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.
Susan Dunklee (US Biathlon) celebrating second place in the women’s 12.5 k mass start on the final day of 2017 IBU World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria. It was her first World Championships medal. (Photo: US Biathlon/Twitter)
IBU World Championships (Hochfilzen, Austria): Women’s & men’s mass starts
Silver medal for Susan Dunklee. That’s the big news coming out of Hochfilzen, Austria, on the final day of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Championships after the American finished second, just 4.6 seconds out of first, in the women’s 12.5-kilometer mass start.
Dunklee started in bib 17 in the mass start and cleaned all 20 targets to put herself in the hunt for gold. She finished just behind Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier who took the win in 33:13.8 minutes, also with perfect shooting. Just three out of 30 women cleaned, with the other being Italy’s Alexia Runggaldier in ninth.
“I think my mistake a lot this season has been wanting the results too much,” Dunklee told FasterSkier after. “[I’ve been] slowly been coming to terms these last couple weeks, trying to focus more on the process and not worrying too much if the medal comes or not so that was a big trick today.”
Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen reached the podium with a since miss in the first prone stage in third (+20.1). The U.S. had two women in the mass start, with Clare Egan finishing 24th (+3:04.1) with four penalties (1+0+1+2).
Lowell Bailey (US Biathlon) taking aim during the second prone stage of the men’s 15 k mass start on the last day of IBU World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria. He cleaned all four stages to fight for the medals until the final loop, and ultimately finished sixth. (Photo: ARD broadcast screenshot)
[UPDATED] In the men’s 15 k mass start that followed, Lowell Bailey was in contention for a medal until the very end, after being one of three athletes to clean the four-stage race.
Bailey left the range for the last time in third, 16.8 seconds behind Austria’s Simon Eder in first and 14.5 seconds behind Germany’s Simon Schempp in second (both Eder and Schempp also cleaned every stage). Behind Bailey, Johannes Thingnes Bø had recovered quickly from a penalty on the last stage, and left the range in fourth, 8.4 seconds behind Bailey.
Early on the final loop, Bø caught Bailey to fight for a medal. Bø didn’t stop there, catching up to Eder as well after Schempp dropped the Austrian around 13.6 k. With about a kilometer remaining, Bø passed Eder and stayed ahead of him for silver, crossing 9 seconds after Schempp in first and 1.1 seconds ahead of Eder — who notched his first World Championships medal — in third.
Schempp hit all of his targets for his first individual World Championships gold in the final race of the championships, finishing in 35:38.3. Bø and Eder shared the podium with him, and Russia’s Anton Shipulin and France’s Martin Fourcade passed Bailey on the last loop for fifth (+25.3) and sixth (+31.3), respectively. Bailey finished sixth (+33.5) for his fourth top six (in as many individual races) at the championships, after notching a gold medal in the 20 k, fourth place in the sprint and sixth in the pursuit.
“I just told myself to hang as long as I could,” Bailey told FasterSkier after. “Unfortunately I only had four laps and the fifth was bru-tal as they say in Germany. But I’m so psyched with this whole world champs. I never cleaned a mass start and I never cleaned an individual and I just did both at world champs.
“I’m so happy for the team, for Susan,” he added. “Our whole team deserves this world champs. We haven’t shown what we’re capable of, there’s always been one setback or another … and the stars aligned for this one. We were waiting for this moment and everything clicked for the team and it’s so great to see, and god am I glad I stuck around to be here.”
FIS Cross-Country World Cup (Otepää, Estonia): 10/15 k classic
The women’s 10 k classic podium at the Otepaa World Cup on Sunday in Estonia, with Norwegian winner Marit Bjørgen (c), Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla (l) in second and Norway’s Heidi Weng (r) in third. (Photo: Gro Eide/FIS Cross Country Twitter)
Remember the days when Marit Bjørgen used to win by 30 seconds or more? Well, the Norwegian multiple-time world champion was nearly there again, racing to first in the women’s 10-kilometer classic individual start with a margin of 26.5 seconds to second on Sunday.
Bjørgen started in the middle of the pack, in bib 38, and bested the time of her teammate Heidi Weng by 57.2 seconds on the two-lap World Cup course in Otepää, Estonia.
That bumped Weng to second, and another Norwegian Ingvild Flugstad Østberg to third (+1:17.4), until Sweden’s late-starting Charlotte Kalla in bib 60 broke up the Norwegian sweep in second. Kalla finished 26.5 seconds shy of Bjørgen, but 30 seconds faster than Weng for the second spot on the podium. Weng ended up third for the second-straight day and Østberg fourth.
Also in the top 10, Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk placed fifth (+1:19.7), Finland’s Krista Parmakoski was sixth (+1:23.1), Russia’s Anastasia Sedov seventh (+1:29.6), Sweden’s Anna Haag eighth (+1:50.7), Russia’s Yulia Tchekaleva ninth (+1:57.2), and Norway’s Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen 10th (+1:57.8).
American Sadie Bjornsen finished in the top 20 in 19th (+2:30.5). Also in the points for the U.S., Rosie Brennan placed 24th (+2:37.8) and Liz Stephen 29th (+2:53.8). Kikkan Randall was about 10 seconds outside the top 30 in 34th (+3:04.7), Ida Sargent finished 42nd (+3:46.1), and Chelsea Holmes 50th (+4:47.5).
Emily Nishikawa led the Canadian women in 40th (+3:39), Dahria Beatty was 45th (+4:11.9), Cendrine Browne 54th (+5:09.2), and Katherine Stewart-Jones 57th (+5:37.1).
The men’s 15 k classic podium at the Otepaa World Cup on Sunday in Estonia, with Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby (c) in first, Finland’s Iivo Niskanen (l) in second, and Norway’s Hans Christer Holund (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
[UPDATED] Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby dominated the men’s 15 k classic from start to finish on Sunday, starting near the back of the nearly 80-man field and clocking the fastest splits throughout the three-lap race.
