The Junior World Championships in Oestersund end with exciting relay races and victory for France and Norway.

The French team lived up to its role as favourites. Celia Henaff dominated the relay race right from the start. She was the first to change over and handed over to Voldiya Galmace Paulin, who showed the best shooting performance on the day with just one spare round in the standing shooting. She also changed over with a lead and sent Anaelle Bondoux onto the track. Amandine Mengin was then the first to finish the relay. She mastered the last shooting with three spare rounds in windy conditions and was able to avoid the penalty loop. The French team had a lead of over a minute and showed the best performance of the day at the shooting range without a penalty loop.

The German team is delighted with the silver medal. Charlotte Gallbronner had to go into the penalty loop as the starting skier after the standing shooting, but her team-mates managed to get back into the lead. Lea Zimmermann had a brilliant day at the shooting range, as she only needed ten shots to clear the targets. Alma Siegismund also shot a penalty loop in the standing position but remained on course for a medal. On the final lap, Lotta de Buhr battled against Norway's Silje Berg-Knutsen for second place, but the German was the first to return to the track from the shooting range and was able to save her lead at the finish. For the Norwegian women with Ann Kristin Aaland, Siri Skar, Guro Ytterhus and Silje Berg-Knutsen it is the first medal at these championships.

Norway ahead of Germany and Poland

Norway set the pace in the junior men's event. After Andreas Aas, Sivert Gerhardsen took over and only needed one spare round in the standing shooting. Haavard Tosterud even managed to get through the race without a miss and handed over to Kasper Kalkenberg with a lead. As usual, Kalkenberg performed confidently and finished 19 seconds faster than Leonhard Pfund from Germany.

Linus Kesper, Fabian Kaskel, Elias Seidl and Leonhard Pfund showed the best shooting performance of the day, as they only needed a total of six spare rounds. The Polish team achieved something historic on this day. Never before have the juniors won a medal in the relay. Jakub Potoniec, Grzegorz Galica, Konrad Badacz and Fabian Suchodolski took home the bronze medal.

After these successful days in Oestersund, the season is over for the juniors, but the new season is already casting its shadow. The organizing committee from Arber (Germany) will host the next IBU Youth and Junior World Championships in 2026.

Photos: IBU I Danielsson