Written by Vincent Bonnaci, Team Crosscut Athlete
This December, I was selected to race on the IBU Cup for the US Biathlon Team, and I just wrapped up the first two rounds of racing in Arber, Germany. This year, the participation quota for IBU Cups was increased so each country could send more athletes to the races, making these some of the biggest races I have ever done; some of the races have more than 160 competitors, making the experience that much more fun. I have been focusing on learning as much as possible from each race, and slowly trying to make improvements from day to day. I was incredibly happy to cap off my time in Arber with my best sprint race to date, hitting 8/10 targets and skiing smoothly, but I still know I can definitely improve in some areas which gets me excited for the races to come.
The next round of racing is the Open European Championships in Duszniki, Poland, and so far I am loving the course and range here. The snow is fast, the terrain skis very well, and everyone is psyched to be here. The first race is the 20k individual, which is by far the longest biathlon race I have done, but I am going into it with no expectations and just a few simple focuses and I will see how it goes.
If anybody has any questions they would like to ask me about biathlon, I can be reached easily through my social media channels, ig: @vbonacc, or just Vincent Bonacci on Facebook.