“Youth meets Biathlon“: 5.400 pupils experience Biathlon World Cup live
5.400 pupils from Thuringia have seen the sprint races of the BMW IBU Biathlon World Cup 2025 in Oberhof yesterday and today live in the ARENA am Rennsteig.
They have traveled from the Eichsfeld and the south of the federal state, from the Rhön and the large Thuringian cities Erfurt, Jena and Weimar: 5,400 schoolchildren, accompanied by around 600 teachers and educators, attended the men's and women's sprint races in the ARENA am Rennsteig. They experienced first-class professional sport, got to know the modern sports facilities and - as a real guarantee of atmosphere - cheered for the best biathletes in the world.
With that, the successful school development project ‘Youth meets Biathlon’ continued, which was aimed this year at pupils from third to twelfth grade and was organised by the Thuringian Ski Association Thüringer Skiverband e.V. in cooperation with the Oberhofer Sport und Event GmbH as the organizer of the BMW IBU Biathlon World Cup 2025. They were picked up at their schools and driven to the Rennsteig town, where they witnessed exciting competitions from their standing room in the ARENA am Rennsteig. After the races and the flower ceremonies with the top six finishers, they were transported back to their home towns.
The project was initiated by Frank Eismann in 2017. After being covered by private sponsors in the initial phase, it has been supported in recent years by the Thuringian Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, and more recently by the Thuringian State Chancellery, amongst others during the BMW IBU Biathlon World Championships 2023 in Oberhof. The aim is to spark enthusiasm for biathlon and winter sports as a whole. ‘We very much hope that they will have fond memories of the experience and that they will come back in the years to come. In the best case scenario, they will want to get on skis themselves and train in one of our winter sports clubs, so that they can perhaps stand on the starting line at the World Cup. Or they get involved in club work,’ says Frank Eismann, President of the Thüringer Skiverband e.V.