From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.
Canada’s Élise Sauvé (Foothills Nordic) racing at Calforex race on Jan. 15 in Camrose, Alberta. (Photo: Kevin Nguyen)
In this 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes before they competed at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia.
Here’s 16-year-old Élise Sauvé , of Foothills Nordic, who represented Canada at her first Youth Worlds. In two individual races, she finished 78th in the youth women’s 10 k individual and 86th in the 6 k sprint.
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“My full name is Élise Sauvé, but you can call me Ediddy. I was born in Calgary, Alberta, raised in Calgary, and one thing you should know about my hometown is the weather can never make up its mind.
Élise Sauvé (Foothills Nordic) at a Calforex race in January in Camrose, Alberta. (Photo: Susan Sauvé)
I started cross-country skiing when I was 7 and started biathlon when I was 9, thanks to my parents and Jackrabbit coach who suggested that it might be something I would enjoy. I currently train in Calgary and Canmore with Foothills Nordic.
If I’m not skiing, you might find me reading, or outside doing something fun.
If I had to pick a favorite book, it would be ‘The Book Thief‘.
One of the things I’m most excited about for Youth/Junior World Championships in Brezno-Osrblie is being able to compete in another country against the best from all around the world and to represent Canada.
This will be my first Youth/Junior World Championships, and this year, I’m competing as a youth. One race I’m especially targeting there is the individual.
The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing or racing was don’t ever give up, every second counts and could make a difference between 1st and 2nd.
One of the best race memories I have is finishing one of my pursuit races in 2nd place behind my teammate when the whole time I thought I was in dead last.
If I could meet one World Cup skier, it would be Heikki Ikola.
If I don’t end up being a professional skier, I’ll probably be something that gets me outside and keeps me active.
I’m missing 12 days of school to be here, and my teachers/professors are probably thinking, ‘Have fun with that.’
Canada’s Jules Burnotte (Biathlon Estrie) training in July 2016 in Squamish, British Columbia. (Courtesy photo)
In another 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes before they competed at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia.
Here’s 20-year-old Jules Burnotte, of Biathlon Estrie, who represented Canada at his second Youth/Junior Worlds. Burnotte competed in all four junior men’s races over the past week, finishing 43rd in the pursuit, 55th in both the sprint and individual races, and 12th with his team in Tuesday’s 4 x 7.5 k relay.
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“My full name is Jules Burnotte, but you can call me Jules. I was born in Sherbrooke, Quebec, raised in Sherbrooke, and one thing you should know about my hometown is that it’s a fantastic student-athlete town (and it is bigger and nicer than what people think it is).
Jules Burnotte (Biathlon Estrie) racing in Maine in January 2016. (Courtesy photo)
I started cross-country skiing when I started walking and started biathlon when I was 12. I currently train in Sherbrooke with Biathlon Estrie at Stoke.
If I’m not skiing, you might find me sleeping (at home or in class), running or just daydreaming somewhere unexpected.
If I had to pick a favorite book, it would be ‘Asterix‘.
One of the things I’m most excited about for Youth/Junior World Championships in Brezno-Osrblie is the races and the calibre that Europe can provide.
This will be my second Youth/Junior World Championships, and this year, I’m competing as a junior. One race I’m especially targeting there is all of it!!!
The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing or racing was have fun but don’t get hurt.
Jules Burnotte (l) with his Canadian teammates Alexandre Dupuis and Aidan Millar after they placed second in the youth men’s 3 x 7.5 k relay at 2014 IBU Youth World Championships in Presque Isle, Maine. (Courtesy photo)
One of the best race memories I have is the finish of youth relay in Presque Isle 2014. I could talk an hour about it.
If I could meet one World Cup skier, it would be… don’t really care. I feel like it would be nice to congrats those surprises and good performers from world champs. I prefer to look a them racing, I guess (they do it very well).
If I don’t end up being a professional skier, I’ll probably be working in prevention health andsocial and personal development adapted to children(phys ed teacher).
I’m missing a month of school to be here, and my teachers/professors are probably thinking, ‘Where is he?‘
Charlotte Hamel (Biathlon Estrie) competing in the sprint at Canada’s trials for 2017 IBU Youth/Junior World Championships in Valcartier, Quebec. (Photo: Andrée Dufresne)
In another 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes before they competed at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia.
Here’s 20-year-old Charlotte Hamel, of Biathlon Estrie, who represented Canada at her third Youth/Junior Worlds. Hamel started the 12.5 k individual but did not finish due to illness.
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“My full name is Charlotte Hamel, and I don’t have a nickname so just call me Charlotte! I was born in Sherbrooke, Quebec, raised in this beautiful city, and one thing you should know about my hometown is even if it small, it’s the best place if you are a sports lover.
I started cross-country skiing when I was born because my parents use to bring me in a baby glider when they were skiing. I learned to ski the same time I started to walk. I started biathlon when I was 8, thanks to big brother Félix, who introduced me to this wonderful sport.
I currently train in Sherbrooke with Biathlon Estrie at our training center in Stoke, a little village close to Sherbrooke.
If I’m not skiing, you might find me in the kitchen doing some cooking or in a cafe doing some homework.
Canada’s Charlotte Hamel racing at the IBU Junior Cup in December in Hochfilzen, Austria. (Photo: Bryan Dickson)
If I had to pick a favorite book, it would be… I really don’t know!! I read a lot, about five book a year or more, but if I had to chose only one it will be ‘Le voleur d’ombre’ by Marc Levy because I read it really quickly.
One of the things I’m most excited about for Youth/Junior World Championships in Brezno-Osrblie is to be one of the oldest athletes here! I will be sharing my experience, and that’s really nice.
This will be my third Youth/Junior World Championships, and this year, I’m competing as a junior. One race I’m especially targeting there is the individual.
The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing or racing was to always cross the finish line with a smile. Whatever happed in your race, there always be something good and something that you can learn about. If you can’t see that, that’s means you’re too hard on yourself, and it will be harder to make improvements.
One of the best race memories I have is when I won my first gold medal at nationals. It was at my first year as a senior girl and it was the first time I cleaned a race. I wasn’t the fastest skier so be able to win the sprint was really impressive for me and it showed me that I can do anything!
If I could meet one World Cup biathlete, it would be Ole Einar Bjørndalen, because he is the greatest biathlete of all time and even if his not the fastest, he is always shooting great and he is still doing podiums.
If I don’t end up being a professional biathlete, I’ll probably be opening my own coffee/bakery shop or I’ll be in the woods doing some research for an environmental group.
I’m missing 18 days of school to be here, and my teachers/professors are probably thinking, ‘That’s not good for her grades.’
Thomas Hulsman (Foothills Nordic Ski Club) racing at the Calforex Cup #4 in January 2016. (Courtesy photo)
In another 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes that competed at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia.
Here’s 17-year-old Thomas Hulsman, of the Foothills Nordic Ski Club, who represented Canada at his first Youth Worlds. He finished 57th in the youth men’s 12.5 k individual, 87th in the 7.5 k sprint, and on Monday, 15th with his team in the men’s 3 x 7.5 k relay.
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“My full name is Thomas Hulsman, but you can call me Tommy. I was born in Calgary, Alberta, raised in Airdrie, Alberta, and one thing you should know about my hometown is it’s the best City in Canada.
Thomas Hulsman (Foothills Nordic Ski Club) racing at an Alberta Cup. (Courtesy photo)
I started cross-country skiing when I was 11 and started biathlon when I was 12, thanks to watching the 2010 Olympics. I currently train in Canmore, Alberta, with Foothills Nordic Ski Club.
If I’m not skiing, you might find me coaching, trail running and biking.
If I had to pick a favorite book, it would be none!…….no time to read, too busy training, probably military history.
One of the things I’m most excited about for Youth/Junior World Championships in Brezno-Osrblie is the experience.
This will be my first Youth/Junior World Championships, and this year, I’m competing as a youth. One race I’m especially targeting there is the individual.
The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing or racing was just shoot, don’t think during a race.
One of the best race memories I have is my first nationals medal.
If I could meet one World Cup skier, it would be Martin Fourcade.
If I don’t end up being a professional skier, I’ll probably be in the Canadian Forces.
I’m missing 15 days of school to be here, and my teachers/professors are probably thinking, ‘How is Tommy doing?‘
Helen Wilson (Alaska Nordic Racing/Anchorage Biathlon Club) racing on Dec. 18, 2016 in Kincaid Park in Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo: Barbara McMullen)
In another 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes that competed at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia.
Here’s 15-year-old Helen Wilson, of Alaska Nordic Racing and Anchorage Biathlon Club, who represented the U.S at her first Youth Worlds. In two individual races at the championships, she placed 62nd in the youth women’s 10 k individual and 67th in the 6 k sprint.
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“My full name is Helen Rachel Wilson, but you can call me Helen Watermelon. I was born in Anchorage, Alaska, raised in Eagle River, Alaska, and one thing you should know about my hometown is… ‘We can see Russia from here.’
I started cross-country skiing when I was 7 and started biathlon when I was 12 thanks to my dad. I currently train in Anchorage and Eagle River with Alaska Nordic Racing and Anchorage Biathlon Club.
If I’m not skiing, you might find me on the ice rink practicing my salchow and lutz.
If I had to pick a favorite book, it would be ‘A Lost Pearle‘.
One of the things I’m most excited about for Youth/Junior World Championships in Brezno-Osrblie is traveling to new lands, meeting new people, trying new foods and skiing new trails.
This will be my first Youth/Junior World Championships, and this year, I’m competing as a youth. One race I’m especially targeting there is the sprint race.
The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing or racing was get 12 hours of sleep before each race.
One of the best race memories I have is winning the 5K free style Besh Cup #2, a Junior National qualifier.
If I could meet one World Cup skier, it would be…well I’ve already met Lowell Bailey, Tim Burke, Susan Dunklee, Clare Egan, Annelies Cook, Andrea Burke, Sara Studabaker, Zach Hall, Holly Brooks, and Kikkan Randall….but I would love to meet them all again.
If I don’t end up being a professional skier, I’ll probably be a secret intelligence agent for the CIA.
I’m missing 35 days of school to be here, and my teachers are probably thinking, ‘She has dropped out of school to be a ski bum.’
The Norwegian youth men’s 3 x 7.5 k relay team, with (from left to right) Jørgen Krogsæter, Vebjørn Sørum and Sivert Guttorm Bakken, after winning gold at IBU Youth World Championships on Monday in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: IBU)
IBU Youth/Junior World Championships (Osrblie, Slovakia): Youth relays
The Norwegian and Russian youth men’s and women’s youth relays teams took either first or second on Monday in their last race of International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia, with Russia winning the women’s 3 x 6-kilometer relay and Norway topping the men’s 3 x 7.5 k.
