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.
Fans line the famous Birxsteig climb during the Women’s Relay at the IBU World Championships in Oberhof, Germany. (Photo: NordicFocus)
If there’s one competition to watch from the 2023 Biathlon World Championships, it’s the Women’s 4 x 6 k Relay. (Replay available here.) In a dazzling display of biathlon mastery, the Italian quartet knocked down 40 targets with 42 bullets, excelling one after another under pressure in difficult conditions to capture Italy’s first-ever Women’s Relay title. The “Blues” have been investing heavily in biathlon development with their sites set on the 2026 home Olympic Games, and it shows. But they didn’t run away with the win; it came down to a nail-biter final shooting, pitting Lisa Vittozzi of Italy against hometown favorite, Denise Herrmann of Germany. Vittozzi’s fast and flawless shooting clinched the win in spectacular fashion, while Herrmann faltered but held onto silver for Germany over third-place Sweden.
Lisa Vittozzi (ITA) and Denise Herrmann-Wick (GER), (l-r) shooting head to head for the gold medal in the final shooting stage of the IBU World Championships Women’s Relay. (Photo: NordicFocus)
After gusty winds caused drama at the shooting range in Saturday morning’s Men’s Relay, the conditions for the Women’s Relay eased a bit, though the compromise for lighter wind was heavier rain. On the first leg, two women shot clean: Vanessa Voigt of Germany’s 2022 Olympic bronze medal-winning relay squad, and Samuela Comola of Italy. Coming into these Championships, Comola’s best World Cup finish was 20th, but as one of three women to hit 20/20 in last Wednesday’s 15 k Individual she claimed a new personal best of fourth. Continuing her breakout week and clean shooting streak, she arrived at the first exchange in the lead pack with Sweden, Czech Republic, and Norway. Thirteen teams tagged within one minute, with the top seven all within 30 seconds.
Vanessa Voigt (GER), Samuela Comola (ITA), and Lou Jeanmannot (FRA) in the first leg of the Women’s Relay at IBU World Championships in Oberhof. (Photo: NordicFocus)
In the second leg, two-time World Cup Overall winner Dorothea Wierer of Italy kept a low profile at first, hanging onto the back of a four-person lead pack. But in the standing shooting stage she used just one spare on Lane 4 and passed everyone to blow open a 26-second lead. France went into the penalty loop and never quite recovered, eventually finishing fourth. Norway suffered three penalty loops and fell even farther back, taking sixth in the end. Sweden had two penalty loops but made gains in the second half of the race to stay in the mix. From this point on, Italy never gave up the lead.
Dorothea Wierer (ITA) used just one spare in standing to take the lead at the halfway point in the Women’s Relay at IBU World Championships in Oberhof, Germany. (Photo: NordicFocus).
At the halfway point, 32-year-old Wierer (ITA) handed off to her 21-year-old teammate, Hannah Auchentaller, who was originally named to the Italian World Championships team as an alternate and has only competed in a handful of World Cup races, including just one relay. No one knew what to expect from the young athlete in this high-stakes situation. Chloe Chevalier of France caught Auchentaller from 20 seconds back in the approach to the prone shooting, but Auchentaller confidently skied her own pace and kept her calm on the range. She cleaned her targets with no spares, skiing away with a 30-second advantage while Chevalier used all three spares. Arriving on Lane 1 for standing, all eyes and cameras were on Auchentaller. In the moment when it counted most, she performed brilliantly, using only one spare to hit her targets like a seasoned professional. After leading the whole third leg, Auchentaller handed off five seconds ahead of Germany.
Hannah Auchentaller (ITA) setting up in the standing position in the Women’s Relay at the IBU World Championships. (Photo: NordicFocus).
The last leg was set up perfectly for a high-octane head-to-head battle between two superstars: Lisa Vittozzi of Italy and Denise Herrmann of Germany. Both women are ranked in the top five of the World Cup Overall: third-ranked Vittozzi has a slightly higher shooting percentage, while fifth-ranked Herrmann tends to be slightly faster on the tracks. Both athletes cleaned prone, but Vittozzi did so five seconds faster than Herrmann. Statistics played out as Herrmann caught Vittozzi on the tracks and led into the final shooting. In yet another display of incredible composure and expertise from the Italian team, Vittozzi blazed through her five targets with five hits in 20 seconds. Herrmann hesitated after the third hit and then missed the final two shots, eventually needing 53 seconds to clear her targets with two spares. Though she avoided the penalty loop she left the range 31 seconds behind Vittozzi.
Denise Herrmann-Wick (GER) chasing down Lisa Vittozzi (ITA) before the final shooting in the Women’s Relay at the IBU World Championships in Oberhof, Germany. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Vittozzi crossed the finish line in triumph and was met by her three ecstatic teammates—the new World Champions. Herrmann, her teammates, and the German crowd all seemed satisfied with their silver medal performance, and Hanna Oeberg (SWE) brought home the bronze for Sweden, perhaps a slight disappointment for the race favorites, but a World Championship medal nonetheless. Julia Simon of France crossed in fourth, looking underwhelmed.
Lisa Vittozzi (ITA) celebrates as she crosses the finish line to claim Italy’s first ever gold in a Women’s Relay at the IBU World Championships in Oberhof, Germany. (Photo: NordicFocus)
From North America, Canada finished 11th and the US was 15th. Canada’s Nadia Moser had a solid first leg to tag in ninth just 46 seconds out of the lead. For the US, Deedra Irwin struggled on both the range and the tracks, using all six spares and incurring one penalty loop to hand off in 15th, 2:10 back. Joanne Reid (USA) moved the team up to 12th while Canada fell to 15th at the halfway point. On the third leg, Chloe Levins (USA) held onto twelfth and tagged twenty seconds ahead of Canada in 13th. Skiing the anchor leg for team USA, Kelsey Dickinson dropped down to 15th, while Canada’s Emma Lunder finished strong, bringing the Canadians up to 11th.
Joanne Reid (USA) brought the US from 15th two 12th in the second leg of the Women’s Relay at the IBU World Championships. (Photo: NordicFocus).
The Canadians had a final shooting score of 1 (penalty loop) +10 (spare rounds), while the US had 1+15. The winners from Italy had 0+2, highlighting the importance of the shooting and the exceptional caliber of their performance. Though it wasn’t a day to write home about for either North American team, US Biathlon Team Head Coach and proud father, Armin Auchentaller of Italy, certainly had reason to celebrate. His daughter and her three teammates were simply superb.
Dorothea Wierer (ITA), Hannah Auchentaller (ITA), Lisa Vittozzi (ITA), Samuela Comola (ITA), (l-r) celebrating Italy’s first ever gold medal in the Women’s Relay at the IBU World Championships in Oberhof,Germany. (Photo: NordicFocus).
Denise Herrmann-Wick (GER) shooting from the standing position at the IBU World Championships Sprint in Oberhof, Germany. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Biathlon fans anticipated that the women’s 7.5km Sprint would be one of the most tightly-contested races of the BMW IBU World Championships, and it did not disappoint. In the end, only 2.2 seconds separated the new World Champion, Denise Herrmann-Wick of Germany, from the silver medalist, Hanna Oeberg of Sweden. Oeberg’s teammate, Linn Persson, finished third. These athletes will start at the front of Sunday’s 60-person Pursuit and try to stave off the chasers for another chance at a World Championship medal.
Hanna Oeberg (SWE) leaving the range in the lead of the IBU World Championships Sprint in Oberhof, Germany. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Fourteen women from seven nations have landed on the podium this winter. But among all those contenders, arguably no one had more pressure on them today than hometown favorite, Denise Herrmann-Wick. Ranked first in the World Cup Sprint standings, the 34-year-old revealed in Wednesday’s Mixed Relay that she has peaked perfectly for these races. Even with nine out ten hits, Herrmann-Wick is skiing fast enough that she could have a chance at a podium finish, but today she left nothing chance. Unfazed by tens of thousands of spectators cheering in unison after each shot, Herrmann-Wick steadily cleared ten out of ten targets. One word came to mind: impressive.
But the race wasn’t over. A few minutes later, Hanna Oeberg of Sweden managed the same perfect shooting, leaving the range for the final 2.5km loop with a nine second advantage over Herrmann-Wick. A hush of collective anxiety came over the full stadium of German fans. By the top of Oberhof’s signature Birxsteig climb, Oeberg’s advantage had dwindled to a near tie. It wasn’t until the final meters of the race, when Oeberg’s time ticked above Herrmann-Wick’s winning mark of 21:19.7, that the Thuringen Arena burst into cheers.
Denise Herrmann-Wick (GER) celebrates after winning the IBU World Championships Sprint in Oberhof, Germany. (Photo: NordicFocus)
The battle for gold was not limited to those two athletes. Wearing bib number two, Anamarija Lampic of Slovenia cleaned her prone targets, leaving the audience wondering if today might be the day for the former cross-country skier to break onto her first podium. But that kind of biathlon magic wasn’t to be; Lampic’s inexperience came through when she missed four targets in standing. With the 17th-ranked course time, she narrowly managed to qualify for Sunday’s Pursuit in 58th. It was Lampic’s teammate, Polona Klemencic, who stepped up and shined for Slovenia with the perfect shooting score to take her first career top-10 in 8th place.
Ingrid Tandrevold of Norway led the race after Shooting 1, showing once again that her ski speed and prone shooting skills are there. But the standing shooting slump which has been bothering her since January persisted and she missed two on her way to a 14th place finish. Lisa Vittozzi of Italy missed just one in standing but skied fast enough to briefly take the lead from Marketa Davidova of Czech Republic, who had hit 100% as she so often does in championship races.
The defending Olympic Champion in the Sprint, Marte Olsbu Roeiseland, was sitting way back in 26th after missing one in prone, but with a clean standing bout and the second-ranked course time, she pulled her way back to fourth, just five seconds shy of the bronze medal. She’ll be motivated for more in the Pursuit. The World Cup Overall leader, Julia Simon, was well on her way to a podium finish with eight hits before she missed the last two. Simon thrives in head-to-head races and will be a threat in the Pursuit even starting 1:02 back in 10th place.
Emma Lunder (CAN) following Marte Olsbu Roiseland (NOR) in the IBU World Championships Sprint in Oberhof, Germany, where they finished 11th and 4th, respectively. (Photo: NordicFocus).
Less than one second behind Simon, Emma Lunder of Canada posted her best-ever Championship result in 11th. After a season-best ski performance on Wednesday in the Mixed Relay, Lunder knew anything was possible in today’s Sprint. “I was a bag of nerves,” she said. “I was more nervous for this than the Olympics, because I knew I had a chance.” Once she started, her good preparation kicked in and with a clear mind she executed to near perfection, with just one prone miss and a top-15 course time. Lunder attributes her excellent shape to staying healthy. She hasn’t been sick since last year’s Olympics, so she has been able to train continuously and make steady gains. She also credited her ski technicians for fast skis. In Sunday’s Pursuit, only 1:03 will separate Emma from Herrmann-Wick. To the podium, it’s just 37 seconds.
Nadia Moser (CAN) on her way to 48th in the IBU World Championships Sprint in Oberhof, Germany. Photo: (NordicFocus)
Two other North Americans qualified for the Pursuit. Nadia Moser (CAN) finished 48th with one penalty, and Deedra Irwin (USA) finished 55th with two. “I’ve barely trained for the last two weeks,” said Irwin after the race, referencing a sickness she came down with in January which required a round of antibiotics. “And this course is so hard. The headwind on that straightaway was brutal.” Some athletes were luckier than others, finding themselves in position to draft for the 500m windy straightaway approach to the range. Lunder put in a hard sprint to catch someone there. Chloe Levins, the second American today in 73rd, was alone every time on that section, but she performed well on the range, hitting nine of ten.
Joanne Reid (USA) shot clean in prone but suffered three penalties in standing to finish 75th. Competing in her first biathlon World Championships race, former Nordic Combined athlete Tara Geraghty-Moats (USA) similarly cleaned prone but struggled in standing, missing four to finish 86th. Canada’s Benita Peiffer rounded out their squad, missing five to finish 93rd.
Chloe Levins (USA) hit nine out of ten to finish 73rd in the IBU World Championships Sprint in Oberhof, Germany. (Photo: NordicFocus)
The women will be back in action on Sunday, but first it’s the men’s sprint, Saturday at 8:30AM Eastern Time.
IBU World Championships women’s Sprint podium: Denise Herrmann-Wick (GER) in first, Hanna Oeberg SWE) in second at left, and Linn Persson (SWE) in third. Oberhof, Germany. (Photo: NordicFocus)
The traveling IBU World Cup roadshow stops in Pokljuka, Slovenia this week and began the individual races. The women’s 15 k individual ran on Friday. The individual race format places a heightened premium on clean shooting; each missed shot amounts to an automatic minute penalty.
Tiril Eckhoff of Norway had been dominating the circuit recently. Yet, Friday, she fell in the standings to place an uncharacteristic 18th. In first place was former German cross-country skier Denise Herrmann. It was Herrmann’s first win of the season and her second podium. She won in 41:33.4 with no misses on the range. Sweden’s Hannah Öberg was second (+59.2; 0+1+0+0) and France’s Anais Bescond third (+1:15.7; 0+0+0+0).
Denise Herrmann of Germany celebrating the 15 k individual win in Pokljuka, Slovenia. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Two North Americans raced into the top-10. Clare Egan for the U.S. had a career-best race in the individual format with a sixth place. Egan shot clean and stopped the clock 2:10.4 back. Prior to Friday’s result, Egan’s best performance in the 15 k individual had been a 22nd at the 2017 World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria. Last weekend, Egan placed 16th in Ruhpolding, Germany’s 10 k pursuit. And at this same venue a bit over a year ago in Pokljuka, Egan placed sixth in the 10 k pursuit.
Clare Egan of the U.S. during the women’s 15 k individual in Pokljuka, Slovenia. Egan placed 6th. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Post-race interview with Clare Egan
Emma Lunder of Canada finished in 10th, 3:06.8 back while shooting 1+0+0+0. This was Lunder’s second top-10 of the season. She placed 7th in Oberhof’s sprint. Both Lunder and Egan qualified for Sunday’s 12.5 k mass start competition. The top-25 women in the overall IBU standings auto-qualify. Egan and Lunder fell outside that criteria, but qualified due to their results in Friday’s individual race.
Canada’s Emma Lunder racing to 10th in the women’s 15 k individual in Pokljuka, Slovenia. (Photo: NordicFocus)
For the U.S., Joanne Reid was 45th (+6:11.3; 0+0+1+1), Susan Dunklee 55th (+7:04.2; 1+2+1+1), and Emily Dreissigacker 84th (+10:12.7; 1+0+1+2).
Canada’s Nadia Moser finished in 79th (+9:30.6; 1+2+0+1), Megan Bankes 80th (+9:46.2; 1+1+0+3), and Emily Dickson 83rd (+10:07.4; 1+1+1+1).
On Thursday in Pokljuka, Johannes Thingnes Bø, on leave from the race scene for the first part of racing during the second trimester to be home for the birth of his first child, was back in play. Last week, in the absence of the Norwegian phenom that is Bø, France’s Martin Fourcade reclaimed the World Cup’s overall yellow leader’s bib.
Johannes Thingnes Bø on his way to winning the men’s 20 k individual in Pokljuka, Slovenia. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Fourcade’s leader status might be tenuous. The two superstars went 1-2 on Thursday with Bø taking the win in 47:54.3 with no misses. Fourcade finished second, 11.4 seconds back while also shooting clean. France’s Fabien Claude placed third (+25.6; 0+0+0+0).
Martin Fourcade of France remains in the overall leader’s bib after his second place in Pokljuka’s 20 k individual. (Photo: NordicFocus)
For Canada, Scott Gow raced to 26th (+3:36.7; 0+1+0+1). Christian Gow was 41st (+5:20.0; 0+2+0+0), Jules Burnotte 88th (+8:39.1; 1+2+1+1), and Aidan Millar 107th (+13:27.7; 2+2+0+3).
Scott Gow (CAN) railing a corner during the 20 k individual in Pokljuka, Slovenia. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Leif Nordgren was the top American in 27th. Nordgren finished 3:38.3 minutes back after shooting 1+1+0+0. Jake Brown placed 52nd (+5:54.9; 2+1+0+0), Sean Doherty 74th (+7:28.8; 1+0+1+3), and Paul Schommer 85th (+8:32.9; 2+0+0+2).
Norway’s Therese Johaug with the Holmenkollen 30 k classic win and no challengers in site. (Photo: ARD screenshot)
FIS World Cup Oslo, Norway Holmenkollen 30 k Classic
Beautiful sunshine. Norwegian crowds. And fine views of Oslo fjord from atop the Holmenkollen venue for the women’s 30-kilometer mass start classic. All things typical on a good weather March day in Oslo.
Norway’s Therese Johuag took this fine day and turned the screws on the 47 starters on Sunday to once again ski away from the field. By the second points bonus at 8k, Johaug was already 23.6 seconds up on the field. She won the race in 1:18:54.5 hours. According to the International Ski Federation (FIS), this was Johaug’s third 30 k win at Holmenkollen and her second classical victory. She won the 30 k skate in 2013. Her first Oslo 30 k classic win came in 2016.
Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva placed second 1:45.9 minutes back. Ebba Andersson of Sweden skied to third (+149.9).
Rosie Brennan (APU) was the top U.S. skier in 33rd (+ 7:57.0). Rosie Frankowski (APU) placed 34th (+9:40.2), and Kaitlynn Miller (CGRP) 42nd (+13:43.7).
Jessica Yeaton (APU/Australian National Team) raced to 30th (+7:29.4).
IBU World Championships Östersund, Sweden 10 k/12.5k Pursuit
On Saturday’s 10 k pursuit at the IBU World Champs in Östersund, Sweden the German women took first and third. Denise Herrmann won in 31:45.9 minutes with two penalties in her third shooting stage. Tiril Eckhoff of Norwayplaced second, 31.4 seconds back while also skiing two penalties in her third shooting stage. Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier was a close third (0+0+1+0, +31.6).
Clare Egan of the U.S. was 12th (2+0+0+3, +2:44.3), Susan Dunklee raced to 24th (2+0+0+1, +3:27.6), and Joanne Reid 32nd (3+2+1+0, +4:24.2).
For Canada, Sarah Beaudry finished 42nd (2+1+1+0, +5:23.5), while Rosanna Crawford, Emma Lunder, and Megan Bankes were lapped.
In Östersund on Sunday, the men raced the 12.5 k pursuit. Ukraine’s Dmytro Pidruchnyi, who placed fourth in yesterday’s sprint, came away with the win in 31:54.1. Remarkably, it was Pidruchnyi’s first race win either on the IBU World Cup or at the championship level. The 27 year old missed two targets for the day.
Johannes Thingnes Bø of Norway, the biathlete who has dominated the men’s side this season, placed second (+8.3). Bø’s ski speed was such that he took silver despite missing five targets he won the Silver medal. Taking third (+17.7) was France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet. He missed three targets in earning bronze.
For the U.S., Sean Doherty raced to 20th (+1:54.3) while missing two targets. Leif Nordgren placed 44th (0+0+3+1, +4:02.7), and Jake Brown 53rd (1+1+4+1, +6:00.8).
Canada’s Scott Gow began in bib 50, and skied up to finish 43rd (2+0+0+2, +3:51.4).
American Jessie Diggins (center) after winning the women’s 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint in Cogne, Italy. Germany’s Sandra Ringwald (l) placed second and Sweden’s Johanna Hagström in third.
FIS Cross Country World Cup 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint Cogne, Italy
Amidst sunshine and sporting rolled up sleeves on Saturday in Cogne Italy, American Jessie Diggins took the women’s 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint win in nail-biter fashion. After making it into the semifinals and the final as one of the day’s lucky losers, Diggins outlunged Germany’s Sandra Ringwald by 0.11 seconds, claiming the victory in a time of 3:32.73.
The 27 year old Afton, Minnesota native now has six individual World Cup sprint podiums, Saturday marking her first individual World Cup sprint victory (not to be forgotten is the gold medal Diggins and Kikkan Randall won in the team sprint during last year’s Pyeongchang Olympic Winter Games).
Following Diggins, Ringwald placed second (+0.11), Sweden’s Johanna Hagström third (+0.86), and Norway’s Ane Appelkvist Stenseth was fourth (+1.31). American Sadie Bjornsen also advanced all the way to the final on Saturday where she placed fifth, 2.23 seconds back from Diggins’ winning time. The sixth finalist on Saturday was Eva Urevc of Slovenia, who crossed 2.32 seconds back from Diggins.
In her strongest individual World Cup sprint result yet, Julia Kern of the U.S. raced to an 11th place. Prior to Saturday, Kern’s best individual World Cup finish in a sprint was 19th, which she earned at this year’s freestyle sprint in Dresden, Germany.
Three more U.S. woman finished in the top 30, with Sophie Caldwell placing in 17th followed by Ida Sargent in 24th and Rosie Brennan in 27th.
American Kelsey Phinney finished 1.03 seconds outside of qualification, ending the day in 33rd overall.
