Penalty Loop

Yep!

We know the top names are going to come in and throw down some bi ski times. Right now though, through 1 shoot, there is a nice grouping at the top
Batosvka-Fialkova
Irwin +6
Vobornikova +12
Knotten +13
Hristova +16
Sidorowicz +16
Johansen +17
Meier +18
Voigt +19
#biathlon

Ooh! New leader after 1 shoot! 🇺🇸 Deedra Irwin hits her first 5 shots and she slids in above 🇨🇿 Vobornikova.

We all know that it was 4 years ago when she finished 7th in the Individual at the Beijing Games to set the best ever Olympic finish for an American in biathlon
#biathlon

Argh. A miss each for 🇵🇱 Sidorowicz and 🇨🇭 Meier in their first shoots. Hopefully that's it for the day.

Ukaleq Slettemark is 10/10. Even perfect today she won't contend as the ski speed isn't there. But I would LOVE to see her have a perfect day on the range!
#biathlon

And literally as soon as I hit post 🇳🇴 Marthe Johansen comes in and squeezes between Sidorowicz and Meier haha!
#biathlon

Very early on but the top 3 after the prone shooting are, right now, 3 that could surprise if they hit 20/20 today:
🇨🇿 Terka Vobornikova
🇵🇱 Sidorowicz +3
🇨🇭 Meier +5
#biathlon

I promise the camera person isn't on the Penalty Loop payroll but I appreciate that they are shining some light on Lisa Hauser, Karo Knotten, and Suvi Minkkinen haha!
#biathlon

I'm guessing that she is pulled to do commentary for another sport right now but I would give anything to have her back right now

🇩🇰 🇬🇱 Big time day for Denmark/Greenland as Ukaleq Slettemark goes off in bib 4 and Anne de Besche in bib 37!
#biathlon

As soon as I heard her voice I tried to go look for another feed. She's so hard to listen to. Jules bless his heart is doing his best. You can hear him at times pause when he considers correcting her

Sadly no Chad and Randy today. Today we have the unknown woman along with Jules Burnotte. I'm positive this woman is doing her best. But she was put in a no win situation. She clearly just presented with some basic facts about biathlon about 2 weeks ago. Painful for the biggest event

15 minutes to go...who is your podium today?
#biathlon

Definitely. I am really fascinated by who they run for the Sprint. Horn with a tough shooting day but was the fastest and along with Nawrath is really the best chance at a medal in the Sprint. I personally go: Strelow, Nawrath, Horn, Zobel

Contender tiers for the Women's 15km Individual

The Queens
🇫🇷 Lou Jeanmonnot
🇫🇷 Julia Simon
🇮🇹 Lisa Vittozzi

Definite Contenders to Medal
🇸🇪 Hanna Öberg
🇸🇪 Elvira Öberg
🇸🇪 Anna Magnusson
🇮🇹 Dorothea Wierer
🇫🇷 Justine Braisaz-Bouchet
🇫🇮 Suvi Minkkinen
🇩🇪 Franziska Preuss
🇳🇴 Maren Kirkeeide
#biathlon

Nope. Nothing

New Penalty Loop Podcast - breaking down the Olympic Men's Individual!
- Botn's emotional day
- Perrot's magnificent maturity
- Laegreid's 1st non-relay medal...and clouded headspace
- Finnish men with a big day
- Nawrath running strong
- Swedes missing something?
#biathlon

Please ignore Ella Halvarsson. My brain glitched and there will NOT be 5 Swedes in the race 😂
#biathlon

Ha! Funny thing is I actually had a big list written before the Olympics and clearly crossed her out on it. But I just kept plowing right through when typing it in 😂

Excellent question. Yes it does. The skiing time is going to be about 3-4 minutes shorter for the women than it was for the men today. So proportionately a 1 minute hit takes a bigger chunk and is more difficult to overcome.

Need Everything to Go Right But Can't Totally Count Out
🇨🇿 Lucie Charvatova
🇨🇭 Lea Meier
🇮🇹 Michela Carrara
🇸🇪 Ella Halvarsson
🇧🇪 Maya Cloetens
🇪🇪 Regina Ermits
🇺🇸 Deedra Irwin
🇦🇹 Anna Gandler
#biathlon

Underdogs But Can Do it Without Help
🇫🇷 Camille Bened
🇦🇹 Amy Baserga
🇩🇪 Janina Hettich-Walz
🇩🇪 Vanessa Voigt
🇩🇪 Selina Grotian
🇳🇴 Karoline Knotten

Underdogs But Need A Little Help
🇦🇹 Lisa Hauser
🇳🇴 Ingrid Tandrevold
🇨🇿 Tereza Vobrnikova
🇸🇪 Linn Gestblom
🇳🇴 Marthe Johansen
🇨🇭 Lena Haecki-Gross
#biathlon

Contender tiers for the Women's 15km Individual

The Queens
🇫🇷 Lou Jeanmonnot
🇫🇷 Julia Simon
🇮🇹 Lisa Vittozzi

Definite Contenders to Medal
🇸🇪 Hanna Öberg
🇸🇪 Elvira Öberg
🇸🇪 Anna Magnusson
🇮🇹 Dorothea Wierer
🇫🇷 Justine Braisaz-Bouchet
🇫🇮 Suvi Minkkinen
🇩🇪 Franziska Preuss
🇳🇴 Maren Kirkeeide
#biathlon

100% agree. I felt the same about this picture as well

🇳🇴 Johan-Olav Botn pointing up to the heavens after crossing in 1st. It would seem an impossibly scripted moment. Yet there was Botn, skiing with the strength of 2 men, bringing home🥇for himself & Bakken. "I hope he was watching today" Johan-Olav, I promise you he was
#biathlon

Totally agree! If you know it's your weak spot then do everything you can to maximize your ability to be at your best for the event that comes once every 4 years and, for better or for worse for top athletes becomes a major way by how your career is measured

@penaltyloop.bsky.social
Reached out to a few biathlon friends of mine regarding Sweden's skiing. The consensus seems to be: "I don't think the Swedish are very good at altitude."

Which, you know, is going to be a problem.

Samuelsson also just flat out isn't that good in Antholz. His best ever finish before this week was 9th which came last year. Today's 7th was actually his best ever finish in Antholz

I talk to Mona Brorsson too and she said that the ski prep also missed the mark today. She also thinks that Samuelsson and Ponsi were hurt a little bit by going to Nove Mesto vs going straight to altitude camp after Ruhpolding (of course so did Botn and Perrot).

The Penalty Loop Biathlon Podcast Sports Podcast · Updated Weekly · Join Jordan Gottschalk and regular guest RJ Weise in a discussion on the world of biathlon

Find this episode, and recaps for every Olympic biathlon race and every World Cup weekend, wherever you get your podcasts including:

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New Penalty Loop Podcast - breaking down the Olympic Men's Individual!
- Botn's emotional day
- Perrot's magnificent maturity
- Laegreid's 1st non-relay medal...and clouded headspace
- Finnish men with a big day
- Nawrath running strong
- Swedes missing something?
#biathlon