The Russian youth women’s 3 x 5 k relay team, with (from left to right) Ekaterina Sannikova, Anastasiia Goreeva and Kristina Egorova, after winning gold at IBU Youth World Championships on Monday in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: IBU)
While Norway’s men’s team of Jørgen Krogsæter, Vebjørn Sørum, and Sivert Guttorm Bakken skied away from the competition for a 54.2-second win in 55:05.4, after using six spare rounds and skiing no penalties, Russia’s women’s team of Ekaterina Sannikova, Anastasiia Goreeva and Kristina Egorova pulled of an 18.3-second win in 59:43.2 despite one penalty and seven spare rounds.
In the men’s race, Russia took silver with Aleksandr Miakonkii, Ilia Novopashin and Said Karimulla Khalili, with two penalties and nine spares. Belarus achieved bronze with Kiryl Tsiuryn, Ilya Auseyenka and Dmitry Lazouski finishing 1:41.6 out of first with no penalties and eight spares.
Canada finished 15th (+6:43.8) with Thomas Hulsman, Adam Runnalls and Leo Grandbois combining for three penalties and 12 spares. Grandbois skied them up to 15th after getting tagged in 17th at the final exchange.
The U.S. men’s team followed in 18th (+8:06.7) with Vasek Cervenka, Jake Pearson and Alex Kilby combining for one penalty and 12 spares. Vasek started them off, tagging in eighth at the first exchange, before the Americans dropped to 16th, then 18th.
In the youth women’s relay, Norway took second place with Marthe Kråkstad Johansen, Marit Ishol and Mari Wetterhus using a total of just four spares to clean and avoiding the penalty lap. Italy claimed third (+1:04.8) with Samuela Comola, Irene Lardschneider and Martina Vigna combining for one penalty and just four spares as well.
The U.S. women finished 13th (+4:56.8) with Chloe Levins, Amanda Kautzer and Grace Gilliland having a total of one penalty and 11 spares. After being tagged in 14th, Kautzer skied the team into eighth on the second leg before they slipped to 13th on the final leg.
Canada finished 17th (+9:39.0) with Frédérique Pérusse, Shilo Rousseau and Anna Sellers combining for three penalties and 11 spares. The team skied up from 20th after the first exchange to 17th by the second exchange, a position they held to the finish.
IBU Youth/Junior World Championships conclude with the men’s and women’s junior relays on Tuesday.
Jake Pearson (Casper Mountain Biathlon Club) taking aim on the range at Casper Mountain on Feb. 8 in Casper, Wyo. (Photo: Kerrie Pearson)
In another 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes that will be competing at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia.
Here’s 18-year-old Jake Pearson, of the Casper Mountain Biathlon Club, who is representing the U.S. at his first Youth Worlds. In two individual races at the championships, he finished 49th in the youth men’s 12.5 k individual and 76th in the 7.5 k sprint.
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“My full name is Jacob, but you can call me Jake. I was born in Wyoming, raised in Casper, and one thing you should know about my hometown is it’s always windy.
I started cross-country skiing when I was in 8th grade and started biathlon when I was 15, thanks to Rylie Garner.
I currently train in Casper with Casper Mountain Biathlon Club.
If I’m not skiing, you might find me hanging out with friends.
If I had to pick a favorite book, it would be ‘Shoe Dog’.
One of the things I’m most excited about for Youth/Junior World Championships in Brezno-Osrblie is the food.
This will be my first Youth/Junior World Championships, and this year, I’m competing as a youth. One race I’m especially targeting there is the 12.5 k individual.
The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing or racing was have fun and relax.
One of the best race memories I have is having a 2nd place finish in a mass start in Canada.
If I could meet one World Cup skier, it would be Lowell Bailey.
If I don’t end up being a professional skier, I’ll probably be a ski bum.
I’m missing 10 days of school to be here, and my teachers/professors are probably thinking, ‘He is going to fail my class.’
Shilo Rousseau competing in a NorAm pursuit last month in Valcartier, Quebec. (Photo: Dan Guay)
In another 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes that will be competing at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia.
Here’s 16-year-old Shilo Rousseau, of Team Hardwood, who is representing Canada at her first Youth Worlds. In three individual races at the championships, she finished 45th in the youth women’s 6 k sprint, and 54th in both the 10 k individual and 7.5 k pursuit.
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“My full name is Shilo Rousseau, but you can call me Shilo. I was born in Elliot Lake, Ontario, raised in Thessalon, Ontario, and one thing you should know about my hometown is that you need to have a good apple collection if you want to survive the many bears that roam the town.
I started cross-country skiing when I was 10 and started biathlon when I was 11, thanks to my parents.
Canada’s Shilo Rousseau (Team Hardwood) shooting at the Thessalon Rod and Gun club in January in her hometown of Thessalon, Ontario. (Courtesy photo)
I currently train in Thessalon with the help of Team Hardwood.
If I’m not skiing, you might find me listening to Broadway musicals my friend forces me to listen to.
If I had to pick a favorite book, it would be ‘Throne of Glass’ series.
One of the things I’m most excited about for Youth/Junior World Championships in Brezno-Osrblie is to race alongside athletes from around the world.
This will be my first Youth/Junior World Championships, and this year, I’m competing as a youth. One race I’m especially targeting there is the sprint race.
The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing or racing was race so fast that you pass out on course and have to be taken to the hospital.
One of the best race memories I have is leading the 10 km mass start with my teammate Zoë Pekos right beside me.
If I could meet one World Cup skier, it would be Laura Dahlmeier.
If I don’t end up being a professional skier, I’ll probably be a professional rapper because I am ultimate.
I’m probably missing 20 days of school to be here, and my teachers/professors are probably thinking, ‘Insane‘ lol.
Chloe Levins (11) with her US Biathlon support team (from left to right: Erik Lewish, Travis Voyer, Mathias Zacherl, Robert Gorgos, and Algis Shalna) after her fourth-place finish in the youth women’s 7.5 k pursuit, her career best in her third IBU Youth World Championships, on Sunday in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: USBA)
At just 18 years old, Chloe Levins has the wisdom of a seasoned veteran when it comes to biathlon. She accepts the inevitable ups and down of her sport, works hard to focus on herself and no one else, and treats every race as a learning experience.
All of the above are often easier said than done. But Levins seems to have her head in the right place and the results are following. In three individual races over the past week at Youth World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia, she’s finished in the top 15. On Sunday in the youth women’s 7.5-kilometer pursuit, she rocketed to fourth — tying her career-best result in an international race.
“In my mind, I’m still a baby in this sport,” Levins wrote in an email on Sunday. “As we saw last week, Lowell [Bailey] prepared for two decades before winning a World Championship title. Today’s race was simply more preparation for the future. Every race is a learning experience, and every race that you’re in contention is an even better learning experience. So for now, I’ll keep learning.”
A Middlebury freshman who plays collegiate golf in the spring and fall, Levins had previously finished fourth at last year’s Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. There, she started the pursuit in 22nd and rocketed to fourth, one spot off the podium. On Sunday, she started 11th, based on her sprint result on Friday, and shot 18-for-20 to finish fourth, 1:55.5 minutes out of first and 47 seconds out of third.
Levins started the race by skiing around 11th for the first loop, then missed her first and last shots in the first shooting stage. That put her back in 17th heading out on her second loop, and she proceeded to clean the next three stages to work her way up to seventh before her final loop. There, she passed three more competitors to end up fourth.
“After missing two, I got out of my own way and went back to basics,” Levins recalled. “My coach, Algis Shalna, always says, ‘Do what you normally do.’ The trick is believing that what you normally do will be good enough. Today, it was really close.”
“There’s a fine line between being too cautious and perfectly aware in shooting,” she added. “That was the difference between my first shooting and the last three today.”
American Chloe Levins racing to fourth in the youth women’s 7.5 k pursuit on Sunday in Osrblie, Slovakia, for her best result at her third IBU Youth World Championships. (Photo: USBA)
She attributed her fast skiing (with the 11th-fastest course time) to “lightning” skis.
“The wax guys have been making fantastic skis all week, and I can’t thank them enough,” she said of US Biathlon’s staff. “The team staff gave me some information on the last loop, but I didn’t hear them. I was in a different world, fighting for a medal in my mind’s eye. Honestly, I’m not quite sure when I passed the three girls who left the range in front of me. The track was really crowded with competitors that were on their fourth loop. If I were to guess, I passed one girl on the first hill out of the stadium and the other two on a flat .25k before the finish.”
Ahead of her, Italy’s Irene Lardschneider secured her second-straight gold medal after winning Friday’s sprint and starting 1 minute and 7 seconds ahead of anyone else in the pursuit. She had four penalties, which came in the last two standing stages (0+0+2+2), but held onto first in 26:57.1. France’s Lou Jeanmonnot-Laurent finished 24.4 seconds later after skiing up from fourth at the start to second place, with a single miss (0+0+1+0). For the second-straight race, Italy’s Samuela Comola claimed bronze (+1:08.5) after starting third and shooting two penalties (1+0+1+0).
Then there was Levins, who started 1:40 out of first and was one of six women to shoot 90 percent or better.
“It kills me to come short of medal for the second year in a row, but it also makes me that much more hungry for next opportunity to compete,” Levins wrote. “Even though there’s no medal around my neck, shooting 90% and having the fastest ski time on the last loop are things to smile about.”
“I smile about the fact that I set three consecutive personal bests this week at Jr World Champs,” she wrote on Sunday. “It’s the ‘what ifs’ that give me motivation for the next. I’m leaving Slovakia with more drive than ever. There are many areas in shooting and skiing I can improve upon for next season. I’m really looking forward to getting down to work.”
Levins led four North Americans in the youth women’s pursuit, with her U.S. teammates Amanda Kautzer and Grace Gilliland finishing 42nd and 53rd, respectively. Kautzer started 59th and picked off 17 places despite missing four targets (1+0+2+1) and finished 6:16.2 back. Gilliland started 55th and improved two places with six penalties (2+3+1+0), finishing 8:32.1 out of first in 53rd. Canada’s Shilo Rousseau followed in 54th (+9:02.1) with eight misses (3+1+2+2) after starting 45th.
The youth women end the championships with the 3 x 6 k relay on Monday. Canada is entering Frédérique Pérusse, Rousseau, and Anna Sellers, while the U.S. team is Levins, Kautzer and Gilliland.
Also on Monday, the youth men will race a 3 x 7.5 k relay. Thomas Hulsman, Adam Runnalls and Leo Grandbois are listed to start for Canada, and Vasek Cervenka, Jacob Pearson and Alex Kilby are listed for the U.S.