Four Canadian women raced on Saturday, with Dahria Beatty leading the way in 38th. The next Canadian finisher after Beatty was Cendrine Browne in 48th, followed by Maya Macisaac-Jones 49th and Katherine Stewart-Jones 51st.
Italy’s Federico Pellegrino (c) after winning the men’s 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint on Saturday in Cogne, Italy. His teammate, Francesco de Fabiani (l) placed second and France’s Lucas Chanavat third. (Photo: FIS Instragram screenshot)
On the men’s side, Italians Federico Pellegrino and Francesco de Fabiani put on a show for the home crowd, with Pellegrino taking the win in a time of 3:09.07 and his teammate de Fabiani earning second (+0.48) by 0.03 seconds after a photo finish with France’s Lucas Chanavat, who placed third (+0.51).
After narrowly avoiding a crash in his semifinal, American Simi Hamilton advanced to the final, ending the day just off the podium in fourth (+3.91). Following Hamilton was Norway’s Sondre Turvoll Fossli in fifth (+4.03) and Sweden’s Marcus Grate in sixth (+27.90).
Racing for Canada, Russell Kennedy was the next top North American finisher in 11th. Following Kennedy was American Andy Newell in 23rd and the U.S.’s Logan Hanneman in 27th. Kevin Bolger qualified for the fourth quarterfinal, but did not start and ended the day in 30th.
Erik Bjornsen of the U.S. Ski Team placed 39th while Canada’s Alex Harvey ended the day in 48th and Evan Palmer-Charrette 59th.
Germany’s Denise Herrmann winning the women’s IBU 10 k pursuit on Saturday at the SoHo venue in Midway, Utah. (Photo: IBU Instagram screenshot)
IBU World Cup Soldier Hollow (Midway), Utah: 10/12.5 k pursuit
International Biathlon Union (IBU) competition has returned to the famed Soilder Hollow (SoHo) race course venue in Midway, Utah for the first time in 17 years–the last time IBU/World Cup level competitions were held there was back in 2002, when Salt Lake City played host to the Winter Olympic Games.
The IBU’s third day of competition in SoHo brought on a 10-kilometer pursuit for the women. Germany’s Denise Herrmann won the event in a time of 28:03.4 after skiing two penalties (0+0+1+1). Franziska Hildebrand, also of Germany, claimed second, finishing 4.2 seconds behind Herrmann with one missed shot (0+0+0+1).
Racing for Finland, Kaisa Mäkäräinen placed third, 16.5 seconds back from the winner with three misses (2+0+1+0).
Susan Dunklee was the top North American woman, finishing in 26th (+2:34.5) with one miss (0+0+0+1). Just 0.4 seconds back from Dunklee in 27th (+2:34.9), was U.S. skier, Clare Egan with three missed shots (0+0+2+1).
Rosanna Crawford of Canada placed 34th (+2:48.2) after skiing three penalties (0+1+0+2) and U.S. skier Joanne Reid finished 40th (+4:11.9) after skiing two penalties (0+1+1+0). Canada’s Sarah Beaudry placed 44th (+4:33.2) after two missed shots (0+0+1+1) and Emma Lunder, also racing for Canada, placed 51st (+5:41.3) after skiing six penalties (2+2+2+0).
Quentin Fillon Maillet (c) after winning the men’s IBU World Cup 12.5-k pursuit at the SoHo venue in Midway, Utah. Norway’s Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen (l) placed second and Simon Desthieux, also of France, placed third. (Photo: IBU Instagram)
In the men’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit, France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet claimed the win in a time of 30:55.8 after shooting 100 percent. Norway’s Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen, who earned his first IBU World Cup win on Friday, placed second in Saturday’s pursuit, finishing 25.9 seconds behind Fillon Maillet and missing just one shot (0+1+0+0).
Simon Desthieux, also of France, placed third on Saturday, finishing 47.3 seconds back from the winner after skiing three penalties (0+1+1+1).
Racing for Canada, Christian Gow placed 8th (+2:21.2) after shooting clean. American Sean Doherty finishing two places behind Gow in 10th (+2:22.8) with three misses (0+3+0+0). Canadian Scott Gow, Christian’s brother, placed 25th (+3:58.5) after skiing four penalties (1+1+2+0).
Also racing for Canada, Aidan Millar finished in 39th (+5:25.1) with five missed shots (2+0+1+2).
Minneapolis SuperTour 20 k/15 k mass start classic
The SuperTour returned to racing on Saturday in Minneapolis, Minnesota with a 15/20 k classic mass start. The men’s 20-kilometer event was won by Northern Michigan University (NMU) skier, Zak Ketterson in a time of 54:08.0. Ben Lustgarten skiing for the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP) placed second, 0.9 seconds behind Ketterson. Norwegian Mathias Rolid, also skiing for NMU, placed third, 15.8 seconds behind the race winner.
In the women’s 15 k event, Kaitlynn Miller of the CGRP won in a time of 50:17.1. Skiing for the Stratton Mountain School T2 team was Alayna Sonnesyn in second place (+25.1). Liz Guiney (CGRP) claiming third (+30.6).
Gold medalist Laura Dahlmeier of Germany celebrates waiving a national flag as she crosses the line first in the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
It was almost another start-to-finish victory at the Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang for the current golden girl of biathlon, Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier. But it came with a painful price to pay.
After starting the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit on Monday evening local time in freezing temperatures and with a 24-second lead following her sprint victory, Dahlmeier began the race intensely focused, again cleaning the first prone stage.
But this time she was not uncontested.
After starting in 13th position and almost a minute back to begin the pursuit, Slovakia’s Anastasiya Kuzmina, who’s currently second in the World Cup Total Score standings, caught up to Dahlmeier after both had incurred one penalty in the second prone shooting and avoided more by performing multiple adjustments on their rifle sights to deal with gusts of wind.
After closing a nine-second gap, Kuzmina passed her rival on the next loop. But Dahlmeier did not seem to mind someone else helping her to set the pace in once again difficult conditions on the course and range (the race jury reportedly debated a potential postponement), and tucked behind Kuzmina to wait for her next chance in the standing shooting. There Dahlmeier cleaned again, leaving the range with a 38-second lead after Kuzmina had to twice ski through the penalty lap, but still retained second place as the closest pursuer.
“On the third loop we raced together, and on the uphill part Anastasiya was really strong and I just wanted to follow her and we had a good speed together,” Dahlmeier later recounted at the post-race press conference. “And at the shooting range, I felt really comfortable. I know about my good standing shooting, and I just looked to my targets and wanted to hit the middle and it worked … During the last years I could improve my shooting in wind situations, but I didn’t especially train wind situations [for PyeongChang].”
“Laura is a very hard opponent to beat,” Kuzmina said at the press conference, via a translator. “She is able to fully focus on the shooting and she is able to shoot very good also in the strong wind, so you can fight with her on the skis of course, but you need to shoot very good to beat her.”
In her final shooting stage, Dahlmeier again cleaned all targets and left the range with a 55-second lead on Kuzmina, with France’s Anaïs Bescond right behind the Slovakian.
“If I would already think that I might miss a target when approaching the range for the fourth time, I believe that would be the wrong mindset. I just tried to concentrate on myself, on my own targets,” Dahlmeier told German broadcaster ZDF when questioned about the final shooting, when she probably could have afforded to compensate for one penalty lap. “I have proven often enough that I can hit [when it matters], in training we simulate that every day. And I just firmly believed that it will work out again today. And it did, so I am very grateful for that.”
With such a comfortable lead, nobody could challenge her anymore on the final loop. On the finishing stretch Dahlmeier had enough time to reach for a German flag handed to her from the stands, before crossing the line in a time of 30:35.3 minutes, with one penalty (0+1+0+0).
Anastasiya Kuzmina of Slovakia celebrates after crossing the finish line in second place in the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit at the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: IBU/ Biathlonworld)
Fighting for the positions on the podium behind her, Kuzmina crossed the line 29.4 seconds back to claim the silver medal, winning the finishing sprint against Bescond, who had to settle for bronze (+29.6).
Bescond moved up from a 19th starting position largely thanks to her 19-for-20 shooting with just one penalty lap (0+0+1+0), though she also skied the fifth-best overall course time, while Kuzmina overcame four misses (0+1+2+1) with the fastest course time of the day, just as she had done in the sprint.
Almost another minute back, fourth place went to sprint silver medalist Marte Olsbu of Norway (+1:07.3, four penalties), fifth to Hanna Öberg of Sweden (+1:08.9, three penalties), and sixth to Dahlmeier’s teammate Denise Herrmann (+1:19.4, two penalties), who improved from starting in 21st position. Sprint bronze medalist Veronika Vitková of the Czech Republic fell back to seventh (+1:37.3, three penalties).
Going to the stands a few minutes after reaching the finish, Kuzmina hugged her friends and relatives, including her husband and a teary eyed woman (presumably her mother) who was wearing a sports jacket embroidered with Russian emblems. Herself a mother of two, Kuzmina is the older sister of Russian star biathlete Anton Shipulin, who was not invited by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to compete as part of the neutral Olympic Athletes from Russia team in PyeongChang. An appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) was denied just hours before the Opening Ceremony. Kuzmina has been racing for Slovakia since 2008, only competing for Russia at two Junior World Championships and never at senior-level championships.
“I am missing my brother. I hoped to the last moment that he will be able to compete here,” Kuzmina said about the topic when asked about it in the press conference, via a translator. “I don’t want to talk a lot about this issue. I am really sorry about what happened and that my brother is not here. I am here to fight for medals for my entire family. I won the one medal, and I want to win another medal for my brother.”
Kuzmina, 33, is an Olympic gold medalist in the sprint and silver medalist in the pursuit at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, and sprint gold medalist from 2014 in Sochi, Russia.
“This is a very special feeling to have the third medal from the third Olympics in a row,” Kuzmina explained. “Almost everybody who talked to me was [expecting] that I could win the sprint here, because I won the sprint in Vancouver and Sochi as well. That didn’t happen, but I am very glad that I managed to defend the silver medal in this event like in Vancouver eight years ago.”
For the 30-year-old Bescond it was her first medal at Olympic Winter Games, after she narrowly missed out four years ago in Sochi with two fifth places in the sprint and individual.
At 2016 World Championships she had taken silver in the 15 k individual in Oslo, Norway, and she’s also earned six medals with French relay teams. But last season was a down year where she started just one race at 2017 World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria, and finished outside the top 50 before she rebounded with a third place in the pursuit at the World Cup test event last year in PyeongChang.
“Of course it was never granted that I make the podium,” Bescond said in the press conference, via a translation. “It was very difficult for me not being able to do the World Championships [in Hochfilzen]. This year I really wanted to perform very well, and the Olympic Games is the best thing you could think of, the Holy Grail. So I did think about last year this time, and I was very happy to have a very good race.”
“Laura really dominates our sport, but there a lot of good athletes out there,” Bescond stated when asked how her opponent could be beaten at these Olympics. “They are strong, they got lots of qualities, what you need to do is be faster on the skis and shoot better and faster, that’s it.”
Sounds easy enough.
But if her opponents couldn’t quite yet do it in the pursuit on Monday, the weather conditions and all the increased attention on Dahlmeier, who usually guards her private life closely, pushed her to her limits.
“I am extremely happy that everything worked out so well again today,” Dahlmeier told German broadcaster ZDF right after the race. “I tried to be fully focused on the shootings, on the course I didn’t feel quite as relaxed. On the one hand the conditions were very demanding, and the past two days have taken a toll on me with a lot of media appointments, a lot of additional stuff. At the moment I am feeling quite well, but of course it is cold and when the fingers thaw up, maybe some viewers know it, that hurts quite a bit.”
Soon after, Dahlmeier was no longer in the mood to celebrate, as she had fully exhausted herself for the victory. And her frozen fingers exposed to the cold in thin race gloves now seemingly really hurt, even though in the press conference before she had claimed that “I always spend a lot of time in the mountains and there it’s normal to have wind and cold temperatures, so perhaps I am a little bit used to it.”
“Primarily it was the cold. She is in extreme pain,” Stefan Schwarzbach, a manager and speaker for the German Ski Federation, later told ZDF after she had to cancel a planned studio appearance. “So when [her hands] thawed up she really had tears in her eyes, it was painful to watch. After the doping control she put herself to rest, she is just completely finished.”
At last year’s World Championships in Hochfilzen, where she won five medals, she physically collapsed after two races to the point that the German team doctor did not want her to start the mass start. In the end her stubbornness prevailed, and she also won that race overtaking American Susan Dunklee on the final lap.
“We already know that from last year, we just have to be careful with the sum of the exertions in competition,” Schwarzbach said. “And I believe the spectators will be accepting if she reduces the media work a little bit, and then hopefully can stand at the start line for the individual with full strength. … She will be all right, but we will reduce her program to what is necessary, even if it would have been nice to celebrate the second gold medal.”
North Americans Moving On Up
Canada’s Rosanna Crawford finished 19th in the pursuit as the best North American, moving up from 53rd at the start, based on her sprint result, to finish 19th (+2:27.7) for her best individual result at her third Olympics.
Canada’s Rosanna Crawford (22) during the women’s 7.5 k sprint on Saturday, Feb. 10 at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. She finished 53rd then went on to place 19th in the pursuit on Monday. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
On the range, Crawford managed to cope well with the windy conditions, shooting 18-for-20 with one miss in each of her standing stages (0+0+1+1). In an interview with FasterSkier after, she said she would have liked to avoid one mistake she made in the final shooting.
“[The wind] seems to have been more consistent,” Crawford said. “My zeroing went really well, I had my sights, I knew exactly where they were and what corrections I would need to make. So prone I was really confident. … In my last standing I didn’t mean to pull the trigger on my first shot, so that was a bit of a disappointment.”
She enjoyed her race despite the harsh weather and demanding tracks, skiing the 19th-ranked overall course time.
“For sure I love the 2k [pursuit loop] here,” Crawford said. “I [also] was 19th with 18-for-20 last year at the World Cup here. Yeah, the 2 k is so much fun. You just have to grit your teeth up that hill and then just rip along the top and back down to the range, and I love it so much. My skis were amazing. Our techs did such a good job. So I just had some fun out there today.”
Asked how she got into a better mindset following the sprint, Crawford said she called her older sister, a 2006 Olympic gold medalist in cross-country skiing.
“I had some really good chats with my sister Chandra,” Crawford said. “She’s a huge motivator for me and my biggest cheerleader now. She really just talked some sense into me to not be so down on myself after the sprint, so that was really helpful.”
Julia Ransom (Biathlon Canada) during the women’s 7.5 k sprint at her Olympic debut in PyeongChang, South Korea. She finished 40th then went on to place 28th in the pursuit on Monday. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
Teammate Julia Ransom also improved from her sprint position, moving up by 12 places to finish in 28th place (+3:03.0) with one miss in her last standing stage. She was one of just six women on Monday who shot 19-for-20, with no one shooting clean.
“I had some really solid shooting today hitting my first 15, missing my 18th or 17th shot,” Ransom recounted after the race. “I am a confident shooter in the wind, I know corrections fairly well, and I think you just have to make good shots and that’s all you can hope for”
On the course she skied the 44th-best course time after a faster first loop.
“My legs were not feeling as good as I was hoping they’d be, so I was really happy to keep it together in the range and just slowly work my way up and ski with the other girls,” Ransom concluded.
American Emily Dreissigacker racing to 47th in the women’s 10 k pursuit at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Ross Burton/US Biathlon)
Emily Dreissigacker, the lone American to qualify for the women’s pursuit, improved by four positions after starting in 51st to finish 47th (+5:01.4) with four penalties (0+1+1+2).
That was another improvement on her personal best at the World Cup-level, which she achieved in Saturday’s sprint. Before these Olympics, Dreissigacker’s best result on the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup had been 56th place in a pursuit in Antholz, Italy, last month.
On the course she recorded the 54th course time, steadily holding her position on the three loops between the shooting stages.
“I think the skiing felt a little better than the sprint two days ago,” Dreissigacker said after. “Getting to ski with people is always really fun, and my skis were amazingly fast.”
Just like Crawford, she also preferred the loop the pursuit was raced on over other courses in PyeongChang.
“I really like the 2 k course,” Dreissigacker said. “You climb up and then you come back down, which is something that I really like. I think mentally especially, I’m like ‘All right, gotta get to the top of this hill and then I have time to recover,’ which is nice.”
“I really just like to try to keep things simple,” she said of her shooting performance and approach to the wind-exposed range. “Just relax, if the wind comes up just wait for it to pass or if it’s not going to pass take some clicks. I really think the simpler you can keep it the better.”
“The wind can be a little tricky,” she told US Biathlon, according to a press release. “In my first standing stage, actually, I had to wait out a pretty big gust of wind. All the people around me were waiting, too, and we’re all just standing there waiting for it to die. That’s kind of just how it is. You have to be able to deal with that … be able to wait and not freak out.”
Canada’s Emma Lunder finished 53rd (+6:16.8) after starting 54th then shooting four penalties (0+1+1+2).
“It was not great,” Lunder reflected. “Started out with shooting OK, unfortunately missed two in my last standing and just did not have it in the legs today, so the skiing was a big struggle.”
While not completely satisfied with her race performance, the 26-year-old Lunder said she was making the most out of her first Olympic experience.
“The whole time I was just trying to remind myself, I am at the Olympics, racing my first Olympics. It’s such a cool atmosphere, so even if the race isn’t going as well as I would like I am still pretty happy to be here,” Lunder explained. “The racing doesn’t feel different from a World Cup. It’s being at the Athlete’s Village with athletes from every sport all over the world, the best in the world, that’s been pretty special. I have [met] quite a few people who I never thought I would meet, so I have just been trying to take it all in and also try to perform as well as I can.”
Asked how she is dealing with the cold conditions and prepares for her upcoming races, Lunder added, “I would say a lot of it is energy management. When it’s this cold out I find I am a lot more tired, burning more calories just from shivering. So we have a therapist here with us. I will see her for some treatment, just take a bit of time to lay in bed and watch some movies, do whatever I can to rest up a little bit.”
The fourth Canadian, Megan Tandy, did not start,as she’s working to kick a cold in time for the next race on Wednesday.
“Disappointing news, but it is for the best,” Tandy wrote in an Instagram post before the race. “I have decided not to start the 10km Pursuit tonight in order to get healthy for our upcoming Individual Race. I will be cheering on my girls from bed, I know they can rock this stadium tonight.”
Estonia’s Johanna Talihärm, who skis collegiately for Montana State University and last year split her training time between Bozeman, Montana, and Estonia, finished 26th (+2:59.4) with another strong performance after a career-best 22nd place in the sprint. She incurred four penalties (0+1+2+1), and skied the 27th-ranked course time.
The biathlon competitions in PyeongChang continue on Wednesday with the women’s 15-kilometer individual and Thursday with the men’s 20-kilometer individual race.
Norway’s Tiril Eckhoff celebrates her first World Cup win (and first top 20) of the 2017/2018 season on Thursday after winning the IBU World Cup women’s 7.5 k sprint in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
IBU World Cup (Antholz, Italy): Women’s 7.5 k sprint
So far this season, Norway’s Tiril Eckhoff had yet to crack the top 20 outside a relay in the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup. That all changed Thursday when she won the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint in Antholz, Italy.
She did so by hitting all 10 targets and besting the time of Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier by 12 seconds at the finish.
“I was very nervous for today,” Eckhoff, 27, told German broadcaster ARD in English after the race. “My shooting has been really bad, and I wasn’t qualified for the sprint at the Olympics, and that has been my plan the whole season for the Olympics. So I am very happy to manage to do a good race and a clean shooting today.”
Eckhoff started 71st out of 103 women, then went on to clean prone and standing and ski the second-fastest overall course time in the process. In doing so, she not only topped Dahlmeier, who started ahead of her in bib 22, but also the Czech Republic’s Veronika Vitkova, who started 21st and posted the second-fastest finishing time after Dahlmeier — until Eckhoff crossed the line. Both Dahlmeier and Vitkova also shot clean.
“I only got positive feedback so I was really happy,” Eckhoff said of trying to beat the times of both Dahlmeier and Vitkova. “I was thinking against Dahlmeier I had to ski really really fast. Now I was very happy to manage that.”
Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier racing to second in the women’s 7.5 k sprint at the IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
While Eckhoff finished in 21:05.3, Dahlmeier placed second (+12.0) and Vitkova ended up third (+20.6).
“I am very happy about my second place,” Dahlmeier told ARD. “That was a really good race today. I tried to shoot well, because in general the tendency in Antholz is to shoot a few too many misses, so I just tried to start out calm on the course and focus on the shooting.”
Asked specifically about Eckhoff, who’s previous best sprint result this season was 50th (and season best was 22nd in a 15 k individual race), Dahlmeier said, “You probably always have to account for a Tiril Eckhoff. She is a bit of a mixed bag on the shooting range, maybe I wouldn’t quite have expected her to twice get through clean, but when she manages to do that she is right at the top. And she proved that again today.”
Darya Domracheva of Belarus skied the fastest overall course time but had one standing penalty (0+1) that kept her from the podium as she finished fourth (+23.0), and France’s Anais Bescond shot clean to place fifth (+26.6).
