The 2024–25 Biathlon World Cup – Stage 9 was the ninth event of the season and was held in Holmenkollen, Norway, from 17 to 23 March 2025. Sturla Holm Lægreid claimed his first overall World Cup title, succeeding his teammate Johannes Thingnes Bø. Franziska Preuß achieved her inaugural overall World Cup victory, adding to her career accomplishments, including gold medals in relay and pursuit events at the World Championships. She secured victory World Cup title in last mass start race. The race was marked by an incident where Lou Jeanmonnot, who led the standings by five points, fell near the finish, allowing Preuß to overtake her.https://www.reuters.com/sports/preuss-clinches-overall-globe-after-jeanmonnot-falls-dramatic-finale-2025-03-23
Stage overview To fill the quota obtained at the IBU Cup and the Junior World Championship, the French team called up Paula Botet, Camille Bened and Amandine Mengin as well as the returning Antonin Guigonnat. The Norwegian team included Isak Frey, Kasper Kalkenberg, Juni Arnekleiv and Karoline Erdal. The German team added Stefanie Scherer, Anna Weidel, Simon Kaiser, and Roman Rees. The Italian team invited 31-year-old debutant Nicola Romanin.
In the Swedish team, Ella Halvarsson, Anna Magnusson, and Sara Andersson missed the stage due to illness. In the Czech team, Ilona Plecháčová, Heda Mikolášová, and Petr Hak had the opportunity to make their debut. Olympic champion Anastasiya Kuzmina returned to the main squad of the Slovak team.
Johannes Thingnes Bø, multiple World Cup titles and Olympic gold medals holder and his brother Tarjei Bø who has three Olympic gold medals and eleven World Championship titles have ended their careers after the races at this stage. Swiss athlete Elisa Gasparin and Canadian Emma Lunder also competed in the final races of their careers.
Schedule of events The events took place at the following times. Date Time Events 21 March 13:30 CET Men's 10 km Sprint 16:20 CET Women's 7.5 km Sprint 22 March 13:45 CET Men's 12.5 km Pursuit 15:50 CET Women's 10 km Pursuit 23 March 13:15 CET 12.5 km Women's Mass Start 15:40 CET 15 km Men's Mass Start
Medal winners Men Event: Gold: Time Silver: Time Bronze: Time 10 km Sprintdetails Johannes Thingnes Bø 24:49.5(0+0) Sturla Holm Lægreid 25:15.2(0+0) Johannes Dale-Skjevdal 25:26.2(0+1) 12.5 km Pursuitdetails Sturla Holm Lægreid 31:45.0(0+0+0+0) Johannes Thingnes Bø +15.5(1+1+0+1) Quentin Fillon Maillet +23.9(0+0+1+0) 15 km Mass Startdetails Sebastian Samuelsson 39:11.8(0+0+1+0) Éric Perrot +5.6(0+1+0+0) Endre Strømsheim +9.3(0+0+0+0)
Women Event: Gold: Time Silver: Time Bronze: Time 7.5 km Sprintdetails Franziska Preuß 20:57.2(0+0) Lou Jeanmonnot 20:57.4(0+0) Suvi Minkkinen 21:19.1(0+0) 10 km Pursuitdetails Lou Jeanmonnot 30:16.9(0+1+0+0) Elvira Öberg +22.2(2+0+0+0) Lena Häcki-Groß +24.2(1+0+1+0) 12.5 km Mass Startdetails Franziska Preuß 38:23.8(0+0+1+0) Elvira Öberg +3.3(1+1+1+0) Lou Jeanmonnot +11.7(1+0+0+0)
Achievements Best individual performance for all time
Men Isak Frey (21), reached No. 4 on sprint race Viktor Brandt (25), reached No. 9 on pursuit race Fabian Müllauer (22), reached No. 31 on sprint race Jimi Klemettinen (19), reached No. 34 on pursuit race Petr Hak (21), reached No. 35 on sprint race Nicola Romanin (31), reached No. 67 on sprint race Marek Mackels (25), reached No. 73 on sprint race Yaroslav Neverov (20), reached No. 81 on sprint race Kasper Kalkenberg (19), reached No. 82 on sprint race Rihards Lozbers (16), reached No. 101 on sprint race
Women Camille Bened (24), reached No. 13 on sprint race Karoline Erdal (27), reached No. 14 on sprint race Anika Kožica (27), reached No. 46 on sprint race Amandine Mengin (20), reached No. 64 on sprint race Ilona Plecháčová (18), reached No. 90 on sprint race Lara Wagner (22), reached No. 96 on sprint race Heda Mikolášová (19), reached No. 97 on sprint race
First World Cup individual race
Men Petr Hak (21), reached No. 35 on sprint race Nicola Romanin (31), reached No. 67 on sprint race Kasper Kalkenberg (19), reached No. 82 on sprint race Rihards Lozbers (16), reached No. 101 on sprint race
Women Camille Bened (24), reached No. 13 on sprint race Amandine Mengin (20), reached No. 64 on sprint race Ilona Plecháčová (18), reached No. 90 on sprint race Lara Wagner (22), reached No. 96 on sprint race Heda Mikolášová (19), reached No. 97 on sprint race
References