Dear Biathlon Australia Family,
Paul Conor has provided the below report on the recent 2025 Masters Championships held in Khontiolahti, Finland.
BRILLIANT is the best way to describe the events in Finland this year!
The snow was perfect for every day of competition and training, the weather was perfect every day and the comradery among the 130+ athletes was convivial to a good time.
Australia was well represented with the athletes of Lindsay Bridgford, Lynn-Maree Cullen, Bob Cranage, Pia Laari, Toscha Stopar, Di Angus, Alan Hope, Nour Tariff, Ian Smith, Ro Packer and Chris Waters.
The athletes were further supported on the Range by Paul, Bill and Kathryn and I extend a special thank you to Bill and Kathryn for often jumping in at short notice to assist me with spotting on the range or providing feedback to Athletes on course racing.
The lead up to the races had athletes from Melbourne training at Imatra and athletes from Wodonga training at the race venue itself. Khontiolahti is a 5hr drive north of Helsinki whilst Imatra is just on halfway between the two points.
With the number of athletes from Australia attending we were the biggest Nation to take part next to the host nation of Finland. The events have been going for 26 years with Bob Cranage being awarded a place in the Hall of Fame for his commitment, dedication and contribution over the years the event has been held.
For a full analysis of the 2025 events, they can be viewed along with photos on the following link: https://kontiolahtibiathlon.com/e/17/biathlon-masters-2025
Success by Australian athletes at the championships can be further measured not just by the medal haul they took but by the increased number of Masters athletes opting to do the training and then going on to race. With 11 athletes taking part it’s a 60% increase on the 2024 Championships.
The Khontilahti Biathlon stadium is a brilliant World class venue often hosting IBU World Cup events and offers challenging courses for all age classes with further consideration to the 80+ category being able to leave their rifles on the mat and ski without carrying it.
If you’re a Master class person (M/W 35+) and thinking of having a go in 2026 now is a good time to start the long-term training plan with hopefully a good domestic season to leverage off. With the shared experience we all have we should be able to give you a comprehensive viewpoint on most questions you may have.
See you all on the snow somewhere, sometime.
Paul C
