Bitter start to the preparation for the 2026/27 biathlon season: As the Belgian Maya Cloetens announced on Sunday, she underwent an operation a few days ago. This wasn’t planned, it was necessary.
The Belgian biathlon team has to start its preparation for the 2026/27 World Cup season without its nominal number one. As Maya Cloetens revealed on her Instagram channel on Sunday, she has undergone shoulder surgery in the past few days and will be out until further notice.
It was “a difficult but necessary decision” in order to “start the next Olympic cycle healthy,” Cloetens wrote about a picture that shows her with an armband.
Rehab instead of preparation for the season
According to her own statement, the 24-year-old decided to have the procedure because she had already dislocated her shoulder twice in the past. The Belgian explained that she now wants to tackle and fix this problem “once and for all,” and she now has to devote herself to rehab.
“Training will take a while while I repair my body,” wrote Cloetens, who credited herself with “patience and resilience” for the process.
Best Belgian biathlete of the year
Cloetens had already made headlines a few weeks ago with health problems. At the time, she admitted to running in the Olympics with a stress fracture in her ankle. This was discovered during a routine examination in January. At the Olympics she also contracted a corona infection. But she didn’t let that stop her dream of starting.
Cloetens was the best Belgian biathlete last season, ahead of Lotte Lie. In the overall World Cup standings, she finished the winter in 32nd place. She achieved her best result of the season in the first race, when she sensationally finished sixth in the individual race in Östersund.
