The Biathlete of the Month for December is ..... Team Australia 🇦🇺💚💛🇦🇺

Dear Biathlon Family Australia,

Members of the Biathlon Australia National Junior Cup, IBU Cup, Para World Cup and World Cup Teams achieved podiums, scored low Q-points, shot clean and proudly represented the Green & Gold. 

Standout performances include:

• Noah Bradford (0,0) earning 118.95 Q-points in the 10km sprint #1 at IBU Cup 1 in Obertilliach, Austria; followed by another faultless shooting performance (0,0) and solid 68th in the 10km sprint #2 at IBU Cup 1 - earning 109.51 Q-points

• Rosie Franzke's (0,1,3,2) bronze in the 9km Individual at the IBU-IOC pre-Junior Cup camp.  And then an incredible 28th (out of 100) at Junior Cup 1 in Goms (1,0); followed up by a 31st place in the Mass Start shooting 0,0,1,3

• Samuel Johnson's (1,2,1,2) third place in the 10km Individual at the IBU-IOC pre-Junior Cup camp in Goms, Switzerland.  And a top 60% result in the Junior Cup 10km Sprint, also in Goms

• Dave Miln and Lauren Parker's PLY IBU & FIS Para World Cups debut in Canmore, Canada.  Dave earned 129.57 FIS points in the World Cup 10km Mass Start and Lauren earned 140.90 FIS points in World Cup 10km Individual Start.  

• Lauren also earned her first IBU Q-points with a solid 281.22 in the Sprint then an outstanding 160.04 in the 12.5km Individual and phenomenal shooting (0,0,1,1) - how's that for a complete newbie!  And just like that, two-time summer Paralympian and 6 time Paratriathlon world champion Lauren meets the IBU's minimum qualification standard for Milano-Cortina.

• Lynn Cullen's IBU Para World Cup debut as Taryn Dickens' guide in Canmore

• Phoenix Sparke's IBU World Cup debut in Hochfilzen, Germany earning 129.72 Q-points in the 10km Sprint and a very consistent 129.91 Q-points in the 10km sprint at IBU Cup 1

• Darcie Morton (2,0) earning 133.07 Q-points in the 7.5km sprint at WC2 in Hochfilzen

• Boris Stanish (1,0) earning 149.51 in the 10km sprint at IBU Cup 1

• Heather Wiederkehr's debut as BA's Junior Cup coach alongside BA's Toshca Stopar

These performances and our ability to field teams is with huge thanks to our:

• Wonderful coaches - Ana OLY, Kasper, Bjorn, Damon, Heather, Joe & Toscha;

• Brilliant national federation partners - 🇦🇹 Austria, 🇫🇮 Finland & 🇵🇱 Poland;

• Sensational Sports Director, Sandra Paul, OLY - who is working tirelessly to make our shared goals a reality;

• Katrina Sparke for sourcing and co-ordinating our national, junior and development team uniforms; and

• Varied stakeholders for their continued support of our vision to create a Better Biathlon for All, including the BA membership, IBU, BIU, AOC, PA, OWIA, ASC, VicSport, NSW and Vic Governments.

Ski Fast | Shoot Straight | Happy New Year

David, Sandy, Brett, Libby, Katerina, Kate, Mark & Murray