Of the four Russian athletes starting the 15-kilometer classic mass start in Lahti, Finland three placed in the top four. Anna Zherebyateva won in 40:31.4 minutes as she was able to stretch her nine-second gap at 10 k to 23.5 seconds by the finish. Also from Russia, Lidia Durkina placed second (+23.5), Germany’s Katharina Hennig skied to third (+37.5).
“My tactic was to make a gap in the second loop,” Zherebyateva said during the post-race press conference. “So I did exactly what I wanted. It went really well. Tracks were exactly right for me. This gold medal is an important step for my sport career.”
Yana Kirpichenko was the third Russia in the top-five as she placed fourth (+41.6).
The best North American finisher was U.S. skier Hailey Swirbul who raced to 10th (+1:27.8). Swirbul was positioned 29th at the 5 k time check but steadily moved up in the field as the race progressed. By 10 k she had positioned herself in the top-15.
For the twenty-year-old Swirbul, this is her first go at U23 Worlds after participating in three Junior Worlds as an U20. Last season in Goms, Switzerland she placed second in the 5 k classic and third in the 10 k skiathlon.
Two other U.S. skiers raced into the top-30. Julia Kern placed 16th (+1:43.4), while Alayna Sonnesyn was 23rd (+2:24.9). Hannah Halvorsen, the fourth U.S. starter, placed 54th (+6:58.6).
Hannah Mehain was the top Canadian in 31st (+3:16.8), Sadie White placed 33rd (+3:18.6), and Natalia Hynes 51st (+3:40.9). Marie Corriveau did not start.
Similar to the U23 women’s race, Russian skiers dictated the pacing at the front of the pack — the four Russian starters swept first through fourth place.
Andrey Sobakarev won in 1:17:19.1 hours, Ivan Kirillov placed second (+3.5), Ivan Yakimushkin third (+4.9), and Anton Timashov fourth (+11.4).
Canada’s Antoine Cyr was the top North American in 27th (+2:26.8), while teammate Gareth Williams toed the line a fraction behind in 28th (+2:26.9). Also for Canada, Ritchie Graham was 41st (4:44.1), and Julian Smith 45th (+5:14.3).
Peter Holmes was the top U.S. finisher in 33rd (+3:15.7). Hunter Wonders placed 40th (+4:43.0), Braden Becker 53rd (+6:59.0), and Daniel Streinz 66th (+15:53.9).
Johannes Thingnes Bø scored his 10th IBU World Cup win of the season today in the 10 k sprint in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: biathlon world.com screenshot)
IBU World Cup Antholz, Italy 10 k sprint
In the groove is in the groove. Norway’s twenty-five-year-old Johannes Thingnes Bø scored his 10th IBU World Cup win of the season today in the 10 k sprint in Antholz, Italy. Bø won the race in 23:53.9 minutes with a single penalty in standing. The Norwegian leads the IBU World Cup overall and padded his lead with his fifth sprint win this year.
“It was quite difficult; the altitude here is quite heavy and with the new tracks, I felt dead from 5K so the last 5K was really tough,” Bø said to the IBU after the race. “I managed to have a good plan for the race. When I shoot nine targets, I was quite happy and then it was just to fight hard for the finish line. I like this year’s track; I liked last year’s too because it was not so painful.”
Bø’s season thus far has been a study in speedy skiing. His shooting stands at 87% for accuracy (82% standing, 91% prone) with his superior skiing speed carrying him to the World Cup overall lead. In Antholz today, his course time for each of his two 5 k laps were ranked first.
Norwegian teammate Erlend Bjøntegaard shot clean in both his shooting bouts to take second place, 17.5 seconds behind. France’s Antonin Guigonnat placed third (+20.2, 0+1).
Scott Gow of Canada was the top North American in 20th (+1:06.6, 0+0). Teammates Jules Burnotte raced to 48th (1:55.9, 1+1), Christian Gow 61st (+2:13.4), and Aidan Millar (+3:46.7, 2+2).
