UIPM 2021 Biathle-Triathle World Championships: Schneider & Raeth (GER) complete senior double

The gold continues to be spread across the globe as the UIPM 2021 Biathle-Triathle World Championships head towards a pulsating weekend of action in Weiden (GER). 

After an opening day when seven different nations savoured the top spot of the podium, Friday followed suit as the Triathle Mixed Team Relays provided a stirring showcase of the sport.

Six nations triumphed across the 10 competitions on the second day of action in the Bavarian forest, while another seven countries made it to the podium. This meant that, remarkably, more than half of the 25 countries in attendance claimed medals on day two. 

In the senior category, Germany duo as Annika Schneider and Uli Raeth backed up their Biathle Mixed Relay success by taking the Triathle honours too.

Schneider (GER) had already claimed junior world and European women’s relay gold this year and her class told as she and Raeth finished three and a half minutes clear of silver medallists Maria Carnero Heres and Manuel Soriano of Spain.

The host nation also took the honours in the Masters 50+ category, with Meike Hoffmeister and Marcus Schattner (GER) coming out on top. Germany had won two gold medals on the opening day but their fight for medal table supremacy with Egypt looks likely to continue throughout the weekend as the North African youth powerhouse took gold in the Under 11, U13 and U17 categories. This put Egypt on six gold medals with Germany having claimed four. 

There were gritty victories across the board, none more dramatic than in the U15 category where Katerina Hartmanova and Matyas Stegmann of Czech Republic pipped their rivals from South Africa by just two seconds.

The Czechs also took the Junior honours thanks to Barbora Hartmanova and Matej Lukes, who consigned Biathle champions Johanna Maria Jogisu and Carl Robert Kallaste of Estonia to silver.

Greece, France and South Africa claimed the remaining gold medals with respective victories in the U19, Masters 40+ and 60+ categories. Meanwhile competitors from Austria, Great Britain, Hungary, Kazakhstan and Turkey all found their way on to the podium.

As the Championships reach the halfway mark, the 315 participating athletes and their support teams have just enough time to catch their breath before Saturday (August 28) provides a frenetic day of competition with 20 Individual Triathle categories to be decided.

The UIPM 2021 Biathle-Triathle World Championships runs from August 26-29. Results are available via the ‘UIPM Central’ app and on the competition home page.

For the first time, the individual finals can be viewed live at UIPMTV.org - visit now and subscribe if you don’t already have an account. Year passes start from €14.99.

Fans can also stay tuned to the World Pentathlon pages on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and Instagram for updates and photography.