Liatoppen Biathlon Festival

Biathlete Jenna Stainken takes on Norway

Each year, over 1,000 biathletes gather in Liatoppen, Norway to cap off the competitive season at the Liatoppen Biathlon Festival - the world's largest biathlon event While most competitors in the festival hail from Norway, a small contingent of American athletes has been invited to compete each year since 2016 This year, NYSEF's very own Jenna Stainken was selected to travel with the US team! Jenna was in Norway competing from April 14-16th. Here's what Jenna had to say about her experience:

I was selected to join a youth team of biathletes representing the US at the Liatoppen Biathlon Festival in Norway It was one of the most exciting and thrilling experiences of my biathlon career!

Leading into our race weekend we were training at either Geilo or Liatoppen We would typically have a workout in both the mornings and afternoons, then congregate to one of the team houses for dinner and games. It really helped bring the team together, unless of course someone plus 4’d you in Uno

Mixed in with training, we also took some time to explore Norwegian culture Our team visited one of the oldest stave churches in Norway Dated back to 1192, it was built entirely out of wood, no nails. It proved to be a very resilient way to build in this Nordic climate! It was fascinating to learn about, but it was also a nice break from constant training.

One amazing part of racing outside of the US, was to see how much support and love for biathlon there was Even though the focus was on the competition, the spirit didn’t end there Some Norwegians would come and ask us questions about what it’s like to be a US biathlete and encourage us to come again next year. We also had an article in the local newspaper written about us! Hopefully, the love for biathlon and its community will continue to grow in the US Especially as the US continues to have better rankings in their competitions Our coaches and team were quite happy with the results and our representation here at Liatoppen!

I had a wonderful time meeting new people, skiing in new places, and exploring a culture I had never interacted with before. I encourage any fellow young biathletes to take a chance and apply next year. It’s definitely worth it!