Gretsch, Pike Come Into Cross Country World Championships With Momentum From Biathlon Worlds

Aaron Pike was again rewarded for his patience last week.

A seven-time Paralympian, Pike admitted he once considered giving up the biathlon. He said he was so frustrated after struggling at several races early in his career that one of his coaches asked him if he wanted to take his rifle home or leave it.

Pike decided to stick with it, and he’s now a two-time world champion in the sport. He hit all his targets as he cruised to a gold medal in the men’s sitting 7.5-kilometer pursuit race last week at the IBU Para Biathlon World Championships in Pokljuka, Slovenia.

One world championships down, and one more to go for him this winter.

Thanks to Pike’s consistency and Kendall Gretsch’s dominance in Pokljuka, U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing will have plenty of momentum this week heading into the FIS Para Cross-Country World Championships in Toblach, Italy. The three-day competition runs from Wednesday through Friday.

Gretsch, a seven-time Paralympic medalist in Nordic skiing and the triathlon, won all three of her events at the biathlon world championships to solidify her place as a favorite for more hardware in Toblach. Pike, meanwhile, will look to add to the gold and a bronze that he earned in Slovenia.

“It’s exciting again to have another really good race, and (it’s) a good way to end the week here,” Gretsch told the IBU website after capping her performance at the biathlon world championships with a win in the women’s sitting 12.5km individual race on Sunday. “It’s been an awesome venue and awesome races, so I’m really happy with how this week went.”

The world’s top Para Nordic skiers will compete in three world championships this season — the back-to-back competitions in Pokljuka and Toblach, followed by the FIS Nordic World Championships in Trondheim, Norway, on March 4-5.

Gretsch is expected to race at all three world championships, while Pike is scheduled to compete in the first two.

The U.S. team that will compete over the new few days in Italy is made up of six Paralympians and a pair of personal guides for visually impaired skier Jake Adicoff. Four of the skiers — Adicoff, Gretsch, sit skier Dan Cnossen and standing skier Sydney Peterson — are Paralympic gold medalists.

In addition, Pike and standing skier Dani Aravich have competed at multiple Paralympics in Nordic skiing and track and field.

For most of the Americans, this will be their second time racing in Italy over the past two weeks. They prepared for the biathlon world championships by competing in a world cup event in Val di Fiemme, Italy, from Jan. 29 through Feb. 2.

This time, Gretsch and Pike will race as newly crowned biathlon world champions. Pike said it felt great to win a second world title after nearly quitting the sport a few years ago.

“I think it’s understanding that there’s going to be big lows with biathlon, but the highs, (they) just make it that much better,” Pike, who won his first world title in 2023, told the official Instagram account for the Paralympics. “It’s one thing to be dialed (in) and be on with the skis, but if you don’t shoot well, it doesn’t matter. So, when you get the shooting to come together and you’re skiing well, it just feels that much better.”

Gretsch said her goal was to win all three of her events in Pokljuka, but she knew it wasn’t guaranteed. She wanted to stick with what had worked for her during her training and not try anything differently once the races started.

Oksana Masters, a 19-time Paralympic medalist in Nordic skiing, cycling and rowing, was forced to miss the biathlon world championships because of an injury. However, she was still in Pokljuka last week to cheer on Pike, her fiancé, and Gretsch, her friend and teammate on the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing national team.

Gretsch and Pike each won gold in the 7.5km pursuit race on the opening day of the biathlon world championships, which Gretsch said made their victories even more special.

“It’s really exciting, and I think it’s especially exciting to be able to win on the same day as my teammate, too,” she told the IBU website. “So, it’s just a really good day for our team.”

Gretsch added that her strong showing in the biathlon will also prepare her for the Winter Paralympic Games Milano Cortina 2026, where she’s expected to race against Masters for the gold in several events.

“I think it’s a really good feeling going into next year, but I know I have my teammate Oksana. Hopefully, she’s back next year, competing as well, and she always pushes me so hard,” Gretsch told the IBU website. “So, I’ve been looking forward to her being back, but yeah, it’s a good feeling going into next year.”

Alex Abrams has written about Olympic and Paralympic sports for more than 15 years, including as a reporter for major newspapers in Florida, Arkansas and Oklahoma. He is a freelance contributor to USParaNordic.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.