Sprint Top 20 for Bankes, Ellingson; Bankes 16th in Pursuit
In the junior women’s 10 k pursuit, Canada’s 19-year-old Megan Bankes capped off her gold-medal week with her third top 20. Bankes previously won the 12.5 k individual last Thursday, then finished 13th in Saturday’s 7.5 k sprint.
Megan Bankes racing to 16th in Sunday’s junior women’s 10 k pursuit at IBU Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: Jacqueline Akerman)
Going into Sunday’s pursuit, she made a goal to stay calm and focused and “overall just have a fun time racing the pursuit, and see how much I can move up!”
She started 1:25 minutes behind the leader, Italy’s Michela Carrara, the winner of the sprint who left the pursuit starting gate with a 15-second head start. After cleaning the first prone stage, Bankes was up to ninth and 54 seconds out of first.
Over the next three stages, Bankes missed four targets and had to ski four penalty laps as a result. The first miss on the second prone stage put her in 11th, then she slipped to 19th with two misses in the first standing. On the final standing stage, Bankes missed one more to leave the range in 20th. Before the finish, she picked off four skiers to take 16th place across the line. She finished 2:15.8 minutes behind Russia’s Valeriia Vasnetcova, who won the race with clean shooting. Vasnetcova was the only woman in the field to do so; in fact, she was the only racer — woman or man — that hit all 20 targets between four races on Sunday.
Vasnetcova had started the pursuit in 24th, 1:52 out of first, and taken the lead by after cleaning the last stage. She posted the fastest course time as well and notched a 10-second victory, finishing in 31:49.5 minutes for her first medal of these championships (she also won gold in the relay last year with her Russian team at Youth Worlds in Romania).
Carrara ended up second after missing three (1+1+1+0), and Norway’s Ingrid Tandrevold also picked up her second-straight medal, after starting second and finishing third (+10.8), with two penalties (0+0+1+1).
While Bankes could not be reached for comment after Sunday’s race, she was pleased with her 13th place on Saturday.
“My skiing felt pretty solid, and only 2 misses is pretty good for a sprint for me,” she wrote of her s8-for-10 shooting (1+1). “13th place is still pretty stellar…”
Asked what it’s been like coming off a world-championship win, Bankes, who hails from Calgary and trains with the Biathlon Alberta Training Centre in Canmore, Alberta, explained she’s received a fair amount of media attention, “especially from back home, or at least way more than I’m used to!” she wrote on Saturday. “I’ve just been trying to focus on the next races, it’s still fairly surreal for me to be Junior World Champ for the individual, so I’m still fairly excited about that, but i’m trying not to get caught up in that and look forward to the next races as well.”
American Siena Ellingson racing to 18th on Saturday in the junior women’s 7.5 k sprint in Osrblie, Slovakia, for her best result in her fourth IBU Youth/Junior World Championships. (Photo: Erik Lewish)
The second North American in the top 20 of Saturday’s sprint, Siena Ellingson of the U.S. posted the first individual top 20 of her career in her fourth Youth/Junior Worlds. She finished 18th, 1:38.7 out of first, with a single standing penalty (0+1).
In an email on Saturday, the 20-year-old Ellingson, of Minnetonka, Minn., explained that she had a tricky zero, which is the standard pre-race target practice.
“The wind was switching back and forth so it was hard to get a good confirmation, I had to leave it where it was and start the race,” she wrote. “Having confidence in shooting is hard after a zero like that, but you just can’t worry about it.”
She was pleased to find her first prone stage had wind similar to what she experienced zeroing, and she was able to hit all of her targets without making any adjustments.
“Standing there was a bit of wind, but the miss was just a miss, not a problem with the wind,” Ellingson wrote. “I crossed the line in 6th, but I had only started bib 19, so there were quite a few fast girls still to finish. It’s always hard to guess where you’ll end up, but I was hoping to stay top 30.
“I’m pretty happy with the race today, but there’s a lot I need to work on in the training season coming up,” she added.
“An impressive result for Siena in a very competitive junior field,” US Biathlon assistant coach Erik Lewish wrote in an email. “Great skiing and shooting even with a crash during the race before her last shooting stage didn’t deter her. I was really proud that she could make her best result ever (and hopefully improve upon it tomorrow) here at her last junior worlds.”
For the pursuit, she wanted to shoot well and enjoy the race. On Sunday, Ellingson started out with a miss in her first prone, then missed six more on the next three stages to end up 41st (+5:24.7), just outside the points, with seven penalties (1+2+1+3).
Two other Canadians qualified for the pursuit, with Nadia Moser starting 31st and Emily Dickson 47th based on their sprint results. In the pursuit, Moser raced to her best result of the week in 30th (+3:43.5) with three penalties (0+1+0+2). Dickson repeated in 47th (+6:29.9) with four penalties (1+0+1+2).
The junior women will race a 3 x 6 k relay on Tuesday, along with the junior men in the 4 x 7.5 k, to conclude the 2017 Youth/Junior World Championships. Start lists were not yet posted.
Heidi Weng and Maiken Caspersen Fall of Norway (center) bested Yulia Belorukova and Natalia Matveeva of Russia (left) for gold in the women’s team sprint at 2017 World Championships, with Sadie Bjornsen and Jessie Diggins of the U.S. (right) outsprinting Sweden for bronze. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Classic team sprints
Defending champions Norway repeated gold in the women’s team sprint, with Heidi Weng and Maiken Caspersen Falla crossing the finish line first in Lahti, Finland. On the second-to-last loop, it looked like Russia could have something to say about that. Yulia Belorukova put in a furious sprint up the course’s biggest climb, and then beat Weng to the exchange. But her teammate Natalia Matveeva could not match the pace when Falla put on her own sprint on the last uphill. Russia finished second for silver, +5.56.
The competition for bronze was closer, with Germany, Finland, Sweden, and the United States going out of the stadium for the last loop together in chase of the Norwegian and Russian leaders. The last climb was defining in the race for bronze, with Jessie Diggins of the United States staying closest to Sweden’s Stina Nilsson. Diggins caught Nilsson on the downhill and was able to stay just ahead of the Swede to the finish, claiming bronze (+18.38) along with teammate Sadie Bjornsen. It was a return to the team sprint podium for Diggins: after winning the team sprint at 2013 World Championships with Kikkan Randall, she teamed up with Sophie Caldwell in 2015 but the pair finished eighth.
Nilsson and Ida Ingemarsdotter settled for fourth (+18.57), and the Finnish team of Aino-Kaisa Saarinen and Kerttu Niskanen finished fifth (+23.02).
The Canadian team of Cendrine Browne and Dahria Beatty was seventh in their semifinal and landed 13th overall.
In the men’s team sprint, Norway set a high pace from the beginning, with phenom Johannes Høsflot Klæbo attacking on the steep uphill every time he skied. On his second and third loops, he tagged off to Emil Iversen with gaps of just over five seconds to the rest of the field. But Iversen had a hard time holding the lead, in part because of Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov, who had won the 30 k skiathlon the day before and put in a huge effort to catch Iversen on the fourth loop of the team sprint.
On the final loop, Finland’s Iivo Niskanen bridged the gap up to Iversen, mostly on the steep uphill and then also with ski speed on the downhill. But the time the pair entered the stadium, Niskanen had caught the Norwegian and was moving with higher speed. He decided to switch tracks to overtake Iversen, but Iversen decided to switch tracks just a second later, without checking one last time to make sure the track was clear. He fell, taking out Niskanen with him.
That allowed Ustiugov and Italy’s Federico Pellegrino to go sailing by to claim gold and silver (+2.14) with their teammates Nikita Kriukov and Dietmar Noeckler. It was the second gold for Russia in the event in three World Championships; Kriukov and Alexey Petukhov won in 2013, and also took silver in 2015.
Niskanen got up and claimed bronze (+8.64 with Sami Jauhojärvi), swearing as he crossed the finish line; with a broken pole, Iversen limped across the line in fourth (+18.42). He was called to a jury meeting but ultimately no teams were disqualified because of the crash.
Erik Bjornsen of the United States won a sprint finish for fifth (+23.58) with teammate Simi Hamilton), besting Lenny Valjas (+27.02 with teammate Alex Harvey) of Canada.
FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Nordic combined 4 x 5 k team event
Germany (Björn Kircheisen, Eric Frenzel, Fabian Rießle, and Johannes Rydzek) took gold in the nordic combined 4 x 5 k team event on Sunday at Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland, while Norway placed second and Austria third. (Photo: FIS Nordic Combined/Twitter)
[UPDATED] After sweeping the first individual nordic-combined competition of 2017 Nordic World Championships on Friday, Germany achieved gold as a team, with Björn Kircheisen, Eric Frenzel, Fabian Rießle, and Johannes Rydzek winning the 4 x 5-kilometer team event in 47:57.3.
The Germans combined for the best jumping score of 11 teams and started the relay in first, 44 seconds ahead of Japan in second. Norway started 1:07 minutes back in fifth but rose to second place (+41.7), with Magnus Moan, Mikko Kokslein, Magnus Krog, and Jørgen Graabak. Moan raced them into third at the first exchange, then Kokslein secured second, which they held onto for the remaining two legs.
“It was our goal to ski a controlled race,” Germany’s Frenzel told ZDF. “Not really look at how the gap was developing, but just make our own race. And put up a little more pressure towards the end of each leg. That worked well, that was a wickedly cool team performance today. And I am just happy that we could put a little golden crown on the whole event today.”
“I think today you could see again that we all worked together and enjoyed the competition,” Rydzek added. “We were all happy about each other’s performance, and just rewarded ourselves for hard hard work.”
Austria started fourth, 1:05 behind Norway, and clinched bronze (+1:03.7) with Bernhard Gruber, Mario Seidl, Philipp Orter, and Paul Gerstgraser. Gruber initially raced them into second at the first exchange, but they relinquished one spot and hung on for third, ahead of Japan in fourth (+1:06).
Japan (Hideaki Nagai, Takehiro Watanabe, Yoshito Watabe, and Akito Watabe) jumped to second, but found themselves in fourth at every exchange.
Finland took fifth, Italy sixth, France seventh, and the U.S. eighth (+3:27.2) with Bryan Fletcher, Taylor Fletcher, Ben Berend, and Ben Loomis. The Americans started the race in seventh and were in sixth after the first two exchanges, but slipped to eighth on the third leg.
IBU Youth/Junior World Championships (Osrblie, Slovakia): Youth & junior pursuits
Four seems to be Chloe Levins’s lucky number. After a career breakthrough of fourth place in the pursuit at last year’s Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Lillehammer, Norway, the 18-year-old Vermonter raced to fourth in the youth women’s 7.5-kilometer pursuit on Sunday at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth/Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia.