Jake Brown was the top American in 40th (1:42.4, 1+0). Sean Doherty finished in 55th (+2:06.2, 2+1), Max Durtschi 62nd (+2:13.8, 0+1), and Leif Nordgren 73rd (+2:43.1).
Racing continues tomorrow in Antholz for both the men and women with the 12.5k and 10 k pursuits.
Lake Placid SuperTour 5 k/10k Skate Individual Start
In the 5 k-freestyle individual start Jessica Yeaton (APU/Australian National Team) placed first with a winning time of 15:01.9 minutes. She was in a tight race for the top spot with U.S. Ski Team/SMS T2 athlete Sophie Caldwell who finished 3.0 seconds back. Caldwell is back home in Vermont training and preparing for the 2019 World Championships.
Katherine Ogden (Dartmouth Ski Team) placed third in a time of 15:17.8. Kelsey Phinney (SMS T2) placed fourth in 15:37.7.
“Today’s race went super well for me; I had awesome skis despite tricky conditions/weather leading into the race – our wax tech did a phenomenal job,” Yeaton wrote to FasterSkier. “The course here is really good for me with all the steady climbing in the first part- I just tried to push hard to the top of the course and then survive and carry my speed on the downhill, which turned out to be a good tactic.
“Between US Nationals and now I definitely feel like I am in a good place leading into Seefeld. I struggled with some injuries in the fall and was forced to do a lot of cross-training (especially on the bike) and skip the early season races in Nov/Dec. In retrospect I think this actually was a blessing in disguise, as I ended up putting in a super hard training block and gaining a lot of fitness. Looking ahead to Seefeld, my goal is to top 30 in one of the races, with my main focus being on the skate events (30k and sprint), and the 15km skiathlon. I am really excited for the rest of the races this weekend; they are my final prep before heading over to Europe to race on World Cup and in Seefeld.”
Kyle Bratrud (SMS T2) won the men’s 15 k skate in 25:27.1 minutes. Bratrud, who was recently selected to the 2019 U.S. World Championship Team, has been a top-performing distance skier this season on the SuperTour.
“Today went well,” Bratrud emailed. “After Nationals, I made the tough decision of turning down World Cup starts in Otepaa and Ulricehamn in order to get some quality training in for the World Champs. Today reflected that as I felt a little tired and pretty flat from not racing since Nationals. That being said, I expect to keep feeling better each race and I should be in a great place when I fly to Europe on the 4th!”
Bratrud recently won the NorAm/SuperTour 15 k classic in Sovereign Lake and the 15 k classic at U.S. Nationals. Bratrud placed second in West Yellowstone’s SuperTour 15 k skate, and the 30 k skate mass start at U.S. Nationals.
Akeo Maifeld-Carucci (CGRP) placed second in a time of 26:18.9. It was Carucci’s second SuperTour podium of the season and his best career SuperTour result. In West Yellowstone, he was third in the 15 k skate behind Ben Lustgarten (CGRP) and Bratrud.
Alexis Dumas (CNEPH) of Canada was third in 26:32.2. U.S. skier Adam Martin was fourth, 3.1 seconds behind Dumas.
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo anchoring the Norwegian men’s 4 x 10 relay to gold on Sunday at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, while Denis Spitsov (background) celebrates silver for the Olympic Athletes for Russia. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
For a while in the men’s 4 x 10-kilometer relay on Sunday, it looked like the Russians might run away with the win. But that was just two classic legs and 20 k into the race, with a lot more racing to come.
While Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin had handed off in first at the first exchange, just ahead of Andrey Larkov of the Olympic Athletes from Russia, Italy, France and Norway skied together behind them, with Norway’s Didrik Tønseth trailing off the back, 18 seconds behind.
