Favourites, triumphs and comebacks in single mixed relay biathlon

The only biathlon relay competition of the Torino 2025 World University Games, the single mixed, was held on Thursday, 16 January in Pragelato.

Led by an athlete who has been competing regularly on the IBU Biathlon World Cup circuit this winter, the Ukrainians lived up to their pre-race status as strong favourites.

Ukraine had two top athletes at the start line. Oleksandra Merkushyna has been a regular World Cup competitor since the start of this season, while Serhii Suprun had already posted a fourth-place finish at Torino 2025, in the men’s short individual race on Tuesday, 14 January.

The Ukrainian duo withstood the pressure of being favourites and won confortably with a time of 39:52.5, ahead of Czechia (40:09.2) and Poland (40:15.7).

Markushyna watched her teammate's final shooting round from a distance. With her arms crossed, she looked at the screen intently. When Suprun hit the last target, she jumped with joy and cheered exuberantly. “To win with the team is a feeling on a whole other level. This is one of the happiest moments in my life and to be on the podium with your teammate, is really a special thing,” said the student-athlete from Kharkiv State Academy of Physical Education.

While most nations line up their best athletes for the single mixed relay, Germany opted for two athletes who had recently retired from professional competition before coming back for these FISU Games, Luise Mueller and Frederik Ivar Madersbacher Eise.

Despite their unusual pre-Games preparation, they were far from outsiders in this race, and were actually among the favourites for the podium. For a long time it looked as if the Germans could go home with a medal. However, due to their procedure at the shooting range taking a little longer than their rivals, they ended up in fifth place.

In standing shooting, Mueller said there is always a little bit of luck involved. “I'm just standing there and trying to hit one, two, three targets. It's always just luck, I guess,” said the 24-year-old, who surprisingly retired following the 2022-23 season after winning silver with the German women's relay team at the Junior World Championships that winter.

Although Mueller has not been competing in biathlon professionally for almost two years, she still trains around 10 hours a week. “I'm studying environmental and resources engineering at the University of Bayreuth and for me studying without doing sports is not possible. When I heard about the University Games, I thought it could be a lot of fun to participate and getting the chance to compete again in some biathlon races. And here I am.”

In the spring of 2023, she announced her retirement on social media with these words: “I want to challenge my mind more again and explore more of the world.” She also offered all other athletes an important message to take with them: “Don't just start working through your training plan, but also acquire modern knowledge about your body and training. You are the most important trainer.”

When asked whether we will now see her more often on the start list of biathlon competitions again, she shook her head. “No, that was a one-off.”

The Torino 2025 FISU World University Games take place from 13-23 January. Watch all the competitions live on fisu.tv. Click on the link to find the full schedule.

The Young Reporters Programme exemplifies FISU’s commitment to more than sports competitions. At every FISU World University Games, a group of talented aspiring sports journalists are chosen to cover the competition.