Italy’s Irene Lardschneider winning the youth women’s 7.5 k pursuit on Sunday for her second-straight gold at 2017 IBU Youth World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: IBU)
Levins started the race in 11th and worked her way up to fourth with clean shooting in three stages. She missed two in the first prone but rebounded and held off Ukraine’s Khrystyna Dmytrenko by seven seconds for fourth place. Levins finished 1:55.5 minutes behind the winner, Italy’s Irene Lardschneider, who started the race first and held on for her second-straight gold medal despite four penalties (0+0+2+2), finishing in 26:57.1. France’s Lou Jeanmonnot-Laurent rose from fourth to second place with 19-for-20 shooting (0+0+1+0), and Italy’s Samuela Comola took bronze (+1:08.5) for the second-straight race with two misses (1+0+1+0).
Three U.S. women qualified for the pursuit, with Amanda Kautzer finishing 42nd (+6:16.2) after starting 59th and shooting 80 percent (1+0+2+1), and Grace Gilliland finishing 55th (+8:32.1) with six penalties (2+3+1+0).
Canada’s Shilo Rousseau followed in 54th (+9:02.1) with eight misses (3+1+2+2).
In the junior women’s 10 k pursuit, Canada’s Megan Bankes raced to 16th for the best finish for a North American in that race. The gold medalist in last week’s 12.5 k individual, Bankes finished 13th in Saturday’s sprint and thus started in that position, 1:25 out of first. She ended up 16th with four penalties (0+1+2+1) and finished 2:15.8 behind the winner, Russia’s Valeriia Vasnetcova, who started 24th and worked her way all the way up to first with clean shooting.
Vasnetcova was the only one to clean the four-stage pursuit on Sunday, and in doing so, she achieved her first gold of the championships and second of her career at Youth/Junior Worlds after her team won last year’s youth relay in Romania.
Coming off a sprint win, Italy’s Michela Carrara started first and took second at the finish, 10 seconds behind Vasnetcova with three misses (1+1+1+0). Norway’s Ingrid Tandrevold scored her second-straight medal as well, after starting second and finishing third (+10.8), with two penalties (0+0+1+1).
Canada’s Nadia Moser had her best result of the championships in 30th (+3:43.5), moving up one place after starting 31st, with three penalties (0+1+0+2). Emily Dickson finished 47th for the second-straight day (+6:29.9) with four penalties (1+0+1+2).
Siena Ellingson was the lone American to start after placing 18th in Saturday’s sprint. She finished 41st (+5:24.7) with seven misses (1+2+1+3).
In the junior men’s 12.5 k pursuit, Canada’s Pearce Hanna rocketed to 23rd after starting 47th, shooting 17-for-20 after cleaning the first two stages (0+0+1+2) for his first top 30 of the championships. Hanna finished 3:12 behind the winner, Russia’s Igor Malinovskii who picked up his second-straight gold.
Malinovskii started first and finished in 32:39.8, 13 seconds ahead of second place, with four penalties (0+1+2+1). Norway’s Sindre Pettersen took the silver medal after starting in eighth and posting the fastest course time to overcome five misses (2+1+1+1). Belarus’s Anton Smolski moved up from fourth at the start to reach the podium in third (+27.4) with five misses as well (0+0+3+2).
All four Canadian junior men qualified for the pursuit. Trevor Kiers led them in 39th (+5:13.3), after starting 48th, for his best result of the championships. Jules Burnotte placed 43rd (+5:35.3), up from 55th, for his best result as well, and Zachari Bolduc finished 57th (+8:18.3). Kiers missed five targets (2+0+1+2), Burnotte had seven misses (3+1+1+2), and Bolduc missed eight (2+3+2+1).
For the U.S., Cody Johnson finished 55th (+7:19.5) with nine penalties (2+1+2+4) and Travis Cooper 59th (+8:46.2) with eight misses (5+0+1+2).
In the youth men’s 10 k pursuit, the first race of the day on Sunday, two Canadians finished in the top 30, with Leo Grandbois in 22nd and Adam Runnalls in 27th.
For Grandbois, it was his first time outside the top 15 of the championships after he had won the youth men’s 12.5 k individual last Wednesday and finished 14th in Friday’s 7.5 k sprint. He had to ski six penalty loops on Sunday (0+2+2+2), dropping outside the top 20 after the third shooting. Grandbois finished 3:21.8 behind the winner, France’s Emilien Claude, who won the sprint as well to start the pursuit first.
Claude, who had four penalties (1+1+0+2) and finished in 29:22.4, held off Italy’s hard-charging Cedric Christille by 16 seconds after Christille shot just two penalties (0+0+1+1) to move up from fourth to second for his first medal in his first Youth World Championships. Germany’s Danilo Riethmüller rose from sixth to third place (+30.7) despite four misses (1+0+1+2). For the German, it was his second bronze of these championships after placing third in the 12.5 k individual.
Canada’s Runnalls moved up from 32nd at the start to 27th at the finish (+3:47.5) for his first top 30 of the championships. He had five penalties (1+3+1+0), but cleaned the last stage to move into the top 30.
Vasek Cervenka was the lone American to qualify in the youth men’s pursuit, and he moved up from 49th at the start to 30th (+3:52) with five penalties (1+1+1+2).
Canada’s Emily Dickson during a training day at the IBU Junior Cup earlier this season in December in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. (Photo: Bryan Dickson)
In another 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes that will be competing at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia.
Here’s 19-year-old Emily Dickson, of the Biathlon Alberta Training Centre (BATC), who is representing Canada at her fourth Youth/Junior Worlds (first-year junior). She opened the championships with a 28th place in the 12.5 k individual. After placing 47th in Saturday’s sprint, Dickson is racing in the junior women’s 10 k pursuit today.
***
“My full name is Emily Dickson, but you can call me Em. I was born in Burns Lake, B.C., raised in Burns Lake & Prince George, B.C., and one thing you should know about my hometown is that it is also home to one of the oldest ski clubs in Canada (Omineca Ski Club – founded in 1927). In other words, the club has had a lot of time to perfect their trails, go check them out!
I started cross-country skiing shortly after I learned to walk and started biathlon when I was 8, thanks to my dad and my oldest sister, Allie. I currently train in Canmore with the BATCave (Biathlon Alberta Training Centre).
Emily Dickson (Biathlon Alberta Training Centre) on the shooting range during a training session in Canmore, Alberta. (Photo: Richard Boruta)
If I’m not skiing, you might find me jamming to music while also browsing through catalogs of camera equipment that I will probably never be able to afford on an athlete budget… I can dream though, right?
If I had to pick a favourite book, it would be ‘Open Heart, Open Mind’ by Clara Hughes.
One of the things I’m most excited about for Youth/Junior World Championships in Brezno-Osrblie is to put all of the long months of off-season training to the big test, and, of course, to cheer on my awesome teammates as they do the same!!
This will be my fourth Youth/Junior World Championships, and this year, I’m competing as a first year junior. One race I’m especially targeting there is the 10 km pursuit.
The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing or racing was, ‘Stay focused on the process and the outcome will look after itself.’
One of the best race memories I have is when I took the gold medal in the 10 km Pursuit at the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George. The race came down to a sprint finish and it was incredible to be able to share that moment with my friends, family and the entire home crowd.
If I could meet one World Cup skier, it would be Marie Dorin Habert.
If I don’t end up being a professional skier, I’ll probably be … lost? Kidding aside, I’ve got a few different ideas of what I’d like to do after biathlon.. Maybe I’ll fulfill my childhood dream of becoming a firefighter? Or the next host of Top Gear? In any case, I’m hoping to have a few more years before I have to make that decision😉
I’m missing zero days of school to be here, and my teachers/professors are probably thinking, ‘It’s a good thing Emily is taking this photography course online, not on campus!‘
Grace Gilliland (Alaska Biathlon Club/APU Junior Ski Team) on the range. (Photo: Claire Gilliland)
In another 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes that will be competing at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia.
Here’s 16-year-old Grace Gilliland, of the Alaska Biathlon Club and Alaska Pacific University (APU) Junior Ski Team, who is representing the U.S. at her first Youth Worlds. She qualified for today’s youth women’s 7.5 k pursuit with a 46th place in Friday’s sprint, and earlier in the week, she finished 55th in the 10 k individual.
***
“My full name is Grace Gilliland, but you can call me just plain Grace. I was born and raised in Eagle River, Alaska, and one thing you should know about Eagle River is that we have brown bears that try to rip open building doors.
Grace Gilliland (Alaska Biathlon Club/APU Junior Ski Team) during a high-school race at Kincaid Park in Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo: Pat Cooper)
I started cross-country skiing right after I learned how to walk (about two years old), and started biathlon when I was 11, thanks to my oldest brother Simon. I currently train in Anchorage with Alaska Biathlon Club and Alaska Pacific University Junior Ski team.
If I’m not skiing, you might find me camping, halibut fishing, fly fishing, or set netting. Periodically I am found in the garden planting flowers if it’s warm enough outside.
If I had to pick a favorite book, it would be the ‘The Wide, Wide World‘.
One of the things I’m most excited about for Youth/Junior World Championships in Brezno-Osrblie is going with my best friend Helen Wilson.
This will be my first Youth/Junior World Championships, and this year, I’m competing as a youth. One race I’m especially targeting there are ones with very windy conditions, that are hard to shoot in. Windy races are my kinda races😏
The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing or racing was to always load your magazines with warm fingers so they feel better.
One of the best race memories I have is racing my best friend Helen Wilson at a Wednesday night club race in Alaska.
If I could meet one World Cup skier, it would be Susan Dunklee.
I’m missing 8263738591 days of school to be here, and my professors are probably thinking, ‘Woah there.’
The women’s 15 k skiathlon podium at 2017 Nordic World Championships, with Norway’s Marit Bjørgen (c) in first, Finland’s Krista Parmakoski (l) in second, and Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla (r) in third on Saturday in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)
FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): 15/30 k skiathlons
This one’s for you, kid.
Marit Bjørgen became the second relatively new mom to medal in the second race of 2017 Nordic World Championships on Saturday (after American Kikkan Randall earned bronze in Thursday’s freestyle sprint), racking up her 15th World Championships gold in women’s 15-kilometer skiathlon in Lahti, Finland. Bjørgen, a 36-year-old Norwegian team veteran, had her first child a little over a year ago.
In her first full season back, she led Saturday’s 7.5 k classic + 7.5 k freestyle race at the halfway point, where she clicked into her skate skis half a second ahead of Finland’s Krista Parmakoski in second. Parmakoski followed her across the finish for silver, finishing 4.8 seconds off Bjørgen’s winning time of 37:57.5 minutes. For Parmakoski, it was her first individual medal at World Championships after having previously earned four in team events.
Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla picked up her fourth-career World Championships medal in third place (+32.0), and Nathalie von Siebenthal placed fourth (+1:05) for the best result for a Swiss female cross-country skier since since Evi Kratzer earned bronze in 1987 in Oberstdorf, Germany.
Von Siebenthal edged Norway’s Heidi Weng in a photo finish, with Weng finishing another tenth of a second back in fifth (+1:05.1). Right behind them, Austria’s Teresa Stadlober notched sixth (+1:05.4), Russia’s Yulia Tchekaleva seventh (+1:05.7), Norway’s Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen eighth (+1:11.1), Russia’s Anastasia Sedova ninth (+1:15.3), and Japan’s Masako Ishida 10th (+1:21.8).
Two Americans finished in the top 20 with Randall leading them in 17th (+2:09.2) and Liz Stephen placing 20th (+2:12.4). Rosie Brennan cracked the top 30 in 28th (+3:03.2) and Jessie Diggins did not finish.
A World Championships rookie, Cendrine Browne led Canada in 35th (+4:15.5), followed by Emily Nishikawa in 38th (+4:29.3) and Katherine Stewart-Jones in 40th (+4:38.1).
Annika Taylor, a 23-year-old California native who races for Great Britain, finished 41st (+4:49.7). She previously placed 38th in the freestyle sprint qualifier for her best result at her first World Championships.
The men’s Nordic World Championships 30 k skiathlon podium, with Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov (c) in first, Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby (l) in second and Finn Hågen Krogh (r) in third on Saturday in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)
The men’s 30 k skiathlon that followed boiled down to a two-way battle for first between none other than Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov and Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby. The two traded off leading throughout much of the race and together gapped the field around the 20 k mark.
Over the next 10 k, Ustiugov continued to drive the pace. On a pivotal climb less than two minutes before the finish, Sundby attacked, jump skating and seeming to put the hurt on Ustiugov. But that moment was over before it started when Sundby broke his pole against his ski tip and had to stop for a replacement.
The 24-year-old Ustiugov skied away to the win, uncontested yet powering down the finishing stretch to claim his first World Championships gold in 1:09:16.7 hours. He had previously earned bronze with the Russian men’s relay in 2013.
Sundby finished 6.7 seconds later, dropping his arms and head toward the ground as he did so. Norway’s Finn Hågen Krogh came out on top of a five-way fight for third, finishing fourth (+33.1), 31.8 seconds behind Ustiugov and 1.3 seconds ahead of his teammate Sjur Røthe. Krogh put himself in front and proved to have the most finishing kick, ahead of Røthe, Canada’s Alex Harvey (fifth, +33.3), Norway’s Didrik Tønseth (sixth, +33.5), and Sweden’s Marcus Hellner (seventh, +33.7). Russia’s Andrey Larkov fell off the group’s pace and placed eighth (+36.1), Finland’s Lari Lehtonen was ninth (+37.2), and Italy’s 24-year-old World Championships rookie Giandomenico Salvadori broke through in 10th (+37.3).
Three Canadians started the race, with Graeme Killick finishing 47th (+6:23.5) and Knute Johnsgaard 55th (+8:40.2) out of 63.
Tad Elliott was the top American man in 48th (+7:11.2), Kyle Bratrud (+7:16.5) placed 49th and Noah Hoffman 57th (+9:33.6). Ben Lustgarten did not start.
IBU Youth/Junior World Championships (Osrblie, Slovakia): Junior sprints
[UPDATED] Canada’s Megan Bankes and American Siena Ellingson landed in the top 20 of the junior women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint on Saturday at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia. Coming off a victory in Thursday’s 12.5 k individual, Bankes placed 13th and Ellingson achieved her best non-relay result in 18th at her fourth Youth/Junior Worlds.
Italy’s Michela Carrara won the sprint in 20:57.8 minutes with clean shooting (0+0) and the second-fastest course time. Norway’s Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold skied the fastest but came up 15.2 seconds short of gold with one prone penalty (1+0), which put her in second place. France’s Myrtille Bègue reached the podium in third (+31.5) with perfect shooting (0+0), and Austria’s Simone Kupfner shot clean as well for fourth place (+40.8), 9.3 seconds out of third.
Bankes was one of the first out of the gate in bib 4 and missed one on each stage (1+1) and skied the 14th-ranked course time. She ultimately finished 13th (+1:25.3) for her second-best result at her fourth Youth/Junior World Championships.
Ellingson started 19th and cleaned prone before missing one in standing (0+1), to finish 18th (+1:38.7) with the 20th-ranked course time.
Canada’s Nadia Moser scored her first top 40 of these championships in 31st (+2:16.4) with two misses (1+1), her teammate Emily Dickson finished 47th (+3:15.8) with one prone miss (1+0), and the second American racing, Nina Armstrong finished 65th (+6:11.5) with five penalties (2+3).
Russia had two on the podium in Saturday’s junior men’s 10 k sprint at IBU Junior World Championships with Igor Malinovskii (c) in first and Kirill Streltsov (l) in second, sharing the podium with Kazakhstan’s Roman Yeremin (r) in third in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: IBU)
In the junior men’s 10 k sprint, Russia took the two top steps of the podium with Igor Malinovskii in first and Kirill Streltsov in second, after both cleaned the two-stage race.
Malinovskii started later in the field in bib 60 (out of 86) and bested his teammate’s time by 12.2 seconds, finishing in 24:32.2 minutes. Streltsov, who had started 51st and led until that point, took silver and Kazakhstan’s Roman Yeremin notched bronze (+24.9). Despite two misses on his first prone stage (2+0), Yeremin was an early race leader after starting 10th. He bested the time of Belarus’s Anton Smolski, who started fifth, by just 0.2 seconds for third. Smolski settled for fourth, ahead of Germany’s David Zobel (who previously took silver in Thursday’s 15 k individual) in fifth (+38.2).
Cody Johnson was the top American in 46th (+3:02.9), followed by Travis Cooper in 49th (+3:10.7), Cameron Christiansen in 80th (+5:32.4), and Peter Carroll in 82nd (+5:51.6).
Pearce Hanna led the Canadian men in 47th (+3:04.1), ahead of Trevor Kiers in 48th (+3:06.6), Zachari Bolduc in 54th (+3:25.4), and Jules Burnotte in 55th (+3:31.2).
Youth/Junior World Championships continue Sunday with the youth men’s and women’s pursuits.
American Chloe Levins racing to 11th in Friday’s youth women’s 6 k sprint in Osrblie, Slovakia, for her best result in her third IBU Youth/Junior World Championships. It was her second top 15 of the week in Osrblie. (Photo: Erik Lewish)
Rounding the sprint course in Osrblie, Slovakia, on Friday, American Chloe Levins didn’t let her mind wander to what could be. She had cleaned her first prone stage, which put her in contention for a top 10 among the field of 92 in the youth women’s 6-kilometer sprint, and another shooting stage without a miss could mean the race of her life in her second race at the 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth World Championships.
But again, she didn’t go there. Levins, an 18-year-old Middlebury College freshman from Rutland, Vt., had already captured a Youth Worlds career best in 14th in the 10 k individual two days earlier on Wednesday. After knocking down her first three standing targets, Levins missed her fourth shot before hitting the last one. She had to ski a penalty lap, yet heading out on the final loop, she was still in contention for a top 10.
“Attaining a career-best Jr. Worlds result never crossed my mind during the race,” Levins wrote in an email after. “Before heading out on the last loop, I was completely focussed on getting my toe across the finish line as fast as I possibly could.”
An early starter in bib 9, she initially finished second to Austria’s Anna Gandler, 33.2 seconds of Gandler’s time. While the Austrian would remain on the podium and ultimately place second, Levins dropped to 11th by the end of the race, 1:39.7 behind the winner (Italy’s Irene Lardschneider) for Levins’s second-straight top 15 of the week. More importantly, it was her new career best.
“There were a lot of strong athletes that started behind me, so I maintained no result-based expectations,” Levins wrote. “It stings to see the top six within five seconds of me, but I didn’t leave anything out there.”
She was less than nine seconds out of fourth place.
“In both races so far she has been within ‘striking distance’ of the podium, which means she in the mix with some of best girls of her age,” US Biathlon assistant coach Erik Lewish wrote in an email.
Conditions haven’t been easy in Osrblie with everything from wind to rain to slush, and on Friday, racers had to manage shooting in variable winds. Fortunately for Levins, the wind was relatively calm for both her shooting stages, she wrote.
“Every race is a learning experience, and Junior Worlds is no different,” she continued. “Despite being a little frustrated with a couple shots, I took a lot of positives from Wednesday’s [individual] race. Today, I really focused on working through transitions on the track I thought I could improve upon.”
She’ll start the youth women’s 7.5 k pursuit on Sunday in 11th, 1:40 behind Lardschneider in first and just two seconds out of 10th place.
“I think Sunday’s pursuit race will play to her strengths well,” Lewish wrote. “It is a short ski loop (only 1.5k for the youth) which puts extra emphasis on the shooting and she has been shooting extremely well at these world championships, despite some challenging wind conditions.”
Chloe Levins celebrates as she crosses the Youth Olympic Games finish line in fourth place in the 7.5 k pursuit. (Photo: Al Tielemans for YIS/IOC)
“She has also been skiing well despite two days of rain and deteriorating loops conditions,” Lewish wrote. “Two years ago in Minsk at the Junior World Champs she shot clean in the sprint and finished 18th, now with one miss (and the 20th fastest ski time) she is 11th here in Osrblie, so she has improved a lot since her first world champs.
“Despite being a full-time student at Middlebury College, she still finds time to get biathlon workouts in with Algis Shalna — who introduced her to biathlon,” he added. “I think these performances here show that she is ready to make the jump to the junior category next year.”
“Studying while abroad is not easy for anyone,” Levins explained in an email earlier in the week. “Two of my other teammates, Amanda [Kautzer] and Nina [Armstrong], are also student-athletes at the collegiate level, so we spend a lot of our free time studying together. Speaking for myself, I believe having something besides sport to do during the day is healthy for a person’s preparation and mindset before any competition.”
Asked about her goals for Sunday’s pursuit, she emphasized that she’d be focusing on Saturday first.
“Overall, I’m feeling confident and relaxed,” she wrote. “The focus right now is on tomorrow [Saturday], and tomorrow is all about recovery. It’s biathlon; everything is possible.”
After starting 17th, Lardschneider won the race by a resounding 1:06.5 minutes with 19-for-20 shooting (0+1), just like Levins. She knocked Gandler to second, where Gandler would remain after shooting one penalty as well (0+1). Italy’s second skier on the podium, Samuela Comola was one of two women to clean the two-stage race, and she finished 1:18.1 back in third. (Finland’s Maija Keränen also shot clean for 13th.)
Lardschneider will start the pursuit with 1:07 minute ahead of Gandler, and Comola will follow 11 seconds later. After that, the fourth starter, Slovenia’s Tais Vozel, will lead a group of eight women all starting within nine seconds of one another, 1:31 behind Lardschneider.
Also qualifying for the 60-woman pursuit, Canada’s Shilo Rousseau placed 45th (+4:08.0) in the sprint with three penalties (0+3). Three Americans qualified as well, with Grace Gilliland finishing 55th (+4:35.2) with four misses (1+3) and Amanda Kautzer 59th (+4:42.7) with six penalties (3+3) on Friday.
The fourth U.S. woman, Helen Wilson missed the top-60 requirement in 67th (+5:10.0) with four misses (2+2).
Canada’s Frédérique Pérusse finished 73rd (+5:48.2) with four misses (1+3), Anna Sellers was 82nd (+6:47.2) with six penalties (4+2), and Élise Sauvé was 86th (+7:41.7) with six misses (3+3) as well.
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Canada’s Leo Grandbois racing to 14th in the youth men’s 7.5 k sprint on Friday in Osrblie, Slovakia, for his second-best result at his first IBU Youth World Championships after winning the 12.5 k individual two days earlier. (Photo: Jacqueline Akerman)
In the youth men’s 7.5 k sprint on Friday, Leo Grandbois — Canada’s gold medalist in the 12.5 k individual two days earlier — finished 14th, 1:52.9 out of first with three penalties (1+2). With the 10th-fastest overall course time, he was able to recover from skiing around 30th with two loops to go. Despite two misses in standing, he left the range with the 14th-ranked split and held that position to the finish.
“Because I won the last race, I felt the obligation to repeat this performance,” Grandbois, 17, wrote in an email afterward. “Otherwise I would not be as happy, even if I would have done a top 5.”
He didn’t feel as good as he had in Wednesday’s individual and recalled “suffering” on the last loop. Considering he wasn’t at his best, Grandbois noted that 14th place was “quite good.”
“I think it just says that I am quite strong even [during] a bad race,” he added. “For the pursuit, I am looking forward to earning positions. I am starting 1 min 53 sec back, and 1 min [8] sec back from the podium. It is long way there but I don’t want to make the mistakes I did last race.”
Leading the youth men out in Sunday’s 10 k pursuit will be France’s Emilien Claude, who won the sprint in 20:18.3. He started 25th and bumped Ukraine’s Serhiy Telen, the 10th starter, out of first by 25.2 seconds. Claude shot two misses (1+1) but overcame them with the fastest course time. Telen held onto silver after one standing miss (0+1) after Norway’s Sivert Guttorm Bakken in bib 39 finished third, 19.4 seconds off his time and 44.6 seconds behind Claude, with two penalties (1+1). For the second-straight race, Italy’s Cedric Christille narrowly missed a medal in fourth place (+52.0) after two standing penalties (0+2).
In the pursuit, Claude will start 25 seconds before Telen and 45 seconds ahead of Bakken. Grandbois will start with Russia’s Said Karimulla Khalili, who placed 13th in the sprint (and second in the individual), and just 3 seconds behind Switzerland’s Niklas Hartweg in 12th. Ahead of them, it’s another eight seconds to 11th place.
Also qualifying for the pursuit are Canada’s Adam Runnalls, who placed 32nd (+2:46.8) in the sprint despite five misses (3+2), and American Vasek Cervenka, who finished 49th (+3:37.1) with six penalties (4+2).
As for the other three U.S. starters, Alex Kilby was 69th (+4:47.4) with three misses (1+2), Jacob Pearson 76th (+5:07.1) with five penalties (2+3), and Camren Nielsen 82nd (+5:18.8) with five misses as well (3+2).
Canada’s Robert Kreitz finished 84th (+5:37.2) with five penalties (1+4) and Thomas Hulsman was 87th (+5:58.6) with six misses (3+3).
Peter Carroll (Auburn Ski Club) exploring the back roads of Park City, Utah, during a training camp in October. (Photo: Maddie Morgan)
In another 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes that will be competing at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia.
Here’s Peter Carroll, of the Auburn Ski Club, who celebrated his 20th birthday on Friday and is representing the U.S. at his second Youth/Junior Worlds. On Thursday, he finished 79th in the junior men’s 15-kilometer individual and was 82nd in the 10 k sprint on Saturday.
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“My full name is Peter Myung-Ho Park Carroll but you can call me Galactic President Superstar Freaking McAwesome, Hot Pants, or Peter… Whichever you prefer…. Or can say the quickest…
I was born in Daejeon, South Korea, raised in Truckee, Calif., aka, The Coolest Place on Earth, and one thing you should know about my hometown is that yes, even though it’s in California, we get some of the best snowfall in the US, you know, when we get snow…….
I started cross-country skiing when I was 13 and started biathlon when I was 15, thanks to Sam Zabel, one of my best friends and training partners, and Glenn Jobe, former Olympian and a straight-up awesome, awesome coach. I also owe a huge debt to Mark Nadell, to whom many in my hometown know as Marky Mark, or Captain Nordic. I owe a lot to Mark, thanks Coach. Mark Nadell recently passed away from a battle with cancer. Thank you Mark. Rest easy, this ones for you.
American Peter Carroll leaving the range after a clean shoot during the 10th Mountain Division race on Jan. 5 at Auburn Ski Club near Truckee, Calif. (Photo: Paige Derdowski)
I currently train in Truckee at Auburn Ski Club.
If I’m not skiing, you might find me watching ‘How I Met Your Mother’ and dry firing. I find its really hard to keep good position and have a good trigger squeeze when I can’t help but laugh at that show. It’s great training, but whenever I tell my mom what I’m doing she just rolls her eyes at me.
If I had to pick a favorite book, it would be ‘The Power of One’. Or the encyclopedia, I’ve never had a book that made me enjoy other books as much as the encyclopedia.
One of the things I’m most excited about for Youth/Junior World Championships in Brezno-Osrblie is my birthday on the 24th, I’ll be turning 20! Oh and I’m really excited to race against some fast skiers, too! This will be my second Youth/Junior World Championships, and this year, I’m competing as a junior.
One race I’m especially targeting there is the individual. Hopefully I can ride off of some of Lowell Bailey’s recent success and deliver a solid race with good shooting!
The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing and racing was my first day on skis, my first coach Mark Nadell, told me that I ski like my pants were on fire. He gave me the nickname Hot Pants. He then told me that I actually need to focus on the technique behind the sport and said, ‘A flat ski, is a fast ski’, I repeat that to myself every time I ski, over and over and over and over.
One of the best race memories I have was my third year of ski racing, I qualified first overall for U18s at the Super JNQ in Soldier Hollow, Utah. It was a classic sprint and I had to wear a bike helmet because I had a couple concussions within a year. I called it my speed bucket, it was where I kept my extra speed! I didn’t work very well because I ended up finishing 4th overall in the sprints, but I had a blast the entire day, and got a lot of weird looks for racing around in a pink and blue helmet.
If I could meet one World Cup skier, it would be Justine Braisaz. I have a celebrity crush on her.
If I don’t end up being a professional skier, I’ll probably be a professional travel bum, I love going to new places. I’d buy a van and turn it into a miniature home and travel as far and as wide as I could! Either that or I would pursue a career as a coach, I love getting out on snow with younger athletes and showing them how much fun this sport can be. I mean, who doesn’t love dashing through powder on nordic skis? Or making up silly rules while you ski, like say, you see a skier who is wearing blue and everyone has to ski backwards until either everyone falls over or you see another skier?
I’m missing about -500 days of school to be here, and my old teachers/professors are probably thinking, ‘Why in the heck hasn’t this kid gone to college already?’
You can follow me on Instagram if you’d like to see poorly edited photos and bad shaky video clips @partyxc_pete.”
Canada’s Nadia Moser competing in the pursuit race at 2017 Junior Open European Championships last month in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. (Photo: Emily Dickson)
In another 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes that will be competing at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia.
Here’s 19-year-old Nadia Moser, of the Biathlon Alberta Training Centre, who is representing Canada at her second Youth/Junior Worlds. On Saturday, Moser placed 31st in the junior women’s 7.5 k sprint after finishing 41st in the 12.5 k individual on Thursday.
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Nadia Moser racing in the youth individual race at 2016 IBU Youth/Junior World Championships in Cheile Gradestei, Romania. (Photo: Bryan Dickson)
“My full name is Nadia Moser, but you can call me Nadia. I was born in Edmonton, Alberta, raised in Atlin, British Columbia, and one thing you should know about my hometown is that it is home to North America’s tallest fresh-water island.
I started cross-country skiing when I was very young and started biathlon when I was 14, thanks to a family friend’s recommendation.
I currently train in Canmore, Alberta, with the Biathlon Alberta Training Centre (BATC).
If I’m not skiing, you might find me reading or drawing.
If I had to pick a favorite book, it would be ‘The Golden Compass‘.
One of the things I’m most excited about for Youth/Junior World Championships in Brezno-Osrblie is racing.
This will be my second Youth/Junior World Championships, and this year, I’m competing as a junior. One race I’m especially targeting there is all of them. I don’t have specific race in mind.
The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing or racing was to just focus on my own race.
One of the best race memories I have is… I can’t think of any particular race moment that really stands out.
If I could meet one World Cup skier, it would be Laura Dahlmeier.
If I don’t end up being a professional skier, I’ll probably be some kind of artist.
Germany’s Johannes Rydzek celebrates his win in the first nordic-combined competition of 2017 Nordic World Championships on Friday in Lahti, Finland. He won the individual normal hill/10 k by 14.9 seconds over his teammate Eric Frenzel. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Nordic Combined individual normal hill/10 k
Germany, Germany, Germany, Germany. That’s how the results read after the first nordic combined competition of the 2017 Nordic World Championships on Friday in Lahti, Finland, with Germany not only sweeping the podium but the top four of the men’s individual normal hill/10-kilometer Gundersen start.
Germany swept the podium in the first nordic-combined competition of 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland, with Johannes Rydzek (c) taking gold, Eric Frenzel (1) silver, and Björn Kircheisen (8) bronze in the individual normal hill/10 k Gundersen on Friday. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Johannes Rydzek notched his second individual gold medal in the last two championships (after winning the normal hill/10 k in 2015 in Falun, Sweden), with a 14.9-second victory over his teammate and four-time defending overall World Cup champion Eric Frenzel. Björn Kircheisen completed the all-German podium in third (+30.0), holding off teammate Fabian Rießle by 2.2 seconds for bronze.
The 25-year-old Rydzek, who’s already won eight individual World Cup competitions this season, jumped to second on Friday and started the 10 k race 14 seconds behind Frenzel, the leader after the jump.
Rydzek overtook Frenzel for the win and 33-year-old Kircheisen moved up from eighth after the jump to third at the finish. Rießle held off Japan’s Akito Watabe by 0.1 seconds in a photo finish for fourth.
“Incredible. An incredibly beautiful day,” Rydzek told German broadcaster ZDF after. “Thanks to everyone who supported me so much throughout the last years so that this became possible now. Thanks also to my teammates, who I think all did a cool job today. All three guys and the whole surrounding team. And as for the race, I felt strong, I knew the slow-and-difficult course suits me well. And that I was able to conduct the race from in front … incredible. Just craziness.”
“I noticed that Johannes was just strong on the course today,” Frenzel, 28, told ZDF. “Actually we already noticed that at the World Cup in January here, that he is really moving well here. I, for my part, gave everything I had, and can only congratulate him for the strong competition he made today. He won deservedly. And I am also satisfied with my race.”
American Bryan Fletcher leading Japan’s Yoshito Watabe early in the men’s 10 k Gundersen start in the first nordic-combined competition of 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland. Fletcher went on to place 14th and Yoshito Watabe 44th. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Bryan Fletcher led the Americans in 14th (+47.4) after crashing out of contention in the final 200 meters of the race. He had been in contention for a medal, skiing in a pack with Kircheisen, Rießle and Watabe, among others, all fighting for bronze. Fletcher fell on the final corner to ultimately miss the podium by 17.4 seconds. He jumped to 16th and started the ski race 56 seconds out of first.
“I knew it was going to be a hard cross-country race because it was so tight and pack racing is always so difficult,” Fletcher said, according to a U.S. Ski Team press release. “You’re not only fighting for position, but anything can happen. That’s exactly what happened to me today. I did really well in the pack and when I thought I had it locked up, I let my guard down and slipped out on a corner.”
His younger brother Taylor Fletcher posted the third-fastest cross-country time to race from 47th after the jump to 21st at the finish (+1:38.4). Adam Loomis placed 33rd (+2:23.6) after jumping to 39th, and Ben Berend finished 41st (+3:10.8) after posting the 22nd-best jump out of 55.
Canada’s Nathaniel Mah, of the Altius Nordic Ski Club in Calgary, jumped to 41st but did not finish the 10 k race.
The next nordic-combined event at Lahti Worlds, the 4 x 5 k team event, will be contested Sunday.
American Bryan Fletcher (16) after finishing 14th in the normal hill/10 k Gundersen on Friday, the first nordic-combined competition of 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland. He had been in the hunt for a medal but crashed on the final corner coming into the stadium. Behind him, Austria’s David Pommer finished 16th. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
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IBU Youth/Junior World Championships (Osrblie, Slovakia): Youth men’s and women’s sprints
Italy had two on the podium of the youth women’s 6 k sprint on Friday at IBU Youth World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia, with Irene Lardschneider (c) in first, Samuela Comola (r) in third, and Austria’s Anna Gandler (l) taking second place. (Photo: IBU)
[UPDATED] Italy’s Irene Lardschneider dominated the youth women’s 6-kilometer sprint competition on Friday at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia, finishing 1:06.5 minutes faster than anyone else in 19:48.3 with 9-for-10 shooting. Lardschneider started 17th and led from start to finish despite one miss in her standing stage (0+1). She posted the fastest course time of 92 finishers for gold — her first medal in her first Youth World Championships. She previously raced at last year’s Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Lillehammer, Norway, where she earned a bronze medal with the mixed relay and placed 14th in the pursuit.
Also in the 2016 YOG pursuit, American Chloe Levins placed fourth for her best international finish. Racing at her third Youth Worlds on Friday, Levins finished 11th in the sprint to lead the North Americans. Like Lardschneider, Levins cleaned prone and missed one in standing (0+1) to finish 1:39.7 back from the win. For Levins, it was her second top 15 in as many races at these championships, after placing 14th in the youth women’s 10 k individual on Wednesday.
Sharing the podium with Lardschneider, Austria’s Anna Gandler placed second (+1:06.5) with one penalty (0+1), and Italy had two on the podium with Samuela Comola in third (+1:18.1). Comola was one of two women to clean the two-stage race; the other being Finland’s Maija Keränen in 13th (+1:40.9).
Shilo Rousseau led Canada in 45th (+4:08.0) with three penalties (0+3). Frédérique Pérusse finished 73rd (+5:48.2) with four misses (1+3), Anna Sellers was 82nd (+6:47.2) with six penalties (4+2), and Elise Sauve was 86th (+7:41.7) with six misses (3+3) as well.
For the U.S., Grace Gilliland placed 55th (+4:35.2) with four misses (1+3), Amanda Kautzer was 59th (+4:42.7) with six penalties (3+3) and Helen Wilson 67th (+5:10.0) with four misses (2+2).
The youth men’s 7.5 k sprint at 2017 IBU Youth World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia, with France’s Emilien Claude (c) in first, Ukraine’s Serhiy Telen (l) in second, and Norway’s Sivert Guttorm Bakken (r) in third. (Photo: IBU)
In the youth men’s 7.5 k sprint, France’s Emilien Claude put down the fastest course time to over two penalties for the win, besting Ukraine’s Serhiy Telen who started ahead of him, by 25.2 seconds.
Claude missed one shot in each stage (1+1) and finished in 20:18.3, bumping Telen to second where he would remain after shooting one penalty (0+1). Norway’s Sivert Guttorm Bakken reached the podium in third (+44.6) despite two misses (1+1) and for the second-straight race, Italy’s Cedric Christille narrowly missed a medal in fourth (+52.0) after two standing penalties (0+2).
Coming off a gold medal in the youth men’s 12.5 k individual, Canada’s Leo Grandbois finished 14th (+1:52.9) on Friday to lead the North Americans. He had to ski three penalty loops (1+2) and posted the 10th-fastest course time of 99 finishers.
Also for Canada, Adam Runnalls placed 32nd (+2:46.8) despite five misses (3+2), Robert Kreitz was 84th (+5:37.2) with five penalties (1+4) as well, and Thomas Hulsman 87th (+5:58.6) with six misses (3+3).
For the U.S., Vasek Cervenka finished 49th (+3:37.1) with six penalties (4+2), Alex Kilby was 69th (+4:47.4) with three misses (1+2), Jacob Pearson 76th (+5:07.1) with five penalties (2+3), and Camren Nielsen 82nd (+5:18.8) with five misses as well (3+2).
Youth/Junior World Championships continue Saturday with the junior men’s and women’s sprints.
Amanda Kautzer (Michigan Tech/Loppet Nordic Racing) competing at 2017 U.S. nationals last month at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. (Photo: Jackie Schneider)
In another 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes that will be competing at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia.
Here’s 18-year-old Amanda Kautzer, of Michigan Tech and Loppet Nordic Racing, who is representing the U.S. at her third Youth Worlds. On Wednesday, Kautzer placed 53rd in the youth women’s 10 k individual and on Friday, she was 59th in the 6 k sprint.
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“My full name is Amanda Rose Kautzer, but you can call me Amanda, Mandy, whatever works. I was born in Singapore and raised in Plymouth, Minn.
American Amanda Kautzer racing at an IBU Junior Cup earlier this month in Pokljuka, Slovenia. (Photo: Vladimir Cervenka)
I started cross-country skiing when I was 12 and started biathlon when I was 14, thanks to my coach Piotr Bednarski. I currently train in Houghton, Mich., and Plymouth with the Michigan Tech Nordic Ski team and Loppet Nordic Racing, respectively.
If I’m not skiing, you might find me skiing (the other kind). If I had to pick a favorite book, it would be ‘The Name of the Wind‘.
One of the things I’m most excited about for Youth/Junior World Championships in Brezno-Osrblie is fast skis from great wax techs. This will be my third Youth/Junior World Championships, and this year, I’m competing as a youth.
One race I’m especially targeting there is ummmm all of them of course.
The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing or racing was: ski fast (thanks Dad, super insightful, later changed to: ski faster than everyone else).
One of the best race memories I have is getting silver in a skate sprint despite breaking a pole in the heats.
If I could meet one World Cup skier, it would be Laura Dahlmeier.
If I don’t end up being a professional skier, I’ll probably be a ski coach and do triathlons.
I’m missing 36 days of school to be here, and my professors are probably thinking, ‘Are you in my class? I haven’t seen you there, not even once.’
Frédérique Pérusse (Myriam Bédard Biathlon Centre) racing earlier this month in La Patrie, Quebec. (Courtesy photo)
In another 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes that will be competing at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia.
Here’s 15-year-old Frédérique Pérusse, of Centre De Biathlon Myriam Bédard (the Myriam Bédard Biathlon Centre), who’s representing Canada at her first Youth Worlds. In her first two races of the championships, she’s placed 73rd in Friday’s 6-kilometer sprint and 77th in Wednesday’s 10 k individual.
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“My full name is Frédérique-Karia Pérusse, but you can call me Fred. I was born in Quebec City, raised in Levis and one thing you should know about my hometown is that it is really charming!
Frédérique Pérusse (Myriam Bédard Biathlon Centre) racing at Canada’s 2017 IBU Youth/Junior World Championships trials. (Courtesy photo)
I started cross-country skiing when I was 11-ish and started biathlon when I was 9, thanks to my big sister, Marie-Maxime.
I currently train in Valcartier at the Myriam Bédard biathlon center.
If I’m not skiing, you might find me in school.
If I had to pick a favorite book, it would be ‘Ready Player One’ by Ernest Cline.
One of the things I’m most excited about Youth/Junior World Championships in Brezno-Orsblie is to get to see/meet biathletes from all around the globe!!
This will be my very first Youth/Junior World Championships, and this year, I’m competing as a youth. One race I’m especially targeting there is the 6 km sprint.
The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing or racing was to not let your personal life disturb your professional one, it’s no time to think about your problems on the range.
One of the best race memories I have is when I won the silver medal in the 6 km sprint at the 2016 biathlon nationals.
Frédérique Pérusse (Myriam Bédard Biathlon Centre) at her training base in Valcartier, Quebec. (Courtesy photo)
If I could meet one World Cup skier, it would be Dorothea Wierer for sure because she is such an inspiration and I look up to her.
If I don’t end up being a professional skier, I’ll probably be a coach or something else that is related to sport.
