GRP Biathlon: 2026 IBU Open European Champs
Five GRP biathletes competed at the Open European Championships in Sjusjoen, Norway and the subsequent IBU Cup January 28-February 7.
Open Euro Champs
Jackie racing in the 15k Individual (photo by Detlef Eckert)
These races function as the championship race week for the IBU Cup circuit with 4 races over 5 days. Sjusjoen sits on an oft-cloudy plateau above Lillehammer, site of the 1994 Olympics. The temperatures were cold on race week, with most days staying below 10 degrees. The sun was rare to come out and the plentiful snow stayed firm, frozen, and slow.
The race week started with the Individual competitions - 20k for men and 15k for women - with 4 shooting stages in which each miss ads a minute onto a racers total time. GRPer Jake Brown led the way for the American men, finishing in 32nd with only 2 misses out of 20 shots. Bjorn Westervelt placed 53rd with Luke Brown in 105th. In the women’s race, Kelsey Dickinson raced to 74th place, hitting 19/20 shots. Jackie Garso was 86th.
In the following sprint and pursuit competitions, Jake placed 21st and then moved to 44th in the pursuit; Bjorn was 33rd in the sprint and 26th in the pursuit; Luke was 102nd in the sprint, failing to qualify for the pursuit. Jackie placed 69th in the sprint with Kelsey in 79th. Neither woman made the pursuit.
The teams entered relay day with high hopes. The shooting for the men turned blustery and penalty laps pushed the team to 13th place. On the flip side, the women’s strong shooting performance pulled them up to an 11th place finish.
IBU Cup 6
Jake, on his way to 14th place in the men’s Sprint (photo by Detlef Eckert)
Most of the GRP athletes stayed in Sjusjoen where the next weekend’s IBU Cup races were being held.
The Mixed Relay of 2 men and 2 women unfortunately got off to a tough start when Jake’s rifle stock broke in an early crash, forcing him to use an un-zeroed spare rifle. The team was then lapped.
Jackie raced to 52nd in the sprint and in the pursuit. Jake Brown had the best IBU Cup of his season, racing to a 14th place in the men’s field. He moved back a bit in the pursuit but still with a strong result, placing 18th. Bjorn and Luke were 67th and 93rd, respectively, in the sprint.
The IBU Cup is now on break until the season finishes with 2 weekends of racing in Lake Placid, New York.
Euro champs results; IBU Cup 6 results
As always, you can follow both the World and IBU Cups via the Official IBU App.