Vanags: Latvia's young biathletes' success still underappreciated
Latvian men's biathlon head coach Kārlis Vanags says last season's seven medals won by junior athletes remain underrated, while the national team is training in smaller separate groups this offseason.
Kārlis Vanags, who led Latvia's men's biathlon team last season and has reached a verbal agreement to continue in the role next season, said in an extensive interview that the achievements of Latvia's young biathletes still haven't received the recognition they deserve. Last season junior athletes won seven medals at world and European championships, including three golds — a result Vanags calls historic, especially since Latvia previously had never won a junior world championship medal.
Offseason without joint camps
Unlike in previous years, the national team is not holding joint training camps this offseason. Athletes have split into several smaller groups working with different coaches. Vanags himself is working this summer with Renārs Birkentāls and Rihards Lozbers, who have gone to a training camp in the French mountains together with the Finnish team. Other groups are led by coaches Agnese Caune and Ilmārs Bričs, while Andrejs Rastorgujevs is preparing individually.
Preseason preparation included the "Blink" festival in Norway, where several Latvian athletes — including Baiba Bendika, Estere Volfa and Matīss Meirāns — reached the final of a shooting discipline. Further plans include the Baltic summer biathlon championship in Otepää and the "Loop One" festival in Munich.
New selection criteria and guaranteed spots
The newly formed Coaches' Council of the Latvian Biathlon Federation has developed selection criteria for both the senior and junior national teams. Five athletes — Rastorgujevs, Bendika, Volfa, Birkentāls and Lozbers — already have guaranteed spots for the first trimester of the World Cup season based on last season's results. The regulations also include a clause on sanctions for athletes who refuse to compete in relay races, aimed at securing Nations Cup points, which in turn affect the number of World Cup quota spots.
The 17-year-old Lozbers is planned to compete in the full World Cup program next season, but will also continue racing at junior level, including an IBU Junior Cup stage in Madona and the junior world championship, in which he will remain eligible to compete until 2031.