I’m missing 6 weeks of school to be here, and my teachers are probably thinking, ‘Shit‘.
Canada’s Megan Bankes flashes a smile and her gold medal after winning the junior women’s 12.5 k at IBU Junior World Championships on Thursday in Osrblie, Slovakia. individual podium on Thursday at IBU Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia. Joining her on the podium are Austria’s silver medalist Julia Schwaiger (l) and Germany’s bronze-medalist Anna Weidel (r). (Photo: Jacqueline Akerman)
(Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Megan Bankes.)
Just to review:
2004: Jean-Philippe “JP” Le Guellec becomes first Canadian to win an International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth World Championships title (in the youth men’s sprint).
2009: Kurtis Wenzel becomes second Canadian to win at IBU Youth Worlds, with a gold medal in the youth men’s sprint.
2012: Wenzel does it again as a junior, winning the 15-kilometer individual at IBU Junior Worlds.
One day later: Megan Bankes repeats the 20-for-20 shooting feat in the junior women’s 12.5 k individual in Osrblie and becomes Canada’s first woman to win at Youth/Junior World Championships.
And just like Grandbois, Bankes had never hit 20 consecutive targets without a miss in a race before. In fact, she had never cleaned a race of any length before. Doing so earned her a gold medal in her first race of her fourth Youth/Junior Worlds.
Megan Bankes racing to an unprecedented gold for a Canadian woman in the junior women’s 12.5 k individual on Thursday at 2017 IBU Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: Bryan Dickson)
“I watched Leo yesterday and gained a lot of inspiration from him,” Bankes said, according to a Biathlon Canada press release. “I saw how calm he was on the range and just felt if he can do it then I can, too. I just wanted to go out there – shoot clean and ski fast.”
As the 19th starter in a field of nearly 70 women, the 19-year-old Bankes, who trains with the Biathlon Alberta Training Centre (BATC) in Canmore, set down the performance to beat with clean shooting and a finishing time of 37:22.0 minutes. She bumped Germany’s Anna Weidel, the 13th starter, to second place with a time that was 1 minute and 20 seconds faster. Weidel had missed just one shot — still an impressive performance in a four-stage race — in the first standing stage (0+1+0+0). Each miss adds a minute penalty to a racer’s total time.
“I was incredibly stoked to clean my last standing, and then knew I just had to push super hard up the last 2 hills and ski smart all the way to the finish,” Bankes wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “When I crossed the finish line I was really excited, but I didn’t really think my result would hold up because there were a few girls who were skiing fast and had hit 15/15, but then when a bunch of them started missing, and I realized my position was going to hold, it was incredible.”
Her overall course time ranked 11th, comparable with the two women she ended up sharing the podium with. Weidel was ultimately pushed to third when Austria’s Julia Schwaiger in bib 26 finished 32.1 seconds faster for silver. With one costly miss in her final standing stage (0+0+0+1), Schwaiger’s finishing time was 47.9 seconds short of gold.
Canada’s Megan Bankes takes a bite out of her gold medal after winning the junior women’s 12.5 k individual at 2017 IBU Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia, and becoming the first Canadian woman to do so at Biathlon Youth/Junior Worlds. (Photo: Airat Aitniakov)
That medal went to Bankes, one of five women in the race to hit every target.
“I shot with a lot of confidence today. It came really easy,” Bankes told Biathlon Canada.
But, as there usually is, there was a backstory on Thursday.
“She had a what she said was a ‘horrific’ zero,” her coach Richard Boruta explained of her pre-race target practice, in an email co-written with Canada’s trip leader/head coach Jacqueline Akerman.
Boruta tried to calm Bankes down, assuring her that she had the self confidence to execute strong shooting.
“My coach Richard just told me to go out pretty hard and not lose too many seconds up the first couple hills, and then settle into my race,” Bankes recalled in the email. “The range entry is pretty easy, because you’ve got a bit of downhill into it, so you can push pretty much as hard as you want (or can).”
“Megan had been focused the whole day on the race and she new what she needed to do and was able to pull it through,” the two coaches wrote. “The trail conditions and weather have been challenging with all the rain and slush, but Megan managed to ski very tactically along the flats and paced herself well on the two major climbs in the course.”
According to them, one of Bankes’s longtime goals had been a top eight at these championships. That changed after she broke through on the IBU Junior Cup earlier this month, placing second in the 10 k pursuit at IBU Junior European Championships in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. After that, she visualized herself in the top five, maybe top three, in her first year as a junior at world championships. Bankes had previously notched 18th in the pursuit and 19th in the individual at last year’s Youth World Championships in Romania.
“Junior OECH was a pretty big confidence boost, but coming into the race, I didn’t totally know what to expect,” Bankes wrote. “I knew that if I had a really good day on the range and on the course, then I could do well, and maybe podium, but I didn’t really imagine that I would hit 20/20, and win!”
Individual-format races require solid shooting and fast skiing, just like any biathlon race, but the one-minute penalties as opposed to penalty laps put an emphasis on shooting accuracy.
“I can’t say they have ever been my strong suit!” Bankes wrote of individual-format races. “So for me the goal was to start pretty fast on skis, stay calm in the range, and then see what happened.”
“After I got the silver [in Nove Mesto], I knew if I shot and skied well, I could get a medal here,” she told Biathlon Canada. “It takes a long time to get to this point. I think having been here [at Youth/Junior Worlds] four times now I have the experience to do this. I have everything around me here that I need to be successful.
“It is pretty exciting,” she added. “This is the first time I’ve shot 20 for 20. It never crossed my mind, but to be the first Canadian [woman] to win is very cool.”
According Akerman and Boruta, they had anticipated that Grandbois and Bankes would have “a respectable chance” at a medal, along with other team members as well. But two gold medals in two days?
“We have had good results and medals in the past, but it has been up and down with a few top athletes hitting the top 10 or reaching the podium,” they wrote. “Now we see the group as a whole rising together.”
Megan Bankes (second from l) with her Canadian support crew, including her former coach Tyson Smith (c), wax techs Andrew Chisholm (l) and Andrzej Lesnik (second from r) and Canada’s trip leader/head coach Jacqueline Akerman (r), after Bankes won the junior women’s 12.5 k individual for Canada’s second gold medal of 2017 IBU Youth/Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: Airat Aitniakov)
They credited “consistent and qualified coaching support in yearly developmental stages”, and explained that Bankes started the sport with coach Iaroslav Khomiak at Foothills Nordic in Calgary. She was later coached by Tyson Smith (Nathan Smith’s brother, who is assisting the team at Youth/Junior Worlds) before joining the BATC group in Canmore in 2015.
Last summer, Biathlon Canada launched a funded “Shooting Stars” camp, which brought national-team staff and coaches together with athletes and their coaches in Canmore. The team also added IBU Junior Cup tours to the schedule to give young athletes opportunities to experience international competition in Europe and “get to know each other before WYJCHs.”
“My observations of this current group; they are pretty grounded, are very motivated, focused and are they are both pushing and supporting each other in all aspects of their performance,” Akerman and Boruta wrote.
So what does two gold-medal performances mean for Canada?
“There is now a great opportunity for an greater amount of exposure for our athletes and our sport,” the coaches wrote. “… More solid results ahead for us this week, there are other realistic opportunities within the group. The whole team, including staff are motivated and focused for that. … Of course Leo and Megan have both shown what they are capable of, and will be eager for more. Right behind those two in our Jr Women and Youth Men categories are others skilled enough to be right up there with them. Our youth women are a younger crew, but are learning and applying new skills daily, so I am excited to see some PB’s from them tomorrow. The relays also present us with exciting and realistic chances of podiums, it will continue to be an exciting week and championships!”
Canada’s Emily Dickson (66) racing to 28th for her first top 30 at IBU Junior World Championships in the women’s 12.5 k individual in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: Jacqueline Akerman)
In the junior women’s race, Canada had two in the points (top 40) and one just outside with Emily Dickson in 28th (+4:21.3) with one miss (0+1+0+0). Nadia Moser finished 41st (+5:55.8) with four penalties (2+0+0+2). Charlotte Hamel did not finish.
For the U.S., Siena Ellingson placed 50th (+7:11.5) with four penalties (0+1+2+1) and Nina Armstrong 65th (+14:15.3) with eight misses (4+1+2+1).
Earlier in the day, the junior men raced a 15 k individual, which Norway’s Sindre Pettersen won in 40:17.2 minutes. He started 68th and cleaned three-straight stages before missing two on his last standing (0+0+0+2), but managed a 51.2-second win over Germany’s David Zobel. An early leader in bib 26, Zobel had three penalties (0+2+1+0) yet his time held up for silver despite a challenge from Russia’s late starter Nikita Lobastov (bib 84). Lobastov shot 19-for-20 (0+1+0+0) and finished just four seconds short of Zobel for third place (+55.2).
Only one athlete in the junior men’s race cleaned: Latvia’s Ingus Deksnis in fifth.
In his first year as a junior, Canada’s Zachari Bolduc led the North Americans in 34th (+3:44.7) with two penalties (1+0+0+1). He later told FasterSkier his goal had been a top 30, and he was 8.4 seconds short of it on Thursday.
“I’m happy with this shooting but I was very very slow on my skis,” Bolduc wrote in an email. “The course was a mix of soft snow, ice and slush so it was not easy conditions! I hope I will have better feelings on my skis for the sprint. But, I’m happy with my race today!”
He was followed by Canadian teammates Trevor Kiers and Jules Brunette in 54th (+5:21.6) and 55th (+5:27.4), respectively, after each shot five penalties. Pearce Hanna finished 65th (+6:38) with seven misses (1+2+2+2).
The top American on Thursday was Cody Johnson in 50th (+5:08.3) with two penalties, both in the last stage (0+0+0+2). Cameron Christiansen followed in 72nd (+8:10.6) with six penalties (1+1+2+2), and Peter Carroll was 79th (+10:36.4) with four misses (0+3+0+1). Travis Cooper did not start.
The youth men’s and women’s sprints are scheduled for Friday in Osrblie.
Megan Bankes racing to gold in the junior women’s 12.5 k individual on Thursday at 2017 IBU Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: Bryan Dickson)
Megan Bankes racing to gold in the junior women’s 12.5 k individual on Thursday at 2017 IBU Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: Bryan Dickson)
Canada’s Megan Bankes after winning her first race of 2017 IBU Junior World Championships: the women’s 12.5 k individual in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: Bryan Dickson)
The junior women’s 12.5 k individual podium on Thursday at IBU Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia, with Canada’s gold medalist Megan Bankes (c), Austria’s Julia Schwaiger (l) in second and Germany’s Anna Weidel (r) in third. (Photo: Airat Aitniakov)
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