Biathlon World Cup Favorites – 2023/2024. Who is capable of knocking Johannes Boe off the top?

Biathlon World Cup Favorites – 2023/2024. Who is capable of knocking Johannes Boe off the top?

Yulia Sidorova November 24, 2023, 16:00 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.

Boe considers the Frenchman Emilien Jacquelin his main competitor. But there are other strong biathletes.

In men’s biathlon for the past 16 years, only representatives from Norway and France managed to win the overall classification of the World Cup. Even before the Boe brothers, Bjoerndalen and Svendsen, Fourcade and Fillon Maillet, back in 2007, the “Great Crystal Globe” went to the German Michael Greiss.

The Norwegians and the French remain surprisingly stable in this regard. If it is not so easy to draw a circle of favorites for women before the new season, for men Johannes Boe once again seems the undisputed leader. And the main question is, can anyone really compete with him in the fight for BHG?

Let’s place our bets, gentlemen! And at the end of the season we will see if the qualification we have obtained coincides with the results of the general classification. And yes, five of the seven expected leaders of the 2023/2024 season are Norwegians and French.

This rating, like all the others, is created by the “Championship” users. The main favorites for the men’s World Cup of the new season are distributed according to the votes of online users.

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Rating: the main favorite of the Biathlon World Cup 2023/2024 among men

Johannes Boe (Norway)

Johannes Boe seems to be the undisputed favorite. Last season, the Norwegian won his fourth Grand Crystal Globe and set incredible records: he won 19 of 25 individual races and had the longest winning streak: 11 individual races in a row in the World Cup.

At the World Championships in Oberhof, Johannes was on the podium in all races: he won three individual golds, three more in relay disciplines, as well as a silver in the men’s relay and a bronze in the mass start. Thus, he has already become a 17-time world champion. Bo noted that it is unlikely that he will ever be able to repeat such success, and this is very close to the truth.

During the summer, Johannes trained outside the team. He missed several training camps due to the birth of his second child. This could well have affected the results, but already at the beginning of the season in Shushen he again had no equal.

Shocking start to the season for Norwegian biathletes:

The Norwegians surprised everyone at the start of the biathlon season. Can anyone really resist them?

Sturla Holm Lægreid (Norway)

Over the past three years, Sturla Lægreid was closer than others to first place in the standings at the end of winter, but always remained second. In the 2020/2021 and 2022/2023 seasons he lost to Johannes Boe, and in the Olympic season to the Frenchman Quentin Fillon Maillet.

The permanent number 2 in the ranking is already tired of this situation. In the new season he intends to finally win his “Great Crystal Globe.”

“For three seasons in a row I was second overall, so it’s time to take the last step and beat Johannes Boe,” said Laegreid.

Will he be able to fulfill his plans? There is no point in talking about this with certainty yet. But this will surely get on Johannes’ nerves.

How Lægreid came second again:

Bo’s main rival has already surrendered. Nobody will stop the Norwegian from winning the World Cup again

Quentin Fillon Maillet (France)

Quentin Fillon Maillet is the winner of the “Great Crystal Globe” for the 2021/2022 season and the only active athlete to win the overall competition in the Johannes Boe era. It is true that this was during the Olympic season, when the Norwegian finished the fight for the Globe ahead of schedule.

But last season the Frenchman did not seem so convincing. We saw him on the podium in only two World Cup races. In the general classification, the former leader finished eighth, the best result of the French team.

Why shouldn’t Fillon Maillet be discounted? Because this off-season the French team was led by Simon Fourcade, whom the athletes themselves chose. The team’s motivation increased instantly.

“I have confidence and motivation to fight. Last winter was a bit exhausting and now I want to move forward more often,” said Quentin.

It’s time to remember how biathletes rested in the summer:

Stories

How biathletes spend the summer. Russian athletes are already plowing, foreigners are resting.

Emilien Jacquelin (France)

The last season for the 28-year-old Frenchman was perhaps the most difficult of his career. He had a very weak personal career at the World Championships, finishing in the top twenty only once, but together with the team he won gold in the relay. After Oberhof, Jacquelin decided to end the season early. According to the team’s coach, Vincent Vitto, the athlete had already been depressed for a year and a half.

Later, the athlete admitted that if it were not for this break, he would have said goodbye to biathlon after a year. But now it’s okay. This summer, Emilien did a double at the French Summer Championships: he won in sprint and pursuit, ahead of, among others, Quentin Fillon Maillet.

Despite last season’s results, Johannes Boe considers Jacquelin his main rival. The Norwegian places him in the fourth stage of his dream relay team and himself in the third. Johannes seems to have a lot of faith in the Frenchman. But should everyone else believe in him?

Due to Jacquelin’s depression, there was a scandal in the team:

Scandal in the French biathlon team. The trainers were sent, but they did not remain silent.

Benedikt doll (Germany)

For Benedikt Doll, 33, next season will be the last of his career. But, despite the fact that it is increasingly difficult for him to find motivation, it was he who came fourth in the 2022/2023 World Cup, behind three Norwegians.

Last season, the German placed third in the sprint twice. And in Östersund he won an individual race for the first time in his career. Previously, Doll had never been among the classic biathlon medalists.

The only German in this ranking is a four-time junior world champion, a two-time bronze medalist at the 2018 Olympic Games, a two-time European champion and a biathlon world champion in 2017. There is no doubt that he will spend his last season in great sport on a grand scale. Let’s wish Benedict new medals at the World Championships!

Benedikt Doll is still able to surprise everyone!

The German biathlete wanted to retire, but won gold at the World Cup. Wow!

Vetle Sosta Christiansen (Norway)

Last season, Norwegian Vetle Christiansen won two Small Globes at once: in individual races and in mass starts. And for the first time in his career he entered the top three of the overall World Cup standings, losing only to his compatriots Johannes Boe and Sturla Laegreid.

Vetle is a reliable team fighter and finisher. It was he who brought gold to the Norwegian team in the ill-fated relay race for Russia at the 2022 Olympics. But at the World Championships in Oberhof, Christiansen competed in the first stage and the Norwegian team finished with silver.

This summer, the 31-year-old won the mass start at the Martin Fourcade Festival, as well as the men’s super sprint at the annual Blink Festival. He beat Lægreid in both races. If Vetle fails to compete with Johannes in the new season, then he will definitely be able to force a fight with Sturle.

Vetle took the “Little Balloon” from Bo. Can a big one do it?

Johannes Boe could not collect all the Globes. Another Norwegian stole two trophies

Sebastian Samuelsson (Sweden)

Swede Samuelsson looked like a depressing version of himself last season until the World Cup. But there only he managed to defeat Johannes Boe in the mass start and prevent the Norwegian from setting an eternal record: winning all the individual races of the World Championship. But the most important thing is that this victory finally gave the talkative Swede the title of world champion.

Sebastian ended the season early due to the coronavirus, but promised that he would definitely challenge Johannes next year:

“Congratulations to Johannes Boe on his well-deserved title! Next year I promise to give you a tougher fight.”

To match his words with his actions, Samuelsson upgraded his rifle this offseason. This should help reduce the average time on the line by three seconds and get closer to Johannes. Although maybe these are just words again.

How Samuelsson left Boe without an eternal record:

Samuelsson took revenge on Boe for all the insults. The Swede stole the last gold from under the Norwegian’s nose