He topped the previous best time set by Finland’s Iivo Niskanen by 37.1 seconds with a winning time of 40:38.2. Conditions weren’t easy on the rainy afternoon in Otepää, with tracks appearing shallow at best and visibly washed out in places.
Norway had two on the podium with Hans Christer Holund in third (+49.1). Niklas Dyrhaug was 6.2 seconds short of the podium in fourth, Finland’s Matti Heikkinen placed fifth (+58.1), Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin sixth (+1:01.3), Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh seventh (+1:02.5), Norway’s Sjur Røthe eighth (+1:03.5), Norway’s Didrik Tønseth ninth (+1:14.5), and France’s Maurice Manificat 10th (+1:21.3).
Canada’s Alex Harvey led the North Americans in 19th (+1:50). Graeme Killick finished 47th (+3:44.6), Devon Kershaw 49th (+3:51.3), Knute Johnsgaard 58th (+4:50.4), and Jess Cockney 72nd (+7:15).
Erik Bjornsen was the top American in 36th (+3:12.1) and Ben Lustgarten finished 66th (+5:34.1).
Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier jumps for joy after winning her third gold of the 2017 IBU World Championships, in the 15 k individual. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
HOCHFILZEN, Austria—Every women’s race of the World Championships so far, the question has been: where’s Laura Dahlmeier?
And in every race, the German has has turned in fantastic performances. Close to perfect on the range, fast on her skis, winning a medal each time.
The 15 k individual was no exception. A late starter, Dahlmeier had just one miss, in her first prone stage, and then all was clear as she raced to another gold medal. This time, it was by 24.7 seconds over Gabriela Koukalova of the Czech Republic, the winner of the sprint.
“I think Laura is in amazing shape, and it’s very difficult to beat her,” Koukalova said in a press conference. “Because, what can I say, she is unbelievable. Stronger, faster, better concentration, there is no chance.”
Dahlmeier herself was calm as she concluded something not so different
“It’s a special moment for me — the third gold medal, the fourth [overall] and I think the ninth medal since Oslo [World Championships 2016],” she said. “It’s amazing. One race after the other I can show my best performance, and it’s really great to be on the podium and on the first position.”
Most of the top women started in the last seed group, hoping for the shade to speed up the tracks in the late afternoon. Mari Laukkanen of Finland – who will represent her country at FIS Cross Country World Championships in a few weeks – set the early time to beat, with one missed shot and a blistering ski time.
Her time held up for 25 minutes, until Koukalova crossed the line with one penalty and a faster ski speed. Clean-shooting Alexia Runggaldier of Italy slotted in between them, and finally Dahlmeier’s time knocked everyone down a notch.
“I thought that it could be possible if I shoot clean,” first-time World Championships medalist Runggaldier said. “But then I thought, okay, there are the best people of the whole world that will be competing at this competition. So if I am lucky then I will be good, and if it’s not like this then nothing happens. But I am really happen that I shot four times clean… I think both [Dahlmeier and Koukalova] can shoot four times clean.”
Laukkenen ultimately ended up with the wooden medal, +1:56.8. Fifth place went to Ekaterina Avvakumova (+2:03.6), a Russian who transferred her citizenship to Korea, and sixth (+2:06.7) to Susan Dunklee of the United States.
Other North American results:
Julia Ransom, Canada, 18th Place
Julia Ransom. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
Ransom went into the individual with a brand-new attitude.
“I’ve been sort of frustrated the last couple weekends ,with sickness in Antholz and just having a hard time getting my groove, so I decided today to just leave nothing behind,” she said. “Shoot fast, ski fast, not worry about the consequences. It was just fun racing, so it was awesome.”
The strategy worked: Ransom missed just one shot, and raced to an 18th-place finish (+3:48.2), her best international result to date.
“I think I came in with too many expectations from last year and I forgot to just race because I love it and race for myself and not for carding or not for criteria not for anything, just because it’s super fun,” she said.
Clare Egan, USA, 22nd Place
Egan notched her second top-25 of the Championships, and is turning in some of her best racing ever at this event.
In the individual, she collected another personal best: with just two missed shots, she achieved 90% shooting in a four-stage race for the first time.
Furthermore, she did it by cleaning each of the first three stages. She was pleased that she didn’t completely falla part on the final shooting stage, given that she was in line for perhaps a top-six finish – which would have been a huge personal best – if she had cleaned.
Clare Egan waves to the crowd after crossing the finish line in the top ten. She was later bumped down. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
“After I cleaned my first standing stage, I knew I would have three clean stages because I was so confident about the prone ,” she said. “I’m happy with my last standing, too, I’ve never cleaned three stages of a four-stage race before so I’ve never been in that position before. Of course I could have handled it better, but I’m pretty happy with two misses… I’m totally fine with that. I hit more than I missed. I was a little shaky for sure.”
Egan also had the 26th-fastest ski time. That netted her 22nd place, +3:55.0.
“She is really able to be up there, and I want to see her up there more often,” U.S. Biathlon Association Chief of Sport Bernd Eisenbichler said. “We will work for the next season to have her more constantly up there in the top 20, because I think she can be up there any given day. She is in a higher level for the skiing performance now. There is still too much up and down, but she took a step forward this year.”
Megan Tandy, Canada, 43rd Place
With two missed shots, Tandy ended up +5:14.0. While she was happy with 90% shooting, she wished the effort had netted a better result.
“Actually it was a good race,” she said. “But I have been feeling actually awful this season. I haven’t had a good ski feeling since November… I am starting every race maybe feeling good for 800 meters, and then I am not racing, I am just surviving. Today I had some fight, and I hit 18 so I should be happy. But I am just watching the results list, because for me to qualify for funding [Spot Canada funding] next season I need one more top 30.”
That didn’t happen. But Tandy thought that the tools she had developed to get her through this race, and this season, would continue to serve her well in the future.
“I kind of came into the race prepared to not think about anything but the process,” she said of the pressure for results. “I had really specific keywords for the shooting, both prone and standing, as well as really key tactical goals for the course. When I am standing on the shooting mat I am thinking about trigger pressure and black targets, and those are the only two things in my head.”