Russia’s Ekaterina Yurlova-Percht placed a season-best sixth (+39.4) with clean shooting, Italy’s Dorothea Wierer was seventh (+40.0, one penalty), Switzerland’s Elisa Gasparin eighth (+52.6; no penalties), and Germany’s Franziska Hildebrand and Denise Herrmann ninth (+54.2, no penalties) and 10th (+56.2, one penalty), respectively.
US Biathlon started four of the five women on its Olympic team in Antholz, with Susan Dunklee leading all North Americans in 35th (+1:49.5) after a prone miss and another in standing (1+1). Clare Egan finished 56th (+2:17.0) with three penalties (2+1), Emily Dreissigacker shot clean and finished 59th (+2:26.8), thus qualifying for Saturday’s pursuit (which will be her first at the World Cup level) in the sprint top 60. Joanne Reid was the only American to miss the top 60 in 72nd (+2:43.6) with two prone misses (2+0).
Emily Dreissigacker was the last starter in the IBU World Cup women’s 7.5 k sprint on Thursday in Antholz, Italy. She went on to place 59th to qualify for her first World Cup pursuit. (Photo: US Biathlon/NordicFocus)
“I didn’t feel sharp on the skis and I struggled adjusting to the thin air of high altitude,” Dunklee said of the Antholz venue’s elevation around 1,600 meters (or 5,200 feet) above sea level, according to a US Biathlon press release. “I’m grateful to get another opportunity Saturday. I want to make the most of each race start as preparation for Korea. Three women in the pursuit – that’s a big step forward and a great place to see the team heading into the Games.”
“I definitely struggled with the altitude in the skiing, but I was really happy with my shooting and, of course, am very excited to have qualified for my first World Cup pursuit,” Dreissigacker said, according to the release.
“My shooting continues to be extremely disappointing,” Egan said. “But on the bright side I skied fast enough to give myself another chance on Saturday in the pursuit.”
Canada was led by Nadia Moser in 85th (+3:23.4) with two misses (1+1). Sarah Beaudry, who was recently named to Biathlon Canada’s Olympic team, followed in 87th (+3:30.4) with three penalties (2+1), and Megan Bankes finished 90th (+3:46.5) with four misses (1+3).
The Antholz World Cup men’s 10 k sprint takes place Friday at 8:15 a.m. EST.
Biathlon Canada’s Rosanna Crawford (26) waves to some 20,000 spectators in the stands during the flower ceremony of the women’s 12.5 k mass start at the 2018 IBU World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germany, after finishing in fourth place. (Screenshot: ZDF broadcast)
Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Rosanna Crawford.
For a few minutes, it looked like Biathlon Canada’s Rosanna Crawford could clutch her second podium in her second-straight individual race in Ruhpolding, Germany, in the women’s 12.5-kilometer mass start on Sunday. Maybe it could even be the first World Cup victory of her career.
After cleaning also the 20th of 20 targets — as the only competitor to achieve that on Sunday in the elite mass start field of just 30 athletes — Crawford headed out on the final loop 16 seconds ahead of Czech Republic’s Veronika Vitkova, with Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen and Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier a few additional seconds behind, all of them former World Cup winners and world champions.
“I was really surprised to leave the range in 1st, these are the 30 best women in the world,” Crawford wrote in an email.
On the prior loop, Crawford had lost just about ten seconds to those three and Darya Domracheva of Belarus, before passing them on the range with her flawless shooting. Mäkäräinen and Dahlmeier each incurred a penalty, having to ski 150 extra meters before they could return to the course to chase after her, while Vitkova had also remained clean in that stage.
But would the Canadian’s lead be large enough to reach the finish first, keeping some of the strongest skiers of the field at bay?
Anxiously looking behind several times, Crawford was overtaken by Dahlmeier and Mäkäräinen, but kept Vitkova behind her to stay in podium contention. Yet her lead was dwindling.
Kaisa Makarainen of Finland celebrates winning the women’s 12.5 k mass start in Ruhpolding, Germany, as Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier (r) takes second, Veronica Vitkova of the Czech Republic (far left) races to third, and Canada’s Rosanna Crawford (c) fourth. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
Out of the final downhill in a meandering section of turns, Mäkäräinen moved in front of Dahlmeier and held that ski-length lead into the finish. She crossed the line in a time of 34:05.6 minutes (with two penalties), with Dahlmeier just 0.8 seconds behind (also with two penalties) before collapsing to catch her breath.
Cheered on from the side of the track by coaches and teammates, Crawford remained in front right until the little tree branches marking the finishing lanes, but Vitkova was already on her tails.
“I really thought if I made it to the stadium in front of Vitkova I’d be able to hold her off, but she had the slip stream and I my legs just felt like concrete,” Crawford wrote.
Choosing the lane to her right, Vitkova pushed hard and managed to outsprint Crawford to the line for third (+4.6, with two penalties) while Crawford finished 0.6 seconds back in fourth (+5.2, with no penalties). For Crawford, the result was her career best in a mass start, and she received many congratulations from her peers and the ovations from thousands of spectators during the flower ceremony following the race.
“I would have love to hold onto a podium but was pretty dead on my last loop,” she continued, adding that she had woken up to a sore throat and congestion on Saturday, which persisted on Sunday. “In hindsight it was a mistake to be looking over my shoulder to see how close they were, I really should have just kept pushing, but this being a position I’ve never been in before I was pretty overwhelmed! Next time I will just keep fighting till I cross that red line in the snow! But having the two of the strongest women chasing me down was a bit scary! Kaisa is so fast and Laura I’m sure wanted to give the fans what they came for, a German podium!
“I was pretty disappointed when I crossed the line in 4th, but as time went by I got more and more happy,” she added. “To have hit another 20/20 is fantastic, especially in the high pressure situation of a Mass Start. With that race I went 50/50 in Ruhpolding!”
Germany’s Denise Herrmann followed in fifth (+16.7), almost making up for a penalty lap in each of the four stages by also skiing the fastest course time on each loop. Domracheva finished sixth (+23.7) after she had missed two more targets in the final standing stage (0+0+1+2).
For Vitkova it was the second podium of the season, after another third place in the sprint in Oberhof, Germany.
“I knew that Kaisa and Laura are behind me,“ Vitkova said of the exciting last loop in the post-race press conference. “My feeling on the skis was very good, and I believed that I can catch Rosanna. … It was very nice, now we have Olympic season and my results are better and better, so I am very happy.”
For Mäkäräinen, it was her first victory of the season and 22nd overall in her career. She also moved into the lead in the overall World Cup Total Score, 19 points ahead of Slovakia’s Anastasia Kuzmina in second.
“I appreciate silver and bronze a lot, too, since all podium places mean you had a good race, but victory is victory,” Mäkäräinen said in the press conference. “We were skiing quite fast all the last loop, I was on my limit all the time. … Happy that it ended this way.”
Dahlmeier, coming off a cold that forced her to forego the previous week of races in Oberhof, Germany, was satisfied with her result as well, despite narrowly missing out on another victory in front of her fans after anchoring her relay team to a win on Saturday.
“It was a lot of fun today, a really great race that had everything, suspense at the shooting range, a fight on the loop … and incredibly exciting with that finish sprint,” Dahlmeier told German broadcaster ZDF after the flower ceremony, according to a translation. “For me this was the perfect race to close out the week in Ruhpolding.”
“It was like Kaisa said, a really fast loop for us,” Dahlmeier later explained in the press conference. “We had really good equipment today, so for me it was a little bit easier on the downhill parts. We [caught] Rosanna Crawford, and I was in front on the last hill up the [shooting range climb]. Then we had the final sprint, and Kaisa was a little bit faster than me today. But I am very happy about this second place, and I think it is a really good sign that I am in good shape.”
As Crawford had told FasterSkier following her podium in the individual race, she considers Ruhpolding a “special place”, after she raced her first Junior World Championships there in 2008, her first World Cup in there in 2010, and on Thursday, her first World Cup podium (when she was third in the 15 k individual). She has followed that up with another one of her best results of her career.
“The crowd was amazing in Ruhpolding this whole week! I loved having my first podium at one of the most popular World Cup venues,” she wrote. “We had incredible skis all week and our techs worked so hard, a big shout out to them! I think none of them have voices this morning from cheering so hard in yesterday’s race!!”
And regardless of whether or not Crawford reached the podium on Sunday, multiple-time World Champion Dahlmeier pointed out, “There is no big difference even between a place in the 40s or a victory,” she said of the ups and downs of her weekend and the sport in general during the press conference. “With the shooting, you can have one or two [misses] more and you are somewhere out of the best 30. Then the next day you can win a race or be on the podium … That’s the difference between cross-country and biathlon, and that’s why we love it.”
J.T. Bø Wins Men’s Mass Start Ahead of Fourcade; Burke 21st
US Biathlon’s Tim Burke racing to 21st in the men’s 15-kilometer mass start at the 2018 IBU World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germany. (Photo: US Biathlon/NordicFocus)
Earlier on Sunday, US Biathlon’s Tim Burke successfully cleaned the first two stages in the men’s 15 k mass start to stay in contention for a top position. He left the range in 11th position and just 8 seconds behind the pace set by World Cup leader Martin Fourcade of France in first and his Norwegian rival Johannes Thingnes Bø in second.
“The atmosphere was great out on the course today with 25,000 fans,” Burke wrote in and email to FasterSkier. “No matter how many times I have done this, racing in that environment is always exciting.”
Then Burke missed the last shot in his first standing bout and had to ski a penalty lap. He came back on the course in 13th, just ahead of Fourcade who had incurred two penalties in that stage. Then Burke skied the fifth-fastest course time on the next loop, trying to again close a gap to the group ahead.
“I felt decent throughout the race but am definitely looking forward to racing on some different courses that better suit my strengths,” Burke wrote. “Ruhpolding is filled with short, steep climbs that are almost always followed by some type of recovery. Because of that, it ends up being an endless cycle of sprint then recover, which is definitely not my forte.”
After he missed two more targets in the final standing stage, Burke lost 10 positions and another 50 seconds to the leaders, leaving the range in 23rd. On the final loop he made up two places, passing Norway’s Lars Helge Birkeland and Bulgaria’s Krasimir Anev, to finish 21st (+1:30.2, with three penalties).
“Overall, I am happy with where I am at right now,” wrote Burke, who placed fourth in a 10 k sprint at the previous World Cup in Oberhof. “I just have to work on a few small details and then a top result should be possible.”
Ahead of Burke, the mass start was decided when Johannes Bø extended his lead on the fourth loop before the final shooting to almost 20 seconds, then returned to the course in first place despite a penalty in the last standing.
On the last loop he defended his lead ahead of three French athletes with Antonin Guigonnnat, Quentin Fillon Maillet and Fourcade chasing after him. Though Bø skied the second-fastest course time overall, he lost 14 seconds to Fourcade on the last loop and crossed the finish line 4.5 seconds ahead of Fourcade in 37:11.2 minutes (with one penalty).
Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø (2) racing to a win in the men’s 15-kilometer mass start at the 2018 IBU World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germany, with France’s Martin Fourcade behind him. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
At the press conference, Bø acknowledged that he was worried Fourcade would catch him.
“I was thinking about it when I saw him out on the tracks there, but I tried to just stay in my own lane for the tracks, and it was very good practice to stay on the lead on the last lap,” Bø said. “It’s very tough, mentally, and you just have to think forward and not so much about the people behind.
“When you fight for the win, you don’t want to be weak, you know?” Bø added when asked what gave him strength on that last loop. “So it’s just to be happy with the pain in the legs and ski as fast as you can.”
Fourcade — who temporarily dropped to 15th following two misses in the third stage — could not quite catch Bø and settled for second (+4.5), with two penalties (0+0+2+0).
“It was a really good fight at the front of the competition,” Fourcade said inatthe press conference. “I didn’t take enough time to be stable on my [first standing stage] and I missed two, but I think I could [have missed] three on that; it was a really bad one. … I knew that with two mistakes advantage, it would be really hard to come back on Johannes, and when I saw that he missed only one on the last shooting, I knew that it was already over for me.”
So he focused on at least catching his teammates Guigonnat and Fillon Maillet on the final loop, who had left the range in second and third, respectively.
“It was really special to fight with them because we know each other — our strong points and our weaknesses,” Fourcade said. “I knew that I had to be really faster than Antonin before the last finish [stretch], because he’s a really good sprinter.”
Fourcade’s 26-year-old teammate Guigonnat, who had been called up to the French World Cup team for the last three races, finished third place (+8.4, with no penalty). It was the second World Cup podium of his career, following up on another third place in the sprint in Annecy, France, earlier this season.
“I didn’t feel much pressure because I’m clearly an outsider, so nobody’s cheering for me, I think,” Guigonnat modestly said in the press conference. “And the other guys, they are fighting each other for maybe the yellow bib [of the World Cup leader] or things like this, and then I just do my job and that’s it.”
Fillon Maillet finished fourth (+12.6, with one penalty), and Bø’s older brother Tarjei Bø placed fifth (+14.2, with one penalty) after he made up by five positions on the final loop.
Burke learned Saturday that he could race the 30-man mass start, after being listed as the third alternate based on his current World Cup Total Score. After Sunday’s race, he’s up to 26th in the overall standings.
“A few athletes in front of me were sick so they decided to sit out,” Burke explained in his email. “This is very normal for a mass start, you can usually count on 1 to 3 athletes sitting out. I ended up doing that earlier this season [for the World Cup in Annecy] when I sat out the Mass Start because of a cold.“
Aside from Crawford and Burke, no other North Americans qualified for Sunday’s mass starts via the top-25 positions in the World Cup Total Scores, respectively the five best results of those outside those ranks in the individual race.
The IBU World Cup continues in Antholz, Italy, with sprints on Thursday, Jan. 18 for the women and Friday, Jan. 19 for the men.
“My fiancée will come down, so I’m looking forward to have her on her first World Cup outside Norway, so that will be fun,” Bø revealed when asked about Antholz at the press conference.
“That’s good news for me, because he will be really tired for competitions,” Fourcade quipped, as both laughed.
Fourcade continues to lead Bø in the Total Score standings, now just 44 points ahead with 666 points.
The women’s freestyle sprint podium on Saturday at the World Cup in Dresden, Germany, with Sweden’s Hanna Falk (c) and Maja Dahlqvist (l) in first and second, and American Sophie Caldwell (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
FIS Cross Country World Cup (Dresden, Germany): Freestyle sprints
For her second-straight World Cup sprint, Sophie Caldwell of the U.S. Ski Team reached the podium in the women’s 1.2-kilometer freestyle sprint on Saturday in Dresden, Germany.
Caldwell placed third in the final behind Sweden’s Hanna Falk, who won it in 2:11.02 minutes, and Maja Dahlqvist, also of Sweden, who placed second (+0.23). Caldwell and Dahlqvist both lunged in a photo finish for second, which Dahlqvist took by 0.07 seconds.
Also in the final, which included four Swedes, Switzerland’s Laurien van der Graaff finished fourth (+0.58), and Sweden’s Anna Dyvik followed in fifth (+0.68) and Stina Nilsson sixth (+7.56) after tripping.
Falk started the day by winning the women’s qualifier in 2:06.34, by just 0.02 seconds over Nilsson in second. Caldwell qualified 11th (+2.02). and another American Ida Sargent made it into the heats in 14th (+2.44). Kikkan Randall missed the top 30 by 0.6 seconds in 34th (+6.57), Julia Kern placed 38th (+7.78), and Caitlin Patterson, of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP), was 40th (+8.56) out of 49 women in the qualifying round.
Sargent finished fourth in her quarterfinal, 043 seconds behind Sweden’s Ida Ingemarsdotter in first, to finish the day in 17th overall.
For Caldwell, who went on to advance in second in her quarterfinal and third in her semifinal, the podium came after she finished second in the last World Cup skate sprint (the first stage of the Tour de Ski) on Dec. 31 in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
Her boyfriend and fellow U.S. Ski Team member Simi Hamilton came close to reaching the men’s 1.2 k sprint final on Saturday after qualifying in 15th then placing second in his quarterfinal and fifth in the second semifinal, 0.38 seconds behind Sweden’s Emil Jönsson in first.
France’s Lucas Chanavat won the qualifier in 1:50.42, 0.15 seconds ahead of Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo in second. Hamilton was 4.32 seconds back in the qualifier, and his U.S. teammate Andy Newell also qualified in 18th (+4.91). Erik Bjornsen missed qualifying by 0.23 seconds in 32nd (+6.15) and Ben Lustgarten (CGRP) finished 49th (+8.64) out of 67 men.
The women’s freestyle sprint podium on Saturday at the World Cup in Dresden, Germany, with Italy’s Federico Pellegrino (c) in first, Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (l) in second, and France’s Lucas Chanavat (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
While Hamilton’s day ended in the semifinals, putting him 10th overall (and Newell finished sixth in his quarterfinal to place 27th overall), Italy’s Federico Pellegrino timed his attack perfectly in the final, challenging Klæbo for the win down the finishing stretch. The Italian took it by 0.18 seconds in 1:52.77, Klæbo placed second and Chanavat third (+0.98).
France and Norway had two men in the final, with France’s Richard Jouve placing fourth (+1.23), Sweden’s Jönsson taking fifth (+2.36) for his best individual World Cup result since December 2016. Norway’s Even Northug finished sixth (+12.04) after breaking his pole out of the start.
Canada’s Julien Locke of the National U25 Team and Black Jack Ski Club had a career-best day, finishing 15th overall. He qualified 16th (+4.61) then placed third in his quarterfinal, crossing the line just 1 second behind Norway’s Fredrik Riseth, who won that heat. Hamilton was second in that quarterfinal, 0.67 seconds back.
Also for Canada, Bob Thompson (NTDC Thunder Bay) finished 50th in the qualifier (+8.67), Dominique Moncion-Groulx (Alberta World Cup Academy) was 59th (+9.99) and Antoine Briand (Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre) 60th (+10.12).
Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier, Franziska Preuss, Denise Herrmann and Franziska Hildebrand (left to right) celebrating their win in the women’s 4×6-kilometer relay at the 2018 IBU World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germany. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
IBU World Cup (Ruhpolding, Germany): Women’s relay
The teams from Germany and Italy dueled for the top position all race in Saturday’s 4 x 6-kilometer women’s relay at the IBU World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germany. Cheered on by some 20,000 home-crowd fans, Germany’s anchor Laura Dahlmeier stayed on the ski tails of Italy’s Federica Sanfilippo after the last shooting stage, then passed her before the last major climb and held a narrow lead around the rest of the course to cross the finish line first in a time of 1:08:47.0 hours, with Italy 2.9 seconds behind. German had a team total of zero penalties and nine spares.
“It’s incredibly fun to win in front of this audience here today,” Dahlmeier told German broadcaster ZDF in an interview right after the race, according to a translation. “I think this will boost our whole team morale. We showed today that we are a team to be reckoned with in relays. It was just a nice race.”
Germany with Franziska Preuss, Denise Herrmann, Franziska Hildebrand, and Dahlmeier was never more than 30 seconds behind the pace, even though Hildebrand temporarily fell back from leading the field to tagging off to Dahlmeier in fourth position.
“My race held all kinds of surprises today,” Hildebrand told ZDF with a laugh. “It started with a fall on an icy patch 100 meters after it began… Then I dropped my pole, also had to exchange the replacement one, and then three spares [in prone] to avoid the penalty. Today everything conspired in my race.”
Italy with Lisa Vittozzi, Dorothea Wierer (coming off a victory in the individual race on Thursday), Nicole Gontier and Sanfilippo had the best shooting performance of the day, with no penalty and just three spares.
“That last loop with Laura was really tough,” Sanfilippo said in the press conference. “I gave my best, I tried all for my team. I knew that I can be strong on the last loop. I tried to attack, but Laura was a little bit stronger. But I am also really happy that we finished in second place, I think that was really important for our team.”
Sweden with Linn Persson, Mona Brorsson, Anna Magnusson and anchor Jenny Öberg was third, 17.2 seconds back, with no penalty and five spares. Brorsson and Öberg managed to move the team up to the podium positions, for the second one in a row following a third place from Oberhof, Germany, a week ago. Before that, the Swedish women’s team had been on a six-year hiatus from those lofty positions.
“It’s cool to be on the podium again,” Persson said in the press conference.
“This is like our second home and there were a lot of Swedes here, so we had big support during the race on the tracks,” Brorsson added.” That was an advantage for us.”
Just a few seconds off the podium, Norway with Synnøve Solemdal, Tiril Eckhoff, Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold and Marte Olsbu was fourth (+23.1, with no penalty and nine spares), with Olsbu outsprinting Poland’s anchor Weronika Nowakowska on the finish stretch (+24.5, with no penalty and five spares). For both teams it was their best relay result of the season so far.
Switzerland with the three sisters Elisa, Selina and Aita Gasparin reinforced by Lena Häcki surprisingly led the race at the third exchange after Selina had moved them in front, but her youngest sister Aita could not hold that position, falling back with a penalty lap in the last standing stage to finish eighth (+1:37.1, with one penalty and 11 spares).
Biathlon Canada’s team of Emma Lunder, Julia Ransom, Sarah Beaudry, and Rosanna Crawford started the race with a setback after Lunder incurred a penalty in her prone stage, leaving the range in 23rd position at the end of the field and already almost a minute behind the leader. She managed to limit the gap with a clean standing stage to exchange still in 23rd position and 1:47 back.
