal of Norway.
Paul Schommer (Appleton, WI/Team Birkie/Ariens Nordic Center), with just one miss in standing, raced to 52nd place, putting two U.S. men into the pursuit. Maxime Germain (Chamonix-Mont Blanc, FRA/National Guard Biathlon) and Sean Doherty (Conway, NH/Army World Class Athlete Program) both fell out of pursuit contention, placing 70th and 75th, respectively.
Just a few short hours later, the women toed the line in their respective sprint. Anderson turned heads racing to her World Cup personal best in 21st to collect her first ever World Cup points. Shooting a near-perfect 9-for-10 on the range, she will begin Sunday’s women’s pursuit +1:25.1 back from the victorious Elvira Oeberg of Sweden. Oeberg was joined on the women’s sprint podium by Suvi Minkkinen of Finland and Julia Simon of France.
“I just went out there with no expectations so I think that took the pressure off and I was able to ski fast and shoot pretty well,” said Anderson after her race.
Margie Freed (Apple Valley, MN/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) raced to her third-best career World Cup result, placing 39th, with just one miss on the day, and Deedra Irwin (Pulaski, WI/Army World Class Athlete Program), missing one shot in both prone and standing, kept up her ski speed to land 48th overall and put all three U.S. women into the pursuit.
As the women’s sprint was moved up one day due to weather conditions, there will be no racing tomorrow (Friday). Racing in Oberhof will resume on Saturday with the men’s 12.5km pursuit and women’s 4x6km relay, followed by the men’s 4x7.5km relay and women’s 10km pursuit on Sunday. A free livestream of World Cup events can be found HERE.
