Canada’s Élise Sauvé (Foothills Nordic) racing at Calforex race on Jan. 15 in Camrose, Alberta. (Photo: Kevin Nguyen)
In this 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes before they competed at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia.
Here’s 16-year-old Élise Sauvé , of Foothills Nordic, who represented Canada at her first Youth Worlds. In two individual races, she finished 78th in the youth women’s 10 k individual and 86th in the 6 k sprint.
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“My full name is Élise Sauvé, but you can call me Ediddy. I was born in Calgary, Alberta, raised in Calgary, and one thing you should know about my hometown is the weather can never make up its mind.
Élise Sauvé (Foothills Nordic) at a Calforex race in January in Camrose, Alberta. (Photo: Susan Sauvé)
I started cross-country skiing when I was 7 and started biathlon when I was 9, thanks to my parents and Jackrabbit coach who suggested that it might be something I would enjoy. I currently train in Calgary and Canmore with Foothills Nordic.
If I’m not skiing, you might find me reading, or outside doing something fun.
If I had to pick a favorite book, it would be ‘The Book Thief‘.
One of the things I’m most excited about for Youth/Junior World Championships in Brezno-Osrblie is being able to compete in another country against the best from all around the world and to represent Canada.
This will be my first Youth/Junior World Championships, and this year, I’m competing as a youth. One race I’m especially targeting there is the individual.
The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing or racing was don’t ever give up, every second counts and could make a difference between 1st and 2nd.
One of the best race memories I have is finishing one of my pursuit races in 2nd place behind my teammate when the whole time I thought I was in dead last.
If I could meet one World Cup skier, it would be Heikki Ikola.
If I don’t end up being a professional skier, I’ll probably be something that gets me outside and keeps me active.
I’m missing 12 days of school to be here, and my teachers/professors are probably thinking, ‘Have fun with that.’
Germany’s Johannes Rydzek celebrates his win in the first nordic-combined competition of 2017 Nordic World Championships on Friday in Lahti, Finland. He won the individual normal hill/10 k by 14.9 seconds over his teammate Eric Frenzel. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Nordic Combined individual normal hill/10 k
Germany, Germany, Germany, Germany. That’s how the results read after the first nordic combined competition of the 2017 Nordic World Championships on Friday in Lahti, Finland, with Germany not only sweeping the podium but the top four of the men’s individual normal hill/10-kilometer Gundersen start.
Germany swept the podium in the first nordic-combined competition of 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland, with Johannes Rydzek (c) taking gold, Eric Frenzel (1) silver, and Björn Kircheisen (8) bronze in the individual normal hill/10 k Gundersen on Friday. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Johannes Rydzek notched his second individual gold medal in the last two championships (after winning the normal hill/10 k in 2015 in Falun, Sweden), with a 14.9-second victory over his teammate and four-time defending overall World Cup champion Eric Frenzel. Björn Kircheisen completed the all-German podium in third (+30.0), holding off teammate Fabian Rießle by 2.2 seconds for bronze.
The 25-year-old Rydzek, who’s already won eight individual World Cup competitions this season, jumped to second on Friday and started the 10 k race 14 seconds behind Frenzel, the leader after the jump.
Rydzek overtook Frenzel for the win and 33-year-old Kircheisen moved up from eighth after the jump to third at the finish. Rießle held off Japan’s Akito Watabe by 0.1 seconds in a photo finish for fourth.
“Incredible. An incredibly beautiful day,” Rydzek told German broadcaster ZDF after. “Thanks to everyone who supported me so much throughout the last years so that this became possible now. Thanks also to my teammates, who I think all did a cool job today. All three guys and the whole surrounding team. And as for the race, I felt strong, I knew the slow-and-difficult course suits me well. And that I was able to conduct the race from in front … incredible. Just craziness.”
“I noticed that Johannes was just strong on the course today,” Frenzel, 28, told ZDF. “Actually we already noticed that at the World Cup in January here, that he is really moving well here. I, for my part, gave everything I had, and can only congratulate him for the strong competition he made today. He won deservedly. And I am also satisfied with my race.”
American Bryan Fletcher leading Japan’s Yoshito Watabe early in the men’s 10 k Gundersen start in the first nordic-combined competition of 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland. Fletcher went on to place 14th and Yoshito Watabe 44th. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Bryan Fletcher led the Americans in 14th (+47.4) after crashing out of contention in the final 200 meters of the race. He had been in contention for a medal, skiing in a pack with Kircheisen, Rießle and Watabe, among others, all fighting for bronze. Fletcher fell on the final corner to ultimately miss the podium by 17.4 seconds. He jumped to 16th and started the ski race 56 seconds out of first.
