Campbell Wright became the fifth American to win an individual medal in World Biathlon Championships history, and then the first to take two at one worlds, earning silvers in Saturday’s 10km sprint and Sunday’s 12.5km pursuit in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
Wright, a 22-year-old who was born and raised in New Zealand to parents who were born in the U.S., took runner-up to Norwegian legend Johannes Thingnes Bø in both races.
“I think this is what every kid dreams of, and I still consider myself a bit of a kid, and I was still dreaming of this,” Wright, who grew up skiing at the Snow Farm in Wanaka, said after Saturday’s race. “I was expecting this maybe in my career in my late 20s, 30s.”
“If I knew how I did it, I would have written a book, but I have no idea,” he told Swedish broadcaster SVT on Sunday.
Bø, a 31-year-old who plans to retire after this season, earned his 21st and 22nd career world championships gold medals, breaking his tie with retired countryman Ole Einar Bjørndalen for the most in biathlon history.
On Saturday, Bø shot clean and prevailed by 27.7 seconds over Wright, who also shot clean to beat Frenchman Quentin Fillon Maillet, who had one penalty in prone shooting, for silver by 9.3 seconds.
Wright became the youngest American biathlete to win an individual world championships medal. The previous individual medalists were Josh Thompson (silver, 1987), Tim Burke (silver, 2013), Lowell…
