PONSILUOMA Martin

Martin Ponsiluoma was the big breakthrough story of the 2020/21 BMW IBU World Cup season, winning the IBU World Championships Sprint Gold medal at Pokljuka, shooting clean to top all of the big-name sprinters from Norway and France.

Before last season, the 26-year-old Swede had only one other brush with the podium, an almost shocking, then personal best third place in the 2018 Nove Mesto sprint, also shooting clean but 54 seconds behind Johannes Thingnes Boe. Beyond that, in his three previous BMW IBU World Cup seasons, Ponsiluoma was simply a reliable teammate who bounced from leadoff to second to third to anchor on the Swedish relay teams.

Like most of his peers, Ponsiluoma skied from an early age, but unlike them, he was not a passionate skier. “I did many sports but never got serious about skiing until I was about 14… My first biathlon competition was not a good experience. I missed nine of ten shots. Then on my second race, my dad said I would get one candy for each hit…and I hit nine! After that, I started shooting well.”

Today, Ponsiluoma considers himself a sprint specialist, three of his four career podiums are in that discipline. “Two shootings fit me well and 10 kilometers is my best distance in skiing. It is like the Formula One of biathlon. It is just two shootings where you have to have really good focus.”

Ponsiluoma’s Pokljuka success did not end in the sprint. He left Slovenia with a full set of IBU WCH medals, picking up Relay Silver and Mixed Relay Bronze. His great season put Ponsiluoma in tenth place in the World Cup Total Score.

When not training or at a competition, the Oestersund native Ponsiluoma most likely can be found in a stream or lake with a fly fishing rod in his hand.