American biathlete (born 2001)
Maxime Germain
Germain in 2024 |
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Nationality | American |
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Born | (2001-08-21) 21 August 2001 (age 23) Juneau, Alaska, U.S. |
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Country | United States |
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Sport | Biathlon |
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Maxime Germain (born 21 August 2001) is an American biathlete. He made his debut in the Biathlon World Cup in 2022.[1]
Career
Maxime Germain was born in Alaska but grew up in Chamonix. He spent his teenage years there, attending school at Cham’centre and Frison-Roche. At the age of 15, after earning his brevet and being accepted into the Mont-Blanc Committee, Germain decided to move to the United States to attend high school.[2]
He made his international debut in February 2018 at the Youth World Championships in Otepää, but he failed to achieve notable results that year or the next, primarily due to poor shooting performances. The American first drew attention at the 2020 Youth World Championships when he won the bronze medal in the sprint, finishing behind Alexei Kovalev and Ondřej Mánek.[3] However, in the subsequent pursuit race, he dropped back to 32nd place after incurring ten penalties.
After nearly two years without international competitions, Germain returned in early January 2022, making his IBU Cup debut in Osrblie, Slovakia. Shortly thereafter, as the U.S. national team was preparing for the Olympics with a training block, he competed in the World Cup in Ruhpolding for the first time. There, he finished 104th in the sprint and 13th with the men's relay team. Germain's next medal came in August of that year, when he earned bronze in the supersprint at the Summer Biathlon Junior World Championships.
At the start of the 2022/23 season, Germain became a regular member of the U.S. World Cup team and made his first pursuit start at this level in Hochfilzen after placing 59th in the sprint. Nonetheless, he returned to the IBU Cup in January, where he surprised with a sixth-place finish in the sprint in Osrblie. Back in the World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germain achieved an impressive result, securing seventh place in the men's relay alongside Paul Schommer, Sean Doherty, and Jake Brown. This was the best finish by a U.S. men's relay team since March 2018. He subsequently competed in both the European and World Championships, achieving strong placements of 15th and 13th in the sprint and pursuit at the European Championships.[4] Germain won his third international medal at the 2023 Junior World Championships, finishing third in the sprint behind his training partner Campbell Wright and Jan Guńka.[5] He closed the season by setting new personal bests in the World Cup at the Oslo finale, finishing 47th and 45th in individual races.
The 2023/24 winter season, however, was less successful for Germain compared to the previous one. Until January, his best result was 61st place. He showed signs of improvement at the European Championships in Osrblie, finishing 10th in the individual event. Later, in late February 2024, he achieved another solid result in the IBU Cup, placing seventh in the sprint in Obertilliach.
In the 2024/25 season, at the first World Cup stage in Kontiolahti, Germain achieved a personal best result by finishing 20th in the short individual race.[6]
Biathlon results
All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.
World Championships
World Cup
Season
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Overall
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Individual
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Sprint
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Pursuit
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Mass start
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Races
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Points
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Position
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Points
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Position
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Points
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Position
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Points
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Position
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Points
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Position
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2021–22 |
1/22 |
Didn't earn World Cup points
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2022–23 |
6/21
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2023–24 |
7/21
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Youth and Junior World Championships
2 medals (2 bronze)
References
External links