The FIS and IBU season opener races are coming up! Here are some athletes to keep an eye on this season on the cross-country and biathlon World Cup circuits.
Cross-Country
Heidi Weng (NOR)
The 27-year-old, who has won the overall World Cup both of the last two seasons and the , enters her tenth World Cup season. Weng raced her first ever World Cup event at Beitostølen on November 21, 2009, finishing 39th in the 10-kilometer event. This weekend, Weng is back
Krista Pärmäkoski (FIN)
Pärmäkoski was on the podium at the very first formal cross-country event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeong Chang (KOR), earning the bronze in the skiathlon. Pärmäkoski also earned the bronze in 10-kilometer skate race in the middle of the championships, and capped her stay in Pyeong Chang with a silver medal from the 30-kilometer classic mass start, which was the very last individual event. The 28-year-old enters her 11th World Cup season.
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Hans Christer Holund (NOR)
Holund earned the bronze in the skiathlon at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeong Chang (KOR). Additionally, he was third in the 2018 sprint World Cup. Holund is entering his 11th World Cup season. This summer, he was second in the brutal uphill time trial Lysebotn Opp during the international summer ski festival Blink in Sandnes, Norway.
Read more: Reality check for the World Cup set
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Biathlon
Anaïs Bescond (FRA)
Bescond, who is entering her 13thWorld Cup season, took home two medals from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeong Chang (KOR). First, she helped France to gold in the mixed relay and bronze in the women’s relay. She also won the bronze medal in the 10-kilometer sprint, which was the first biathlon event in Pyeong Chang. The 31-year-old also has one gold and two silver medals from the 2016 World Championships in Oslo, Norway, and a silver medal from the 2015 World Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland.
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Benedikt Doll (GER)
Doll took home no less than three medals from 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeong Chang (KOR): two individual bronze medals in the 12.5-kilometer sprint and the 15-kilometer mass start, as well as bronze from the men’s relay. Doll has been competing in biathlon for 20 years, raced at two Winter Olumpics and but is still hungry for more.
Athlete spotlight: Benedikt Doll
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Vanessa Hinz (GER)
Vanessa Hinz enters her. The 26-year-old, who helped Germany to fourth place in the mixed relay at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeong Chang (KOR), is entering her sixth World Cup season. At the IBU World Championships, she has helped Germany to three gold medals: First at the 2015 World Championships in Finland, then both in the relay and mixed relay at the 2017 World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria.