Mastering shooting is a necessary prerequisite for success in biathlon. To motivate our male and female athletes as much as possible, as the main partner of Slovak Biathlon, we decided to reward the best shooters. We want the athletes to feel that MSM GROUP stands behind them and that we care about their success.
The first round of this competition was organized at the end of the 2023/2024 season. A financial reward of €2,000 was distributed among the six best shooters of the new generation. The same competition took place during the 2024/2025 season, with the prize increased to €2,500.
The winner is Ema Kapustová
The best shooter – in this case, a female athlete – received €1,000, and the rest were awarded €600, €400, €250, €150, and €100 respectively. All IBU international competitions were counted, with the condition that the athlete had to hit at least one hundred targets over the course of the season. This rule ensured that the reward would not go to someone who participated in only one event. To be included in the statistics, the biathlete had to finish the race or their leg of the relay.
All the conditions were met by Ema Kapustová, who earned the title MSM SHOOTER 2024/2025. Ema is a 23-year-old athlete from Revúca. She began her biathlon career in the 2018/2019 season at the Youth World Championships. Ema is considered one of the biggest talents of Slovak biathlon in the past decade, which she proved at the 2021 Youth World Championships, where she secured third place in the individual race. She hit all twenty targets – an achievement many biathletes never accomplish in their entire career.
Season 2024/2025 is over, but Vision 2030 continues
The goal of Vision 2030 is to support and develop young athletes so that by the 2030 Olympic Games, Slovakia can field fully competitive men’s and women’s relay teams – with at least one of them placing in the top 10. “We are proud to be part of a bold vision that supports a talented new generation of biathletes. At the same time, we recognize that achieving the ambitious goals of Slovak biathlon requires support not only from public resources but also from the private sector,” said Michal Fúrik, Director of Marketing and Communications at MSM GROUP, at the start of the partnership.
How does Slovak Biathlon evaluate the just-finished season? “At the end of each season, we analyze the winter results of Slovak athletes – number of starts, points scored, and top performances,” explains Peter Vozár, President of the Slovak Biathlon Association (SZB). Once again, Paulína Bátovská Fialková dominated this year. She returned from maternity leave with 28 starts, all in the highest-level competitions. Anastasija Kuzmina also delivered a strong performance. Despite carefully selecting her events, she completed 24 starts – an excellent achievement for the oldest athlete on the team.
Interested in the numbers behind the performance of Slovak biathletes? Want to know how many points they earned, where they competed, and who stood out as team leaders? Read the full season 2024/2025 analysis on the Slovak Biathlon website HERE.
