The Penalty Loop Biathlon Podcast

Annecy-le Grand Bornand Recap - Penalty Loop Biathlon Podcast Episode 156

RJ may be in Mexico but we won't let a little tropical vacation get in the way of a great week of biathlon! After a raucous week in le Grand Bornand we had a lot to chat about including:
- This was Lou's weekend from start to finish
- Justus' heartbreak but encouraging signs for Germany
- Maren's incredible power
- Good 1st trimester performances from USA and Canada especially Campbell Wright and Deedra Irwin
- An endlessly entertaining Norwegian men's team and how their Olympic roster is shaping up
- Can Botn continue this high level? And can Perrot and Giacomel challenge?
- Celebrating Camille Bened and pondering the French women's team and their Olympic roster
- A week of strong finishes from Eder, Burkhalter, Passler, and Ermits
And more!

Hochfilzen 2025-2026 Recap - Penalty Loop Biathlon Podcast Episode 155

Another fun weekend of biathlon racing is completed and RJ and Jordan are back to discuss it all! On today's recap:
- Starting with our complicated feelings seeing Julia Simon racing again
- Nice weekends for our home federations of Canada and the USA!
- Celebrating Anna Magnusson with her biggest fan
- The cream of the crop rising on the men's side with Perrot and Giacomel trading wins
- Lisa Vittozzi and her incredible shooting display in the Pursuit
- A little Norway discussion including Maren Kirkeeide, Karoline Knotten, Sturla Holm Laegreid and Vetle Christiansen
- The tricky corner in Hochfilzen claims several more athletes
- Camille Bened keeps on rolling with 2 more finishes in the Flowers and a great relay leg
- Anticipating French women lineup changes
- Shout outs to a diverse weekend of good finishes including Estonia, Slovakia, Finland etc
- IBU Cup corner
- Looking ahead to Annecy
And a ton more athletes discussed in there as well!

Östersund 25-26 Week 2 - Penalty Loop Biathlon Podcast Episode 154

After a fun week in Östersund full of fan favorite performances we already have so much to talk about! In this episode we discuss:
- The incredible women's Pursuit contested with our some of our personal favorite athletes
- Suvi Minkkinen with a career weekend takes Yellow
- Lisa Hauser looks better than she has in several years
- Dorothea Wierer is ready for an Olympic capstone to her career
- What to make of the preseason favorites easing their way into the season and a few athletes quietly flying under the radar
- Norwegian men are still dominant even without the Boe brothers
- Swedish women...how do they balance their talent?
And more!

Östersund Week 1 - Penalty Loop Podcast Episode 153

World Cup Biathlon is back and so are the weekly recaps! In this case we saw so much fun in the first two days of the season that we couldn't wait to start this next week. We had to start right away! It was a fantastic couple of days so we had a lot to discuss including:
- Our favorite things including great races from our offseason guests!
- Campbell Wright and the spunky Americans
- Nice opening for the Canadians
- Lou is Lou which is scary for everybody
- Tandrevold and the shooting scaries
- Relay change over excitement
- Gandler, Davidova, and Suvi all showing good things
- Czechia with a phenomenal opening weekend
- Sebbe and Ponsi making their traditional late relay charge
- Italian excitement and Germany up and down
- Analyzing Norway's premier
And more!

Tobias Torgersen Interview November 2025 - Penalty Loop Biathlon Podcast Episode 151

A week later than intended (solely due to Jordan's very slow editing) our interview with Polish Women's Head Coach Tobias Torgersen is up! This was recorded the week before the season began so it does not cover anything that happened in the first two days of racing in Östersund. But there is still tons of good stuff in this conversation including:
- Review of Geilo races and assessment of team form
- The process of picking rosters
- Leadership within the team
- Summer camps including Blink and Antholz
- International Cooperation
- Coaching from the bike
- A lengthy discussion on coaching shooting/practice
- Moments of pride and moments of fun
- And more!

2025-2026 Biathlon Season Preview! - Penalty Loop Podcast Episode 152 (151 coming soon!)

We did it! The 2025-2026 biathlon season starts this week! We got together for our first regular weekly episode of the season to get ourselves ready for all of the excitement. We covered:
- Discussing how an Olympic season differs from a regular season
- Discussed the events of the selection races in Idre Fjall, Geilo, Bessans, and Ruhpolding and how they affected team selections for the major squads
- How key athletes looked in these races including: Hanna Oeberg's resurgence, the Swedish boys, Eric Perrot, Dorothea Wierer, Ingrid Tandrevold, Isak Frey, Vetle Christiansen, Camille Bened, Simon Eder, Franziska Preuss and many many more
- Sorting out our thoughts on the chaos inside the French team
- Brief looks at rosters and our thoughts including the USA, Canada, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and Latvia
- As always you can be assured that there is a ton more in there too!

Karoline Knotten November 2025 Interview - Penalty Loop Podcast Episode 150

Karoline Knotten graciously joined us last week from her training in Livigno before the races took place in Geilo. It was a very friendly visit and we can't wait to have her on again soon! For now we covered:
- Charting her own course outside the national training roster this summer
- Updates on her personal fitness
- Goals for 2025-2026
- Finding joy and training with new friends
- Learning from competitors and personal role models
- Loop One experience
And a ton more!

Niklas Hartweg November 2025 Interview - Penalty Loop Podcast Episode 149

Nik Hartweg joins the podcast once again for his first recorded episode with us in two seasons. There has been a LOT that has happened with Nik and biathlon in that period so we had a lot to discuss including:
- Prep, current form, and plans for the 2025-2026 seasons
- Goals and checkpoints for this season leading to the 2026 Olympics
- Memories of the Lenzerheide Worlds and 2022 Olympics
- Avoiding illness
- Surfing
- How he uses data during training
- Loop One as a spectator on site and the new targets that were used
- Swiss team success and explosion
- And a TON more!

Campbell Wright November 2025 Interview - Penalty Loop Biathlon Podcast Episode 148

The most entertaining man in biathlon - Campbell Wright - returns for another preseason chat! As always he was an absolute blast as we covered a lot in a relatively short period including:
- Loop One - his thoughts on the event and would he do it again?
- Updates on summer training and how he's feeling with now less than 1 month until the 2025-2026 season
- Racing tactics in Pursuits and Mass Starts
- His dream chase pack in a big race
- How high can the US men's team reach this season?
- What it's like being one of the most recognized and cheered biathletes
- And more!

Justus Strelow October 2025 Interview - Penalty Loop Biathlon Podcast Episode 147

Justus Strelow joins us again for another wonderful interview! He was coming to us from the team's Martello altitude camp and graciously gave us plenty of time to discuss a bunch of fun topics including:
- Being a dad!
- The new coaching staff and what the feeling in the team is as the 2025-2026 season nears
- Team dynamics and fun with the German men
- The narrow gap between top 20's and top 5's
- Preparations for Antholz and favorite venues/ranges
- And more!