Westervelt competes at Biathlon Youth World Champs

CNSC junior Bjorn Westervelt spent the last week in Lenzerheide, Switzerland competing at the Youth and Junior World Championships for biathlon. This was Bjorn’s second time competing at this Championship event, where the best youth (born in 2001-2004) and junior (born in 1998-200) compete for top honors. This year, more than 500 athletes from 43 nations spend the week racing in mountainous Lenzerheide.  

Sam Stertz and Bjorn on a training day. Photo - Jeffrey Leopold

The racing kicked off with a 12.5k individual competition on January 26th, where Bjorn placed 32nd with 5 misses. He shot 0, 2, 1, 2. Next was the 3X7.5relay, on the 28th, where Bjorn teamed up with Maxime Germain and Sam Stertz for 13th place. Bjorn used one spare in each prone and standing stage. US Biathlon news correspondent Bill Killick reported that Bjorn “had the second-fastest loop time on the second lap of his leg.” On the 31st, after a few short days of rest, Bjorn had his highlight-race of the championships, an impressive 9th place in the 7.5k sprint! He missed only one target, in the prone position. It was a great day all around for the U.S.A., as teammate Max was on the podium with a bronze medal. To cap off the championship week, yesterday was a day full of pursuit races. In the 10k pursuit race, where racers start based on their time back from the sprint race winner, Bjorn was 27th with nine misses. Congratulations to Bjorn and the rest of the American crew for putting together some of the best youth and junior world champs results in recent history!

For full results, visit biathlonresults.com and click on the “Jun. Cup/YJCHS” tab at the top.

Bjorn, Maxime Germain, and Tim Cobb looking strong in Lenzerheide. Photo - Jeffrey Leopold