Joanne Reid, USA, 56th Place
Reid split a bullet on the last shot of her first stage, but rather than be frustrated, she took responsibility.
“It was way off from the rest of my group, so that was all me,” she laughed.
After starting the season with a sensational performance in the 15 k individual in Österund, Sweden, Reid’s four misses today seemed imperfect. But she refused to let any one shooting stage get to her.
“I come into the range each time ready to focus on that bout,” she said.
That helped her clean the last stage, something she was particularly proud of. She finished +6:36.7, and also had a faster last standing stage than usual, clocking in at 27 seconds.
“I actually do have the speed capability, but I can’t always put all the pieces together yet,” she wrote in an email. “I’ve been working really, really hard at improving the speed over the course of the season, but it never seems like the time to implement it in a race. There’s always teammates counting on me, or an individual in which you have a minute penalty per miss, or the sprint in which you must make the pursuit, or the pursuit in which you aren’t supposed to miss the prone targets, or…. or…. or. This stage today was quite fast, and was all in the prone ring, and so was my fast standing stage in the pursuit (all in the prone ring). I think I have to trust myself.”
Rosanna Crawford, Canada, 62nd Place
Crawford had a rough start to her race: three missed shots in prone, right off the bat.
Rosanna Crawford. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
“That was so strange!” she said. “Usually my prone goes well, and this was just all over the place. I don’t know what happened. But actually, I find that when I miss early, it’s easy to get it turned around because the pressure is totally off.”
She did turn her shooting around, cleaning each of the next three stages. But her skiing time was not enough to make up for the missed shots and Crawford finished +7:01.5.
“15 k is really hard for me, and when it’s hot – I just can’t handle the heat,” she said. “So it was tough.”
Emma Lunder, Canada, 64th Place
Lunder had one more missed shot than her teammate, and finished +7:17.9.
“It had good and bad parts,” she said. “I missed two in my first shooting, so that was a little bit tough, trying not to think about that while I was skiing. And then the rest of my shooting I was a lot happier with, but then to miss one in the last bout – I was just so tired… it was such a hot race, and everyone was out there just dying. It was a good effort for sure.”
Maddie Phaneuf, USA, 87th Place
It was the second competition of World Championships for Phaneuf, a first-year-senior who had made the Championships a major goal.
“I felt like coming into it I was going to feel so overwhelmed, but it just kind of feels normal, like another World Cup,” Phaneuf said. “In the beginning of the season, I haven’t had that many World Cup starts, it was just so overwhelming and I wasn’t quite ready to experience it. But now that I’ve done a handful of them this season, it feels much more comfortable and I feel like I deserve to be here, which is exciting.”
Normally a strong shooter, Phaneuf missed two shots in each of her standing stages. That left her with 87th place overall, 9:38.3 behind the pace set by Dahlmeier.
“Recently I’ve just been struggling with my standing,” she said. “I’ve been hitting the targets in training but in the races I keep missing two every time. It’s really annoying. I think I shoot clean in prone and then I come into the range [for standing] and I try not to think about the result, but I need to figure out how to push that out of my head because it keeps messing me up.”
Eisenbichler saw this as a learning experience for the youngest member of the U.S. women’s team.
“Maddie is here to learn, more or less,” he said. “For sure we want to have great results for her as well, but it’s her first World Championships in the senior category. We must work on the [skiing] shape. She’s a strong shooter, she can shoot clean on any given day in an individual race, but the shape needs some work, this was obvious today again. We will make sure that we approach this with the right tactics for the next season.”
US Biathlon’s Susan Dunklee ahead of Sweden’s Chardine Sloof during the second leg in the women’s 4 x 6 k relay at the 2017 IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
As they had done in the first two relays this season, Germany and France occupied the top two positions on the podium in the women’s 4 x 6-kilometer relay on Sunday at the IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy. And to the joy of over 20,000 raucous fans in the sunny arena, home team Italy claimed the third place. So far, so not very unusual.
But at the halfway point of the race, Susan Dunklee had moved the U.S. team into second position, just 33 seconds behind Germany in first. A potential surprise was in the air.
“Head-to-head shooting and hunting people down on skis are two of my favorite racing experiences, so I was thrilled with today,” Dunklee stated, according to a US Biathlon press release.
Starting the race in bib 22 out of the last start row, her teammate Clare Egan had slightly moved up on the course coming into the first prone stage, and with a clean shooting performance left the range in fourth place just 3.1 seconds behind the leaders.
US Biathlon’s Clare Egan on the course skiing the opening leg of the women’s 4 x 6 k relay at the 2017 IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: IBU/Christian Manzoni)
“I rarely get to do mass starts but I love them,” Egan wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “I shot clean and was the first athlete off the mat so my plan worked. I just tried to position myself as best I could and then pass on the shooting range.”
She was able to keep up with the teams around her on the next loop, and with one spare in the standing shooting, she managed to hit all her targets, skiing back on the course in ninth place.
“Last week I also hit 9/10 targets, but then I had to use all three spares to get that last target down, because I got so nervous,” Egan explained. “So this week I really tried to prepare mentally for shooting my spares and it helped.”
On the final loop she managed to overtake the Austrian team while getting passed by Switzerland, and while Egan lost a bit more time to the French and German teams leading the race at that point, she tagged off to Dunklee in the ninth and just 21 seconds behind France and Germany.
Dunklee quickly began to close gaps and overtook several of the teams around her, including Sweden, Belarus, Slovakia and Norway.
“I felt sharper on skis than earlier this week,” Dunklee wrote in an email. “I think my body adjusted better to the altitude each day. I did not follow any sort of pacing plan today; I saw people ahead of me early and I went after them, and then held on as best I could on the last loop.”
In her prone shooting stage Dunklee needed two spares to hit all targets, leaving the range in fourth position. But she kept gaining ground on the loop and with a clean standing stage, while most of the athletes around her needed spares.
“I was disappointed to miss my last two shots in prone again, but standing felt good,” Dunklee wrote. “I took a few extra breaths before the first shot and then used an assertive cadence.”