Taking over Ransom then remained clean in both stages to move the team up to 17th, tagging off 2:14 behind. Beaudry only required one spare in her prone stage (0+1, 0+0) to improve to the 12th position even making up 3 seconds to the leaders.
Then Crawford, fresh off her first career podium in the individual race on Thursday, managed to also shoot clean in both stages and overtook the teams from Slovakia and Ukraine while further decreasing the gap to finish the race in 10th position, 1:56.7 back, with one penalty and just four spares.
“Things were a bit softer and slushy today compared to the individual, but nothing too bad,” Crawford commented on the conditions in an email to FasterSkier. “There was quite a bit of wind on the range, which I think was tricking people, the wind flags weren’t showing much but I had to make 6 left correction during zero [target practice].”
“Today was a solid showing from our team,” she added regarding their result. “Everyone cleaned standing, I think we can be really happy of this race, and take some real confidence going into the Olympic relay.”
Previously this season Canada had finished the relay in Oberhof, also Germany, in 14th position, and the first one in Hochfilzen, Austria, in ninth.
For US Biathlon with Susan Dunklee, Clare Egan, Emily Dreissigacker, and Joanne Reid, it was the first women’s relay of the year after missing out on the first two races of the season in this discipline.
Thus starting at the very end of the field, veteran Dunklee moved up through the pack and got through the prone stage with one spare. But then she had to fight against a penalty lap in her standing stage requiring all three spare rounds, leaving the range in 12th position. With the fastest course time on the opening leg, she managed to slightly decrease the gap to 21.6 seconds and made up three positions to exchange in ninth place.
Egan missed the first two shots in her prone stage, but hit the targets with her spares leaving the range over a minute back. She followed that up by cleaning her standing stage and left the range 1:29.5 back, then only lost five more seconds on the last loop to exchange in 14th.
Dreissigacker also needed just one spare in her prone shooting, but then incurred two penalties in her standing stage, doubling the gap and falling back to 19th position at the exchange and 3:51 back.
Anchor Reid needed three spares on her leg (0+2, 0+1) and managed to still overtake the teams from China and Finland to finish 17th, 4:57.7 behind Germany, with two penalties and 13 spares overall.
“Finally we had a full team and raced a relay!” Dunklee wrote on Instagram. “Competing on a foreign continent has its challenges.”
Ski Classics (Seefeld, Austria): 60 k Kaiser Maximilian Lauf
The men’s podium at the Kaiser Maximilian Lauf 60 k Ski Classics marathon in Seefeld, Austria, with Norway’s Tord Asle Gjerdalen (c) in first, Sweden’s Andreas Holmberg (l) second, and Russia’s Ilya Chernousov (r) third. (Photo: Visma Ski Classics)
At the third Ski Classics event of the 2017/2018 season, the 60-kilometer Kaiser Maximilian Lauf on Saturday in Seefeld, Sweden’s Britta Johansson Norgren (Lager 157 Ski Team) and Norway’s Tord Asle Gjerdalen (Team Santander) took the women’s and men’s victories, respectively.
Johansson Norgren and Japan’s Masako Ishida (Team Koteng) broke away shortly after the start. The two went back and forth for a while until Johannson Norgren gapped Ishida in the Leutasch valley. While Ishida was caught by a chase pack with Sara Lindborg (Team Serneke), Kari Vikhagen Gjeitnes (Santander) and Lina Korsgren (Åre Ski Team), she reined Johansson Norgren back in on the long climbs after the valley. Ultimately, Johansson Norgren took the win in 2:49:16.0 hours, while Lindborg claimed second, 37.5 seconds back. Ishida finished third (+58.9), Gjeitnes placed fourth (+1:40.7) after injuring her ankle about 2 k before the finish, and Korsgren fifth (+2:05.1).
The women’s podium at the Kaiser Maximilian Lauf 60 k Ski Classics marathon in Seefeld, Austria, with Sweden’s Britta Johansson Norgren (c) in first, Sweden’s Sara Lindborg (l) second, and Japan’s Masako Ishida (r) third. (Photo: Visma Ski Classics)
“It was my plan to go full speed from the beginning,” Johansson Norgren said, according to a Ski Classics press release. “I knew Ishida will go fast in the climbs, but I felt strong from the beginning. It was really hard skiing alone in the valley, and when Ishida caught me up, I wasn’t sure if I could win the race. But the last part of the course was perfect for me and I had no problems securing the victory today.”
The Leutasch valley was the turning point of the men’s race as well, where Vinjar Skogsholm (Team Parkettpartner) and Andreas Holmberg (Team Serneke) broke away from the pack and had built a 90-second gap on the chase group as they left the valley. There on the first climb out of the valley, Holmberg pushed the pace and dropped Skogsholm, while Gjerdalen and Ilya Chernousov (Bauer Ski Team) worked to catch Holmberg up front. They caught him 3 k before the finish and Gjerdalen was first across the finish line in 2:27:49 hours, 14.8 seconds ahead of Holmberg in second.
Chernousov finished third (+32.0), Ermil Vokuev (Russian Marathon Team) was fourth (+1:07.6), and Anton Karlsson (Lager 157) fifth (+1:08.2).
“I didn’t like the fact that we gave too much leeway for Holmberg and Skogsholm,” Gjerdalen said, according to the press release. “I’m happy that Ilya helped me in our attempt to catch up with Holmberg, but I wasn’t really sure if we were going to make it. You never know how the other person is feeling in the front, what kind of skis he has and what goes on in his mind. But I managed to win today and it feels great to be back on the top.”
In the overall “Champion” standings, Nordgren leads with 450 points, 110 ahead of Lindborg in second. Gjerdalen is first in the men’s champion standings with 330 points, 50 points ahead of Morten Eide Pedersen in second.
The Ski Classics tour moves to Zuoz, Switzerland, next weekend for the 65 k La Diagonela.
APU’s Tyler Kornfield (126) leads APU’s Eric Packer (118) and DU’s Eivind Romberg Kvaale (124) to the line in the men’s 30 k classic mass start at 2018 U.S. Cross Country Championships on Sunday in Anchorage, Alaska. Kornfield, Packer, and Kvaale finished first, second and third, respectively. Kris Freeman (10, second from left) was fourth overall and the third American.
U.S. Cross Country Championships (Anchorage, Alaska): 20/30 k classic mass starts
Sweden’s Hedda Bångman denied Caitlin Patterson of her first outright victory of the week at 2018 U.S. Cross Country Championships, but Patterson as the first American racked up her third-straight national title in the women’s 20-kilometer classic mass start at Kincaid Park on Sunday in Anchorage, Alaska.
The top-three Americans in the women’s 20 k classic mass start on Sunday at 2018 U.S. nationals in Anchorage, Alaska, with Caitlin Patterson (1) of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP) in first, Rosie Frankowski of APU (l) in second, and Kaitlynn Miller (r) of CRGP in third.
Bångman, a 22-year-old freshman at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU), pulled off a 15.9-second win in the mass start, crossing the line in 1:00:55.3 hours. Patterson, of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP), finished second, but was the top American in the event for the third time this week, and Rosie Frankowski, of Alaska Pacific University (APU), notched third (second American), 19.6 seconds back.
Rounding out the top 10 was Jessica Yeaton, who trains with APU and races for Australia, in fourth (+44.1), Kaitlynn Miller (CGRP) as the third American in fifth overall (+1:13.5), Alayna Sonnesyn of the University of Vermont (UVM) in sixth (+1:25.3), Chelsea Holmes (APU) in seventh (+1:55.4), Norwegian CU skiers Christina Rolandson and Anne Siri Lervik in eighth (+1:55.7) and ninth (+1:56.1), respectively, and Erika Flowers of the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) Elite Team in 10th (+2:14.6).
The men’s 30 k classic mass start was incredibly close, with APU’s Tyler Kornfield taking his first-ever distance national title (he was the 2012 classic sprint national champion) in 1:21:43.6. He edged his teammate Eric Packer by 0.7 seconds at the line, and Eivind Romberg Kvaale, a sophomore at the University of Denver (DU), finished 1 seconds back in third.
Kris Freeman (Caldwell Sport) was just off the overall podium in fourth (+1.6), but was the third American. Another DU skier, Dag Frode Trollebø, also from Norway, finished fifth (+2.0), and APU had three in the top six with David Norris in sixth (+2.5). Noah Hoffman (Ski & Snowboard Club Vail) finished seventh (+2.6), Scott Patterson (APU) eighth (+3.6), and Craftsbury’s Adam Martin and Ben Lustgarten followed in ninth (+14.7) and 10th (+14.9), respectively. With Brian Gregg (CXC/LNR/Team Gregg) in 11th (+16.1), the men’s top 11 were separated by less than 17 seconds.
IBU World Cup (Oberhof, Germany): Men’s and women’s relays
Racers on the range during the men’s 4 x 7.5 k relay on a foggy Sunday at the IBU World Cup in Oberhof, Germany. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
The Swedish men’s team and French women won the second relays of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup season on Sunday, with Sweden winning the men’s 4 x 7.5 k relay by 1:10.8 over Italy, and France besting Germany by 32.4 seconds.
Notably, most of the top teams didn’t start all of their “A” teamers.
In the men’s race, Sweden’s Martin Ponsiluoma, Jesper Nelin, Sebastian Samuelsson, and Fredrik Lindström combined for their first win together — and the first win for most of the members on the team.
“It is a dream when you are a kid to compete in a World Cup,” Samuelsson said, according to an IBU press release. “To have a win is really amazing!”
The Swedish women’s team also landed on the podium in third (+48.2).
“What a race by the whole team,” said Lindström, who also has one non-relay World Cup win (from 2012) to his name. “It could not be better.”
Conditions could not have been much more difficult for shooting on Sunday, with the fog that had descended early in the day for the women’s race worsening for the men’s race. When there wasn’t fog, there was wind.
Misses were common throughout the two races, and even with racers being able to use three spares per shooting stage to clean, there were a high number of penalty laps.
But the Swedish men kept their penalties to a minimum, with just one for the entire team and a total of nine spare rounds used among them. After Ponsiluoma came through the first exchange in sixth, Nelin skied them into third, Samuelsson picked off another place despite skiing a penalty after his standing stage to put them in second, and Lindström anchored them to first.
“The conditions today were so special. Somehow I felt not so nervous, I was calm and had luck on my side,” Lindström said at a post-race press conference about his nearly flawless shooting (0+0; 0+1).
“I have never [been first] before,” he added. “Not like this in a relay at least. That’s really fantastic.”
“I had to look up to see if I was aiming the right way,” Nelin said after cleaning prone (0+0) then using two spares to clean standing (0+2). “I had no idea where I was aiming, so it was really difficult. But I hit, and it was good. Maybe these conditions fit me and I should never see anything.”
Italy placed second with Thomas Bormolini, Lukas Hofer, Dominik Windisch, and Thierry Chenal combining for two penalties and 11 spares. Hofer had skied them up from eighth to second, and Windisch then took the lead on the third leg to put them in first at the final exchange, 1 minute ahead of Sweden. But Chenal slipped with the seventh-fastest last leg time and a penalty after standing.
“Being on the podium with the team is always a special feeling,” Hofer said at the press conference. “For Thierry, it’s the first year in the World Cup, and he does a really good job, not just today. I am really happy that he could close out this relay. Second place is like a win for us.”
Norway placed third (+2:04.6) with Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen, Henrik L’Abée-Lund, Lars Helge Birkeland, and Tarjei Bø. Together, they had three penalties (two from L’Abée-Lund and one from Birkeland) and 14 spares.
“I grew up on Holmenkollen so I practiced a lot there [in fog],” L’Abée-Lund said. “But today was really really hard, I didn’t see anything in prone. Standing was OK, but prone was really difficult.”
“It’s great to be on the podium,” Christiansen said. “Of course Norway always wants to win, but today we are very happy for our brothers in our neighbor-country Sweden.”
The Canadian men placed 10th (+6:23.1) out of 25 teams with Christian Gow, Scott Gow, Brendan Green, and Carsen Campbell having a combined six penalties and 20 spares. Three of those penalties came on Scott Gow’s second leg, two from Campbell’s anchor leg, and one on Christian Gow’s first leg.
After a penalty on his first prone stage (1+3), Christian cleaned standing with a spare (0+1) and tagged Scott in 11th, 53 seconds out of first. Scott then had two penalties in prone and three in standing, but managed to improve to eighth given how much everyone else was struggling with the shooting as well. Green kept them in eighth with two clean stages (0+2, 0+3), and Campbell, in his first World Cup relay, cleaned prone (0+2) but had two standing penalties (2+3) to put the team in 10th at the finish.
In an interview with German broadcaster ARD halfway through the race, Canadian coach Matthias Ahrens called the range conditions, which ranged from thick fog to unpredictable wind, “very hard to assess.”
“… To be honest, the good thing was that conditions were very bad,” he later added. “So regarding visibility, almost everyone was on the range at the same time [with the same irregular conditions]. They had to wait very long, and of course had bad conditions to shoot, but much of the field was there at the same time.”
The French women’s team, of Anais Bescond, Anais Chevalier, Celia Aymonier, and Justine Braisaz, celebrate their relay victory on Sunday at the IBU World Cup in Oberhof, Germany. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
In the women’s race, with better shooting visibility, France’s Anais Bescond, Anais Chevalier, Celia Aymonier, and Justine Braisaz took the win in 1:12.42.4, with one penalty and 10 spares. After Bescond put them in first through the first exchange, 6 seconds ahead of Italy in second, Chevalier had to ski a penalty loop after prone but cleaned standings (1+3, 0+0) and tagged off in second, 23 seconds behind Italy, now in first.
One loop later, France was back in first thanks to Aymonier, who cleaned with just two spares (0+0, 0+2), and they extended their lead from 0.8 seconds at the last exchange to 32 seconds at the finish with Braisaz, who shot 0+1, 0+3, and skied the fastest anchor leg.
“I know that it’s always good for Justine to start in the first position, so I really wanted to pass the relay to her in that,” Aymonier said in a press conference after.
“I was nervous, too,” Braisaz said. “That kind of shooting turned my mind upside down, actually. The crowd was very loud, and … I wasn’t very focused on what I did. It was a bit foggy, too, so that made it harder. But finally it was a French day, maybe.”
“In my mind the whole team is really strong, and really able to get the first place,” Bescond said. “After years and years and years behind Germany’s team we finally did it. So just Oberhof spirit I think.”
Germany placed second with Vanessa Hinz, Denise Herrmann, Franziska Preuss, and Maren Hammerschmidt. They combined for two penalties and 13 spares; with a penalty on Hinz’s first leg and one more on Hammerschmidt’s last shooting. After being tagged in 14th, Herrmann skied them into fourth, 40 seconds out of first, and Preuss elevated them to second, which Hammerschmidt held onto.
“I was struggling a little bit in the prone shooting,” Herrmann said. “But the skiing was good today, and also the standing [shooting]. I tried to go fast on the track and catch some girls.”
Sweden, with Linn Persson, Anna Magnusson, Elisabeth Högberg, and Mona Brorsson, avoided the penalty loop and used eight spares to reach the podium for the first time in six seasons. In sixth place at the first exchange, they slipped one place to seventh on the second leg, but Högberg raced them up to fourth with near-perfect shooting (0+0, 0+1) with one leg to go. Brorsson then anchored them to third with clean shooting (0+2, 0+1) and the third-fastest last leg.
“It’s just super nice for us! I am super happy,” Magnusson said. “We were very emotional at the finish.”
When Brorsson was asked if she believe she could fight for the podium, she responded, “Not really. But I said to Linn, ‘Maybe it is our day today. Please let it be our day today.’ ”
The Canadian women finished 14th (+6:37.5), out of 20 teams, with two penalties and 13 spares. Sarah Beaudry initially put them in 15th after shooting 0+1, 0+2, then Julia Ransom had a standing penalty (0+2, 1+3) to slip one place to 16th. Megan Tandy picked off three places with clean shooting (0+0, 0+2) and tagged Emma Lunder in 13th, and Lunder had a penalty in prone but cleaned standing (1+3, 0+0) to finish in 14th.
The men’s overall 2018 Tour de Ski podium atop Alpe Cermis after the final Stage 7 hill climb: with Switzerland’s Dario Cologna (c) in first, Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby (l) in second and Canada’s Alex Harvey (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
Dario Cologna of Switzerland added a fourth Tour de Ski (TdS) title to his list of accolades on Sunday, winning the 2018 edition of the race in dominant fashion, with a 1:26.5-minute win over Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby. And Canada’s Alex Harvey scored his first TdS overall podium in third.
The 31-year-old Cologna started the 9-kilometer freestyle pursuit up Alpe Cermis 1:15 ahead of Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin in second. Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov, slated to start third, did not start due to a back injury. Thus Harvey was the third man off the start line, 1:23 behind Cologna.
(Sweden’s Marcus Hellner, 13th after Saturday’s Stage 6, also did not start the Tour’s final stage.)
Early on, Cologna started putting time into his competitors, extending his lead on Poltoranin to 1:20.5 and Harvey to 1:24 at 1.8 k.
By 4 k, however, Harvey had used his speedy skiing on the flatter portions of the race leading up to the climb to catch Poltoranin, and the two clocked through that checkpoint 1:19.4 behind Cologna. Behind them, Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov skied just ahead of Sundby, another 21 seconds and 22 seconds back, respectively, in fifth and sixth.
While Harvey clawed back a few more seconds on Cologna, he was still 1:17.8 back at 6.2 k, with Poltoranin just 0.7 seconds behind him in third.
Harvey remained in second until around 8.5 k; with just a half kilometer to go, Sundby had caught both Poltoranin and Harvey, passing them both. Sundby held that position and finished second, 1:26.5 behind Cologna, who won in 28:52.1.
Harvey stayed strong for third (+1:30.6) while Poltoranin dropped off the Canadian’s pace in the final half kilometer and finished fourth (+1:41.7). Norway’s Hans Christer Holund placed fifth (+2:17.8), Bolshunov lost a spot to finish sixth (+3:09.7), France’s Jean-Marc Gaillard finished seventh (+3:16.7), Sweden’s Daniel Rickardsson eighth (+3:20.8), and Russia’s Alexey Chervotkin and Andrey Larkov took ninth (+3:33.5) and 10th (+3:37.8), respectively.
France’s Maurice Manificat, known for his strength in freestyle hill climbs and pursuit races, rose from 14th to 11th (+3:45.7) with the second fastest time of day, 12.8 seconds slower than Sundby as the time of day winner in 28:36.4. Cologna’s time was fourth fastest (+15.7), behind Russian U23 skier Denis Spitsov in third (+14.3) (Spitsov started 20th and finished 13th). Holund’s time ranked fifth (+20.6) and Harvey’s time was sixth fastest (+23.6) of the 43 men that finished the race.
The lone American man to complete this year’s Tour, Paddy Caldwell (U.S. Ski Team) skied the 22nd fastest time of day for 38th overall (+11:54.8).
Heidi Weng (center) celebrates her second Tour de Ski victory, with teammate Ingvild Flugstad Østberg second and the U.S. Ski Team’s Jessie Diggins third. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
In the women’s hill climb that kicked off the day, Heidi Weng raced to her second consecutive TdS title. The Norwegian started the day within two seconds of teammate Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, and the two skied together for the flat section of the nine-kilometer stage of the competition. But when the climbing got steep on Alpe Cermis, Weng left her teammate behind and eventually racked up a 48.5-second win.
The battle for third was less predictable. Jessie Diggins of the United States started the day in fourth, but made up the ten seconds to third-place KristaPärmäkoski of Finland in the first few kilometers. The pair climbed together for a while before Diggins attacked. Pärmäkoski tired on the final sections of the Alpe Cermis and Diggins took the podium in definitive style, 2:23.2 behind Weng and 24 seconds ahead of Pärmäkoski. It’s the first overall Tour de Ski podium for Diggins or any American athlete.
Teresa Stadlober of Austria finished fifth (+3:09.4), Kerttu Niskanen of Finland sixth (+4:17.0), Russia’s Anastasia Sedova seventh (+4:49.6), and Switzerland’s Nathalie von Siebenthal eighth (+4:56.1).
Sadie Bjornsen started eighth and slipped one spot to finish ninth (+6:15.0), giving the U.S. two top-ten finishers in the Tour de Ski for the first time. Liz Stephen finished 16th (+8:25.8) and Rosie Brennan 24th (+10:59.6).
En route to her win, Weng notched the fastest time of the day on the 9 k stage. Stadlober’s time was second, Diggins third, Østberg fourth, and Stephen fifth.
32 women finished this year’s edition of the Tour de Ski.
Justine Braisaz of France crossing the finish line with her first World Cup victory, in Le Grand-Borland in the 15 k mass start. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
LE GRAND-BORNAND, France—Justine Braisaz was so excited for today’s 15 k mass start that she jumped the gun, scooting forward on her skis a few seconds before the start and having to reset.
That provoked a laugh among the crowd and perhaps even her competitors, but they weren’t laughing by the time the race finished and Braisaz had left them in the dust, claiming her first World Cup win – on her father’s birthday, no less.
