Here we are, at the end of a special season in so many ways. My first full year in the world cup has offered ups and downs and a high learning curve. I have visited new and nice biathlon stadiums and got to know great people. 33 corona tests and a whole winter in quarantine have left their mark, and now I look forward to finishing my last entry quarantine and finally meeting friends and family again.
A short summary of the season:
It started a bit slow for me in Finland. I was not quite in the shape I had hoped to be, and a strict corona protocol probably left its mark mentally. Got a better grip on the shooting in Hochfilzen before Christmas and managed to qualify for my first pursuit in the world cup. That gave great motivation for the holiday training. After Christmas we went to Oberhof, where, again, covid 19 tried to cripple the team with some positive cases and a lot of uncertainty because of it. Fortunately, us athletes managed to stay healthy. But my physical shape was not at its best here either. Had a good experience in Anterselva before I went to my precamp in Obertilliach. Here I made a solid and important effort during my last preparations for both the World Championships and the rest of the season.
The World Championships were a big highlight for me. Finally I was getting in shape and managed at the same time to turn up my shooting another notch. Taking my first World Cup points was absolutely insanely delicious. And totally whet my appetite..
The last trimester was much better than I anticipated. Beforehand, I had hoped to qualify for at least one pursuit, but I hit the jackpot and ended up with all three pursuits. And more World Cup points! I have stabilized my results in the top 50, and have been so incredibly close to taking several more World Cup points many times. Florent and I also achieved an astonishingly good single mix relay and captured the ninth place, which is the best result for Belgium ever! I can also finish the season with a hit rate of 90 %, which is at the top among the women in the World Cup.
I am also very grateful to have been allowed to participate in this World Cup circus and that the IBU has managed to create such a safe framework around these events.
Now I am extremely motivated and have found a lot of elements to improve by next season.

But first some vacation and quality time at home after being on the road for almost 4 months in a row!

The last trimester of this special season is well under way! The second competition week here in Czech Nove Mesto is on. Last week I competed in the sprint and the pursuit. I was very curious about my shape after the world championships. Ended up 44th in the sprint,  an acceptable result but the last shot was an unnecessary miss. And only two seconds from new world cup points .. A great position for the pursuit though. Unfortunately I had  a hard day in the tracks, luckily the shooting was still pretty good. Sprinted towards the finish line and ended 49th after 18 hits. Now I am charging up for the penultimate competition week of the season, looking forward to this weekend's sprint, pursuit and single mix relay!

I am back at my flat in Lillehammer after an intense but very fun world championship.
5 competitions in 9 days have left their mark, both physically and mentally. When I came back to Lillehammer, the air simply went out of the balloon and I felt how focused I had been for a long time to perform my best during these world championships.
My goal before the season was to be in my best shape during the world championships , and I can pat myself on the shoulder and say that I did just that. I raised my shooting level another notch and ended up with 93 in hit percentage. My cross-country shape was also better and I have never been closer to the best in the track, very rewarding to see that hard work gives results. Small steps in the right direction all the time.
I also reached a massive milestone and a big goal this season, to take my first World Cup points! After being close in the sprint and pursuit, I managed it on the last individual distance, the individual race. 19 hits and 36th place, finally fixed my first set of points!
I finished the championship with a single mixed relay together with Florent Claude. Together we paved our way to a 15th place, a great result considering that all nations competed with their best teams. The gap up has never been smaller..
I bring home a lot of motivation and I am again much richer in experiences!

Today it's kick off for the world championships in Pokljuka, Slovenia! We start with the mixed relay. I will be racing the third leg, while Florent takes the first, Thierry the second and Rieke the last. Our goal is to have fun and to enjoy a nice opening of the championships. We are also collecting important points in the nations cup, which is very important for the guys being able to qualify the relay team for the olympics next year.

Here is my racing schedule for the world championships 2021:
Wednesday 10.02 at 15.00 - Mixed relay
Saturday 13.02 at 14.30 - sprint
Sunday 14.02 at 15.30 - pursuit
Tuesday 16.02 at 12.05 - individual
Thursday 18.02 at 15.15 - single mixed relay

I am currently staying in Obertilliach, Austria, a one hour drive from Antholz where the last world cup round was held. There I finished 51st in the individual competition with 18 hits. After some hard races in Oberhof it was good for my confidence to get an OK result.
Here in Obertilliach I am living the dream. With fresh made tracks just outside the hotel, a lot of snow and a warming sun. According to the locals, it has been snowing 5 metres here since December ! I will be on my own for one and a half weeks, because the rest of the team went home after Antholz. I wanted to have as little a travel load as possible during these coronatimes, and at the same time have enough time to acclimate to the altitude, which is important since the world championships will take place in Pokljuka situated about 1300 metres above sea level. 
Obertilliach will forever have a special place in my heart. It was here I had my first encounter with the international biathlon world. In 2013 I was elected to represent Norway in the youth world championships. Johannes T. Bø and Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen were among the norwegian biathletes! I remember it as simply awesome to be part of that scene. Performed quite well in some disciplines as well, and came in fourth in the individual race. To be in the flower ceremony, reserved for the top 6 in each competition, was a big moment for me.