On the next classic leg, Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov put a hurt on the field. Within the first 3.3 k lap, he was 25 seconds ahead of Kazakhstan’s Yevgeniy Velichko in second, who was followed closely by Italy, Norway and France in third through fifth. Sweden’s Daniel Rickardsson had fallen farther behind to more than a minute back in sixth place, after his teammate Jens Burman lost contact with the lead group on the first leg.
By the second exchange, Russia was 24.5 seconds clear of second place, while Italy’s Francesco de Fabiani tagged Giandomenico Salvadori in second, France’s Maurice Manificat tagged Clement Parisse in third (+28.0), and Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby tagged Simen Hegstad Krüger in fourth (+32.1). Kazakhstan’s Velichko had fallen off the pace and was another 19 seconds back in fifth.
Over the next 10 k, the first skate leg, Krüger and Parisse reeled in Russia’s Alexey Chervotkin, catching him before the end of their second lap. One lap later, Krüger came through the final exchange in first, tagging Johannes Høsflot Klæbo 0.4 seconds ahead of France in second. Chervotkin tagged Russia’s anchor Denis Spitsov in third, 16.2 seconds back, while Finland’s Matti Heikkinen passed Italy’s Salvadori on the last climb to put Finland in fourth (+58.6).
Team France celebrates its bronze-medal finish in the men’s 4 x 10 k relay at the 2018 Olympics on Sunday in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
Early in the final leg, France’s Adrien Backscheider took the lead ahead of Klæbo. The two held Spitsov off until the end of the second lap, where Spitsov came through the stadium first to start the final loop. Spitsov and Klæbo soon upped the pace, dropping Backscheider, and shortly after the 8.27 k checkpoint, Klæbo truly put the jets on to accelerate away from Spitsov. He dropped the Russian on a climb just before the final uphill, where it was clear that the gold was Norway’s.
As he sped down into the stadium, Klæbo relaxed his arms, skied to the sideline and took a flag from the stands. He looked back for a moment and then crossed the finish line first in 1:33:04.9 hours, while Spitsov followed 9.4 seconds later for silver for Russia. Backscheider held on for bronze (+36.9) as his team exuberantly celebrated with him at the finish.
Finland placed fourth (+1:40.5), Sweden fifth (+2:05.6), Germany sixth (+2:08.2), Italy seventh (+2:35.2), and Kazakhstan eighth (+3:31.4). Canada was ninth (+3:41.0) for its second-best Olympic relay result (with Len Valjas, Graeme Killick, Russell Kennedy, and Knute Johnsgaard), and the U.S. finished 14th (+9:24.2), out of 14 teams, with Andy Newell, Reese Hanneman, Scott Patterson, and Noah Hoffman.
France’s Martin Fourcade lunging for his second gold of the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, winning the men’s 15 k mass start on Sunday. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
Martin Fourcade is the champion once again. Six days after he won the 12.5-kilometer pursuit for his first gold in PyeongChang, the 29-year-old Frenchman did it again in the men’s 15 k mass start on Sunday, winning in a photo finish at the line.
He took charge on the first loop, leading the field into the range for the first prone shooting. There, Fourcade shot a penalty and slipped to 19th, but it wasn’t over.
Clean shooting on the second prone brought him up to eighth, 9.4 seconds out of first. Germany’s Benedikt Doll took that lead at that point after his second stage without a miss. Meanwhile Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø shot three misses on that second stage and dropped out of contention.
One loop later, Fourcade moved into first with a clean standing. He left the range about 1 second ahead of Germany’s Simon Schempp and 2 seconds ahead of Germany’s Erik Lesser, after both made it through the first three stages without a miss. Doll missed one to slip to seventh, almost 30 seconds behind.
After Fourcade and Schempp exchanged leads over the next loop, Lesser moved into first just before the final shooing, Going head to head, Fourcade and Schempp both missed one while Lesser missed two. Fourcade and Schempp still left the range in first and second, respectively, separated by 0.4 seconds, while Lesser slipped to fifth, 22.5 seconds back.
