The next big highlight of the biathlon summer 2023 is imminent. The first race of the Martin Fourcade Nordic Festival is on Saturday. The field of participants has it all and already has an extremely explosive duel ready in the first event.
On Tuesday evening, the organizers officially confirmed the fields of participants for the two mass start races on Saturday. The start lists read like the “Who’s Who” of biathlon sport and don’t have to hide from any World Cup event.
One of the few prominent athletes missing from the men’s race is Johannes Thingnes Bø, who will not join the Norwegian team until mid-month. With Sturla Holm Lægreid and Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen, the Scandinavians are sending two extremely powerful athletes to the start.
Like Italy’s selection, the German team is only represented by one runner. Benedikt Doll will hold up the flag in the mass start for DSV. Italy will field Tommaso Giacomel, who has apparently recovered from his serious training accident.
The field is completed by the French trio Quentin Fillon-Maillet, Fabien Claude and Emilien Jacquelin. Sebastian Stadler will also start for Switzerland, and Tero Seppälä will be in the race for Finland.
Explosive duel in the women’s mass start
The women’s mass start is expected with even more excitement. Overall World Cup winner Julia Simon is making her competition debut there, after the Frenchwoman had been training on her own for the past few months and only took part in one shooting competition. Spicy: Justine Braisaz-Bouchet is the teammate who started the headline-grabbing case of fraud involving Simon.
The race serves as a real endurance test for Vanessa Voigt, who will be the only German at the start. She will compete with Lisa Vittozzi and Dorothea Wierer (both Italy) among others. Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold (Norway), Markéta Davidová (Czech Republic), Lisa Theresa Hauser (Austria) and Lena Häcki-Gross complete the field.