“I knew it was going to be a hard cross-country race because it was so tight and pack racing is always so difficult,” Fletcher said, according to a U.S. Ski Team press release. “You’re not only fighting for position, but anything can happen. That’s exactly what happened to me today. I did really well in the pack and when I thought I had it locked up, I let my guard down and slipped out on a corner.”
His younger brother Taylor Fletcher posted the third-fastest cross-country time to race from 47th after the jump to 21st at the finish (+1:38.4). Adam Loomis placed 33rd (+2:23.6) after jumping to 39th, and Ben Berend finished 41st (+3:10.8) after posting the 22nd-best jump out of 55.
Canada’s Nathaniel Mah, of the Altius Nordic Ski Club in Calgary, jumped to 41st but did not finish the 10 k race.
The next nordic-combined event at Lahti Worlds, the 4 x 5 k team event, will be contested Sunday.
American Bryan Fletcher (16) after finishing 14th in the normal hill/10 k Gundersen on Friday, the first nordic-combined competition of 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland. He had been in the hunt for a medal but crashed on the final corner coming into the stadium. Behind him, Austria’s David Pommer finished 16th. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
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IBU Youth/Junior World Championships (Osrblie, Slovakia): Youth men’s and women’s sprints
Italy had two on the podium of the youth women’s 6 k sprint on Friday at IBU Youth World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia, with Irene Lardschneider (c) in first, Samuela Comola (r) in third, and Austria’s Anna Gandler (l) taking second place. (Photo: IBU)
[UPDATED] Italy’s Irene Lardschneider dominated the youth women’s 6-kilometer sprint competition on Friday at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia, finishing 1:06.5 minutes faster than anyone else in 19:48.3 with 9-for-10 shooting. Lardschneider started 17th and led from start to finish despite one miss in her standing stage (0+1). She posted the fastest course time of 92 finishers for gold — her first medal in her first Youth World Championships. She previously raced at last year’s Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Lillehammer, Norway, where she earned a bronze medal with the mixed relay and placed 14th in the pursuit.
Also in the 2016 YOG pursuit, American Chloe Levins placed fourth for her best international finish. Racing at her third Youth Worlds on Friday, Levins finished 11th in the sprint to lead the North Americans. Like Lardschneider, Levins cleaned prone and missed one in standing (0+1) to finish 1:39.7 back from the win. For Levins, it was her second top 15 in as many races at these championships, after placing 14th in the youth women’s 10 k individual on Wednesday.
Sharing the podium with Lardschneider, Austria’s Anna Gandler placed second (+1:06.5) with one penalty (0+1), and Italy had two on the podium with Samuela Comola in third (+1:18.1). Comola was one of two women to clean the two-stage race; the other being Finland’s Maija Keränen in 13th (+1:40.9).
Shilo Rousseau led Canada in 45th (+4:08.0) with three penalties (0+3). Frédérique Pérusse finished 73rd (+5:48.2) with four misses (1+3), Anna Sellers was 82nd (+6:47.2) with six penalties (4+2), and Elise Sauve was 86th (+7:41.7) with six misses (3+3) as well.
For the U.S., Grace Gilliland placed 55th (+4:35.2) with four misses (1+3), Amanda Kautzer was 59th (+4:42.7) with six penalties (3+3) and Helen Wilson 67th (+5:10.0) with four misses (2+2).
The youth men’s 7.5 k sprint at 2017 IBU Youth World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia, with France’s Emilien Claude (c) in first, Ukraine’s Serhiy Telen (l) in second, and Norway’s Sivert Guttorm Bakken (r) in third. (Photo: IBU)
In the youth men’s 7.5 k sprint, France’s Emilien Claude put down the fastest course time to over two penalties for the win, besting Ukraine’s Serhiy Telen who started ahead of him, by 25.2 seconds.
Claude missed one shot in each stage (1+1) and finished in 20:18.3, bumping Telen to second where he would remain after shooting one penalty (0+1). Norway’s Sivert Guttorm Bakken reached the podium in third (+44.6) despite two misses (1+1) and for the second-straight race, Italy’s Cedric Christille narrowly missed a medal in fourth (+52.0) after two standing penalties (0+2).
