RJ may be in Mexico but we won't let a little tropical vacation get in the way of a great week of biathlon! After a raucous week in le Grand Bornand we had a lot to chat about including: - This was Lou's weekend from start to finish - Justus' heartbreak but encouraging signs for Germany - Maren's incredible power - Good 1st trimester performances from USA and Canada especially Campbell Wright and Deedra Irwin - An endlessly entertaining Norwegian men's team and how their Olympic roster is shaping up - Can Botn continue this high level? And can Perrot and Giacomel challenge? - Celebrating Camille Bened and pondering the French women's team and their Olympic roster - A week of strong finishes from Eder, Burkhalter, Passler, and Ermits And more!

Another fun weekend of biathlon racing is completed and RJ and Jordan are back to discuss it all! On today's recap: - Starting with our complicated feelings seeing Julia Simon racing again - Nice weekends for our home federations of Canada and the USA! - Celebrating Anna Magnusson with her biggest fan - The cream of the crop rising on the men's side with Perrot and Giacomel trading wins - Lisa Vittozzi and her incredible shooting display in the Pursuit - A little Norway discussion including Maren Kirkeeide, Karoline Knotten, Sturla Holm Laegreid and Vetle Christiansen - The tricky corner in Hochfilzen claims several more athletes - Camille Bened keeps on rolling with 2 more finishes in the Flowers and a great relay leg - Anticipating French women lineup changes - Shout outs to a diverse weekend of good finishes including Estonia, Slovakia, Finland etc - IBU Cup corner - Looking ahead to Annecy And a ton more athletes discussed in there as well!

After a fun week in Östersund full of fan favorite performances we already have so much to talk about! In this episode we discuss: - The incredible women's Pursuit contested with our some of our personal favorite athletes - Suvi Minkkinen with a career weekend takes Yellow - Lisa Hauser looks better than she has in several years - Dorothea Wierer is ready for an Olympic capstone to her career - What to make of the preseason favorites easing their way into the season and a few athletes quietly flying under the radar - Norwegian men are still dominant even without the Boe brothers - Swedish women...how do they balance their talent? And more!

World Cup Biathlon is back and so are the weekly recaps! In this case we saw so much fun in the first two days of the season that we couldn't wait to start this next week. We had to start right away! It was a fantastic couple of days so we had a lot to discuss including: - Our favorite things including great races from our offseason guests! - Campbell Wright and the spunky Americans - Nice opening for the Canadians - Lou is Lou which is scary for everybody - Tandrevold and the shooting scaries - Relay change over excitement - Gandler, Davidova, and Suvi all showing good things - Czechia with a phenomenal opening weekend - Sebbe and Ponsi making their traditional late relay charge - Italian excitement and Germany up and down - Analyzing Norway's premier And more!

A week later than intended (solely due to Jordan's very slow editing) our interview with Polish Women's Head Coach Tobias Torgersen is up! This was recorded the week before the season began so it does not cover anything that happened in the first two days of racing in Östersund. But there is still tons of good stuff in this conversation including: - Review of Geilo races and assessment of team form - The process of picking rosters - Leadership within the team - Summer camps including Blink and Antholz - International Cooperation - Coaching from the bike - A lengthy discussion on coaching shooting/practice - Moments of pride and moments of fun - And more!

We did it! The 2025-2026 biathlon season starts this week! We got together for our first regular weekly episode of the season to get ourselves ready for all of the excitement. We covered: - Discussing how an Olympic season differs from a regular season - Discussed the events of the selection races in Idre Fjall, Geilo, Bessans, and Ruhpolding and how they affected team selections for the major squads - How key athletes looked in these races including: Hanna Oeberg's resurgence, the Swedish boys, Eric Perrot, Dorothea Wierer, Ingrid Tandrevold, Isak Frey, Vetle Christiansen, Camille Bened, Simon Eder, Franziska Preuss and many many more - Sorting out our thoughts on the chaos inside the French team - Brief looks at rosters and our thoughts including the USA, Canada, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and Latvia - As always you can be assured that there is a ton more in there too!

Karoline Knotten graciously joined us last week from her training in Livigno before the races took place in Geilo. It was a very friendly visit and we can't wait to have her on again soon! For now we covered: - Charting her own course outside the national training roster this summer - Updates on her personal fitness - Goals for 2025-2026 - Finding joy and training with new friends - Learning from competitors and personal role models - Loop One experience And a ton more!

Nik Hartweg joins the podcast once again for his first recorded episode with us in two seasons. There has been a LOT that has happened with Nik and biathlon in that period so we had a lot to discuss including: - Prep, current form, and plans for the 2025-2026 seasons - Goals and checkpoints for this season leading to the 2026 Olympics - Memories of the Lenzerheide Worlds and 2022 Olympics - Avoiding illness - Surfing - How he uses data during training - Loop One as a spectator on site and the new targets that were used - Swiss team success and explosion - And a TON more!

