With the start of the 2023/24 biathlon season, a new era begins in the Norwegian women’s team. The first line-up of the Scandinavians already shows where the journey is headed. A well-known name is completely unexpectedly missing from the list.
Starting this winter, the clock will tick differently in the Norwegian biathlon team, which is so used to success. Marte Olsbu Røiseland and Tiril Eckhoff have resigned, with them missing the team’s two biggest anchors and two absolute guarantees of success.
On Monday, the national association announced its first World Cup squad since the two legends said goodbye. And that’s what it’s all about. Many of the names on the list should only mean anything to real connoisseurs.
Biathlon talent Kirkeeide demoted
As expected, the team is led by Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold. With Karoline Knotten, however, she has only one other athlete at her side who is also known to the general public from the World Cup. The rest of the roster consists of young runners who have little or no experience at the highest level of competition.
The Norwegian team in Östersund is completed by Juni Arnekleiv (24), Frida Dokken (21), Marit Ishol Skogan (25) and Marthe Kråkstad Johansen (24). A quartet that is forced into the deep end after the resignations of Røiseland and Eckhoff and still has to prove itself in the World Cup.
Completely surprisingly, super talent Maren Kirkeeide is not part of the squad. The 20-year-old has been considered an absolute exceptional talent for several years and was able to compete in two individual races in the World Cup last winter after she impressed in the IBU Cup, where she finished fourth in the overall ranking and was therefore the best Norwegian .
Instead of running in Östersund with the best biathletes in the world, Kirkeeide was only nominated by those responsible for the IBU Cup opening weekend in Kontiolahti. A decision that hardly anyone expected in advance.
Additional starting place for biathlon men
Meanwhile, there were no surprises in the Scandinavians’ men’s team. The team is of course led by Johannes Thingnes Bø. The line-up is completed by Sturla Holm Lægreid, Tarjei Bø, Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen, Johannes Dale-Skjevdal and Vebjørn Sørum.
The seventh starting place, which the Norwegian association also gets for the first two World Cup weekends, goes to Endre Strømsheim. The 26-year-old is rewarded for his IBU Cup triumph last year, which gave the Norwegians seventh place on the grid.