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Maren Kirkeeide

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maren Kirkeeide
Personal information
NationalityNorwegian
Born (2003-03-01) 1 March 2003 (age 21)
Stryn, Norway
Height182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Sport
CountryNorway
SportBiathlon
ClubMarkane IL
Medal record
Women's biathlon
Representing  Norway
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2023 Lenzerheide Mixed relay
Gold medal – first place 2024 Osrblie 15 km individual
Gold medal – first place 2024 Osrblie 10 km pursuit
Gold medal – first place 2024 Osrblie Mixed relay
Silver medal – second place 2024 Osrblie 7.5 km sprint

Maren Hjelmeset Kirkeeide (born 3 March 2003) is a Norwegian biathlete. She has competed in the Biathlon World Cup since 2023.[1] She won gold medal in the individual race at the 2024 IBU Open European Championships.[2]

Career

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Maren Kirkeeide participated in her initial international biathlon competitions during the junior competitions of the Biathlon Junior World Championships 2022 in Soldier Hollow. She secured victory in the sprint race and subsequently participated in the junior women's relay, finishing fourth with a notable gap of over three minutes behind the winning Italian team. Kirkeeide drew attention during the preparatory races in Sjusjøen in mid-November 2022. Despite the absence of top Norwegian biathletes, she failed to achieve a podium finish but recorded the fastest time in the second sprint and secured a fourth-place finish despite two shooting misses.[3]

Following this, at the age of 19, Kirkeeide made her debut in the IBU Cup in Idre, immediately clinching the second position in the individual competition. Two weeks later, she achieved her inaugural victory at the pursuit in Ridnaun, surpassing Federica Sanfilippo in a final sprint. She also achieved success in Osrblie by winning the supersprint and triumphing with the mixed relay. Subsequently, Kirkeeide had the opportunity to compete in an individual World Cup race in Ruhpolding, finishing 50th after three misses at the end of January 2023.

She participated in her first IBU Open European Championships in late January 2023, where, despite not securing a top-10 placement in individual races, she won the gold medal in the mixed relay alongside Karoline Erdal, Erlend Bjøntegaard, and Vebjørn Sørum. In the final competitions in Canmore, Kirkeeide secured two more victories in the sprint and mixed relay, earning her a spot at the World Cup Final in Oslo. She finished 25th in the sprint with one shooting miss. In the 2022–23 Biathlon IBU Cup overall standings, she claimed fourth place and won the supersprint classification.

Personal life

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Kirkeeide is the niece of former cross-country skier Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset.[4]

Biathlon results

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All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.

Youth and Junior World Championships

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1 medal (1 gold)

Year Age Individual Sprint Pursuit Relay
United States 2022 Soldier Hollow 18 17th Gold 5th 4th

References

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  1. ^ "Maren Kirkeeide".
  2. ^ "Maren Kirkeeide wins the individual, Stremous and Kapustova on the podium". focusbiathlon.com. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  3. ^ "Biathlon – Sjusjoen 2022 – Les résultats – Sports Infos – Ski – Biathlon". www.ski-nordique.net (in French). 2022-11-13. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  4. ^ AS, TV 2 (2022-11-28). "Sperrer opp øynene for ny Stryn-komet". TV 2 (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2024-01-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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