The Penalty Loop Biathlon Podcast

German Youth/Juniors Coach Matthias Ahrens Pt 2 - Penalty Loop Biathlon Podcast Episode 138

Part 2 of our interview with Matthias Ahrens. In this section we discuss:
- Climate Change
- What his athletes can learn from the current World Cup athletes
- Changes in shooting techniques
- The challenge and opportunities with the German women's depth
- The best venue on the World Cup

German Youth/Juniors Coach Matthias Ahrens Pt 1 - Penalty Loop Biathlon Podcast Episode 137

Our dear friend Matthias Ahrens rejoins us for a wide ranging conversation! We discuss his move from Canada and the Biathlon Alberta Training Center back to his home in Germany where he now works training members of the German Youth/Junior teams. In part 1 we focus extensively on the differences between the two systems (North America vs. Europe primarily) and his adjustments back home.

Early May 2025 Biathlon Round Up - Penalty Loop Biathlon Podcast Episode 136

Just a quick round up of the latest news from the world of biathlon including:
- Coaching change for the Czech women and Austrian teams
- Laegreid changing ski brands
- Roster announcements from many teams including Norway, France, Sweden, and Germany
- General chit chat
- Trivia time for RJ
*Apologies for Jordan's audio. He sounds like he's recording with a tin can. It was a last minute decision to record and he was at work without his mic!*

April 2025 Biathlon Round Up - Penalty Loop Biathlon Podcast Episode 135

It's been one month since the thrilling conclusion to the 2024-2025 biathlon season in Oslo so it's the perfect time to catch up on all of the biathlon news of April 2025. We also discuss a couple of projects that we are working on right now and preview a few others. Let's have some fun!

2024-2025 World Cup Wrap Up - Penalty Loop Biathlon Podcast Episode 134

It's our final look back at the 2024-2025 season. We take a look at the big stories, our favorite stories, some athletes that had magnificent seasons, some athletes that had relatively disappointing seasons. 24-25 was one of my favorite full seasons in awhile. Take one last look back with us!

Oslo Recap with Interviews! - Penalty Loop Biathlon Podcast Episode 133

We return to the hallowed grounds of Holmenkollen for one last visit before the offseason. We return once again to our brightest memories as well as things that we failed to mention in our first recap. This time we included our interviews:
- Lou Jeanmonnot after the Mass Start
- Franziska Preuss after the Mass Start
- JT Boe after the Sprint
- Isak Frey after the Pursuit
- Sturla Holm Laegreid after both Sprint and the Pursuit
- Sebbe Samuelsson after the Pursuit
- Suvi Minkkinen after the Mass Start
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Oslo Memories! - Penalty Loop Biathlon Podcast Episode 132

We are back, the jet lag has worn off, and we're ready to chat....and chat...and chat! In this episode we ended up just sharing our memories from the weekend. Very little actual race or biathlon discussion. This is so much about just our time on the ground and how much fun we had. Included:
- Our memories from the Women's Mass Start
- Remembering the times we spent with athletes during the races
- HUGE thank you to Tobias Torgersen
- So many more memories!

Pokljuka 2024-2025 Recap - Penalty Loop Biathlon Podcast Episode 131

Pokljuka was one heck of a ride. We had surprise performances galore and amazing Slovenian performances. This week we discussed:
- Jakov Fak and Anamarija Lampic
- Johannes Thingnes Boe's weekend and the state of the Men's Overall
- Lou Jeanmonnot and Franziska Preuss separated by just 20 pts
- The amazing young athletes in biathlon
- A few athletes closing strong including Julia Simon, QFM, Hanna Oeberg, and Martin Ponsiluoma
- A few predictions on the discipline globes
And More

Nove Mesto 2024-2025 Recap - Penalty Loop Biathlon Podcast Episode 130

The final trimester of the 2024-2025 season kicked off in Nove Mesto this week. It was a warm but exciting week of racing!
- We started the episode with a discussion of things that happened between Worlds and Nove Mesto including the German coaching change and the Latvian team incident
- There were several fresh winners this week including Jacquelin, Tandrevold, and Samuelsson
- The Overall Globe races tightened significantly and we discussed how we expect them to play out
- We discussed some very good racing from several now regular top 10 finishes including Giacomel, Hartweg, Suvi, and Campbell
- The tight race for the top 10 in the Women's Nations Cup for the 5 starting bibs
And so much more!

2025 Lenzerheide World Championships Week 2 - Penalty Loop Biathlon Podcast Episode 129

Whew! The athletes are surely exhausted after a grueling nearly 2 weeks in Lenzerheide and so too are the viewers! What a feast of biathlon we've had! In this episode we discuss:
- Overall take aways from these Worlds and a jump around of thoughts about the Worlds in general
- The specific races from the Individuals through the Mass Starts
- JT Boe's status as champion
- The medal distributions
- The schedule release for the 26-27 through 29-30 seasons
And more!