Hanna Öberg Faces Shooting Challenges, Finishes Seventh in Annecy Biathlon Pursuit

Hanna Öberg, fresh off her first World Cup sprint win in France since 2023, encountered shooting difficulties in the 2025 Annecy Biathlon World Cup pursuit race, finishing seventh—the best Swedish placement in the event. Öberg began the pursuit just three seconds behind leader Lou Jeanmonnot but faltered early after missing a shot in her first prone shooting, resulting in a penalty and placing her 14 seconds behind Jeanmonnot. Despite a clean second prone series, she lost further ground with two misses in the first standing shooting, a performance her coach Jean-Marc Chabloz sharply criticized. Öberg herself recognized the cost of her errors, noting that avoiding mistakes could have secured a podium position. In the final shooting round, another missed shot confirmed her seventh-place finish. Jeanmonnot dominated with just one miss out of ten shots, claiming victory and the overall World Cup lead. Finland's Suvi Minkkinen and Italy's Dorothea Wierer completed the podium. Other Swedish athletes included Elvira Öberg, who improved to tenth place, Anna Magnusson in sixteenth—who lost her yellow leader's jersey to Jeanmonnot—Ella Halvarsson in twenty-third, and Anna-Karin Heijdenberg in forty-fifth. The race highlighted the critical impact of shooting precision in biathlon and underscored Öberg's potential despite her setbacks.