November 14, 2017 (New Gloucester, Maine) – The U.S. Biathlon International Competition Committee met today and named Paul Schommer (Appleton, Wis.) to join Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, N.Y.), Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, N.Y.), Leif Nordgren (Marine, Minn.) and Sean Doherty (Center Conway, N.H.) on the men’s World Cup Team for World Cups 1-3. Additionally, trials winner Kelsey Dickinson (Craftsbury, Vt.) along with Emily Dreissigacker (Morrisville, Vt.) were named to join Susan Dunklee (Barton, Vt.) and Clare Egan (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) for the women’s World Cup Team for World Cups 1-3.

Tim Burke races during the 2016-17 World Cup season © Nordic Focus

The 2017-18 BMW IBU World Cup season kicks off in less than two weeks in Oestersund, Sweden. That event runs from Nov. 26-Dec. 3. The athletes will then travel to Hochfilzen, Austria, site of last season’s historic performances by Bailey and Dunklee at the world championships. World Cup 2 takes place Dec. 8-10. The calendar year wraps up with BMW IBU World Cup 3, Dec. 14-17, in Annecy-Le Grand Bornand, France.

Pre-qualification for World Cup 1-3, 2018-19

The ICC defined the pre-qualification criteria for the first three World Cup events of the 2018-19 season:
-Athletes with one top-25 finish at the World Cup 2017-18 or Olympic Games 2018 will be eligible for pre-qualification.Ð
-The U.S. will pre-qualify a maximum of 3 athletes per gender, unless there are 3 or fewer start spots. In that case, up to one less than the start spots can be pre-qualified (i.e. 2 can pre-qualify if only 3 start spots).