The early start was more than nervous energy. Braisaz wanted to soak in everything in the last race of the weekend, the first time in four years that the biathlon World Cup had come to her country.
“I just wanted to take pleasure today and have no pressure at all,” she said in a press conference after the race. “It’s just like that. I did not have any serious ambition, I just wanted to try my best.”
Once the race was off, she followed Kaisa Makarainen of Finland – who started in the front row directly ahead of her – and Anastasiya Kuzmina and Denise Herrman, and the four women gapped the field to come into the range ahead of the others, a rare situation on the first loop of a women’s mass start.
Anastasiya Kuzmin of Slovakia leading Denise Herrmann, Kaisa Makarainen, and the rest of the women’s mass start. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
Braisaz cleaned that stage, as well as the next, and was never far from the lead. When Braisaz and Kuzmina missed shots in the first standing stage, Herrman surged to the lead.
A relatively recent convert to biathlon – a relay medalist in cross-country skiing at the 2014 Olympics – Herrmann has already won two races this season. She has become an impressively stable shooter given her short career, and when she came into the shooting range alone for the final bout she hit the first target.
But then she missed. And missed, and missed. She hit the last shot, but had to ski three penalty loops and came out in 13th. With the third-fastest last-loop time she moved up to twelfth.
Braisaz, in the meantime, had come in to the second lane of the range and hit all of her targets, skiing out in first place. When Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier, the winner of Saturday’s sprint, missed one shot behind her, Braisaz seemed to be in the clear. The next woman out on course was Belarus’s Iryna Kryuko, who had cleaned the whole race and hit the trails 15 seconds back.
But Braisaz felt the threats behind her, real or imagined.
Justine Braisaz leadin Denise Hermmann and Kaisa Makarainen in the middle of the race. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
“During the last loop on the track, I just thought, the women behind me will catch me,” Braisaz said. “I was so stressed, under pressure. I did not believe it [would happen]. When I saw my wax man with the French flag, I just started breathing.”
That moment came 200 meters before the finish, when Braisaz had enough of a cushion to stop and grab the tricolore. She waved it behind her as she skied down the finishing lanes, the crowd of 15,000 spectators going more than wild.
“It was just great,” she said. “A very nice feeling to share it with all the crowd and all the French people and everybody. It was just like a dream. But the reality is better actually.”
Kryuko, too, hadn’t felt secure in her position on the last loop. Dahlmeier came out of the penalty loop and into third place, just under ten seconds behind her; after that was Kuzmina, whose ski speed had impressed over the last several weeks.
“I saw that I shot clean – and I certainly saw that behind me there were some very strong girls,” Kryuko said through a translator at the press conference. “The only thing I was hoping for was to get flowers, the top six.”
Dahlmeier put in an early surge to try to close the gap.
“On the final lap I tried to give it everything I had,” she told German broadcaster ZDF. “I fought hard right from the beginning, and immediately went a very high tempo. I didn’t really get closer to her [Kryuko] initially, then made up a few meters, but in the end the necessary energy wasn’t there anymore to really overtake her.”
Kryuko thus held onto second place, finishing 11.2 seconds behind Braisaz. Dahlmeier was third (+19.9), Kuzmina fourth (+25.5), and Germany’s Vanessa Hinz fifth (+28.4). Anais Chevalier gave the French crowd another reason to lose their minds when she crossed the finish line in sixth (+30.1).
For Kryuko, her very first mass start came on the same day as her first World Cup podium. The 26-year-old’s previous best finish was ninth in the pursuit in Hochfilzen, Austria, last weekend.
Susan Dunklee racing to 20th in the mass start. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
“It’s my first mass start and of course my first podium,” she said. “It’s a really great feeling.”
Dunklee 20th, Lunder 28th
Both Susan Dunklee of the U.S. and Emma Lunder of Canada started in the back of the mass start, with bibs 26 and 29, respectively. In most World Cups, starting at the back of the pack is not a big problem, as most of the field is still together when athletes enter the range for the first shooting.
“This course it is!” Dunklee exclaimed. “This course it absolutely is. This is a very narrow course… that first bridge, we just had this major accordion-ing, where everybody stopped for about five or six seconds in the back waiting for the top people to get up there. We had to snowplow and then just stand there and wait. We were laughing. So it was a lot of just being really patient on the first loop because there was no good way to pass.”
“Probably 300 meters into the race there is a super steep little hill, and the back of the pack, the back 15, literally came to a standstill and then it took people a lot to get going, and it was so spread out by then,” Lunder said. “So I was last and I just tried to hang on to number 29. I had figured I would come into the range last or close to last, but I felt pretty relaxed during that lap.”
Canada’s Emma Lunder chasing the Czech Republic’s Eva Puskarcikova in the women’s mass start in Le Grand-Bornand, France. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
Despite strong races earlier in the week, finishing 10th and sixth, Dunklee never made contact with the leaders – in part because they had broken away already on the first lap when she was stuck in the back, and partly because she missed a shot in the first prone stage.
Dunklee missed two more, one in the first standing stage and then the very last shot of the race.
“With 85% shootings, it was obviously not my best, but certainly something I can be proud of,” she said.
She crossed the line in 20th after laying down the fifth-fastest closing loop and moving up two spots.
“I had a great battle going with Maren [Hammerschmidt] and Selina [Gasparin],” Dunklee said. “Selina got me by a tenth of a second, which is, well, ugh. She had the better lane in the finish and I just couldn’t get around her, but it was fun. I like it when it’s exciting like that.”
Lunder also missed a shot in the first prone, but she was clean after that. She had some issues with her rifle though, which resulted in slower shooting times even though she never again had to visit the penalty loop.
“I was a little bit shaky and I double-ejected three times,” she explained. “So then I had to load a spare and was like ‘okay, do not miss this and then have a penalty loop on top of it.’ I am so happy with shooting 19 out of 20 again, I’m really relieved. And it was a good chase again out there. On the last lap there were two Polish girls right with me, I tried so hard but I just didn’t have it in me.”
She crossed the line 28th, +2:21.4. It was the first mass start of her career.
“This was an awesome experience,” Lunder said. “Any time I finish in the top 30 I think I’ll still be happy… I can say I had fun. It’s like the most painful kind of fun. I felt pretty tired today, and then on top of it everyone is fast in the mass start. So I just knew that I wanted to execute on the range the same way I have been this weekend.”
Susan Dunklee (US Biathlon) hitting every target in the prone shooting stage of the women’s 7.5 k sprint at the IBU World Cup in Annecy, France, on Thursday. She ended the day in 10th place with perfect 10-for-10 shooting. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
Susan Dunklee’s start to another International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup season hadn’t played out as she’d hoped, specifically in terms of results. Coming off a banner winter, with a silver at 2017 World Championships (in the women’s mass start), Dunklee 31, had so far placed 53rd, 79th and 97th, respectively, in non-relay races over the last two weeks. She had yet to race a mass start, but also had yet to qualify for a pursuit in two World Cup sprints.
So she went back to the drawing board, back to basics and to a “moose garden”.
“My confidence took a big hit these past couple weeks and it was a real challenge was working through that,” Dunklee wrote in an email to FasterSkier on Thursday.
“I tried to find some non-biathlon activities like visiting a ‘moose garden’ in Sweden and seeing the ‘Krampus’ in Austria,” she explained, referring to an Advent costume tradition, “to keep my mind fresh so I wouldn’t obsess 24/7 over disappointing results. I also tried really hard to take a moment each evening to appreciate all the positive things that happened over the course of the day. And I kept telling myself that I am resilient.”
After missing eight targets in last week’s snowstorm sprint in Hochfilzen, Austria, she sat down to brainstorm with US Biathlon consultant Matt Emmons, a 2004 Olympic champion in rifle shooting.
“All summer I’ve been working on some fancier shooting skills, such as wind shading,” Dunklee explained. “Basically we decided I could benefit from focusing back on the absolute basics of shooting: sight alignment, trigger squeeze and follow [through]. That’s what I’ve been doing the last few days.”
Susan Dunklee (US Biathlon) out of the start of the IBU World Cup women’s 7.5 k sprint on Thursday in Annecy, France, where Dunklee placed 10th overall for her best result of the season. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
On Thursday, she started 60th out of 93 in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint in Annecy (Le Grand Bornand), France. In warm, slushy conditions with little wind, as Dunklee described it, she fired away for perfect 10-for-10 shooting to put herself in ninth at the finish.
Dunklee was ultimately bumped one spot down to 10th overall, 1:16.8 minutes behind the winner, by Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier, who started in bib 86 and ended up second — 33.9 seconds behind Slovakia’s Anastasia Kuzmina in first.
Kuzmina, who notched her second-straight individual World Cup win with a time of 20:59.6, and the rest of the top-four finishers — Dahlmeier, Ukraine’s Vita Semerenko in third (+41.4) and Italy’s Lisa Vittozzi in fourth (+50.0) — all shot clean, just like Dunklee. Semerenko’s twin sister Valj, who placed seventh (+1:06.8), was the other woman in the top 10 to hit every target.
Dunklee spent all of the race in the top 10, ranking eighth after the first of three loops and seventh after the second loop.
“All the difference today for me was made on the shooting range,” Dunklee wrote. “The skiing has been fine all season. I backed off approaching the range, and I took enough time to make sure I was taking good shots.”
Her top 10 was her best result since placing seventh in a sprint last March in Oslo, Norway. By landing in the top 60, Dunklee qualified for the Annecy pursuit on Saturday, which will be her first of the season.
“Today helped me put to rest some doubts I was starting to have in my abilities,” she wrote. “I am very grateful to qualify for the pursuit. It will be a good opportunity for some head to head racing which I haven’t seen much of yet this year.”
Kuzmina in Control
Slovakia’s Anastasia Kuzmina racing to a nearly 34-second win in the women’s IBU World Cup sprint on Thursday in Annecy, France. (Photo: IBU/biathlonworld)
Starting in bib 23, Kuzmina rocketed to first place with the fastest course time and fourth-fastest shooting and range times, all while hitting every target.
“It is always a great feeling to be a winner, especially when the race was pretty good from start to finish,” Kuzmina, a two-time defending Olympic sprint champion (from 2010 and 2014), told the IBU, according to a press release. “It was really important to shoot two times zero. The snow condition was not too comfortable for me; I really want to thank my service team for the skis. That was an important part of my victory.”
The Russian-born Slovakian (whose brother is Russian biathlete Anton Shipulin) took the lead after the first shooting, leaving the range 6.3 seconds ahead of Germany’s Denise Herrmann, who started ahead of her in bib 16 and also cleaned prone. Herrmann had a penalty lap in the standing bout to slip to sixth and 45 seconds back, while Kuzmina cleaned again to start her final loop 35 seconds clear of Vittozzi, who was in second at the time wearing bib 13.
Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier prepares to hit all five targets in the standing stage of the IBU World Cup women’s sprint on Thursday in Annecy, France. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
A much later starter in bib 86, Dahlmeier cleaned prone to move into third, 6.7 seconds off Kuzmina’s time. Her next time in the range, Dahlmeier shot clean again to improve to second, but she was still 25.8 seconds short of Kuzmina’s time with one loop to go. Kuzmina skied the second-fastest last loop (about two seconds slower than Switzerland’s Selina Gasparin) to lock up first, while Dahlmeier ended up nearly 34 seconds back in second place.
“This was the first podium in an individual-start race of the new season for me and that makes me very very happy,” Dahlmeier told German broadcaster ZDF, according to a translation. “I am excited that it worked out today, it took a while until I now got back in shape. I am not at 100 percent yet, but today was a super race and I am just happy about that, it was a lot of fun to race today.”
Thursday marked Dahlmeier’s fourth race of the season after she missed the World Cup opener in Östersund, Sweden, due to illness. In Hochfilzen, she anchored the women’s 4 x 6 relay to the win and placed 10th in the pursuit and 16th in the sprint.
“It’s a bit of an unusual situation for me to have such a late bib in an individual race, but as an anchor in relays I am kind of used to that, passing the time by listening to music or something like that,” she said. “When I was at the start gate I was focused again and just tried to do my on race. It has its pros and cons, I just tried to make the best of it.”
The women’s IBU World Cup sprint podium on Thursday in Annecy, France, with Slovakia’s Anastasia Kuzmina (c) in first, Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier (l) in second, and Vita Semerenko (r) in third. (Photo: IBU/biathlonworld)
For Vita Semerenko, it was her first podium since taking bronze in the sprint at the 2014 Olympics. She missed the two seasons that followed due to a back injury, and gave birth to her son just over a year ago.
“I will never forget my first training after giving birth,” she told the IBU. “My coach said, ‘If we don’t give it a try, we will not find out what happens next.’ I said ‘OK’, but I had a lot of anxiety about coming back to biathlon, as I understood that coming back after three years would be tough. I am also thankful to my husband who told me every day after I had my child, ‘Vita, come on, come on, let’s make a comeback!’ ”
Herrmann was the top finisher with a penalty (0+1) on Thursday in fifth place (+50.6), while Gasparin was just behind in sixth (+53.4) with one miss as well (1+0).
“I am noticing that I am not feeling as fresh anymore as in Östersund, it was quite the number of races for me already,” Herrmann, who won both the sprint and pursuit in Östersund, told ZDF. “And I’d say deep snow conditions like today aren’t ideal for athletes over 60 kilograms. But nevertheless it was a good race, I really tried to hit every shot, and lost quite a few seconds with my shooting time. But I am back on track compared to last weekend, and hope I can continue my successes in the pursuit race.”
In the women’s 10 k pursuit on Saturday, Kuzmina will start 34 seconds ahead of Dahlmeier in second, and Vita Semerenko will head out another 7 seconds later in third. Dunklee will start 1:17 back and just 4 seconds behind Valj Semerenko in seventh.
Emma Lunder (Biathlon Canada) racing to 34th in the IBU World Cup women’s 7.5 k sprint on Thursday in Annecy, France. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
Three Canadians qualified for the pursuit, with Emma Lunder leading them in 34th (+2:07.4) with one standing penalty (0+1). Julia Ransom followed in 39th (+2:13.9) with one prone miss (1+0) and Rosanna Crawford snuck into the top 60 in 60th (+2:39.1) with two penalties (1+1). They will start the pursuit 2:07, 2:14 and 2:39 back, respectively.
Also for Biathlon Canada, Megan Bankes missed the cutoff in 65th (+2:51.5) with one penalty (1+0).
For the U.S., Clare Egan finished 81st (+3:43.7) with three misses (1+2), and Emily Dreissigacker was 88th (+4:36.0) with three penalties as well (2+1).
The Annecy IBU World Cup men’s 10 k sprint takes place Friday, starting at 8:15 a.m. EST.
US Biathlon’s Susan Dunklee (l) before the women’s IBU World Cup sprint in Annecy-Le Grand Bornand, France. (Photo: US Biathlon/NordicFocus)
Susan Dunklee (US Biathlon) during the standing stage of the women’s IBU World Cup sprint in Annecy, France. She went on to place 10th. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
Emma Lunder (Biathlon Canada) racing to 34th in the IBU World Cup women’s 7.5 k sprint on Thursday in Annecy, France. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
Julia Ransom (Biathlon Canada) racing to 39th in the women’s IBU World Cup sprint in Annecy, France. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
Rosanna Crawford (Biathlon Canada) leaving the range during the women’s IBU World Cup sprint in Annecy, France. She placed 60th to qualify for the Annecy pursuit on Saturday. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
Megan Bankes (Biathlon Canada) lunging at the finish of the IBU World Cup women’s sprint in Annecy, France. She placed 65th. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
France’s Justine Braisaz (left, second place), Germany’s Denise Herrmann (center, first place) and Norway’s Marte Olsbu (right, third place) celebrate during the flower ceremony of the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit at the 2017/2018 IBU World Cup in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: IBU/biathlonworld)
Twenty months ago, Germany’s Denise Herrmann was a cross-country skier, ending the Ski Tour Canada in 28th place in the 10-kilometer classic pursuit in Canmore, Alberta. And one with a very successful career, earning an Olympic bronze medal in the relay in Sochi in 2014 and narrowly missing out on another one with a fourth place in the team sprint.
But her heart seemingly was no longer in the sport. A month after the 2015/2016 season had wrapped up, Herrmann publicly announced her intention to continue her athletic career with the goal of qualifying for the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, yet no longer in cross-country skiing. Instead she dreamed about a second career in biathlon.
Biathlon is highly popular as a spectator sport in Herrmann’s home country, arguably receiving more attention than cross-country skiing and thus providing a higher earning potential. But while a switch between the two disciplines has not been unprecedented, Germany’s senior national team is also one of the most successful and competitive ones, with no guarantee even for seasoned biathletes to make the World Cup roster. So critics wondered if that was a wise decision by Herrmann, or rather a case of giving up a bird in the hand for two in the bush.
Herrmann had some initial success right out of the gate in her first season as a biathlete. She instantly qualified for the German team for the second-tier IBU Cup, and with the coaches trying to make use of her athletic talent she was allowed to start three World Cup races, and finished 18th in her first sprint in Pokljuka, Slovenia.
Then ten months ago in January 2017, she might have had some second thoughts and tried a “mini-comeback” at a cross-country World Cup in Toblach, Italy, in what appeared to be an attempt to qualify for the 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland. Despite placing 13th in a freestyle sprint and fourth in a team sprint, but she was not nominated to Germany’s World Championships team. Instead she received more starts at the IBU World Cup test event in PyeongChang, where she won her first relay race.
After another successful offseason of biathlon training, highlighted by winning national titles in three disciplines, she was put on the IBU Cup team again. That followed a sprint victory in Sjusjøen, Norway, after which she was ‘called up’ to the roster for this week of races in Östersund, Sweden.
Breakthrough in Östersund
Germany’s Denise Herrmann racing to her second career victory in the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit at the 2017/2018 IBU World Cup in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: IBU/biathlonworld)
This weekend, Herrmann achieved at least a big milestone on the road to her dream goal and secured her ticket for the German Olympics team for PyeongChang, fulfilling the team-internal qualification criteria (a top-eight result) with an exclamation mark by winning the sprint on Saturday.
Now a day later she followed that up with another victory in the women’s 10 k pursuit in a time of 30:02.7 minutes with two penalties (0+0+2+0). Her transition to biathlon has come to fruition.
While the sprint only required two shooting stages, for the pursuit she had to navigate four, an obstacle that typically weeds out inexperienced shooters, especially in the standing stages. But on Sunday, Herrmann demonstrated everything she has already learned about her new sport.
Starting with a 15-second lead on France’s Justine Braisaz based on the sprint, Herrmann skied with a controlled pace on the first loop and went on to clean her first prone stage, returning to the course with an increased lead of 22 seconds. Then Herrmann reacted correctly to some changing wind influence by adjusting her sights to also clean the second prone stage and kept her distance to Braisaz and the next chase group.
Herrmann later told German TV broadcaster ZDF she would not have expected to win “in a pursuit having to shoot four times and with a number of extremely good shooters breathing down my neck.”
“To twice clean in prone made me extremely happy since that is the basis for a good pursuit,” she added. “It was good that I had a little lead so I was not under immediate pressure. With the wind on the shooting range you really had to focus today.”
Then in the first standing stage she began with a good rhythm but narrowly missed her last two shots, hitting above the edge of the black target. Momentarily she fell back to the second place, with France’s Braisaz taking an 11-second lead after she managed to clean all of her targets.
But Herrmann had already completed one penalty lap before any chasers had left the range, and after completing the second penalty she was able to regain her lost time on the course. For the final shooting, the two women stood side by side on the range, and both managed to clean their five targets.
“In the third one I was shaky,” Herrmann told ZDF. “Then in the last one I tried to really give it everything I had and leave with a clean shooting. Easier said than done […] Though we practiced pressure situations like this in training with the coaches teasing us, and that helped me a bit in the last bout.”
“When I came on the shooting range in the first position, it was the first time that happened to me, and I just had a thought, ‘Wow is it true, is that possible?’ ” Braisaz said at the IBU press conference. “It was a high difficulty today, it was tough, but I did it.”
Braisaz started the final loop just 1.5 seconds ahead of Herrmann, who quickly passed Braisaz on a climb, then increased that lead into the finish. Braisaz crossed the line 25.8 seconds behind Herrmann, repeating her second place from the sprint and tying her career-best World Cup result for the fourth time. She was one of only three athletes to shoot clean on Sunday.
“I was afraid,” Braisaz said in the press conference when questioned about Herrmann chasing behind her. “She just passed me on the uphill, I just tried to do my best even if it won’t work. … I am very happy, it was my main goal today to stay focused on what you have to do [on the shooting range], and I did it.”
With a comfortable lead, Herrmann had enough time to waive to the about 3,000 spectators in the stands. “I already told [my roommate] it’s cool to win, but it must be even cooler to ski across the finish line in first and knowing you have won,” Herrmann told ZDF. “An incredible feeling. … With my tired legs I was happy that there was no battle until the finish line. Then you can really enjoy it, and I have never experienced that feeling [in cross-country], and it’s wonderful.”
Norway’s Olsbu finished third, 48.0 seconds behind Herrmann with two penalties (0+1+0+1).
