The Penalty Loop Biathlon Podcast

Anna Gandler returns to update us on all of her adventures in life! It has been quite the summer for her so we had a lot to discuss including: - Her very exciting summer of racing - The bold decision to train independently from the federation - what went into it and how it is going - Lessons she has learned while training separately including listening to her body and staying healthy - Her training goals for this offseason including working on the nerves - Rifle modifications and how those may help with her shooting this season - Racing goals for the 2026-2027 season - Her summer with Emilien and the Claude family - An Austria vs France battle - Emilien Claude joins us to close out the interview! And More!

Karoline Knotten returns for a very fun follow up to her delightful appearance before last season. Things have changed a lot for her in the last year so we had a lot to cover including: - Discovering rock climbing - How she negotiated her return to the Norwegian training rosters - Her coaching relationship with Sverre Roeiseland andthe new staff - What she learned during her time away from the Norwegian training and how she brings that forward - Her unusual episode of appendicitis and how that upended her summer - The recovery and how she's feeling as the season approaches - Knotten Christmas traditions And so much more!

Biathlon is back!! (Sorta...). Loop One returned to Munich this weekend to announce that we are officially in the run up to the 2026-2027 season! RJ returned from Europe battling the flu but we got together to discuss the excitement of the weekend and the latest news! - 0:00 Intros and greetings - 5:42: US Biathlon Selection Races Part 1 - 10:34: Biathlon Canada governing body changes - 15:04: Loop One - Great Event but Limited by the Venue? - 25:27: Parabiathlon event at Loop One - 31:17: New rules on the range - 37:00: Martin Ponsiluoma's Double Victory and Amazing Summer - 41:09: Lisa Vittozzi & Julia Simon Duel on Sunday - 52:50: Norwegian Men's Depth and the Associated Challenges - 58:50: French send only half of the A Team...is that a problem? - 

Finnish Head Coach Erik Torneus-Kulstad joined us from his home in far northern Norway for a wide ranging discussion including: - How he first got into biathlon...and how that led him to coaching? - His side quest into American football - What he learned from coaching in China with Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, Darya Domracheva, and Tobias Torgersen - What led him to take the Finland position - How he utilizes analytics in his coaching today - The Suvi Minkkinen breakthrough - His quick decision to return to Finland vs exploring other coaching options - His rivalry with Polish Coach Tobias Torgersen including a recent race

We were delighted to be joined by young and rising Canadian biathlete Pascale Paradis for a very fun conversation! In this interview we discussed: - The very high highs of the 2025-2026 biathlon season including her Olympic experience - The turbulence in the Canadian biathlon federation and the recent run of retirements  - What we in the biathlon family can do to help support the Canadian athletes - The changes in Pascale's offseason training program and her excitement over current fitness levels - Improving comfort with shooting and rifle tinkering vs stability  - What she's working on most this season: skiing transitions and hills - Her favorite athletes to race with on the course And a TON more

For our first interview in the lead up to the 2026-2027 we are joined by last season's Swiss breakthrough athletes Lea Meier. We had a delightful conversation discussing, as you might guess, many many things including: - Lea's decision to pursue biathlon as a career, her early Juniors successes, and rapid ascent to the World Cup level - Following in the footsteps of her biathlon idol Selina Gasparin...and her memorable first moment racing with Selina - Special moments in Canmore - Enjoying being Swiss, the mountains, the culture diversity, and the chocolate - Rifle tinkering and new design ideas  - The meaning behind Lea's shooting stars - Finding her shooting rhythm just in time for the Olympics - Living the Olympic dream and racing to the best of her abilities - Being open and living out loud on social media - Planning out the new season and adjusting to the schedule changes - Dreams for 26-27 And of course much more!

It's Labor Day here in North America and in lieu of our first interviews we did just a quick catch up and round up of the recent biathlon news including: - German National Championships including Janina Hettich-Walz and Philipp Horn great weeks! - What's up with Selina Grotian? - The Norwegian men raced in Otepaa and the art of racing in the rain - Quick check in's on the Estonian and Swiss championships - Best of wishes to Canadian Coach Andrew Chisholm and his partner!

In the midst of a surprisingly newsy biathlon summer we reconvened to catch up on all of the action. A brief run down: 2:45 Which biathlete would you bring back from retirement a la Aaron Donald 11:00 Emilien Jacquelin skipping the 26-27 biathlon season...does he ever come back? 20:25 Tereza Vobornikova is here to stay? And Anna Gandler looking very good! 30:20 Justus Strelow hangs on for the City Biathlon victory! 42:40 Austrian Federation upheaval 51:25 Quick breeze through national championship racing in Sweden, Austria, and Switzerland 1:01:00 Talking about adjusting to Canada and just chit chat

After a long break while Jordan and family moved to Canada, we are back with a lot to catch up on from Blink Festival to various biathlon news and discussions! - We open with a recap of Jordan's chaotic move to Canada - 16:00 The Oeberg Summer Excitement - 22:45 Swedish Championship Individual Highlights - 28:45 Brief Blink Festival Recap - 36:45 Einar Hedegart Discussion - 48:00 Oceane Michelon's Sterling Weekend - 51:45 Dominic Unterweger's Surprise Successes in Sandnes - 55:30 Polish Blink Festival Highlights - Finish with various odd and ends with a preview of upcoming biathlon happenings

Well, almost immediately after recording our May round up, the Italian and USA teams made their roster announcements. This was supposed to just be a little recording inserted into the prior episode but...you know us. We ended up discussing: - Italian roster and coach announcements - Brief Czechia discussion - USA roster and coach announcements - World Cup discussions - Art projects  - Moving to Canada