Coming off a gold medal in the youth men’s 12.5 k individual, Canada’s Leo Grandbois finished 14th (+1:52.9) on Friday to lead the North Americans. He had to ski three penalty loops (1+2) and posted the 10th-fastest course time of 99 finishers.
Also for Canada, Adam Runnalls placed 32nd (+2:46.8) despite five misses (3+2), Robert Kreitz was 84th (+5:37.2) with five penalties (1+4) as well, and Thomas Hulsman 87th (+5:58.6) with six misses (3+3).
For the U.S., Vasek Cervenka finished 49th (+3:37.1) with six penalties (4+2), Alex Kilby was 69th (+4:47.4) with three misses (1+2), Jacob Pearson 76th (+5:07.1) with five penalties (2+3), and Camren Nielsen 82nd (+5:18.8) with five misses as well (3+2).
Youth/Junior World Championships continue Saturday with the junior men’s and women’s sprints.
The youth men’s 12.5 k individual podium after the first race of 2017 IBU Youth/Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia, with Canada’s Léo Grandbois in first (c), Russia’s Said Karimulla Khalili (l) in second, and Germany’s Danilo Riethmüller (r) in third. (Photo: IBU Junior Cup/Twitter)
IBU Youth/Junior World Championships (Osrblie, Slovakia): Youth individual races
In his first race of his first International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth World Championships, Canada’s 17-year-old Léo Grandbois became a world champion.
Grandbois started ninth and raced to first in the youth men’s 12.5-kilometer individual on Wednesday, finishing in 32:56.6 minutes, a time that stood up as nearly a minute and 15 seconds faster than anyone else.
Out of 98 finishers, Grandbois was the only racer to hit all 20 targets in the four-stage race at the biathlon venue at Brezno-Osrblie, Slovakia. He had never cleaned a race before, and he did it in the longest-format race on the youth circuit.
He shared the podium with Russian silver medalist Said Karimulla Khalili, who finished 1:14.9 back with three penalties (1+0+1+1), and Germany’s Danilo Riethmüller in third (+1:21.5) with three penalties as well (2+1+0+0).
For Grandbois, who was born in Germany and raised in Quebec, his previous best international (non-relay) result was 22nd in the sprint at 2016 Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. There, he also placed 25th in the pursuit and 16th with the mixed relay.
In a email to FasterSkier late last week, he explained that he had been targeting the sprint.
“I want to thank first my coaches at home, my parents who always supported me and all the team who did a great job for the race, the skis, thank you,” he told the IBU Junior Cup media.
Also on Wednesday, American Vasek Cervenka, who trains with the Nove Mesto biathlon team, raced to 16th (+4:19.5) with five penalties (0+2+2+1). Also for the U.S., Jacob Pearson finished 49th (+7:45.3) with four misses (0+2+0+2), Alex Kilby 75th (+9:51.1) with five penalties (1+0+1+3), and Camren Nielsen 91st (+14:36.9) with 11 misses (3+4+2+2).
Canada’s Adam Runnalls finished 41st (+7:04.8) with eight penalties (1+2+4+1) and Thomas Hulsman was 57th (+8:19.0) with five misses (2+0+2+1).
[UPDATED] In the youth women’s 10 k individual that followed, American Chloe Levins recorded her best non-relay result at her third Youth Worlds, placing 14th with three penalties (1+1+1+0). She finished 3:05.6 minutes behind the winner, France’s Lou Jeanmonnot-Laurent, who shot 19-for-20 (0+1+0+0) and finished with the fastest time of 34:00.9.
Russia’s Kristina Egorova placed second, 52.4 seconds off the win, with identical shooting (0+1+0+0), and Sweden’s Elvira Karin Öberg notched bronze (+1:16.1) with two penalties (0+0+1+1).
Also for the U.S., Grace Gilliland finished 46th (+6:28.9) with four penalties (1+1+1+1), Amanda Kautzer was 53rd (+7:14.3) with eight misses (2+1+4+1), and Helen Wilson was 62nd (+9:00.5) with six penalties (1+2+2+1).
Canada’s Shilo Luca Rousseau finished 54th (+7:29.9) with five misses (2+0+1+2), Frédérique Pérusse was 77th (+11:54.6) with nine penalties (1+4+1+3), and Elise Sauve 78th (+12:07.1) with seven misses (2+2+2+1).
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