Dear Biathlon Australia Family,

Our biathlete of the month for March 2026 isLauren Parker OAM PLY, for her phenomenal Paralympics performance.  Lauren earned 8th place and 94.55 FIS points in the Para Cross Country 10km Interval Start (Sitting) and another 8th and personal best 159.27 Q points in the Para Biathlon Pursuit (Sitting) Qualifier (& 8th in the Final too) at the 2026 Milano Cortina Paralympic Gamesin Tesero, Italy .

Lauren's results were our best 2026 Paralympic / Olympic achievements and symbolise our ongoing vision to create A Better Biathlon (& Para Nordic) for All.

Lauren also achieved top 10 results in the Para Biathlon 12.5km Individual (Sitting) and Para Cross-Country Skiing 20km Interval Start (Sitting).

And to top it off, Lauren was the Australian flag bearer at the Closing Ceremony in Cortina - Biathlon Australia's first flag bearer at any Paralympic / Olympic game .

Lauren finished the 2025/26 season as our fifth ranked biathlete at 172.89 Q points.

And to think, Lauren only took up skiing and shooting less than 12 months ago!  As Paralympics Australia would say "Imagine What We Can Do".

Special mentions to:

• Fellow paralympians Matt Brumby PLY, Taryn Dickens PLY, Dave Miln PLY & Lynn Maree Cullen (Taryn's awesome guide). 

• BA Director Murray 'Instafamous' Johnson for creating social media posts that achieved an amazing 1.4+ million views, 90k+ likes and 18k+ shares.  Who said you can't teach old dogs new tricks?

• Speaking of dogs - shout out to Gigi, Suki & Willow, for winning the hearts & minds of everyone in the Paralympic Village & Lago di Tesero Para Nordic Stadium.

• Damika Morton (0,0) shooting clean and coming 36th out of 112 in the 6km Sprint at the Youth & Junior World Championships in Arber, Germany. Damika hit 52 of 63 targets (an outstanding 83%) at the couple of Regional and Youth Events in which she competed this season 🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯.

• Bowen (1,2) & Victor (1,3) Cummingsfor their Australian team debut in the 7.5km Sprint at theYouth & Junior World Championships in Arber, Germany   Welcome aboard boys - we're so happy to have you on the team.

• Noah Bradford (QP: 111.26 a 91.03 improvement), Phoenix Sparke(QP: 120.16 a 3.31 improvement) and Boris Stanish (QP: 137.79 a 79.43 improvement) who completed the season as our Top 3ranked athletes- thanks in large part to the amazing leadership of BA's sensational National Head Coach Ana Kinnunen and our fantastic National Federation partnerships with Finland and Austria   . 

• Masters athlete Bob Cranage for his Silver medal in the Mass Start and 2 bronze medals (Individual & Sprint) at the Biathlon Masters International Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland

• Masters athlete Toscha Stopar for her 2 Silvers (Individual & Sprint) at the Biathlon Masters International Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland

• Masters athlete Juel Brigs for her Bronze in the Individual at the Biathlon Masters International Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland 

• Masters athlete Robyn Englert for her Bronze in the Mass Start at the Biathlon Masters International Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland

• Masters athlete Lauri Jortikka for his Bronze in the Mass Start at the Biathlon Masters International Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland

• Masters athlete Chris Waters for being Australia's top shot (70%) at the Biathlon Masters International Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland

• BA's Executive Officer, Robyn McEvoy for running a tight ship, managing budgets, paying bills, applying for & acquitting grants, liasing with team members, the IBU, PA and the AOC, her good humour, email blasts, website updates and being an all-round super star throughout the entire season.  You rock Robs. 

Shoot Straight | Ski Fast | Happy Easter

Dave, Sandy, Brett, Libby, Kat, Kate , Mark, Murray