Hanna Oeberg and JT Boe will be the only two athletes defending their gold medals from the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games. They both won gold in the individual. Belarus women, Swedish men, and French mixed relay will also want to retain the title, but some other names will replace champions from four years ago. We analysed how did other medalist perform in the past four seasons in the discipline that brought them Olympic glory in PyeongChang 2018.

INDIVIDUAL

WOMEN Hanna Oeberg of Sweden is the individual champion from PyeongChang 2018. Anastasiya Kuzmina was the silver and Laura Dahlmeier bronze medalist. They both retired. Oeberg won in the individual at the IBU World Championships 2019 in Oestersund.

MEN JT of Norway won gold in the individual in PyeongChang 2018. Jakov Fak will be in Beijing 2022. He was fourth in individual at the IBU World Championships Antholz-Anterselva 2020. In the 2021/2022 season, he finished 29th at the Season Opening in Oestersund and 76th in the BMW IBU World Cup 7 Antholz-Anterselva. Dominik Landertinger, who won a bronze medal in PyeongChang 2018, retired two years ago.

BEIJING 2022 INDIVIDUAL OUTLOOK

Marketa Davidova of the Czech republic and Tarjei Boe of Norway are the Cup Score winners for the 2021/2022 season. Tarjei completed his BMW IBU World Cup globe collection, but he is yet to win individual gold at the Olympic Winter Games. Davidova will try to do the reverse Hanna Oeberg in Beijing 2022: to double-down on her IBU World Championships title from Pokljuka 2021 with a gold in Beijing 2022. Hanna backed up her PyeongChang gold with a triumph at the IBU World Championships Oestersund 2019.

SPRINT

WOMEN Marte Olsbu Roeiseland of Norway won a silver medal in PyeongChang 2018. The winner Laura Dahlmeier of Germany, and bronze medalist Veronika Vitkova of the Czech Republic both retired. Olsbu Roeiseland has won six sprint competitions in the BMW IBU World Cup since then and is leading in the sprint Cup Score standing before Beijing 2022.

MEN Arnd Peiffer of Germany was the sprint winner in PyeongChang 2018. He retired at the end of last season. The silver medalist from the 2018 Games Michal Krcmar of the Czech Republic, was fourth in the sprint of Nove Mesto na Morave in 20202/2021, his best sprint result in the BMW IBU World Cup. The bronze medalist Dominik Windisch of Italy was seventh in the Antholz-Anterselva and Annecy Le Grand Bornand sprints in 2019/2020, his highest finishes in the BMW IBU World Cup since PyeongChang 2018.

BEIJING 2022 SPRINT OUTLOOK

Olsbu Roeiseland and Sebastian Samuelsson are the leaders in the Sprint Cup Score standings after Trimester 2. Olsbu Roeiseland's most significant threat for career-first Olympic gold will be Elvira Oeberg. Samuelsson holds just a point lead over the Total Score leader Quentin Fillon Maillet and four over Emilien Jacquelin. Both Frenchmen are openly aiming for their first individual Olympic gold medal.

PURSUIT

WOMEN The winner Laura Dahlmeier of Germany, and silver medalist Anastasiya Kuzmina of Slovakia, retired before Beijing 2022. Bronze medalist Anais Bescond of France finished second in the pursuit of Oestersund this season (as she did in Tyumen at the end of the Olympic 2017/2018 season).

MEN The winner Martin Fourcade of France no longer competes. The silver medalist Sebastian Samuelsson of Sweden won in the Kontiolahti pursuit in 2020/2021 and finished second twice this season. The bronze medalist Benedikt Doll of Germany had three fifth-place pursuit finishes since the Olympic 2017/2018 season.

BEIJING 2022 PURSUIT OUTLOOK

Quentin Fillon Maillet has won four pursuits in a row and will be an overwhelming favourite in Beijing. But then, Emilien Jacquelin flashed through 20 targets at the IBU World Championships Pokljuka 2021 as he defended his title from Antholz-Anterselva 2020. Olsbu Roeiseland will be chased by the Oeberg sisters. At least the dynamics from Trimesters 1 and 2 hints in that direction.

MASS START

WOMEN

The winner Anastasiya Kuzmina of Slovakia and silver medalist Darya Domracheva of Belarus retired before the Olympic Winter Games 2022. The bronze medalist Tiril Eckhoff of Norway won two mass starts in the BMW IBU World Cup since the PyeongChang 2018 Games.

MEN

The winner Martin Fourcade of France, silver medalist Simon Schempp of Germany, and bronze medalist Emil Hegle Svendsen of Norway retired before the Beijing 2022 Games.

BEIJING 2022 MASS START OUTLOOK

Dorothea Wierer won mass start in Antholz-Anterselva and tops Cup Score standings. Elvira Oeberg skipped the Antholz week and will feel mass start is her best shot for gold in Beijing 2022 after her win in Annecy Le Grand Bornand. Benedikt Doll beat JT Boe with a great last shooting and final lap in Antholz-Anterselva and leads in the Cup Score standings for men. Fillon Maillet and the Boe brothers are on his heels and will fancy their chances in Beijing 2022.

Photo: Christian Manzoni