“This means a lot to me, I felt that this week has been good for me, but it has just been almost [on the podium] so I am glad that today I got the podium,” Olsbu explained in the press conference. “I was OK on the track and my shooting was good, even though I am not so happy about my last shooting.”
“She is really good, I am very impressed about what she is doing in the shooting,“ Olsbu said of Herrmann. “We trained in that for so many years, and she has trained for two years or something, so that is really impressing.”
Olsbu’s teammate Synnøve Solemdal started the race with the yellow bib of the World Cup Total Score leader, earned via a second place in the individual and a fourth place in the sprint. It was the first time in her career the 28-year-old Solemdal had achieved that distinction, and after she finished 19th on Sunday (+2:23.5 with four penalties), Braisaz took over the lead in the World Cup standings after the first week of races.
Twenty seconds behind Olsbu, Italy’s Lisa Vittozzi finished fourth (+1:09.1 with one penalty). Herrmann’s teammates Maren Hammerschmidt in fifth (+1:16.8 with two penalties), moving up from starting 14th, and Vanessa Hinz in eighth (+1:29.1 with one penalty), up from 16th, also pre-qualified for the German Olympic team.
“I got the [qualification norm] today, and that was very important for me,” Hammerschmidt told the IBU in an interview. “I never would have thought that I could already do it here in Östersund, I thought maybe in December was good, so I am very happy to go to Hochfilzen without this [pressure next week]. When I came to the finish line I realized Denise had won again, and I am so happy for her, it is incredible what she has done.”
Team Germany is starting to take shape for the Olympics, with Herrmann a name on the roster few fans would have expected a year ago.
“I think Laura is coming back next weekend…,” a laughing Herrmann cautioned at the press conference.
Laura Dahlmeier, the dominant athlete of the 2017 World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria, has not started a race this season yet, missing the Östersund World Cup because of illness. She plans to be back for the races later this week (Dec. 8-10) at the site of her biggest successes.
Third-Best Career Result in a Pursuit for Ransom
Julia Ransom (Biathlon Canada) racing the second leg of the women’s 4 x 6 k relay at 2017 IBU World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
Starting in 29th and 1:17 out of first based on her sprint result, Biathlon Canada’s Julia Ransom started her pursuit without a slip, cleaning both her prone shooting stages. Since a number of athletes in front of her incurred penalties, she had moved up all the way to the 11th position as she returned to the course after her second shooting.
“We get pretty consistent feedback on the course so I was aware I was 11th,” Ransom wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “The wind picked up today and made for some tricky shooting. On one end of the range, the wind can swirl off the building and push the bullets one way, while it blows the bullets another way on the opposite side of the range.”
On the next round she skied in a pack with athletes, including Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen and Ukraine’s Valj Semerenko (who also cleaned the first prone on Sunday).
“My legs were a little fatigued but those fast girls definitely helped pull me around the course!” Ransom remembered regarding that loop.
In her first standing bout, she again cleaned the first four targets before seeming to hesitate a bit and then missed the last target, having to ski a penalty loop. She came back on the course in 17th position.
Then in the final stage she missed another target, leaving the range for the last time in 21st.
At the finish Ransom was 23rd for her third-best result in a pursuit behind a tied 19th place in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, last season as well as in Antholz, Italy, two seasons ago. She achieved her best career result in a ninth place in the 15 k individual earlier this week.
“I really wished I could have kept my focus for those last standing shots because it would have made for a very exciting race,” Ransom concluded. “That is how it goes sometimes. I am thrilled with my race! You can always say ‘what if…?’ but I am stoked with how solid the start of the season has been. I am looking forward to next weekend, especially since my parents are coming out to watch.”
Starting in 46th position and 1:42 minutes back according to her sprint result, her teammate Rosanna Crawford initially put herself in the mix, cleaning her first prone stage to move up to 38th, even making up a few seconds to Herrmann up front.
But in her next prone shooting, Crawford incurred three penalties, falling back to 53rd and doubling her deficit. With three more penalties in the standing stages Crawford ultimately finished 52nd, 5:25.1 back with six penalties (0+3+1+2).
Her World Cup start in Östersund was marred by a nasty crash in the single mixed relay last Sunday. On Wednesday, she placed 39th in the individual for her best result of the week.
Megan Bankes as Biathlon Canada’s third woman snuck into the top 60 to qualify for her first World Cup pursuit as the 60th and final starter (actually, 59th, since French athlete Anaïs Chevalier withdrew on race day).
But that meant the 2017 Junior World champion in the individual discipline had to begin the race 2:11 minutes after Herrmann started hers.
“I was quite excited because pursuits are always fun races, and to be racing with the 60 best women in the world is pretty neat,” Bankes wrote in an email. “Conditions on the course were pretty fast, the uphills were a little chopped up, but not bad. There was more wind today than any other race day, and I found it hard to read on the range, especially in the far lanes (28, 29, 30), because it swirls due to the wall [of a utility building at the end of the range].”
After missing three targets already in her first prone shooting bout, she lost more time coming back on the track and was 3:50 behind she started her second loop.
“I did not read the wind properly or make a big enough correction when I came into my first prone, so that is why I missed 3,” Bankes explained.
After incurring another penalty in the second prone shooting and one more in the following standing stage, Banks was almost 5:30 minutes back, and the top of the field approached quickly from behind on the short 2.5-kilometer lap.
On her final lap Herrmann passed Bankes, ending the race for the Canadian.
“I think the techs may have yelled at me that I might be lapped, but I don’t really remember,” Bankes wrote in her email. “I knew about the rule, and knew the top girls were real fast, so I was aware of the possibility that I could be lapped. I could also see them coming into the range as I was leaving the range [after the third shooting], so I knew I had to ski pretty fast if I wanted to get to the range again before they finished. That did not happen, but I got farther on my 4th lap than I thought I would. Overall, it was a good learning experience, and a reminder that you should hit your prone targets in a pursuit!”
In Saturday’s sprint, US Biathlon’s Clare Egan, Susan Dunklee and Emily Dreissigacker, along with Canada’s Emma Lunder, missed qualifying in the top 60 for the pursuit.
The IBU World Cup continues next Friday Dec. 8 in Hochfilzen, Austria, with another sprint for the women and men.
The SuperTour women’s 10 k classic mass start podium on Sunday in West Yellowstone, Montana, with Hedda Bångman (second from r) of the University of Colorado Boulder in first, and Craftsbury’s Kaitlynn Miller (third from r) and Caitlin Patterson (r) in second and third, respectively. From left: Caitlin Gregg in sixth, Katharine Ogden in fifth and Rosie Frankowski in fourth were also recognized at the flower ceremony. (Photo: FBD)
US SuperTour (West Yellowstone, Montana): 10/15 k classic mass starts
The second day of SuperTour racing took place as originally planned at the Rendezvous Ski Trails in West Yellowstone, with 22-year-old Hedda Bångman, of the University of Colorado Boulder (CU), and 33-year-old Brian Gregg (Team Gregg) winning the women’s 10-kilometer and men’s 15 k classic mass starts, respectively, on Sunday.
The men’s 15 k classic mass start SuperTour podium on Sunday in West Yellowstone, Montana,with Brian Gregg (c) of Team Gregg in first, David Norris (l) of APU in second, and Ben Lustgarten (CGRP) in third. (Photo: FBD)
Bångman, a Swedish freshman on the CU Ski Team, won the women’s race in 30:24.8, just ahead of two Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP) skiers Kaitlynn Miller and Caitlin Patterson. While Miller placed second (+1.3) and Patterson was third (+3.4),
Rosie Frankowski of Alaska Pacific University (APU) finished another 10 seconds later in fourth (+13.5), and Katharine Ogden of the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) was fifth (+17.2). Caitlin Gregg (Team Gregg) followed in sixth, Felicia Gesior (CXC Team) was seventh, Anne Siri Lervik (CU) eighth, Erika Flowers (SMS Elite Team) ninth, and Corey Stock of the Bridger Ski Foundation (BSF) 10th.
In the men’s race, Brian Gregg pulled out a 1.9-second win over David Norris (APU), crossing the line first in 41:30.3. Ben Lustgarten (CGRP) reached the podium for the second-straight day (after placing second in Saturday’s skate sprint) in third (+4.6). Kyle Bratrud (CXC Team) finished fourth (+10.9) and Kris Freeman (Caldwell Sport) was fifth (+12.6). Tad Elliott (Ski & Snowboard Club Vail) followed in sixth, Eric Packer (APU) seventh, Ian Torchia (Northern Michigan University/U.S. Ski Team D-Team) eighth, Hunter Wonders (APU) ninth, and Martin Bergström (University of Utah Ski) 10th.
Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla winning the women’s 15 k skiathlon on Sunday at the Lillehammer World Cup in Norway. (Photo: Henrik Hunnes)
Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla pulled out another dominant distance performance on Week 2 of the World Cup, racing to a 19.7-second win in the women’s 15-kilometer skiathlon on Sunday, ahead of three Norwegians and American Jessie Diggins.
Kalla led at the halfway point of the skiathlon when skiers transitioned from classic to skate, just ahead of Norway’s Heidi Weng in second. The two had broken away around 4 k into the classic leg and put more than 20 seconds into the rest of the field by the transition, when Diggins came through 21.6 seconds back in third, leading a large chase group with Finland’s Krista Parmakoski, Norway’s Marit Bjørgen, Austria’s Teresa Stadlober, Norway’s Kathrine Rolsted Harsem, Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen, Norway’s Ragnhild Haga, and Switzerland’s Nathalie von Siebenthal, respectively.
While Kalla and Weng continued to trade the lead over the next 5 1/2 kilometers or so, by the 13.65 k marker, Kalla had dropped Weng, with 12 seconds between the two, while the chasers remained 29 seconds behind Kalla.
Over the next 1.2 k, that time gap grew to 20 seconds and 46 seconds, respectively, and Kalla skied off to her second win of the season in 42:24.7 minutes.
Weng placed second, 19.7 seconds back, and Haga claimed third (+43.6), after skiing alone for the last 4 k of the race. Bjørgen finished just ahead of Diggins for fourth (+54.3) and fifth (+57.0), respectively, and Stadlober was sixth (+1:04.9), Parmakoski seventh (+1:07.8), Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Østberg eighth, Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva ninth (+1:27.8), and Sadie Bjornsen 10th (+1:32.6).
Four Americans finished scored points in the top 30, with Kikkan Randall placing 16th (+2:06.5) and Rosie Brennan 29th (+3:07.7). Liz Stephen finished 36th (+3:25.7), Chelsea Holmes was 38th (+3:39.6) and Ida Sargent 55th (+6:41.1).
Cendrine Browne of the Canadian National U25 Team led Canada in 45th (+4:37.3), and Emily Nishikawa followed in 49th (+5:00.1). Katherine Stewart-Jones did not finish.
Klæbo Outlasts Sundby; Harvey 6th
A gassed Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (yellow bib) holding off fellow Norwegian Martin Johnsrud Sundby (r) for the win on Sunday in the men’s 30 k skiathlon at the Lillehammer World Cup in Norway. (Photo: Henrik Hunnes)
In the men’s 30 k skiathlon that followed, Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo made it a five-peat, proving himself once again unbeatable, this time in the first multi-discipline distance race of the season.
Klæbo outlasted [edit: rocketed past] teammate Martin Johnsrud Sundby to beat him by 1.3 seconds for his fifth-straight win in 1:16:47.1, and Norway swept the top four with Hans Christer Holund in third (+6.8) and Simen Hegstad Krüger in fourth (+10.9).
France’s Maurice Manificat followed closely in fifth (+11.3) and Canada’s Alex Harvey was next in sixth (+13.1), ahead of Finland’s Iivo Niskanen in seventh (+16.2), and Russia’s Alexey Chervotkin, Sergey Ustiugov and Alexander Bolshunov in eighth (+37.7), ninth (+42.2) and 10th (+59.6), respectively.
Klæbo skied patiently in the pack for essentially the entire race. For instance, at 11 k he sat back in 18th, just seven seconds from Canada’s Devon Kershaw in the lead.
One kilometer later, Klæbo remained 5 seconds back in 13th while Kershaw was 8 seconds back in 16th.
At the ski exchange at 15 k, Niskanen led Sundby and Italy’s Francesco de Fabiani and a total of 10 men within three seconds of first. Klæbo clocked through 5 seconds back in 13th, just ahead of Harvey in 14th (+5.3). Sixteen men remained within six seconds and striking distance of first. Kershaw in 18th had fallen off the pace and was 36 seconds back at the transition, just behind Russia’s Andrey Larkov.
While Harvey continued to ski around third place during the first 5 kilometers of the skate leg, Klæbo worked his way closer to the front and led at 22.5 k. By then, the lead group had dwindled to six within two seconds of first. Harvey remained in fourth.
Over the next 7.5 k, the lead changed several times, with Klæbo hovering near the tail end of the group. With about 200 meters to go, however, it was down to Sundby and Klæbo, with the former leading by 2 seconds (and Holund skiing seven seconds back in third). Klæbo ultimately had the most finishing kick to take the win by 1.3 seconds over Sundby, while Holund crossed 6.8 seconds later for third.
Canada had two in the top 20 with Kershaw in 19th (+2:59.7). Last year’s NorAm winner Russell Kennedy (Team R.A.D.) placed 53rd (+7:30.7), and Canadian World Cup Team members Graeme Killick and Knute Johnsgaard finished 54th (+7:41.3) and 60th (+9:49), respectively.
Two U.S. men landed in the points with Erik Bjornsen (U.S. Ski Team) in 20th (+2:59.9; just 0.2 seconds behind Kershaw) and Noah Hoffman in 28th (+3:37.8). Scott Patterson finished 36th (+4:56.1) and Paddy Caldwell was 56th (+7:43).
— International Biathlon Union (@biathlonworld) December 3, 2017
France’s Martin Fourcade overcame an early penalty and his No. 2 starting position to take the men’s 12.5 k pursuit win on Sunday, 40.8 seconds clear of anyone with 19-for-20 shooting (1+0+0+0).
Fourcade started 1 second behind Saturday’s sprint winner, Norway’s Tarjei Bø, and took control of the race after cleaning the second shooting stage. Bø missed one on the first prone stage then five more later in the race (1+0+3+2) to slip to 19th (+1:49.5) while Slovenia’s Jakov Fak raced up from 10th to second, 40.8 seconds behind Fourcade, with two penalties (1+0+0+1). Just behind him, France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet took third (+42.1) with identical shooting after Fillon Maillet started 12th and skied with Fak for most of the race.
France’s Martin Fourcade (l) and Quentin Fillon Maillet after placing first and third, respectively, in the IBU World Cup men’s 12.5 k pursuit on Sunday in Lillehammer, Norway. (Photo: IBU/biathlonworld)
None of the 58 finishers cleaned the four-stage race. American Lowell Bailey improved from 22nd to 17th (+1:40.2) with two misses (0+1+0+1). Canada’s Christian Gow achieved a career best in 21st (+2:04.6), up from starting 26th, after shooting 19-for-20 (0+0+1+0).
Also for Canada, Nathan Smith slipped from 24th at the start to 42nd (+3:19.2, three penalties), Scott Gow finished 50th (+4:10.9; six penalties) after starting 16th, and Brendan Green placed 51st (+4:18.6; five penalties).
One other American qualified in the sprint top 60 for the pursuit, with Tim Burke finishing 48th (+3:52.7; four misses).
In the women’s 10 k pursuit earlier in the day, Germany’s Denise Herrmann tallied her second-straight win (and the second win of her IBU World Cup career). She started first and successfully held of France’s Justine Braisaz, who started 15 seconds behind her in second place, by 25.8 seconds. While Herrmann missed two on her third shooting (0+0+2+0), Braisaz was one of three women in the field to clean (0+0+0+0).
Norway’s Marte Olsbu raced up from seventh to third place (+48.0) with two penalties (0+1+0+1).
Canada’s Julia Ransom placed 23rd (+2:48.1), up from 29th at the start, with two misses (0+0+1+1). Two of her teammates also qualified for the pursuit, with Rosanna Crawford finishing 52nd (+5:25.1) with six penalties (0+3+1+2). In her first World Cup pursuit, Megan Bankes completed three shooting stages before being lapped (3+1+1).
No American women qualified for the pursuit.
With the conclusion of the first IBU World Cup in Östersund, the circuit moves to Hochfilzen, Austria, where racing kicks off again Friday, Dec. 8, with men’s and women’s sprints.
Carsen Campbell and Sarah Beaudry (Photo: Kristin Lyche Instagram)
Three Canadians and one American competed at last week’s International Biathlon Union (IBU) Cup opener in in Sjusjøen, Norway, with Canada’s Emma Lunder posting an individual top 20 and her teammates Sarah Beaudry and Carsen Campbell teaming up to place fourth in the single mixed relay on Sunday, Nov. 26.
In an email, Biathlon Canada High Performance Director Roddy Ward explained that Canada did not send its full IBU Cup team to the season-opening races, as IBU Cup #1 was not part of the national team’s plan.
“Current [national team] athletes were sanctioned to race, at their own expense, if they felt it would prepare them better for the season,” Ward wrote.
That created some additional legwork for those three athletes, as well as fellow national-team members Scott and Christian Gow and Brendan Green, who arrived in Europe on Nov. 12 to race at Norwegian trials Nov. 18-19 in Sjusjøen.
“Scott Gow was in charge of booking accommodations for everyone, and we ended up in an awesome little cabin in the woods quite close to the venue [in Sjusjøen],” Lunder, a 26-year-old Senior National Team member, wrote in an email. She and Campbell, of the National “Z” Team, arrived in Europe on Nov. 16 in an effort to get some early season racing in as well.
Emma Lunder (Biathlon Canada Senior National Team) racing to second in the women’s modified sprint on Friday, Nov. 10, the last day of Biathlon Canada’s team trials. After reaching the podium three times in three races, she was selected to the IBU World Cup team for the first trimester. (Photo: Peter Collins/petercollinsphoto.com)
“I also wasn’t sure whether I’d qualify for [World Cup] or IBU Cup from our Canadian trials, so just having the trip booked was some security for me, knowing that no matter what happened with trials, the next goal was to go and perform well in Sjusjoen which definitely helped me feel less pressure at trials,” added Lunder, who earned one of two remaining women’s spots on Canada’s World Cup team based on her results at team trials earlier this month in Canmore, Alberta.
On Thursday, Nov. 23, Lunder placed 19th in the IBU Cup’s opening 7.5-kilometer sprint. After that, she headed to Östersund, Sweden, to prepare for the first World Cup of the season. In Östersund, she was part of Canada’s team that placed 15th in the mixed relay on Sunday.
“Emma had a solid first race considering travel,” Ward noted of her IBU Cup performance. “The plan was for Emma to go early and race one IBU Cup before heading to Ostersund. 19th was definitely a good showing but I believe we’ll see more from Emma this season.”
Lunder wrote that she was pleased with her sprint result on Thursday, especially considering the weather, which she described as “extreme fog and also a lot of wind.”
“During our zero the coaches couldn’t even use their scopes – they closed the range so coaches could run down, grab the paper that had been shot at, and then athletes made corrections off of that,” Lunder reflected. “I was happy that through all of it I was quite relaxed, even thought it was a very different situation than I’m normally used to pre-race!”
With three penalties, two in her prone shooting stage and another in standing (2+1), Lunder finished 2:18.5 behind Russia’s Uliana Kaisheva, who won in 21:49.8 with clean shooting (0+0).
“Of course I hoped to hit a few more targets, but I think given the conditions I did an okay job,” Lunder wrote. “My skiing felt pretty strong, and it was nice to get the season started in a low-stress environment.”
Norway’s Thekla Brun-Lie placed second in that race (+41.9; 0+1), and Russia had two on the podium with Olga Iakushova in third (+1:18.8; 0+1). In fact, Russia had four in the top five in the women’s opening sprint.
Sarah Beaudry racing in 2015 (Photo: Jake Ellingson)
Beaudry, who will be starting her season on Canada’s IBU Cup team, finished 49th (+3:57.1) with five penalties (4+1). American Kelsey Dickinson placed 76th (+6:05.0) with six penalties (3+3), out of 97 women.
“My first sprint just wasn’t so great,” Beaudry, a 23-year-old Senior National Team member, wrote in an email. “I didn’t have a great zero and found it pretty hard to see in the fog and missed 4 prone and then crashed in the penalty loop. … I was happy with my effort and got to shake out the early season jitters in some challenging conditions.”
Thursday kicked off with the men’s 10 k sprint, in which Campbell, also of Canada’s IBU Cup team, finished 35th with one penalty (0+1), out of 128 men. His time was 2:00.1 minutes behind French winner Emilien Jacquelin, who won in 25:26.1 with one standing miss as well (0+1). Jacquelin won by 5.7 seconds over Germany’s Johannes Kuehn, who placed second after skiing three penalty laps (0+3). Russia’s Alexey Slepov placed third (+8.1) with one miss in each stage (1+1).
Two days later on Saturday, Nov. 25, it was back to more sprinting for the men and women. Beaudry raced to 23rd in the women’s 7.5 k sprint (+1:15.5) with a single standing miss (0+1) and Dickinson finished 86th (+3:56.6) with three penalties (1+2). Campbell placed 76th in the men’s 10 k sprint (+3:21.3) with four penalties (2+2).