Doll left the range in third (+19.2) after cleaning and Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen moved into fourth (+21.9) with a clean standing stage as well.
In the end, Fourcade outlunged Schempp for the win in 35:47.3 minutes, with Schempp finishing less than a tenth of a second behind for silver, and Svendsen beat out Lesser in the finishing stretch by 0.4 seconds to claim bronze, 11.2 seconds behind, while Lesser settled for fourth (+11.6). Doll followed them in fifth (+18.8), Austria’s Julian Eberhard placed sixth (+30.7) with three penalties, Norway’s Erlend Bjøntegaard seventh (+32.1) with two misses, Norway’s Tarjei Bø eighth (+34.6) with three penalties, Sweden’s Jesper Nelin ninth (+34.6) with two misses, and Slovenia’s Jakov Fak 10th (+36.1), just ahead of the Czech Republic’s Ondřej Moravec in 11th (+36.3), with one miss each.
Germany’s Arnd Peiffer (front) on his way to winning the men’s 10 k sprint at the Alpensia Biathlon Center on Sunday at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. The German was one of just four men to shoot clean in windy conditions. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
Arnd Peiffer’s race day before the men’s 10-kilometer sprint at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang began anything but ideal, not giving any indication that it would end as one of the luckiest days in the athletic career of the German, standing at the top of the podium and flanked by Michal Krčmář of the Czech Republic in second and Italy’s Dominik Windisch in third place.
“Shortly before ski testing, the bolt on my rifle broke. Then I slipped outside the wax cabin [on a flight of stairs] and badly bruised my elbow,” Peiffer told German broadcaster ARD about a series of mishaps that also included a cut to his hand, a forgotten key for his rifle storage locker and a poor warmup. “Somehow nothing was really working as planned, but then in the race everything did.”
About an hour before the race during dry firing target practice (without loaded ammunition clips), the bolt on Peiffer’s rifle that triggers the shots just snapped. On short notice the weapon had to be disassembled and the bolt replaced with the help of men’s head coach Mark Kirchner (a successful biathlete himself with a gold medal in the sprint and two in relays at the 1992 and 1994 Olympics), a problem that according to Peiffer “happens about once every six months to a year… That’s not so bad, but something you don’t really want to occur right before a race”.
“I am generally not superstitious at all,” Peiffer recounted during an interview with ARD in the Olympic broadcasting center late Sunday night. “But Mark told me, ’22 is a good bib number, I once became world champion with that… And [teammate Erik Lesser] also had a broken bolt before the individual race at the [2014] Olympics in Sochi when he shot clean four times and won silver, that was surely a good omen.’ I was like, yeah, that won’t help me today either.”
Yet after he had started his race, Peiffer was indeed the lucky one, hitting 10-for-10 shots in every bit as difficult wind conditions as the day before during the women’s sprint when his teammate Laura Dahlmeier won gold, while the presumed favorites such as France’s Martin Fourcade and Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø missed too many targets to contend for the medals.
In his prone shooting, Peiffer reacted correctly to a strong gust of wind from the left side of the range, adjusting his sights with several clicks on his rifle. Then in the standing shooting he took advantage of manageable conditions to shoot in rhythm and again remained clean. On the final loop he skied the 10th-fastest time (18th overall), crossing the line in a time of 23:38.8 minutes. That mark would not be beaten anymore by the 65 athletes starting behind him.
“I have waited a long time for this individual medal,” he said during his in-studio interview with ARD. “I won one in 2011 [at IBU World Championships] and since then had a few chances that I didn’t take advantage of, and sometimes didn’t have any chance at all. So that it worked out today, with a pretty mediocre course time, is a gift that I am very grateful for.”