Keeping Italy and Norway behind her on the final loop and only losing a few more seconds to Germany’s Maren Hammerschmidt, Dunklee tagged her teammate Joanne Reid in second (+32.9).
Reid, who is in her first full season with the US Biathlon World Cup team, was able to keep up with the leaders on the first loop, skiing close to the eventual podium finishers Anaïs Bescond of France and Alexia Runggaldier of Italy.
Reid cleaned the prone stage without any spares, but as most of the teams around her did the same, several teams remained close together. On the next loop, Reid was nearly able to hold her distance to the leaders, but was passed on the biggest climb by Ukraine’s veteran Valj Semerenko.
She may have invested a bit too much energy trying to keep up with the best teams on that loop, and in the following standing shooting Reid missed her first shots and eventually ran out of spares, having to ski twice through the 150-meter penalty lap to lose more than a minute and a half.
Reid tagged teammate Maddie Phaneuf in 13th position (+2:24.3). For Phaneuf, it was only her second time anchoring a U.S. World Cup relay.
“My very first World Cup two seasons ago, I anchored for our team (Susan Dunklee, Hannah Dreissigacker, and Annelies Cook) in Ruhpolding,” Phaneuf wrote in an email. “I remember our team did not have a very good race, and I got lapped.”
This time, it went better, especially due to her shooting performance only requiring one spare in standing (0+0, 0+1) and achieving a top-10 range time.
“I was pleased with my shooting today, especially coming out of the Individual race from earlier this week with so many mistakes,” Phaneuf explained. “The wind was much calmer on the range, which helped. The biggest thing for me was that I found myself less distracted by the atmosphere and more focused on my shooting, which I’ve been trying to deal with the past few races. It can be tough with all the TV cameras, excited crowds, and announcers!”
On the final loop Phaneuf was able to keep Slovakia’s Jana Gerekova behind her, but was unable to bridge the gap to two other teams due to a small mishap.
“By the last loop I was hanging with the Polish and Norwegian girls [Krystyna Guzik and Rikke Andersen], but I caught my ski on some fencing coming around a corner into a downhill and lost a lot of momentum,” she wrote. “I was really bummed, because then I lost the chance to draft these girls into the finishing stretch. But I am happy to see that my ski speed is improving with every race, and it’s making me more and more excited for World Championships in a couple of weeks.”
Back again in 13th place where she had begun, Phaneuf crossed the finish in 1:11:58.9 hours, 2:46.5 minutes behind the winners. The U.S. had two penalties and seven spares.
“Today was a great day for our team and I am proud of how all of my teammates performed and the effort they gave,” Dunklee commented. “We can see that we are not far off a top 10 or even better, and that is motivating.”
While the U.S. team faded back a bit in the second half of the race, several of the more experienced teams fought for the places on the podium.
From left to right: Germany’s Vanessa Hinz, Maren Hammerschmidt, Franziska Hildebrand and Laura Dahlmeier celebrate their victory in the women’s 4 x 6 k women’s relay at the 2017 IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy. (Photo IBU/Christian Manzoni)
Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier struggled to control her last shots, gasping heavily in the thin air of the Antholz biathlon arena some 1,600 meters above sea level during the final standing stage. But with her last spare, she managed to avoid the penalty lap and secured the victory for her team with Vanessa Hinz, Hammerschmidt and Franziska Hildebrand. Dahlmeier even had enough time to grab a flag from a fan on the finishing stretch before crossing the line in 1:09:12.4 hours, with 12 spares and zero penalties.
“That’s why you have six spares in the relay,” Dahlmeier said with a laugh when asked by German broadcaster ZDF about her shooting stages, where she needed five spares to clean. “And when you ski over the line in first, you can’t have done all that much wrong. I wasn’t actually scared [of a penalty lap], but I made it a bit too suspenseful with my shooting and was happy the other girls had given me a lead.”
Germany had also won the two prior relay races of the season in Pokljuka, Slovenia, and Ruhpolding, Germany.
“Three relay competitions in this season, three victories – of course that makes us the favorites for the World Championships,” Hildebrand said, according to an IBU press release. “I think as a team we are strong enough to handle this pressure.”
Crossing the line 24.2 seconds behind Dahlmeier, France’s Marie Dorin Habert comfortably secured second place for her team on the final loop, with eight spares and zero penalties. Despite requiring fewer spare rounds, the French team of Anaïs Chevalier, Justine Braisaz, Bescond, and anchor Dorin Habert was not quite able to keep up on the course on Sunday.
“Maybe at the last shooting, almost,” Bescond said at the press conference when asked if, during the race, she thought her team might claim the victory. “Unfortunately we were not strong enough to catch the German team today.”
Just like it was the third victory for Germany, it was also the third second-place finish of the season for the French women. “We are happy, but we want to beat Germany, maybe at World Championships,” Chevalier said at the press conference.
On the final round Italy’s Dorothea Wierer tried everything to get a podium on her home course, following two weaker performances in the individual and mass start races, but Ukraine’s 22-year-old Anastasiya Merkushyna didn’t make it easy for her, fighting back to take a small lead. But on the last small climb into the arena, Wierer broke her resistance, celebrating her third place when she skied into the arms of the teammates Lisa Vittozzi, Federica Sanfilipo and Runggaldier awaiting her. Like the other teams on the podium Italy had no penalty, and required nine spares.
“I was going away from the shooting range with Merkushyna,” Wierer commented in the press conference on her last loop. “I felt really good, and I don’t know if she was only playing with me, but she seemed not so strong on skis. But then she made a little sprint and I pushed so hard to keep [up with] her. And on the last uphill I made another sprint hoping she would not take me anymore, but I wasn’t sure.”
“We are not always shooting so well,” she said when asked about Italy’s chances for the World Championships relay. “But I think we are getting better and more confident. And I think we will beat the German and also the French team!”
“I am kidding,” she added with a laugh, turning to Germany’s Hildebrand sitting next to her. “I am not kidding!”
