Salt Lake City native leads U.S. biathlon relay team to historic finish to at Soldier Hollow

Vincent Bonacci has spent plenty of time at Soldier Hollow, the cross country and biathlon venue in Midway, but in recent years little of it has been on the snow.

That didn’t seem to matter Friday when the Salt Lake City native led the United States men’s relay team to a historic finish in the first race of the International Biathlon Union’s only domestic World Cup stop. The team finished fourth in the 4x7.5-kilometer (18.4-mile) relay in the sport that combines Nordic skiing and shooting. That marked the best finish for American biathletes on their own soil in a World Cup or Olympic competition. It is also the U.S. relay team’s best World Cup result since taking third in 1988.

Prior to Friday, the team’s best finish this season in the event was 10th. In a World Cup race in December, it was lapped and finished last.

Last month, however, Team USA recorded its best IBU World Championship finish when it placed fifth in Nove Mesto na Morave in the Czech Republic. That was the best U.S. men’s relay result since 2016.

“It felt amazing,” said Bonacci, who also skied on the World Championships team. “[I’m] really happy that it went well. It was awesome to have so many USA fans out here cheering especially because it’s not even the weekend yet.”

An estimated 2,300 people attended Friday’s races. The World Cup, which is free for general admission, continues through Sunday.

Bonacci set the pace Friday, hitting all of his targets and completing his 4.6-mile leg in 18 minutes, 13.4 seconds. Sean Doherty, Campbell Wright and Jake Brown completed the effort in a total time of 1:14:42.3. As a team, they missed just one of 40 targets.

“Perfect sunny day, pretty good course conditions,” Bonacci said. “We had great skis and it was so, so much fun.”

Not surprisingly, Norway won the race. Led by brothers JT and Tarjei Boe, the top two men in the individual World Cup standings, the Norwegians finished in 1:13:12.3 despite missing three targets. Italy trailed by 26.5 seconds for second place, squeaking ahead of Germany, which was 27.3 seconds behind the winners.

Bonacci, a West High graduate, learned to cross country ski at age 6. Though he grew up training at Soldier Hollow, he said his competition schedule as member of the U.S. national team has mostly prevented him from returning. He said he only gets to ski on the snow there about once a year now, though he spends much of his summer skate-skiing at the venue.

France’s Justine Braisaz-Bouchet won the women’s 7.5k race held under sunny skies Friday afternoon. Her time was 20:42.7. Silver went to Norway’s Ingrid Landmark Trandrevold (20:56.1), while France’s Lou Jeanmonnot claimed bronze (21:01.9).

Margie Freed (23:05.0) of Vermont led the Americans in 32nd place.

Saturday’s contests begin at 12:25 p.m. with the women’s 4x6k relay. The men’s individual 10k sprint follows at 3:05 pm.

Correction • March 10, 2024, 10:35 a.m.: The U.S. men recorded the best 4x7.5k relay World Cup result since 1988 and the best ever on American soil. It was not the best result in the country’s history.