“I am happy with my second sprint,” Beaudry wrote. “I felt really good skiing but I think there is still room for improvement as the season goes on. I was also pretty happy with my shooting except kinda pissed that my miss was my last shot.”
“Sarah’s second sprint was very strong,” Ward noted. “Time back from leader was very good. Sarah made big gains this offseason and I know she’s happy with it but looking for more. Carsen had a good first race and then struggled in the 2nd race. Carsen has been looking solid all fall and I’d like to see him score some top 20 results.”
Germany’s Denise Herrmann won the women’s sprint in 20:43.9 with two penalties (1+1). Austria’s Katharina Innerhofer hit all 10 of her targets (0+0) to place second (+4.0), and Brun-Lie shot clean as well to reach the podium for the second-straight race, this time in third (+15.8).
Norway went 1-2 in the men’s sprint with World Cup biathlete Tarjei Bø beating Fredrik Gjesbakk by 23.7 seconds in 23:00.1. Both had one standing miss (0+1), and Russia’s Eduard Latypov shot clean to finish third (+31.2).
On Sunday, while Lunder was racing the mixed relay in Östersund, Beaudry and Campbell raced to fourth in the single mixed relay in Sjusjøen, missing the podium by 13.2 seconds and finishing 1:10.9 out of first. Together, they used five spares and avoided the penalty loop (0+5).
Carsen Campbell (l) racing in 2015. (Photo: Jake Ellingson)
“Carsen and I definitely put together a really strong relay and had some really good shooting which is key in the single mixed relay,” Beaudry wrote.
She used three total spares to clean, two of which were in her first prone stage. Campbell used two spares: one in each of his prone stages.
“I was very happy with my shooting today,” wrote Campbell, who turns 23 on Dec. 9. “My standing was as close to perfect as I have ever done and I made it through the prone with no major issues. I was near the front for the whole race so I felt a lot of pressure not to blow the good work Sarah had put down. It was nice to see that I was able to handle it without cracking.
“Hopefully we get the chance to try again in Lenzerheide, I think we could make the podium,” he added, referring to the next IBU Cup in Switzerland, which opens Dec. 8 with relays.
Ward explained that a relay podium was a realistic goal for Beaudry and Campbell.
“Single mixed is a bit of a different race and hard to completely compare to traditional race distances,” Ward wrote. “Sarah was born for this race, she has unbelievable speed in short distance and is a quick and accurate shooter. Carsen is also great in the range and can hold his own on course. I knew in the weeks leading up that they had a shot at the podium, and they were close.”
France’s Julia Simon and Antonin Guigonnat won the single mixed relay after leading from the first leg. Despite Guigonnat having to ski one penalty lap on the last leg, they won by 36.7 seconds in 37:33.1, with one penalty and seven spares (1+7). Sweden, with Elisabeth Hoegberg and Tobias Arwidson, placed second with no penalties and five spares (0+5), and Austria captured third place (+57.7) with Innerhofer and David Komatz (1+9).
“My plan since the summer has been to come here to get the bugs out and be ready to go 100% by Lenzerheide,” Campbell explained. “Having a good relay today was a bonus! My sprints need some work but that’s why I’m here. Overall I’d say IBU Cup 1 has been a success for me and I’m excited for the next one!”
“With last season being a really hard year for me I definitely went into the season nervous,” Beaudry explained. “I didn’t have any specific expectations I was just hoping for better feelings then last year. Considering I already have had a better IBU cup race result then last season and my best relay result on the IBU cup, I can say I am happy with how the season is starting.
“This trip to race the IBU cup 1 was on our own and I definitely owe a big thanks to Carsen and Emma for organizing it all and letting me tag along last minute, as well as our Norwegian friend Kristin Lyche for hosting, coaching and taking care of us here in Norway,” Beaudry wrote, referring to a Norwegian friend whom they spent several months training with in Canmore this summer.
Lyche housed Beaudry upon her arrival in Sjusjøen, and Lunder and Campbell moved from their cabin rental to Lyche’s place on Nov. 23.
“And to the Italian team for waxing my skis all week,” Beaudry added. “Going to races without an official team can definitely be a little more challenging but I think it has been super beneficial and I am really happy that I came to Norway.”
“I had contacted the Italian team back in the fall,” Lunder explained, “and when Sarah Beaudry booked her trip last minute after trials, they also agreed to support her which was great. The race skis they prepared for me for Thursday’s sprint were really, really fast, so I was extremely grateful to them! … Overall it wasn’t as stressful as I expected to organize our own trip, and I would plan on doing something similar again next year if need be!”
US Biathlon’s Susan Dunklee competing in the women’s sprint as an international guest at the 2017 German National Biathlon Championships on Sept. 9 in Langdorf, Germany. (Photo: Niklas Breu)
Dozens of German biathletes from all parts of the country descended on the small town of Langdorf (Arber) in the Bavarian Forest mountain range last weekend for their national championships. Since guests are allowed to compete in the races (a sprint and a pursuit), a number of international biathletes — including a handful of North Americans — made use of this opportunity during a training block in Europe for a performance test against some tough competition.
The American contingent of national-team members and a few more representatives from the Craftsbury Biathlon Club of Vermont was led by 2017 IBU World Championships silver medalist Susan Dunklee and fellow national-team veteran and 2013 silver medalist Tim Burke.
“It was a great event,” Dunklee wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “The large crowd of spectators and high level of competitors made it great practice for the winter.”
Last season’s World Championships gold medalist Lowell Bailey did not travel with the rest of the men’s team, neither did World Championship participants Clare Egan and Maddie Phaneuf of the women’s team.
Joining Dunklee were national-team members Joanne Reid, Emily Dreissigacker (Craftsbury Biathlon Club/US Biathlon B-team), as well as Hallie Grossman (Craftsbury/ US Biathlon National Development Group).
On the men’s side, Burke was joined by multi-time youth/junior world champion Sean Doherty, fellow Olympian Leif Nordgren, national-team rookie Paul Schommer (A-3 team), Michael Gibson (Craftsbury), and Alex Howe (Craftsbury/US Biathlon National Development Group).
The Canadian national team did not make the long journey overseas this summer, opting to prepare at home instead, but team member Megan Tandy (who lives and trains in Germany for large parts of the year) joined Dunklee, Reid and a group of other international athletes for a short training camp and the two races.
“I train mostly alone so to have coaches and teammates for a week was awesome,” Tandy wrote in an email. “Great for some friendly competition, coaching feedback, some laughs and I learned a few things, too. I always appreciate the chance to train with other athletes!”
New Biathlete Herrmann Tops Women’s Races, Dunklee Leads Americans
Germany’s Denise Herrmann en route to a victory in the women’s pursuit at the 2017 German National Biathlon Championships on Sept. 10 in Arber, Germany. (Screenshot: BR “Blickpunkt Sport” broadcast)
Germany’s Denise Herrmann, who switched from being a cross-country sprint specialist to biathlon only a year ago, was the standout female athlete of the weekend, winning the national title in both the sprint and pursuit.
In the sprint on Saturday, Sept. 9, the German biathlon B-team member shot clean on her way to the victory in a time of 18 minutes, 2.5 seconds on the 7.5-kilometer course, ahead of national-team members Maren Hammerschmidt (+30.9 with zero penalties) and Laura Dahlmeier (+36.0 with zero penalties). Finland’s biathlon star Kaisa Mäkärainen placed fourth after shooting two penalties (+42.2, 1+1).
In a field of 44 starters, Dunklee led the North American women in 15th place (+2:29.6) with three penalties (2+1). She was the fourth-best non-German woman.
“Of course every time you toe the line you want the win but I wasn’t among the fastest there this weekend,” Dunklee explained. “My goal is to be at my best in February and my focused work at these races will help get me there. The course had a nice flow with rolling terrain which made it great for practicing uphill V2 and transitions.”
Reid placed 18th (+2:45.8) with one penalty (0+1), while Tandy finished just behind her in 19th (+2:48.7) after having to circle three penalty laps (2+1). Dreissigacker placed 31st (+3:57.4) also with three penalties (1+2), and Grossmann was 40th (+4:57.9) with five penalties (2+3), out of 44 finishers.
In the following 10 k pursuit on Sunday in rainy conditions, Herrmann was able to rack up her second title in as many days in 30:17.5 after shooting three penalties (0+1+1+1). Dahlmeier, by her own account not a big fan of rollerski races, was unable to catch her despite another flawless shooting score and she finished second, 43.4 seconds back. Third place went to Mäkäräinen, who overcame five penalties (+1:37.8, 3+1+1+0), while Nadine Horchler in fourth overall claimed the bronze medal among Germans, moving up from sixth at the start after a solid performance on the range (+1:48.5, 0+0+0+1).
“I am really happy for her, that she now has been able to execute her abilities in both races,” Dahlmeier, a seven-time world champion, said of Herrmann to German broadcaster BR. “Her shooting, her racing, keeping her nerves in check. That demonstrates she has really taken another step forward. Still, this was a summer race without big pressure, but things are clearly moving in the right direction for her.”
The newly crowned national-champion, Herrmann was invited to a TV sports talk show hosted by the network later that evening for a more wide-ranging interview about her career, transition from cross-country to biathlon and the upcoming Olympics.
Germany’s Denise Herrmann dry firing in her kitchen. (Screenshot: Bavarian TV/BR)
“I was hoping to be able to translate my training performances into a good result, but I really wouldn’t have expected two titles this weekend,” Herrmann said. “When I made the switch [to biathlon] the Olympics in PyeongChang were my big stated goal, and I knew this wouldn’t be easy, also because this team might be the most competitive in the world. I am on my way now. Of course this was only a summer competition, but I can finally execute my shooting performances from training. I know what is left to do the next two months, and am looking forward to the winter.”
The program showed her training diligently on the shooting range, even doing “dry fire” practices at every opportunity while steaming coffee in her home kitchen. So far, Herrmann has pre-qualified for Germany’s IBU Cup team, but she started a few World Cups last season, including the Olympic test events in PyeongChang, South Korea, where she was part of the winning relay team.
“Being able to race in that relay made me incredibly happy,” Herrmann explained, remembering that day from last March. “Shooting in the first lane there, I had a few other distracting thoughts in my head. But that is the mental challenge and the allure of biathlon, and I would like to create more experiences like that.”
Clean Pursuit for Tandy on Her Birthday
Megan Tandy rollerskiing in Germany in August 2016. (Courtesy photo)
Dunklee again led the North Americans in 12th place in the pursuit (+3:42.1, fourth-best international) moving up three places from the sprint, with three penalties (0+1+0+2).
Seven seconds behind her, Tandy of Canada finished 14th (+3:49.1), just 0.1 seconds behind Germany’s Marie Heinrich (+3:49.0 with two penalties), after moving up from her starting position of 19th thanks to four clean shooting stages. She did so on her 29th birthday.
“The sprint was quite disappointing,” Tandy wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “Not the result I was aiming for… During the pursuit I really pulled the shooting together: for me it was a perfect day on the range with solid shooting times and 20/20 – it doesn’t get much better than that! To top it off, Sunday was my [29th] birthday so I was pretty pleased.”
Tandy was also happy with her performance considering she lives about an hour away from the nearest biathlon range. She estimated she had accumulated several thousand fewer shots in practice than most of her competitors this year.
“I had two 20/20 races on the World Cup circuit during the 2015-16 season, but I think this is the first time since then… so it has definitely been awhile!” she wrote. “The plus side is that I really value my time on the shooting range and I am approaching shooting training with such an intense focus that I am sure this summer has been some of my highest quality shooting training ever.”
“My race form is not where it needs to be yet, but I am feeling stronger than I was at this time last year and I believe I am making good progress,” Tandy wrote of her skiing. “The potential for a great season is there, but I still have a lot of work to do before the snow flies!”
Reid finished the pursuit in 21st place (+6:10.3) with three penalties (0+2+1+0), Dreissigacker moved up one spot to 30th (+7:34.6) with three penalties (1+0+2+0), and Grossman repeated in 40th (+12:21.9) with nine penalties (2+2+3+2).
The men’s 10 k sprint title went to Germany’s Benedikt Doll in a time of 24:33.3 despite two penalties (1+1) for his first national title. In a bit of a surprising outcome, Doll won the sprint at the 2017 World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria, last season. On Saturday he prevailed over teammates Matthias Dorfer (+17.6, 0+1) and Simon Schempp (+24.2, 2+1), respectively. Switzerland’s Mario Dolder was the top non-German in fourth overall (+29.0, 1+0).
Leif Nordgren placed 15th with a single standing miss to lead the North American men in the sprint, finishing 1:21.3 back from Doll. Nordgren was the third-best international guest behind Dolder and his Swiss teammate Benjamin Weger, who was ninth overall.
“It was a fun weekend at the German summer championships in Langdorf, the race shape is not there yet though!” Nordgren wrote on Instagram.
Just two seconds behind him, Burke placed 18th (+1:23.4, fifth-best international) with three penalties (2+1). Doherty was 27th (+2:14.3) with four penalties (2+2), Schommer finished 34th (+2:54.0) with five penalties (4+1), and Gibson placed 48th (+4:32.5) with five penalties (3+2) in the field of 54 finishers.
Howe did not start, but posted on social media about supporting his wife Emily Dreissigacker:
In the men’s 12.5 k pursuit on Sunday, Germany’s Schempp improved from third at the start to claim the championship in commanding fashion in a time of 30:41.1 with a single penalty (0+1+0+0). His fellow senior national team member Erik Lesser moved up from seventh to claim the silver medal (+1:14.5 with two penalties), while Doll swapped positions on the podium with Schempp, coming in third place (+1:22.0 with four penalties). Sprint silver medalist Dorfer fell back to fifth place (+1:43.2 with four penalties).
“Totally satisfied with my performance the first weekend of the nationals,” Schempp posted on Instagram.
Tim Burke (USBA) racing to third in the men’s mass start at US Biathlon Rollerski Championships on Aug. 13 in Jericho, Vt. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
For the U.S., Burke moved up from 18th to seventh place with three penalties (0+0+2+1). He finished 2:16.9 minutes after Schempp and battled with local juniors David Zobel and Lucas Fratzscher to the line. Zobel placed sixth (+2:16.1 with one penalty) and Fratzscher eighth (+2:17.2, moving up from 23rd with clean shooting). Burke was the top non-German in the pursuit.
“These races were a good opportunity for me to see where I am at after the spring/summer training season,” Burke wrote in an email. “The races over here definitely have more of a ‘winter feel’ with bigger crowds and larger start fields. Overall, I was satisfied with my results. I felt like I did well in the areas that I have been focusing on this summer, and I now have clear areas of focus heading into the winter.”
Nordgren finished 18th (+3:33.5) slipping three positions and incurring two penalties on the shooting range (1+0+0+1). Schommer came in 29th (+5:06.1) improving by five places despite five penalties (3+1+1+0). Doherty was 30th (+5:22.0) after starting 27th, also with five penalties (1+3+1+0). Gibson finished 42nd (+8:17.8) improving by six places while registering six penalties (1+1+2+2), and Howe was unable to start after missing the sprint.
The German athletes will continue their national championship races with mass start and relay events in Ruhpolding next weekend. Meanwhile, the US athletes planned to use the week for testing and on-snow training in a ski tunnel at the World Cup venue in Oberhof, Germany, before returning to the U.S., according to Dunklee and Burke.
“Hopefully there will be a few more weeks of sunny fall training [in Germany] before it is time to hit the snow, before heading home to Canada for National team trials in early November,” Tandy wrote of her next plans.
The Hohenzollern Ski Stadium venue at the Arber will host another IBU Cup in January, when some of the German and North American athletes competing last weekend might return there.
Canada’s Alex Harvey (3) celebrates his win in the men’s 50 k freestyle mass start, his first individual gold medal at a World Championships, on Sunday at 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland. He beat Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov (l) by 0.6 seconds while Norway’s Sjur Røthe (9) can be seen coming in for sixth place, behind (not pictured) Finland’s Matti Heikkinen, Great Britain’s Andrew Musgrave and Norway’s Martin Johnsurd Sundby, respectively. (Photo: NBC Sports screenshot)
FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Men’s 50 k freestyle mass start
After a week of missing out on the medals at 2017 Nordic World Championships, Canada’s Alex Harvey, a four-time World Championships medalist from 2011, 2013 and 2015, achieved his first individual gold medal in the final race of this year’s World Championships in Lahti, Finland.
Harvey, 28, won the men’s 50-kilometer freestyle mass start in a drag race to the finish. Entering the final descent into the stadium with Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov, Harvey rode his fast skis past both of them then had the most finishing kick in the final straightaway for a 0.6-second victory. He finished in 1:46.28.9 hours, while Ustiugov followed him across the line in second and Finland’s Matti Heikkinen from behind for third (+1.4), after passing Sundby around the outside of the last corner.
Canada’s Alex Harvey (c) celebrates gold in the men’s 50 k freestyle mass start on Sunday at 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland, with Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov (l) and Finland’ Matti Heikkinen (r) joining him on the podium in second and third, respectively. (Photo: Cross Country Canada/Twitter)
Sundby appeared to miss a pole plant soon after Heikkinen passed him and let off the pace a few meters before the finish. That’s where Great Britain’s Andrew Musgrave continued to accelerate and took fourth place, 2.9 seconds behind Harvey and 0.1 seconds ahead of Sundby in fifth. Norway’s Sjur Røthe followed another 0.4 seconds back in sixth, Switzerland’s Dario Cologna was seventh (+8.9), Norway’s Petter Northug eighth (+12.3), France’s Maurice Manificat ninth (+13.4), and Norway’s Hans Christer Holund 10th (+14.3).
“I had really good skis,” Harvey said in a post-race interview with FIS. “I knew if I came into the corner in second place, that was the optimal position. So I was able to fight hard and hit that last corner in second and slingshot by Martin along the flat and then that was good after that.”
“This is the best race of my life, for sure,” he added. “So I’m really happy.”
Tad Elliott (Ski Club Vail) led the Americans in 27th (+3:16.8). Noah Hoffman (U.S. Ski Team) finished 50th (+8:53.1) and Kyle Bratrud (CXC Team) did not finish.
Canada started four men, with Devon Kershaw finishing 38th (+5:45.5), Graeme Killick 43rd (+7:04), and Knute Johnsgaard in 55th (+12:03.3).
For Harvey, the medal is his fifth at three World Championships and his first individual gold after winning the classic team sprint with Kershaw in 2011.
IBU World Cup (PyeongChang, South Korea): Men’s and women’s relays
Between the men’s and women’s relays on Sunday at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup in PyeongChang, South Korea, Canada had two teams in the top eighth, with its men’s team finishing seventh in the 4 x 7.5 k and women’s team eighth in the 4 x 6 k. Behind them, the U.S. men finished 10th and U.S. women 14th.
France won the men’s relay by 33.8 seconds over Austria, using a total of 10 spare rounds but avoiding the penalty lap. Martin Fourcade anchored France to the win in 1:12:09.5 hours, after Jean-Guillaume Béatrix initially tagged them in first, his older brother Simon Fourcade raced them into second with near-perfect shooting (using just one spare to clean), and Simon Desthieux picked off one more place to give Fourcade a 16-second lead for the final leg.
Austria achieved second place with Lorenz Wäger, Simon Eder, Julian Eberhard, and Dominik Landertinger combining for zero penalties and nine spares.
Norway finished third (+45.4) with Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen, Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Vegard Gjermundshaug, and Henrik L’Abée-Lund. They had one penalty on Gjermundshaug’s third leg, and used a total of eight spares.
Canada’s Christian Gow, Scott Gow, Nathan Smith, and Brendan Green finished seventh (+3:03.1) with zero penalties and nine spares. After Christian tagged his older brother Scott in ninth, Scott raced them into sixth place before Smith slipped four places to 10th at the final exchange. On the final leg, Green raced them into seventh, requiring two spares to clean.
The Americans finished about nine seconds later in 10th (+3:12.8) with Lowell Bailey, Leif Nordgren, Paul Schommer, and Sean Doherty combining for zero penalties and nine spares, just like Canada. Bailey had originally put them in second at the first exchange, Nordgren dropped to seventh, then Schommer to 13th, before Doherty finally brought them back to 10th out of 24 teams.
In the women’s relay, Germany pulled off a 22.8-second win over Norway, with one penalty and eight spares. Nadine Horchler put Germany in third at the first exchange, then Maren Hammerschmidt raced them into first by the race’s halfway point. From there, Denise Herrmann, a former cross-country World Cup regular, had to ski a penalty lap and tagged off in second, 13.5 seconds out of first. With teammate Laura Dahlmeier sitting out the relay, Franziska Hildebrand anchored Germany to the win in 1:07:35.6 after she used just one spare to clean.
Norway placed second with Kaia Wøien Nicolaisen, Hilde Fenne, Tiril Eckhoff, and Marte Olsbu accumulating one penalty and 11 spares. Olsbu beat out the Czech Republic’s Gabriela Koukalová by one-tenth of a second at the finish, as the Czechs placed for third (+22.9), with Jessica Jislová, Eva Puskarčíková, Lucie Charvátová, and Koukalová (with a total of one penalty and nine spares).