Ukraine’s relay with Yuliya Zhuravok, Yulia Dzhima, Semerenko and Anastasiya Merkushyna finished fourth (+37.5), with six spares and zero penalties.
Canada 18th Despite Strong Shooting
Biathlon Canada’s Megan Tandy (center, bib 11) skiing the opening leg of the women’s 4 x 6 k relay for the 2017 IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: IBU/Christian Manzoni)
The Canadian relay of Megan Tandy, Julia Ransom, Emma Lunder, and Rosanna Crawford shot as well as some of the teams on the podium, requiring only eight spare rounds and incurring zero penalties, but could not keep up with the leaders.
After starting in the fourth row in bib 11 and skiing close to the top group on the first loop, Tandy required four spare rounds (0+2, 0+2) setting her back early in the race. She improved by two positions on the final loop, but tagged off in 18th place, more than a minute behind the leaders. Ransom improved one place to 17th with two solid shootings (0+0, 0+1) but doubled the deficit, and Lunder kept them in that position with a clean standing before losing one spot again on her last loop (0+1, 0+0) to exchange in 18th. Crawford (0+2, 0+0) was only briefly able to move the team up to 16th place before losing those positions to China’s Xuelan Wang and the Czech Republic’s Veronika Vitková (who rested their star Gabriela Koukalová on Sunday) on the last loop to ultimately finish 18th (+4:12.1).
“I think we were hoping for another top 10 today,” Crawford wrote in an email. “Antholz even on a calm day has tricky shooting, the altitude and the flat run into the range I think catches people off guard. We had some good skis today but [it] just wasn’t enough to keep us in contention. We had some great results though this week, with Emma’s 21st [in the individual race] and Scott [Gow] making his first Mass Start.”
Recently struggling a bit to get her speed up to her level from last season, Crawford posted the 15th-ranked course time on the fourth leg of Sunday’s relay after an extended recovery.
“We had decided to change the training plan around because skiing was just getting worse and worse each race,” Crawford explained. “So I didn’t race the pursuit in Ruhpolding or the Individual here, took a few days off and kept this week really easy … So hopefully the rest I took will pay off for World Champs.”
The IBU World Cup now enters a two-week break ahead of the World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria, which begin on Feb. 9 with a mixed relay.
During this period, there will also be the 2017 Open European Championships beginning this Wednesday in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland, which several World Cup starters including representatives from the U.S. and Canada plan to race in.
Germany’s Nadine Horchler celebrates her first career victory in the women’s 12.5-k mass start on Saturday at the 2017 IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy, after distancing herself from teammate Laura Dahlmeier (yellow bib) and the Czech Republic’s Gabriela Koukalová (far left). (Photo: IBU/Christian Manzoni)
“That’s just biathlon for you,” biathletes often like to say when trying to explain the drastic ups and downs that are typical in their sport, both within one race and over the longer timeframes of a season or even a career.
On Saturday in a surprising race outcome that should give hope to many biathletes on the fringes of the World Cup level struggling with these constant shifts, Germany’s 30-year-old Nadine Horchler achieved the first victory and first podium of her career in the women’s 12.5-kilometer mass start at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup in Antholz, Italy.
For years, Horchler had been in and out of the German World Cup team, frequently being relegated to the second-tier IBU Cup. Widely regarded as a consistent shooter, she struggled to get her skiing speed up to a level where she could be competitive in World Cup races.
At times, she had to deal with being replaced by her younger sister Karolin on the team, and lost her “cadre” status, having to train and race as a self-funded athlete.
But in beautiful weather conditions on Saturday, Horchler was not only one of two athletes to hit all 20 targets in the four-stage race, but also clung to the ski tails of Czech Republic’s Gabriela Koukalová on the last loop, the winner of the first two mass starts and last season’s overall World Cup champion.
Up the last short climb leading into the bustling Antholz arena with about 20,000 screaming spectators, Horchler passed Koukalová and put a small gap on her, celebrating as she crossed the finish line first in a time of 36:11.5 minutes.
“I just had to wipe away a tear because I am so happy,” Horchler told German broadcaster ZDF. “On the last loop I just went for it come hell or high water … I noticed I was still feeling relatively well and skied up to her. … On the downhills I looked behind me and saw the others were getting close and the two of us had to hurry. Then I just passed her and hoped I would get to the finish line. And then the whole stadium was shaking. I could no longer hear my own heartbeat or my breath. Incredible.”
On the finishing stretch, her teammate and current overall World Cup leader Laura Dahlmeier secured the second spot on the podium for Germany, finishing 3.1 seconds after Horchler with three penalties. Dahlmeier also caught and passed Koukalová, who finished third (+8.0) with two penalties.
“I can very well remember winning my first race,” Dahlmeier told ZDF in an interview while standing next to Horchler. “That is something very special for every athlete. I am happy that Nadine managed to show that today, that was a long time in the making. You can really see that we have a strong team, and it’s beautiful so many girls can fight for the positions at the top … She clearly was the number one today.”
“I am very happy, because the beginning of the race was very hard. I had to change my poles three times,” Koukalová explained at the post-race press conference. “I am very happy for my standing shooting … There was no chance to race with Laura, she was too close to me after the last shooting. And I had the expectation that Nadine is many times stronger than me for the finish, so that’s fine.”
Other overall World Cup contenders also had a good race, just missing the podium. Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen, who had dominated the races in Ruhpolding, Germany, a week ago, finished fourth (+13.5) with four penalties and the best-ranked course time. Behind her, France’s Marie Dorin Habert took fifth (+19.0) with four penalties.
Racing in front of her home crowd, Italy’s Alexia Runggaldier followed up her first career podium in the 15 k individual on Thursday with a sixth place (+24.1) with one penalty. Sweden’s Anna Magnusson took seventh (+26.4) with one penalty for a career best, after leaving the range for the last time in third behind Koukalová and Horchler.
“I am really happy,” 21-year-old Magnusson told the IBU in an interview. “It was a crazy race, and so much fun to ski in the top … I was number three or four, and I knew there [were] many people behind me, so I just had to push myself really hard. I am really happy about the seventh place… In a couple of years we will be on top.”
Norway’s Kaia Wøien Nicolaisen in ninth place (+27.9) was the only other competitor besides Horchler without any misses, which helped her achieve her second-best World Cup result.
Starting in bib 30 at the back of the field, Horchler originally hadn’t qualified to compete in the elite mass start competition, but was called up from a “reserve standby list” thanks to her 19th place in the women’s individual race on Thursday, after Russia’s Olga Podchufarova had to cancel her start. Next up in line on the list would have been Biathlon Canada’s Emma Lunder, who achieved a career-best 21st in Thursday’s 15 k.
“I traveled here with a good feeling,” Horchler told ZDF. “In the individual I thought, ‘good place, but one miss too many,’ and today I just had nothing to lose. Yesterday I was very relaxed because I did not really expect to get a start, and so I am overjoyed today.”
Horchler’s previous best individual results had been two fifth places in a sprint and pursuit, also achieved in Antholz in one weekend of the 2012/13 season. Eager to qualify for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi she lost much of the season to overtraining, and already considered a career after biathlon completing an education as a nonmedical practitioner for psychotherapy.
But Horchler decided to give it one more shot, and last season won the overall IBU Cup (the equivalent to what Koukalová achieved for the World Cup) and a gold medal in the sprint at the 2016 Open European Championships in Tyumen, Russia, sharing the podium with her sister.
And despite those career highlights, she was not nominated to Germany’s 2016/2017 World Cup team, once again beginning her season on the IBU Cup before receiving her first call-up for the races in Oberhof, Germany, where she achieved 35th in the sprint and 17th in the pursuit. But the rollercoaster continued and in Ruhpolding she had to sit out again, before receiving another chance in Antholz when teammate Franziska Preuss got sick.
“I don’t know yet,” Horchler said at the press conference when asked what this victory could mean for her career. “It is amazing. Last week I was in the IBU Cup [in Arber, Germany], now I am here and I sit between Laura and Gabi, it’s unbelievable … My plan was that I drive to the [European Championships] on Monday, and now I don’t know.”
Now the late bloomer might even be a candidate for next month’s World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria, which would only be the second team nomination of her career after one selection in 2013.
Dunklee Takes the Lead, Briefly
US Biathlon’s Susan Dunklee (bib 17, orange & purple suit) skiing past the crowded stands at the start of the women’s 12.5 k mass start at the 2017 IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: IBU/Christian Manzoni)
US Biathlon’s Susan Dunklee, the only North American qualified for the women’s mass start, had the best first prone stage and briefly took the lead. In that first stage, she shot clean and second fastest of all competitors, returning to the course first, 2.7 seconds ahead of Russia’s Tatiana Akimova.
But similar to the last mass start in Oberhof two weeks ago, where Dunklee was third halfway through, she wasn’t able to hold it. In the next stage, the American missed two shots, falling back to 14th position. With three more misses (0+2+2+1) she fell back further to 25th, before being able to overtake France’s Anaïs Bescond on the final loop to finish 24th, 1:36.1 behind the winner Horchler. Dunklee skied the 16th-ranked course time overall.
“It was incredibly satisfying to shoot fast and clean and leave the range in first after the first shooting,” Dunklee said, according to a US Biathlon press release. “I hope to build on that in the future and follow it up with a better shooting percentage. My skiing is not at its sharpest; my body is feeling the strain of the high altitude and the intense race schedule.”
Leading a race before falling back with penalties. Winning a race you were not even originally slated to compete in. That’s just biathlon.
The IBU World Cup in Antholz concludes with the women’s 4 x 6 k relay and men’s 15 k mass start on Sunday.
Emma Lunder (Biathlon Canada) racing in last weekend’s IBU World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germany, where she placed 89th. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
The next time your order a cup of joe, remember to be nice to the person on the other side of the counter; they could just be a World Cup skier. In a press release, Biathlon Canada was quick to point out that one of its national-team members, Emma Lunder, is a Starbucks barista in Canmore, Alberta.
But on Thursday, thousands of miles away at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup in Antholz, Italy, Lunder raced to a career-best 21st in the women’s 15-kilometer individual race. It was her first time racing that distance. In fact, it was twice as long as the 7.5 k sprint she had done in eight of her nine previous World Cup starts (not counting relays).
Emma Lunder (Biathlon Canada) on course during the women’s 15 k individual on Thursday at the IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: ARD broadcast screenshot)
The Biathlon Canada B-team member started last on Thursday, wearing bib 99. It’s a tall order waiting around that long in the longest-format race on the circuit, complete with four shooting stages, but the 25-year-old Lunder was generally unfazed.
“I would say this year I am definitely used to starting in the fourth seed, and getting a hang of dealing with the wait,” she wrote in an email after Thursday’s race. “I quickly ski tested with our techs, zeroed my rifle and then headed back to our wax room where I lay on a pile of ski bags and read my book for 45 minutes before warming up.”
Fortunately, the wait played to her favor. Gusting winds across the range gave most of the field troubles. But when Lunder set out on the course, those winds seemed to be less of an issue.
“I had absolutely no wind when I zeroed, which I found made it easier to make corrections during the race,” she wrote of her pre-race target practice. “I think I had fairly consistent wind for both prone and standing, and was happy not to have any big gusts blowing me around!”
Lunder explained that she had been working with her coaches and sports psychologist on improving her focus while shooting. She had struggled with her prone shooting over the last few weekends (including last week’s World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germany, and the IBU Cups in Martell, Italy, before that). On Thursday, Lunder was hoping to execute some new strategies.
Canada’s Emma Lunder leaving the range en route to second place in the IBU Cup 7.5 k sprint last season in December 2015 in Canmore, Alberta. (Photo: Pam Doyle)
With a clean first prone stage, she was already on par with a personal best as she left the range in 35th. (Lunder previously placed 30th in her first-ever World Cup three years ago in Pokljuka, Slovenia. With that result, she qualified for the 10 k pursuit, and went on to place 41st for her second-best result to date — up until Thursday.)
