First Swiss European Championships Biathlon in Lenzerheide are history
The IBU Open European Championships Biathlon took place from 25 to 29 January 2023 in the Roland Arena in Lantsch/Lenz. Around 6,500 spectators attended this first of three major biathlon events in the Lenzerheide holiday region. The event ended with a silver medal for Switzerland in the last competition on Sunday afternoon.
OC awards «Fair Play Award» to Michela Carrara
The start of the title bouts in Lenzerheide last Wednesday was anything but ordinary. In the women's individual competition, the Italian Michela Carrara seemed set to win the gold medal. But then it came out that two misses of the Italian were cleared by a competitor - a curiosity more than all others. Carrara and the Italian team showed fair play and gave the victory to the German Lisa Maria Spark. According to the evidence, the jury should have awarded the gold medal to Michela Carrara, but the Italian came forward and admitted her actual mistakes. She was eventually relegated to 11th place. The organizers of the European Biathlon Championships honoured this fair gesture and presented Michela Carrara with a personalized «Fair Play Award» in the style of the biathlon mascot «Lenzi» after the pursuit races on Saturday.
The best comes at the end: Swiss success on Sunday
From Switzerland's perspective, the European Championships were subdued, with the exception of the relay competitions on Sunday. There were no noteworthy rankings for the Swiss biathlon team. Things looked better on Sunday: In the mixed relay with Lea Meier, Lena Häcki-Gross, Sebastian Stalder and Serafin Wiestner in the morning, Switzerland was on course for a medal until shortly before the end. The highlight followed in the single-mixed relay in the afternoon: Amy Baserga and Niklas Hartweg won the silver medal amid loud cheers from the fans who had travelled to the event, thus ensuring a memorable end to the event.
The next biathlon highlight in Lenzerheide is scheduled for the IBU World Cup from 14 to 17 December 2023. Just one season later, the IBU World Championships Biathlon will take place from 11 to 23 February 2025.
The results at a glance
Individual women (15 km)
1st SPARK Lisa Maria GER
2nd DZHIMA Yuliia UKR
3rd GROTIAN Selina GER
Individual Men (20 km)
1st STROEMSHEIM Endre NOR
2nd DUDCHENKO Anton UKR
3. PLANKO Lovro SLO
Sprint Women (7.5 km)
1st MERKUSHYNA Anastasiya UKR
2nd JOHANSSON Tilda SWE
3. HINZ Vanessa GER
Sprint Men (10 km)
1st BJOENTEGAARD Erlend NOR
2nd SOERUM Vebjoern NOR
3. NAWRATH Philipp GER
Pursuit Women (10 km)
1st GROTIAN Selina GER
2nd JOHANSSON Tilda SWE
3. GUIGONNAT Gilonne WOMAN
Pursuit Men (12.5 km)
1st SOERUM Vebjoern NOR
2nd BJOENTEGAARD Erlend NOR
3. STROEMSHEIM Endre NOR
Mixed Relay
1ST NORWAY
2. GERMANY
3. SWEDEN
Single Mixed Relay
1. NORWAY
2. SWITZERLAND
3. FRANCE