Canada took eighth (+1:34) with Rosanna Crawford, Julia Ransom, Megan Tandy, and Emma Lunder. Crawford tagged in second at the first exchange, Ransom slipped one place to third, Tandy lost another place to tag in fourth, and Lunder ultimately anchored them to eighth.
The U.S., with Clare Egan, Susan Dunklee, Joanne Reid, and Maddie Phaneuf, finished 14th (+3:08.3) with one penalty and 10 spares. After Egan had a penalty on the first leg, Dunklee skied the fastest second leg to move the team from 19th to 14th, then Reid put them in 11th by the final exchange. Twenty-one teams competed in the women’s race.
Ski Classics 90 k Vasaloppet (Sälen to Mora, Sweden)
John Kristian Dahl (r) of Team United Bakeries outlunges Ski Classics sprint leader Andreas Nygaard (r) of Team Santander for the win in Sunday’s 90 k Vasaloppet in Mora, Sweden. (Photo: Visma Ski Classics)
[UPDATED] In Sunday’s 93rd annual 90-kilometer Vasaloppet from Sälen to Mora, Sweden, the ninth event of the Ski Classics series, John Kristian Dahl (Team United Bakeries) outlasted Andreas Nygaard (Team Santander) by one-tenth of a second for the win in 3:57:18.1 hours. The race came down to a five-way fight for first, with Stian Hoelgaard (Team Leaseplan) finishing 0.6 seconds back in third. The top 15 men were all within 21.7 seconds of the podium, and Brian McKeever, a member of Canada’s Para Nordic Ski Team, placed 20th (+2:31.1).
“It has been a fight all day,” Dahl said, according to a Ski Classics press release. Three days ago, he had been unsure about starting the Vasaloppet following a back injury. “I was tired already after 30 k and had to let go of the lead group, but I fought my way back taking it step by step and hill by hill.”
In the women’s race, Britta Johansson Norgren (Lager 157 Ski Team) broke away from the field to win by 1:37.9 minutes in 4:19.43.4.
Astrid Øyre Slind (Team United Bakeries) finished second, and Sara Lindborg (Team Serneke) placed third, 9 minutes and 4.2 seconds behind Norgren. Kateřina Smutná (Team Santander) dropped out of the race about halfway through.
“I am very tired but also so happy to win today,” Norgren said, according to the press release. “It felt pretty easy until Oxberg [Sweden] with 30 k to go, but then it got really tough and I had to fight all the way to the finish.”
It was Norgren’s first Vasaloppet win after placing second the last three years. She increased her lead in the overall Ski Classics to 215 points over Smutná, while Tord Asle Gjerdalen continues to lead the men’s overall standings ahead of his Santander teammate Nygaard, who is 349 points behind in second place. Gjerdalen did not race Sunday’s Vasaloppet.
US Biathlon’s Paul Schommer shooting prone in the men’s 10 k sprint at the 2017 IBU Open European Championships in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland. He was the top North American on Friday in 58th. (Photo: IBU/Eurovisionsports.tv screenshot)
IBU Open European Championships (Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland): Men’s & women’s sprints
On Friday in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint, two Bulgarian athletes were able to break the Russian dominance at the 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Open European Championships in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland.
The men’s 10 k sprint podium on Friday, with Bulgaria’s Vladimir Iliev (c) in first, Russia’s Alexander Loginov (l) in second, and Bulgaria’s Krasimir Anev (r) in third at the 2017 IBU Open European Championships in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland. (Photo: IBU)
Bulgaria’s 29-year-old Vladimir Iliev, who has competed on the IBU World Cup since 2007 and posted a career-best fifth (which he achieved earlier this season), claimed the win in a time of 24:26.9 minutes despite one penalty in the standing stage (0+1), giving a kiss to his fast skis in the finish. Russia’s Alexander Loginov, who won the men’s 20 k individual race on Wednesday after returning this season from a two-year doping suspension, placed second (+4.9) with clean shooting. Behind them, Iliev’s teammate Krasimir Anev took third (+16.7), also shooting clean, to push Latvia’s Andrejs Rastorgujevs off the podium by just 0.6 seconds (+17.3). Rastorgujevs started early in bib 4 and skied the fastest course time of the day, but incurred two penalties in his standing stage (0+2), which ultimately set him back too far for a podium.
“It was a long way to this medal and this win,” Iliev said his first career victory, according to an IBU press release. “I was ready for a high result for many years, but many things have happened, so I’m really happy to get a victory today.”
“I did not expect anything in this race, because yesterday I had health problems so even my coach advised me not to start,” Anev said after winning his second medal of the championships, following up on a second place in the individual. “So [I] went into competition without any expectations.”
In beautiful weather conditions with little wind and the sun shining on the new arena in Duszniki-Zdrój throughout the race, US Biathlon’s Paul Schommer was the best of 11 North American starters, finishing 58th (+2:14.9) with three penalties (1+2). Schommer was less than a second faster than his U.S. teammate Alex Howe, who finished 59th (+2:15.3), after skiing two penalty laps (1+1). The third American Jakob Ellingson placed 64th (+2:24.6) with one penalty (0+1), Russell Currier was 75th (+2:41.4) with four penalties (2+2), Max Durtschi was 88th (+3:16.1) with three penalties (1+2), and Michael Gibson was 103rd (+4:30.4) with two penalties (1+1).
Matthew Hudec led the Canadians on Friday in 80th (+2:54.7) with one penalty (1+0). Also for Canada, Aidan Millar finished 86th (+3:13.9) with three penalties (1+2), Carsen Campbell 89th (+3:18.3) with three penalties (2+1), Pearce Hanna 92nd (+3:24.7) with two penalties (1+1), and Matthew Neumann 94th (+3:31.8) with four penalties (1+3).
In the large field of 125 starters, Schommer and Howe qualified for Saturday’s pursuit race by placing in the top 60.
The women’s 7.5 k sprint podium on Friday, with Ukraine’s Juliya Dzhyma (c) in first, Russia’s Svetlana Sleptsova (l) in second and Russia’s Irina Starykh (r) in third at the 2017 IBU Open European Championships in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland. (Photo: IBU)
[UPDATED] In the women’s 7.5 k sprint that followed, Ukraine’s Juliya Dzhyma managed to win in convincing fashion in a time of 21:02.3 minutes, shooting clean and skiing the second-ranked course time. It was the first individual career victory for the 26 year old in either a junior or senior championships, after she won a gold medal with Ukraine’s relay team at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
“When I saw that everyone was cleaning, I knew that to get in to top three, I have to do the same,” Dzhyma commented on her race, according to an IBU press release. “But honestly, I have no idea how I hit all the targets today; for the whole season, it was my first competition where I had zero.”
“I was just trying to do my best and to make the gap bigger because tomorrow is the pursuit!” she added, regarding her last loop when she increased her lead by another ten seconds.
Also shooting clean but 27 seconds off the win was Russia’s 30-year-old Svetlana Sleptsova, who, earlier in her career, won five World Cups and gold medals in the women’s relay at the 2009 World Championship and 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
Starting behind Sleptsova, her Russian teammate Irina Starykh, the winner of the women’s individual race on Wednesday, and like Loginov, also coming back from a two-year suspension for EPO use, claimed third (+37.8) with one penalty in her standing stage (0+1). Starykh bumped Germany’s Karolin Horchler, who had led the race early on after starting in bib 2 to fourth (+42.2, with no penalties). Horchler won her first World Cup a week ago in Antholz, Italy.
“Before the competition I already felt that it would be very hard for me to shoot today,” Starykh told the IBU. “And in the end it came out that way, it was tough for me to shoot at the prone and at the standing. But just one penalty is a pretty good result, based on how I feel.”
Horchler’s teammate Denise Herrmann, who made the switch from cross-country skiing to biathlon this season, followed in fifth (+47.7) with the fastest course time of the day, but missed two targets in her standing stage including her very last shot (0+2) to miss the podium.
American Hallie Grossman during her standing stage in the women’s 7.5 k sprint on Friday at the 2017 IBU Open European Championships in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland. She finished 70th with three penalties as the second-best North American. (Photo: IBU/Eurovisionsports.tv screenshot)
In stable weather conditions, though not as sunny as during the men’s sprint earlier on Friday, US Biathlon’s Emily Dreissigacker was the top North American woman in 69th (+3:31.1), with three penalties (2+1). Just one position behind her, American Hallie Grossman also missed three (2+1) on her way to a 70th (+3:34.4). For the 23-year-old Grossman it is her first season overseas racing in the IBU Cup.
Canada’s Erin Yungblut finished 81st (+5:50.0) with four penalties (1+3). Her teammate Leilani Tam von Burg did not finish after incurring two penalties in her prone shooting stage, and the third Canadian, Sarah Beaudry did not start.
None of the North American woman qualified for Saturday’s pursuit.
Two members of the Norwegian mixed relay, Johannes Bø and Marte Olsbu, celebrate their win in the first IBU World Cup race of the 2016/2017 season on Sunday in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: ZDF screen shot)
Welcome to The Rundown, your quick primer of need-to-know information about the day’s racing. We’ll be updating this digest as the day goes on with additional results, photos and quotes. The Rundown is NOT a race report; stay tuned for complete race reports later today with interviews from the day’s top racers.
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IBU Cup in Beitostølen: 7.5/10 k sprints
[UPDATE] With the second set of men’s and women’s sprints canceled Saturday and moved to Sunday in Beitostølen, Norway, the first IBU Cup relays of the season were bumped off the schedule, and no North Americans competed on Sunday. (American Russell Currier placed 44th in the IBU Cup sprint on Friday.)
In the women’s 7.5 k sprint, Marketa Davidova of the Czech Republic pulled out a 3.6-second win over Germany’s Nadine Horchler, and Germany had two on the podium with former cross-country skier Denise Herrmann in third (+29.9). Davidova hit 9 out of 10 targets (1+0) en route to the victory in 24:18.3. Horchler missed just one target as well (0+1) and Herrmann (who won the IBU Cup women’s sprint two days earlier) had three penalties (1+2) but skied fast enough for the podium.
In the men’s 10 k sprint, Russia’s Matvey Eliseev edged his teammate Dmitry Malyshko by just 3.2 seconds for the win in 26:16.8. More than a minute later, Norway’s Henrik L’Abee-Lund placed third (+1:15.9) with four penalties (1+3). Both Eliseev and Malyshko had one miss apiece, with Eliseev missing one in prone (1+0) and Malyshko missing one standing (0+1).
The next IBU Cup is set for Dec. 6-11 in Ridnaun, Italy.
The first race if the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup season went to Norway, which won Sunday’s co-ed mixed relay (2 x 6 k + 2 x 7.5 k) by nearly 34 seconds over Germany in Östersund, Sweden.
The Norwegian team of Marte Olsbu, Fanny Horn Birkeland, Ole Einar Bjørndalen, and Johannes Thingnes Bø used a total of six spare rounds to get to the finish line first in 1:10.57.1.
Germany, with Franziska Hildebrand, Laura Dahlmeier, Benedikt Doll, and Arnd Peiffer, used the same amount of total spares for second place (+33.7), and both teams avoided the penalty loop.
Italy took third (+44.2), with Lisa Vittozzi, Dorothea Wierer, Lukas Hofer, and Dominik Windisch using a combined 12 spares and having one penalty loop during Hofer’s standing stage.
The Italians narrowly held off Russia (Olga Podchufarova, Tatiana Akimova, Maxim Tsvetkov, Anton Shipulin) by 0.3 seconds for the final spot the podium.
France placed fifth (+1:13.3), Sweden was sixth (+1:20.9), the Czech Republic seventh (+1:20.9), and the U.S. eighth (+2:38.5).
Susan Dunklee started first for the Americans using three spares to clean (0+1, 0+2), then tagging off to Clare Egan, who didn’t need any spares for prone, but had to use all three and skied two penalty loops in standing. Lowell Bailey used just two spares (0+1, 0+1), and Tim Burke locked up eighth for the team with a flawless prone and three spares in standing (0+0, 0+3). In all the team used 13 spares and had two penalty loops.
Of 24 teams in the race, Canada (Julia Ransom, Megan Tandy, Scott Gow, and Brendan Green) was among the four that were lapped. In seven out of eight stages, the team combined for 11 spares and two penalties.
FIS Nordic Combined World Cup in Ruka: Individual Large Hill/10 k
Germany’s 24-year-old Johannes Rydzek celebrating his first of two wins on Saturday at the Ruka Nordic Combined World Cup in Kuusamo, Finland. He now has eighth career individual World Cup victories. (Photo: FIS/NordicFocus)
Germany’s Johannes Rydzek can do the Usain-Bolt-victory stance all the way to the next Nordic Combined World Cup after winning the first two competitions of the 2016/2017 season, with another individual large hill/10 k win on Sunday in Kuusamo, Finland.
Rydzek posted the fifth-best jump after Norway’s Jarl Magnus Riiber, Watabe, Denifl, and Austria’s Mario Seidl, respectively. Rydzek started the 10 k Gundersen 1:04 minutes after Riiber and posted the seventh-fastest course time to capture first. Riiber slipped to 10th (+1:07.5) at the finish, with the 37th-ranked course time of 42 in the cross-country race.
Of note, Frenzel improved from 27th in the jump to 17th (+1:32.4) at the finish with the second-fastest course time.
Bryan Fletcher was one of two Americans in the race, finishing 31st (+3:40.7). His jump ranked 40th, but he skied the fourth-fastest course time to pick off nine places. Taylor Fletcher placed 40th (+6:24.4), improving slightly from 43rd in the jump.
The Nordic Combined World Cup now moves to Lillehammer, Norway, for a team and two individual competitions Dec. 2-4.
Visma Ski Classics Prologue in Pontresina: 8 k Classic
Petter Eliassen of Team Leaseplan Go (left) and Katerina Smutna of Team Santander (right) celebrate after winning the Visma Ski Classics 8 k prologue in Pontresina, Switzerland. (Photo: Visma Ski Classics)
The Visma Ski Classics series started off in Pontresina, Switzerland, with 8-kilometer time trials for both men and women.
In the women’s race, an individual interval start seeded last to first, Kristin Antonsen of Team Synnfjell set an early best mark. But as the previous season’s top women hit the course times began to come down, and the race ended as a battle between Britta Johansson Norgren of Team Lager 157 and Katerina Smutna of Team Santander. Smutna ended up with the win by just 0.66 seconds over Johansson Norgren, with Sara Lindborg of Team Serneke third (+20.66).
The men’s race was a team interval start, with the teams separated by five minutes and with skiers at 15 second intervals within that span. Last year’s Visma Ski Classics Champion, Petter Eliassen of Team Leaseplan Go, came out on top with a time of 19:42.66. Bastien Poirrier of Team Gel Interim Rossignol was second (+8.53), leading five members of his new France-based team into the top ten and turning heads along the way. Morten Eide Pedersen of Team BN Bank was third (+15.80).
Twenty-four-year-old Finnish A-teamer Iivo Niskanen notched his second-career World Cup victory the men’s 15-kilometer classic on Sunday, Day 2 of the Ruka World Cup in Kuusamo, Finland.
The men’s podium in Sunday’s 15 k classic at the Ruka World Cup in Kuusamo, Finland: with Finnish winner Iivo Niskanen (c) and Norway’s Emil Iversen (l) in second and Martin Johnsrud Sundby (r) in third. (Photo: NBC Sports screen shot)
Niskanen started 21st of more than 90 in the men’s field and finished in 35:27.6, which stood as the fastest time all day. After the finish, he paced between the leader’s chair and the finishing pen, even jogging around the stadium and course. But every time he looked the Finnish crowd, he was all smiles.
Niskanen held off three Norwegians in the top four, with Emil Iversen 10.2 seconds behind him in second, Martin Johnsrud Sundby 11.2 seconds back in third, and Didrik Tønseth missing the podium by about six seconds and tying Sweden’s Johan Olsson for fourth (+17.0). Norway’s Finn Hågen Krogh placed sixth (+18.3), Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson was seventh (+21.2), Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh was eighth (+24.3), Finland’s Matti Heikkinen ninth (+32.0), and Great Britain’s Andrew Musgrave 10th (+33.8).
Canada’s Alex Harvey was close behind in 11th (+35), and was the lone North American man in the points on Sunday. His teammate Devon Kershaw missed the top 30 by 4.5 seconds in 33rd (+1:23.4).
Erik Bjornsen led the U.S. men in 41st (+1:37.2). Canada’s Graeme Killick was 53rd (+2:12.9), American Noah Hoffman was 64th (+2:42.6). For Canada, Len Valjas was 76th (+3:19.8), Jess Cockney 78th (+3:26), Knute Johnsgaard 85th (+3:53.4), and Andy Shields 91st (+4:26.1), and for the U.S., Eric Packer 87th (+4:01) and Andy Newell 88th (+4:17.4) out of 96.
In the women’s 10 k classic earlier in the day, Marit Bjørgen of Norway picked up her first win of the season, a 4.6-second win over Finland’s Krista Parmakoski.
Marit Bjørgen of Norway (center) collected her first World Cup win of the season in the 10 k classic in Ruka, Finland, ahead of Finland’s Krista Parmakoski (left) and Norway’s Heidi Weng (right). (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
It is the 103rd World Cup win for the 36-year-old Bjørgen, who took last season off to have a baby. Norway followed up Bjørgen’s win with third and fourth place finishes by Heidi Weng (+12.7) and Ingvild Flugstad Ørtberg (+36.8).
Parmakoski also led a good day for the Finnish team, with Laura Mononen coming in seventh (+50.0). She was just behind sixth-place Nicole Fessel of Germany (+42.4).
Jessie Diggins led the U.S. women’s team with a 13th-place finish (+1:09.0), one of her best distance classic races ever outside of Tour and mini-tour stages. Sadie Bjornsen followed in 17th (+1.14.9), and 2016 SuperTour champion Caitlin Patterson of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project scored points in 28th (+1:45.4). The U.S. Ski Team rounded out its results with Rosie Brennan 39th (+2:22.2), Kikkan Randall 43rd (+2:29.7), Ida Sargent 44th (+2:30.4), and Sophie Caldwell 61st (+3:13.4)
Cendrine Browne and Emily Nishikawa slotted into 58th and 59th for Canada, +3:04.8 and +3:07.1, respectively. Dahria Beatty finished 74th (+3:54.4).
Germany’s Denise Herrmann (9) races alongside teammate Sandra Ringwald (2) and American Sophie Caldwell (3) during Stage 4 of the 2016 Tour de Ski in Oberstdorf, Germany. (Photo: Marcel Hilger)
On Wednesday, German cross-country World Cup skier Denise Herrmann announced a new chapter in her athletic career at age 27: a switch to biathlon.
“This step and the timing is certainly surprising to many, but I have pondered these thoughts for a while now,” Hermann stated in a German Ski Federation press release and in a post on her Facebook page. “I owe a lot to cross-country skiing, it was a great time with many highlights, but now I want to face new goals. The switch to a new discipline will be a big challenge, I am aware of that, but I am confident that I can do it with diligence, courage, and determination!”
Germany’s Denise Herrmann (11) leads American Jessie Diggins (in white) in the women’s 6 x 1.2 k freestyle sprint final at 2015 World Championships in Falun, Sweden. Germany finished fourth behind Norway, Sweden and Poland, respectively, while the U.S. placed eighth. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
The German Ski Federation (DSV) wants to support Herrmann in her new career direction.
“Denise has been one of our most important performers in cross-country skiing for many years,” DSV director of sports Karin Orgeldinger said in the press release. “She will surely leave a gap there. On the other hand, we are happy that Denise is looking for a new challenge in biathlon, so she will remain available to the German Ski Federation as an elite athlete.”
Professional cross-country skiing and biathlon are both organized under the same association in Germany, not in separate entities as is the case in the U.S. or Canada. The press release did not include comments from a biathlon coach or team manager.
Herrmann made her debut in the FIS Cross-Country World Cup in February 2009. Mostly known as a sprinter, she earned bronze medal at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia, with the German women’s 4 x 5 k relay, and was second overall in the Sprint World Cup at the conclusion of the 2013/2014 season. She achieved six individual World Cup podiums plus two in team sprints, and twice finished the overall World Cup in ninth place (2013/2014 and 2014/2015). She narrowly missed a medal at World Championships, placing fourth in the team sprint at the 2015 championships in Falun, Sweden, as her best result. At the end of last season (2015/2016), Herrmann finished 12th in the Sprint World Cup and 23rd in the overall standings.
While it can be considered a bold step for a successful cross-country skier to switch disciplines to biathlon in the middle of her career, it is certainly not unheard of, and even the German Ski Federation has seen several athletes make the transition back and forth.
Herrmann is good friends with and a summer training partner of Maren Hammerschmidt and Vanessa Hinz, both current members of the German national biathlon team. Similar to Herrmann, Hinz also switched from cross-country skiing in 2012. A 2002 and 2010 Olympic gold medalist, Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle switched from cross-country to biathlon toward the end of her career for the 2012/2013 season, before retiring after the 2014 Olympics following a positive doping test. Miriam Gössner, another member of the current biathlon national team, earned silver medals with German cross-country women’s relay teams early in her career at the 2009 World Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic, and the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.
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