Lunder then cleaned her second shooting and first standing stage to put herself in 10th halfway through Thursday’s race. But she had no idea where she stood. Fortunately, she had plenty of skiers within sight, after race organizers started the fourth seed — which included Lunder — in 15-second intervals (as opposed to 30 seconds between racers).
“Skiing was a fun but extremely tough battle,” Lunder wrote. “… There were way more girls close to me that I could chase and ski with. … I actually wasn’t given any information of where I was until I’d finished in the range and was heading out for my last lap — I think the techs and coaches didn’t want to excite me before any of my shooting bouts, and I’m quite happy for it.”
She missed her first and only target of the day on her second prone, which put her in 24th with two loops to go, and cleaned her final standing stage, moving her back up into 15th. Leaving the range for the last time, she realized she was in a best-ever position.
“I really hoped I was fighting for points, and when I left the range after my last standing … I almost had an ‘oh crap’ moment because I knew I had to ski absolutely as hard as I possibly could for another 3km and I was already feeling the hurt,” she explained.
Canadian Emma Lunder, of Vernon, B.C., finishing 21st for her career-best IBU World Cup result on Thursday at the women’s 15 k individual (her first time racing that distance) in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: ARD broadcast screenshot)
“We had really competitive skis today thanks to our hardworking wax-tech crew, and they were all over the place for my last lap, screaming for me to fight up every hill and they got me all the way to the finish line!” Lunder added. “I was feeling the pain for my whole last lap, and it turned into just trying to survive rather than really being able to fight, but I know I did absolutely everything I could on the skis today, and I am so, so happy with my race.”
The Vernon, B.C., native ended up 21st, 3:29.7 minutes out of first, with one penalty (0+0+1+0). Lunder was one of just four out of 99 that shot 19-for-20. No one cleaned.
The winner, Laura Dahlmeier of Germany, had two misses (1+1+0+0) — for a total of two minutes added to her finishing time. Dahlmeier secured the win in 44:48.7 minutes, thanks to perfect shooting in the last two stages. It was her 11th World Cup victory.
“It was incredibly difficult today,” Dahlmeier told German broadcaster ZDF after starting 15th. “I tried to make it a little easier on myself. That’s why I twice went to the outmost positions [on the range]. But honestly it was just as windy, I had to fight just the same. It was hard to get into the race after those two misses. I just tried to do my own thing, and shoot clean in the end.”
Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier racing to her 11th IBU World Cup win on Thursday in the women’s 15 k individual in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: IBU)
Dahlmeier’s 11th World Cup win on Thursday gave her the overall World Cup lead and with it, the yellow bib, and allowed her to keep the red bib of the 15 k individual discipline leader.
“It is a dream come true to win in this beautiful setting,” Dahlmeier said of sunny Antholz. “That I can keep the red jersey and get the yellow one back, it doesn’t get better than that.”
Behind her France’s Anaïs Chevalier started 32nd and came within 3.8 seconds of Dahlmeier’s finishing time. Chevalier was one of the four women that missed just one target (0+1+0+0), along with third-place finisher Alexia Runggaldier of Italy (+46.0, 0+1+0+0).
For Runggaldier, it was her first World Cup podium.
“This morning I was a little anxious, and just thought, ‘Give it your best.’ I really wanted to qualify for the mass start [on Saturday],” she told ZDF. “I just told myself to do the best I can, just do that, and now I can’t believe it!”
Italy’s Alexia Runggaldier celebrating her first IBU World Cup podium in third on Thursday at the women’s 15 k individual in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: IBU)
The 25-year-old Runggaldier qualified for the 30-woman mass start based on that result. On Thursday, she said conditions weren’t easy even as a later starter in bib 59.
“It has already been difficult the last few days,” she said of target practice during training. “Yesterday it didn’t work well for me, so today I just told myself to focus, 20 shots, four series. And my coach told me out on the course ‘be patient!’ and I just tried to execute that.”
As for Lunder, she wrote that she was “extremely happy” with her shooting performance and pointed out that the last time she scored World Cup points was in 2014.
“… To be just out of top-20 today feels pretty amazing,” Lunder wrote. “Today was a huge day for me on the range, and I think there’s still work to be done on the skiing side of things, but I know I’m headed in the right direction.”
As of Thursday, Biathlon Canada had not made any formal announcement about its World Championships team.
“Today I left it all out there so no matter what happens [with selections] I am super proud of what I accomplished in this race!” Lunder noted.
Also on Thursday, Megan Tandy of Biathlon Canada’s A-team (officially the “Eh! Squad”) finished 33rd (+5:02.0) for a season best. She started 69th and shot four penalties (1+1+0+2) with the 61st-ranked overall course time.
“I can easily say this is my slowest season since I was a Junior!” Tandy wrote in an email. “That being said I was really pleased with today’s race because it represented a baby step forward in both skiing (I didn’t feel dead tired racing today and actually enjoyed skiing which is a first this season) and on the result list as well. Finally some points — what a relief!”
She described the wind as “up and down” with more wind for her first and last bouts, but “nothing unmanageable.”
“I made fairly aggressive sight adjustments in prone. The women had quite windy conditions during training the 2 previous days so even though the conditions were challenging at times I felt confident about clicking,” Tandy reflected.
Megan Tandy (Biathlon Canada) during her final shooting stage of the women’s 15 k individual on Thursday at the IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: ZDF broadcast screenshot)
After just two misses in her first two bouts and a clean third stage, Tandy was in contention for a top 30 with one shooting stage to go. In that final standing stage, she missed two, which left her disappointed.
“I am still so angry with myself especially because I missed the last 2 shots and up until those misses the potential for a good race was there!” she wrote. “But thats biathlon for you! I didn’t really think about bouncing back after my last shooting — it was the last loop so I gave everything I had, simple as that!”
Her final loop time was her fastest of the day, ranking 51st. At the end of the day, Tandy was pleased to feel “normal” again during a race.
