Canada just missed a medal.
That’s a big deal when you consider who they were up against – the big dogs of biathlon.
Competing at the International Biathlon Union youth/junior world championships Friday in Oestersund, Sweden, Canada’s team – Flora Csonka of Calgary, Cheyenne Tirschmann of Whitehorse, Malcolm McCulloch of Dundroon, Ont., and Luke Hulshoff of Calgary – finished fourth out of 28 teams in the youth mixed relay.
They stopped the clock in 1:15:15.7, one minute 31.3 seconds off the gold-medal pace (1:13:44.4) set by Norway.
Germany won silver (+25.9) and France took bronze (+49.7).
Key in the Canadians’ outstanding result was their shooting accuracy. Each of the fourth skiers shot one prone and one standing bout and they all avoided penalty loops. McCulloch shot clean and the other three needed just two reloads to nail their 10 targets.
Earlier in the day, Canada junior mixed relay team finished 14th out of 27 teams.
That team included Eva Schlepkova of Calgary, Moira Green of Prince George, Jean-Nicolas De Broeck of Saint Foy, Que., and Jasper Fleming of Squamish.
Green, a member of the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club, improved on her 2024 junior mixed relay world championships result in Estonia when she was part of the team that finished 18th.
They crossed the finish 6:14.2 behind the German team, who set the pace in 1:12:01.2.
France +16.9) and Austria (+18.5) won silver and bronze respectively.
The Canadian junior team also avoided penalty loops. Schlepkova required just one reload, Green and De Broeck used three spares and Fleming went through four.
Competition resumes Saturday in Oestersund with the youth women’s sprint and junior men’s sprint, followed on Sunday by the junior women’s sprint and youth men’s sprint.