It was Peiffer’s first individual medal at Olympics, following a silver medal in the men’s relay in Sochi and no podium in Vancouver in 2010. Most of the World Cup successes for the 30-year-old biathlete have been in sprints, and he won the title in this discipline at the 2011 World Championships in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia. His first World Championship medals also came in PyeongChang, back in 2009, when he took bronze with the relay and mixed relay, which he fondly remembered.
Germany’s Arnd Peiffer is hoisted up by his coaches, staff and teammates, celebrating his victory in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint on Sunday at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld.com)
“I am honestly completely surprised that my result was so amazing, that I am standing at the very top,” he had told ARD right after the race. “I am just happy about my performance, because in Vancouver and Sochi I twice had a bad sprint [finishing outside the top 30]… So for today I just was determined to have a good one, have a good shooting performance, and if it had been a sixth place I’d also have been happy.”
The silver medal in Sunday’s sprint went to Krčmář, who also hit 10-for-10 and finished 4.4 seconds shy of Peiffer’s time. Starting behind Peiffer in the middle of the field, that clean shooting performance opened a window of opportunity to wedge himself between the times set by Peiffer and Windisch, who ultimately placed third (+7.7) with one penalty.
“For me, it was very hard in the last loop,” Krčmář said at the post-race press conference. “I [had no] power in last loop and my teammate on the track said to me, ‘You are five seconds behind Arnd’. I do maximum [went as hard I could], but Arnd [was really] better today.”
He made up 2.4 seconds on that final loop, but could not catch up to Peiffer’s time. It was the first sprint podium for the 27-year-old Krčmář at the World Cup or championships level, and at these Olympics it came just at the right moment.
“It’s true, for me a big, big medal. First in career,” Krčmář said. “It’s for me [a] very surprising day because I [felt bad] in the training here. My shooting in training [was] not so good. And now, zero-zero. I am lucky man today because I [had] very good condition in standing shooting and on the track.”
Windisch missed one target in his standing bout, and came back on the course 12.2 seconds behind Peiffer’s time and 5.4 seconds behind Krčmář. He narrowed that gap on the final loop, but it wasn’t enough to catch either one.
“The wind was not easy because it continued to change … but maybe it was the best for me because I had something to think about and to be concentrated on my work,” Windisch said at the press conference. “I didn’t think about results, and maybe that was my secret today.”
For Windisch, 28, it was the second Olympic medal of his career after he held Italy to bronze in the mixed relay in Sochi four years ago.
“The relay is always a tough race because you are racing also for your friends or for three other persons. Maybe it’s more pressure there,” Windisch said when asked to compare the two achievements. “But to win an individual medal [means] a little more because it’s really hard to reach it, because there are so many different good athletes. I think the emotions are really big. But also [for the] relay the emotions are maybe bigger because the whole team celebrates the medal.”
Down On Their Luck
Having started in bib 5, Austria’s Julian Eberhard led the race early on until Peiffer beat his time, and in the end he just missed a medal by 0.7 seconds when Windisch bumped him off the podium to fourth place (+8.4, with one penalty).
During the race, Eberhard, who has three World Cup victories to his name, broke a pole on the loop after prone shooting and had to ski about 300 meters before receiving a spare. But he couldn’t explain why he lost time on the final downhill before the finish.
“I definitely started today with the goal to get the victory. I did my job, and it was very close. Only eight seconds are missing, so of course this is very bitter now,” Eberhard told Austrian broadcaster ORF, according to a translation. “Especially considering that before the downhill 500 meters before the finish I was clearly in second place … Those are the little details that have to work out for a gold medal.”
Norway’s Erlend Bjøntegaard led the race after the prone stage with his time and in the end finished fifth (+17.4), also just missing the podium after he missed two targets in his standing stage (0+2). He had been selected as the final athlete on the Norwegian men’s Olympic roster, effectively replacing biathlon legend Ole Einar Bjørndalen, a decision debated controversially in his home country. But on Sunday, Bjøntegaard, 27, justified his start.