“It was such a pleasure compared to a lot of races this year where I feel like after the first 1km my only goal becomes to survive until the finish line,” she wrote. “Shooting I think I did good work in 3 of my 4 bouts, particularly reacting to the wind prone so I feel confident and am looking forward to the relay this Sunday! 6km is also going to feel short and sweet after that 15km!!”
The women race a 4 x 6 k relay on Sunday in Antholz.
Canada’s third woman on Thursday, Julia Ransom finished 55th (+6:28.2) with four penalties (0+3+0+1). Rosanna Crawford did not race, but tweeted after, “Well if I had to sit out today’s race and be a fan instead I sure am glad @emmalunds made it an exciting race to watch, finishing 21st for a new personal best! Lucky number bib 99! #gretzky #ANT17 #gocanada”
Four U.S. women competed on Thursday, with Clare Egan leading the team in 59th (+6:58.6) with six penalties (1+4+0+1) that added six minutes to her finishing time. She started 80th and recalled some wind issues on her second shooting.
“I had the fastest skis I’ve ever had in my life today, and three out of four good shooting stages,” Egan said, according to a US Biathlon press release, of her first, third and fourth stages. “Unfortunately, a stupid mistake in the first standing stage foiled any chance I had at a good result. I tried to shoot through gusting wind instead of waiting until I could take a good shot. I made a strong comeback from that point on, but 59th place is hardly what I was hoping for.”
Joanne Reid (US Biathlon) racing to 60th in the women’s 15 k individual on Thursday at the IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
Her US Biathlon teammate Joanne Reid followed in 60th (+7:05.2), also with six misses (2+2+1+1). Reid started 23rd.
“There were definitely some gusts out there today, and what could be tricky conditions if you didn’t adapt correctly to them,” Reid told US Biathlon. “Wind is a lifetime learning experience — every race, every range, every point, and every day is different, so you’ll never know exactly what you’re supposed to do, or what you should have done in any situation. Biathlon is by its very nature sinusoidal, and it’s unfortunate when those troughs hit us all at the same time.”
Also for the U.S., Susan Dunklee started 46th and and finished 71st (+7:58.0) with eight penalties (0+4+2+2), and 21-year-old Maddie Phaneuf in bib 92 finished 81st (+9:18.9) with seven penalties (3+1+1+2).
“I think as a team we displayed some incredible bravery out there,” Reid noted. “It can be mentally very tough to keep fighting when you know how many minutes you lost. I especially salute Susan for her ability to come back from races like this with incredible grace, considering the high expectations constantly placed upon her. And Maddie, of course, our youngest, who is trying to adjust to a whole different level of skiers in an unfamiliar environment. Everyone has to start somewhere, and it’s tough to remember that sometimes with veterans on the team like Tim [Burke] and Lowell [Bailey], who have been starting biathlon races for almost as long as Maddie has been alive.”
“I know the four of us are eager to redeem ourselves in Sunday’s 4x6k women’s relay,” Egan said.
Dunklee will have another individual shot in the last set of races before World Championships (Feb. 9-19 in Hochfilzen, Austria) this Saturday in the 12.5 k mass start, as Dunklee is ranked 17th overall in the World Cup.
The men’s 20 k individual takes place Friday, starting at 8:15 a.m. EST. Watch it live on Eurovisionsports.tv.
Biathlon Canada’s Emma Lunder finishing 21st for her career-best IBU World Cup result on Thursday at the women’s 15 k individual (her first time racing that distance) in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: ARD broadcast screenshot)
IBU World Cup (Antholz, Italy): Women’s 15 k individual
In her first-ever 15-kilometer individual race, Canada’s 25-year-old Emma Lunder captured a career-best 21st at Thursday’s International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup in Antholz, Italy.
The last time Lunder scored World Cup points was at her very first IBU World Cup in 2014 in Pokljuka, Slovenia. There, she placed 30th in the sprint and went on to finish 41st in the pursuit, which stood as her best World Cup finishes — until Thursday.
In the women’s 15 k individual, a four-stage race that penalizes one minute for every missed shot, Lunder was one of the best shooters out there, shooting 19-for-20, missing one shot on her second prone stage (0+0+1+0). Out of 99 competitors, Lunder was one of four who missed just one. No one cleaned all four stages.
Lunder started last in bib 99 and ended up 21st at the finish, 3:29.7 minutes behind winner Laura Dahlmeier of Germany, who won in 44:48.7 with two one-minute penalties (1+1+0+0).
Dahlmeier started 15th and battled windy conditions for the victory, with a time that was 3.8 seconds faster than France’s eventual runner-up Anais Chevalier, who started 32nd and missed one (0+1+0+0). Italy’s Alexia Runggaldier notched her first World Cup podium in third (+46.0) after starting 59th and missing just one target as well (0+1+0+0).
“I was extremely happy with my shooting performance and hitting 19/20 targets on a tough day!” Lunder wrote in an email. “I think I had fairly consistent wind for both prone and standing, and was happy not to have any big gusts blowing me around!
“… To be just out of top-20 today feels pretty amazing,” she continued. “Today was a huge day for me on the range, and I think there’s still work to be done on the skiing side of things, but I know I’m headed in the right direction.”
Also for Biathlon Canada, Megan Tandy tallied a season-best individual result of 33rd (+5:02) despite four penalties, including two on her last standing stage (1+1+0+2), and Julia Ransom placed 55th (+6:28.2) with four penalties (0+3+0+1). Rosanna Crawford did not race.
Clare Egan was the top American in 59th (+6:58.6) with six penalties (1+4+0+1) that added six minutes to her time, and US Biathlon teammate Joanne Reid was right behind in 60th (+7:05.2) with six misses as well (2+2+1+1). Susan Dunklee in bib 46 started at the tail end of the group that appeared to face the windiest conditions, and finished 71st (+7:58.0) with eight penalties (0+4+2+2). Maddie Phaneuf finished 81st (+9:18.9) for the U.S, with seven penalties (3+1+1+2).
The men’s 20 k individual starts Friday at 8:15 Eastern time. Watch it live on Eurovisionsports.tv.
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