The first single-mixed relay of the season took place in snowy and beautiful Oberhof during the first world cup round after Christmas. I teamed up with Florent Claude, who was also my teammate in the World Championships last year in Antholz. We gave it our all both in the course and on the shooting range, and Florent wound up the race with an awesome final sprint and finished 12^th ! This is so far the best relay result in the annals of Belgium biathlon, and it is fun to be a part of building our team’s history! The excitement of seeing that the top 10 is not far off is very inspiring for the upcoming races, and I hope it will propel us to even better results in the future. The next opportunity for a single-mixed relay is scheduled for Pokljuka, at the World Championships in February :)

Hi again! Have arrived in the austrian village of Hochfilzen. Up til now we also here have had to settle for artificial snow but the weather forecast looks promising and real snow is on its way! Three world cup weekends are over, time for an update! 

The traditional kickoff in Sjusjøen mid-November was cancelled because of the corona virus. Sad, but an honorable decision made by the norwegian biathlon union. We, team Mesterbakeren, organized our own kickoff. The weather wasn’t exactly with us, but we got som spectacular training runs and were introduced to competition nerves again

A week later I left for Finland – time for the world cup opening! I had been looking forward to this for a long time.. At the same time I felt nervous - not just for competing, but also for travelling during this covid pandemic. Since the sudden stop of the competition season last March I have just stayed at home and surrounded myself with a small social circle only. Very strange to be at the Oslo airport wearing a mask and gloves and with restrictions everywhere around me. To get inside the worldcup circus a negative PCR test less than 72 hours old was required. And on arrival a new test was submitted, and after that a new coronatest is staken each fourth day. Once inside the circus I have felt really safe with the regular testing and my own precautions. Not a lot of possibilities to socialize this season, but I was prepared for that and have with me some books, my knitting and.. juggling gear 😊

Summarizing the two Finnish world cup weekends I have to admit that I had hoped for a better outcome. I didn’t get it quite right on the range in order to obtain top shooting results, that would have better reflected my training results. And in the tracks it got heavier for every race and my legs couldn’t pick up any speed. Didn’t get closer than a 45th place in Kontiolahti, so just had to look ahead and get my body in tip-top condition for the next round.

A chartered plane by IBU took us to Hochfilzen. After the first competition weekend here in Austria I have a much better feeling all over. The sprint ended in a new personal WC best with 48th place after perfect shooting and 10 hits. That meant that I qualified for my first pursuit in the world cup! Competing with many strong performers, undertake tactical assessments and standing side by side with a whole bunch of women on the range, what an experience! 18 hits made me climb a couple of places and the top 40 with its worldcup points is drawing nearer.. 

Now I am charging my batteries and preparing for the last WC weekend before christmas. Sprint is on the programme this coming Friday, december 18, and hopefully I will participate in the pursuit the day after. Stay tuned!

The 21st of October, and the first ski outing for this season is over! Impressed by the good conditions they managed to produce at Sjusjøen, even though the winter is not totally here yet. Nice to get on my skis again and enjoy the snow. I am trying to have a balanced transition from rollerskis to skis now that the competition season is closing in. That way the workload won't get too big and I can use my time to find back to the exquisite feeling of snow under my skis. I thought for a moment that winter had arrived when it was snowing for a whole day here in Lillehammer, but it didn't take many days before the heat was back and I had to put my rollerskis back on.
I am beginning to feel the season start drawing near, the intervals are getting harder and harder, we try to pin down the best competition solutions for the shooting and we are constantly dueling during our training sessions . 

The world cup is being arranged, but the original four venues are being reduced to two. That means two weekends with competitions at each place, due to the corona. The season kicks off on the 14th of November with the opening weekend at Sjusjøen, before the international circus begins a fortnight later in Kontiolahti, Finland. There are not many weeks left now, time to get ready and pinpoint my top shape, I am so excited!

The summer nationals in Norway are finished. Sprint and mass start. Fun to compete again and very impressive of the organizers in Voss to host such a good event despite the corona restrictions. About the weekend. The sprint was mediocre, I did not get a good feeling in the track and two mistakes at the shooting range were not acceptable. But fortunately, a new chance to do a better job already the day after.
The mass start was arranged as prone-standing-standing-standing because of the corona. An interesting concept and to my advantage, I am more confident with my vertical shooting at the moment. My body also performed better and the shooting improved as well. 18 hits and a better physical shape made me happy with the result, 9th place. Exciting to be in the top for some rounds and fight for the big results. 

Now I am home in Skatval to recover and reload for the last heavy training effort before the winter. 
Stay tuned!

August has offered a lot! It started with the Blinkfestival in Sandnes. A lot of show and action and it was good to feel the competition nerves again. Always interesting to get an indication of where I stand compared to the competitors. As expected, I fell a little behind in the tracks because of my change of training method this season. Hopefully I will be in my best shape when winter arrives. Mostly good shots at the shooting range but some didn’t hit where they were supposed to hit. All in all, I was happy with the answers I got and I have found new tasks to work with.
After the Blinkfestival there was only time for a few relaxing days before I went to Geilo on training camp with the team. We trained well, it is very inspiring to be a part of the best private team here in Norway. 

After the camp there was finally time to recover after weeks of much and hard training. I went to Dombås for some days to join my friend to hunt reindeer. No catch but, as always, a nice experience.