Galica ends Poland’s fifty-three-year junior biathlon title wait

Grzegorz Galica won the junior men’s sprint in Arber, becoming Poland’s first junior men’s world champion since Jan Szpunar’s individual title in 1973. Starting fifth, Galica established the early benchmark and retained first place despite two shooting errors in the race.

Philip Lindkvist-Floetten claimed silver with clean shooting, matched on the range by bronze medallist Kasper Kalkenberg. Austria’s Thomas Marchl received the junior men’s sprint discipline Crystal Globe as the championships continued through their fourth day of competition at the German venue.

Markus Sklenarik delivered Slovakia’s second gold through the youth men’s sprint, hitting every target. Rihards Lozbers finished second despite three misses and the fastest ski time, while Germany’s Hannes Lipfert took bronze after one prone penalty.