The most entertaining man in biathlon - Campbell Wright - returns for another preseason chat! As always he was an absolute blast as we covered a lot in a relatively short period including: - Loop One - his thoughts on the event and would he do it again? - Updates on summer training and how he's feeling with now less than 1 month until the 2025-2026 season - Racing tactics in Pursuits and Mass Starts - His dream chase pack in a big race - How high can the US men's team reach this season? - What it's like being one of the most recognized and cheered biathletes - And more!

Justus Strelow joins us again for another wonderful interview! He was coming to us from the team's Martello altitude camp and graciously gave us plenty of time to discuss a bunch of fun topics including: - Being a dad! - The new coaching staff and what the feeling in the team is as the 2025-2026 season nears - Team dynamics and fun with the German men - The narrow gap between top 20's and top 5's - Preparations for Antholz and favorite venues/ranges - And more!

2025 City Biathlon Champion Lotte Lie comes back for another interview! It's her 3rd interview with us and we had a LOT to catch up on including: - Her City Biathlon experience and the winning moment! - Beating her buddy Karoline Knotten - Summer training schedule and updates. Do the upcoming Olympics change the training plans? - Belgium's continued biathlon growth and success - And more!

We are honored to be joined by reigning IBU Cup champion Camille Bened for a wonderful interview. Our graceful guest was kind enough to chat with us about anything and everything including: - Her IBU Cup winning 2024-2025 season and experiences on the World Cup - Overcoming injuries from fall 2 seasons ago - Goals for 2025-2026 season and what she needs to do to accomplish them - Her home life and her tiny hometown in France - So much more!

We continue checking in with Team Canada with our first interview with up and coming talent Pascale Paradis! This was a true joy as we discussed: - Her journey in biathlon including her first big success at the 2018 Youth Worlds - Choosing her college career at University of Alaska vs IBU Cup - Her first season on the World Cup and what Emma Lunder meant to her and the team - Prep for the Olympic season - And a TON more!

Logan Pletz is back for more rifle talk! But before that we have a lot more to discuss: - In the intro: Ziggy Mazet announces his departure from Norwegian team after this season + Blink Festival action and Lisa Vittozzi's return! - Logan talks about his 2024-2025 season and what he learned from it - His summer training and dodging cows - Olympic hopes and what his aims for this season - Update on the rifle project including the launch of Project LP rifle biathlon rifle manufacturing, updates on rifle design, and everything he's learned about rifles in the last year! Find Logan's rifle company website here: https://projectlp.ca/ Jordan's piece on Laura's Dahlemier: https://penaltyloop.com/2025/07/30/the-comet/

Ukaleq and Sondre Slettemark joined us for a delightful conversation about Team Greenland! We discussed A LOT but maybe the most enjoyable aspect of the time we spent together was seeing them interact as brother and sister. In this interview we discussed: - Reflections on the Lenzerheide Worlds and looking ahead to Antholz 2026 - Their unique skills - What it takes to be a great shooter like Ukaleq - Sibling dynamics and racing together - Common waxing and the impact of waxxing - Sustainability, global warming, and summer biathlon growth - And more!

We were delighted to be rejoined by recently retired Biathlon Canada star Emma Lunder to catch up on her life since retirement and much more. We covered quite a bit in this friendly conversation including: - How she came to her decision to retire and enjoying her last weeks on the World Cup - Her reflections on her years with the Canadian National Team - Looking ahead to the future of Canadian biathlon - How she's enjoyed her retirement - Being a role model for young athletes

In part 2 of our excellent discussion with Canadian national team head coach Andrew Chisholm we touch on: - Changes he and Co-Head Coach Helene Jorgensen are making to the management of the team - Their coaching and training philosophies - Covering more race day responsibilities - What does success look like for Biathlon Canada in the 2025-2026 season?

Finally! We are interviewing one of the head coaches of the Canadian National Team. It should have happened long ago but we are happy to be joined by Andrew Chisholm for a 2 part interview. In part 1 we discuss: - Andrew's journey to this position - The daily responsibilities of a head coach - Olympic prep and team logistics - Deeeeeeeeeeeep dive into waxing

Part 2 of our interview with Matthias Ahrens. In this section we discuss: - Climate Change - What his athletes can learn from the current World Cup athletes - Changes in shooting techniques - The challenge and opportunities with the German women's depth - The best venue on the World Cup

Our dear friend Matthias Ahrens rejoins us for a wide ranging conversation! We discuss his move from Canada and the Biathlon Alberta Training Center back to his home in Germany where he now works training members of the German Youth/Junior teams. In part 1 we focus extensively on the differences between the two systems (North America vs. Europe primarily) and his adjustments back home.