Regina biathlon athlete headed to Italy for 2026 Olympics

Regina’s Logan Pletz training in Whistler ahead of the World Junior Biathlon Championships. (Courtesy: Biathlon Canada)

Regina’s Logan Pletz has been named to Team Canada’s Olympic roster in the sport biathlon.

The games in Milano-Cortina, Italy will be Pletz’s Olympic debut.

He has competed in three consecutive IBU World Championships (2023, 2024, 2025). Pletz made his IBU World Cup debut during the 2022-23 season. He set personal best results in Hochfilzen, Austria during the 2024-25 season when he finished 55^th in the pursuit and 56^th in the sprint.

Pletz first represented Canada at the 2019 IBU Youth World Championships where he was 19th in the sprint. He competed in the IBU Junior World Championships in 2021 and 2022. At the latter, he finished 14^th in the 15km individual event and sixth with the men’s relay. Pletz competed in his first IBU Cup events during the 2021-22 season.

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Pletz won gold in the 12.5km individual event at the 2019 Canada Winter Games after serving as Team Saskatchewan’s Opening Ceremony flag bearer.

The athletes qualified for Team Canada based on their performances across the Olympic Qualification window. Canada qualified eight quota spots based on the Nations Cup ranking at the end of the 2024-25 season, which counted results from the IBU World Cup and IBU Cup circuits as well as the IBU World Championships.

The eight athletes are:

• Zachary Connelly (Ottawa, Ont.)
• Jasper Fleming (Squamish, B.C.)
• Nadia Moser (Whitehorse, Yuk.)
• Pascale Paradis (Calgary, Alta.)
• Benita Peiffer (Whistler, B.C.)
• Logan Pletz (Regina, Sask.)
• Shilo Rousseau (Thessalon, Ont.)
• Adam Runnalls (Calgary, Alta.)

Biathlon will take place Feb. 8 – 21 (Days 2 – 15) at the Anterselva Biathlon Arena – one of the most renowned race venues on the World Cup circuit.

Team Canada has won three Olympic biathlon medals, all earned by Myriam Bédard. Men’s biathlon has been part of the Olympic program since Squaw Valley 1960, while women’s biathlon made its debut at Albertville 1992.