On the weekend, some of the world’s best biathletes gather at the IBU Loop One Festival in Munich’s Olympic Park. However, the event doesn’t fit into everyone’s schedule. The Norwegians are getting particularly creative.
At the premiere of the IBU Loop One Festival in Munich, numerous stars from the biathlon scene are expected this weekend. On roller skis, the athletes race through the Olympic Park, providing an initial assessment about a month and a half before the start of the season. However, the timing of the event doesn’t suit everyone’s plans – especially not the Norwegians.
The team around overall World Cup winner Sturla Holm Laegreid is currently in Lavazè, Italy, where they are preparing for the Olympic Games in February in an altitude training camp. “It will be somewhat difficult to combine both. But we have found a solution that is as optimal as possible, even if it may not entirely meet our ideas of sustainability,” Laegreid told NRK .
And the somewhat curious solution is: Laegreid and his teammates will fly by helicopter from northern Italy to Germany. The distance is about 200 kilometers as the crow flies and takes one hour. By car, it would have taken about five hours of driving time. The helicopter flight costs 14,000 euros for the round trip and is financed from the start fees that the athletes receive from the IBU for their participation. This amounts to 2,000 euros per runner.
“The only way to limit the damage”
According to Per Arne Botnan, sports director of the Norwegian Biathlon Association, two helicopters are needed to transport all athletes and coaches from Lavazè. “That wasn’t originally my idea, but then the Olympic Games are approaching and we feel forced by the IBU. It was the only way to limit the damage to the altitude stay,” Laegreid explained.
The 28-year-old had previously complained about the timing of the races in Munich. He said this was difficult to reconcile with the Norwegians’ altitude training camp. Botnan added, however: “We considered transport by car, but the final optimization at altitude before the season is so important that we have done everything else we could this winter.”
In Munich, speed and excitement are the focus for the athletes. Six weeks before the World Cup opener, on Sunday from 11 am, a total of 60 men and 60 women will compete in the main races in four heats each on the 1.8-kilometer circuit. The finals will then take place in the afternoon.