“It feels incredibly strange when you put it that way,” Bjøntegaard told Norwegian broadcaster NRK when told he might have been one miss away from the podium, according to a translation. “It slowly dawns on me that I was so close to an Olympic medal and the gold. There is a lot of buzzing in my head. I’m happy, but also a little disappointed and mad at myself. It’s strange to look at the results list. Very strange. I’m struggling to take it in, but it’s slowly coming to me that I was so close.”
A number of athletes could have echoed same feeling, including three of Peiffer’s teammates.
Benedikt Doll, the defending sprint world champion, placed sixth (+17.6) after missing his final shot. Mass-start world champion Simon Schempp came almost as close in seventh (+21.4, with one penalty), and Erik Lesser, whose past rifle troubles had served as a positive example for Peiffer, was not far behind in 11th place (+31.9, also missing his final shot), despite starting the race with a bruised ribcage.
“I am rooming with Arnd and lost our team-internal duel. So that totally annoys me,” Lesser jokingly told ARD.
“I think that is the hallmark of our men’s team. Today I was the lucky one who got through. From my point of view, it could have been any one of the other three as well. I am not just saying that, I truly believe that,” Peiffer told ARD.
“I will definitely drink a small beer with my coaches, wax techs and teammates, I won’t let myself be denied of that,” he added with a laugh, although it was already past midnight local time. “And then I’ll be looking forward to [the pursuit], because now the pressure is gone. We have a great starting position, the others also did a great race even if that won’t be at the center of attention now. We can be really proud of that.”
As for the presumed “Big Two” race favorites who have dominated the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup this season, with France’s Fourcade standing on the podium in every individual race he started and Norway’s Johannes Bø having won eight races including three sprints, on Sunday they looked like mere mortals for once.
While Peiffer was approaching the finishing stretch, Fourcade, who had started in a later group in bib 54, missed three prone shots. He came out of the penalty lap with a split time that ranked 56th overall. That setback would have taken just about any other athlete completely out of contention, but with a clean standing shooting and the fastest overall course time of the day, Fourcade limited the damage and rose to eighth at the finish (+22.1).
Bø, currently ranked second behind Fourcade in the World Cup Total Score, also missed three shots in prone and another one in standing (3+1), crossing the line 1:12.7 back in 31st.
Their uncharacteristic days left openings and opportunities for the three podium finishers.
“I think on these conditions, it’s possible for everything and nothing, so today it was our lucky day and maybe not the day for Bø and Fourcade,” Windisch said at the press conference. “It was really difficult to shoot, and I think they will have many other chances at these Olympic Winter Games and they will be here [at the press conference] the next time.”
“I don’t know how this could happen,” Peiffer said at the press conference, still a bit incredulous about the outcome. “The other two [Fourcade and J.T. Bø] were dominating the season in ski times and on the range, so I didn’t expect that anyone would be in front of them, for sure not me.”
Four North Americans Qualify for Pursuit
American Lowell Bailey racing to 33rd in the first men’s race of the 2018 Olympics, the 10 k sprint, on Sunday in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
The best North American in the difficult conditions was US Biathlon’s 2017 individual-discipline world champion Lowell Bailey, who began his race by cleaning all his prone targets, leaving the range with a split time that ranked him in eighth overall.
Then Bailey was shown on the international broadcast as one of the last remaining podium contenders still out on the course when he came into the range again for his standing shooting, in which he missed the fourth shot and thus had to ski through the 150-meter penalty lap.
That set him back to 24th place, and after losing about 30 more seconds on the final loop he crossed the line 1:15.6 out of first in 33rd.
“I had a good performance on the range, I was happy with the shooting but, unfortunately, I just didn’t have it in the legs,” Bailey said, according to a US Biathlon press release. “I just haven’t had the ski shape that I had last year. I haven’t gotten the speed going this year and that’s the way biathlon is. It wasn’t a bad race. I had a really good first lap, I just didn’t have it on the second and third laps. With any luck I’ll feel better and better as the Games go on.”
