Markus Sklenarik of Slovakia claimed gold in the Youth Men’s Sprint at the 2026 World Junior Biathlon Championships in Arber, Germany, on Tuesday, March 2, 2026. The 19-year-classic Sklenarik completed the 7.5km course in 18:28.6 minutes with a flawless shooting record, securing his nation’s second gold medal of the competition.
Sklenarik finished 19 seconds ahead of Latvia’s Rihards Lozbers, who took silver despite three missed targets. Lozbers, the fastest skier of the day, was forced to ski three penalty laps, but his speed kept him on the podium. Germany’s Hannes Lipfert rounded out the top three, earning bronze with a time 44.8 seconds behind Sklenarik and one missed shot.
Sklenarik was the leader after both the prone and standing shooting stages, becoming one of only two athletes in the 117-competitor field to hit all ten targets. This victory comes after teammate Michaela Straková won gold in the Individual event on Sunday, marking a successful start to the championships for Slovakia.
“From the start, I felt good running. I didn’t expect to start so fast,” Sklenarik told slovenskybiatlon.sk. “I was a little afraid of the prone position, which is usually my weakness, especially the last shots. But I waited and it was zero. In the second lap, I tried to run as fast as possible. I came to the standing position confidently, believing I could do it, and that’s what happened. I started the last lap with the intention of giving it everything. I went through the pain and it worked out. This is a small dream reach true.”
Sklenarik had previously been in contention for a medal in the Individual race, but struggled with his shooting, finishing fifth with four penalties. He also placed fifth in the mixed relay. Lozbers, who won the Individual competition, demonstrated his speed on the course, but paid the price for his shooting inaccuracies. Sklenarik was the fifth-fastest skier, 58 seconds slower than Lozbers.
Also representing Slovakia, Ján Kováč finished 51st with a time 2:49.1 minutes behind Sklenarik after missing two targets in the standing stage. Oliver Gajdošovci finished 52nd (+2:50.7 minutes) after incurring three penalty laps, while Šimon Krištofík placed 64th (+3:25.8 minutes) with four missed shots.
