THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE INTERNATIONAL BIATHLON ...

IBU EVENTS IBU VERANSTALTUNGENtorsby swe24.01. – 03.02.2010IBU Youth andJunior WorldChampionshipsRussia and Germany dominateRussland und Deutschland dominierenauthor Autorin author AutorLuis MAHLKNECHT – ITAJournalist “Dolomiten”Journalist „Dolomiten“Original language GermanOriginalfassung DeutschTanja OHLSON – GERIBU Communication AssistantIBU KommunikationsassistentinOriginal language GermanOriginalfassung DeutschThe medal winners at this year’s IBU Youth and JuniorWorld Championships in Torsby, Sweden, came froma total of eleven countries. The championships were afestival for youth from all over the world. Although twonations clearly dominated, athletes from many differentcountries made it into the headlines and promise a brightand exciting future for the sport of biathlon.The sleepy little town of Torsby in central Sweden provideda warm welcome and excellent conditions for the visitorsfrom the world of biathlon: the athletes and coachesat the shooting range and on the course; the many representativesfrom the press in the media center (unlike in theyears before, media interest was quite good this year); andthe spectators on the stands and on the course, who wouldwitness exciting races. The Swedes succeeded in ignitingthe spark of enthusiasm with good crowd attendances atall 16 competitions and a lot of cheering on. In addition,high quality television coverage, especially by Eurosportand Norwegian television, meant that many biathlon fansat home could also follow the competitions.The actual competitions were very exciting. There arealways many changes every year in the youth and juniorcategories. Older athletes move up and new, young talentsforce their way onto the scene. But it was again twoparticular national federations that showed how seriouslythey take their youth work: Germany and Russia dominatedin the medals, whereby it should be mentioned that theGermans consciously only send athletes in the Junior agegroup to this highlight of youth and junior competitions.In any case, one should make a note of names such asManuel Müller and Anastasia Kalina for the future; but therewas also great talent from other countries at the start. Thesharp shooting Yann Guigonnet and pacey Sophie Boilleywere just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what the French28 biathlonworld The official Magazine of the IBU 20 I 2010