Tim Burke (US Biathlon) en route to 47th in the men’s 10 k sprint at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
His teammate Tim Burke finished 47th (+1:47.5) with four penalties (2+2).
“Physically I felt descent. It wasn’t a bad start,” Burke told FasterSkier after the race. “Shooting was tough. I had four penalties. It was real tricky today; it’s a bit of a lottery and that’s the way it goes. … I thought I had similar wind [to zeroing] when I was shooting prone, but what makes it really tough here is it switches literally from one shot to the next. I am really curious to talk to the coaches and see where I was at because I felt totally fine and normally I don’t miss all these shots.”
“It’s a tough course because you have longer climbs,” he said of the course at the Alpensia Biathlon Center, after skiing the 28th-ranked time of the day. “A lot of biathlon courses today, the climbs are only 30 seconds long before you get a break and here you have a couple climbs that are significantly longer than that, so that suits me well.”
Leif Nordgren (US Biathlon) en route to 58th in the men’s 10 k sprint at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
Leif Nordgren will join them in Monday’s pursuit after finishing 58th (+2:10.2) with a missed shot in each of his shooting stages (1+1).
“I’m satisfied that I made the pursuit and there’s another [race] day tomorrow, but yeah, the shooting was quite tough today and the wind,” Nordgren said after. “I made two mistakes and that was too much to have a great race today.”
Asked about the challenging conditions, he added:
“The wind was obviously number one, but actually the cold is another thing. If your hands ever get cold, it impacts the shooting tremendously. If you pause just for a second to even think about how cold your hands are that can throw off the shooting right away. So little things like that. It doesn’t take much to really lose that focus.”
Sean Doherty (US Biathlon) racing to 65th in the men’s 10 k sprint at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
The fourth American starter Sean Doherty missed four of his five prone targets, having to shoot about in the middle of the lane positions on the wind-exposed range. The penalties set him back almost 2 minutes, and even a clean standing shooting was not enough to overcome that deficit. He ultimately finished 65th (+2:16.4, 4+0), only about 2.5 seconds out of the top 60 needed to qualify for the pursuit.
“The wind today is very highly variable and I really thought I had a handle on it in zero [target practice],” Doherty said after. “I had a good zero, I had a good shooting warm up. I had pretty good confidence in what I am doing with things. I came in and I thought I had it under control and obviously something is off. … When I came in I did not assess the wind to be that severe, I guess I didn’t give it enough credit. … But everything else went well. The skiing feels strong. Standing shooting was fine.”
Doherty skied the 48th-ranked course time for the day.
“The course is skiing well,” he said. “It’s very fast and firm and this is a good hard course. … I am happy with the skiing, I felt fairly energetic and I am pretty encouraged with that, but it’s just the range. You leave a lot out there when you miss four.”
The Canadians also struggled with the windy conditions and demanding course.
Nathan Smith was able to cope best, shooting clean in prone before having to ski one penalty lap in his standing bout (0+1) to finish 44th (+1:43.5).
“I was happy with my shooting,” Smith said of his race. “Nine out of ten so that’s good for the windy conditions. … My shooting has been really good this year. Whenever I race I’m probably like 90 percent average or something. I usually shoot pretty quick and this year I haven’t been afraid to slow down when I need to be to hit those targets.”
On the course Smith only skied the 77th-ranked time of 87 starters, after he missed every World Cup race since the sprint in Annecy, France, before Christmas.
“Skiing was hard,” Smith said. “I haven’t raced for two months so it’s hard to jump into the top level of racing when you have just kind of been racing by yourself for a bit after getting sick … When you’re not feeling tip top, I think the biggest difference is when you’re going over hills and stuff, you’re tired and you’re just like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m getting to a downhill,’ and you can’t really push hard through all those transitions.”
Unfortunately he was Biathlon Canada’s only team member to qualify for the pursuit, while others missed the top 60 by mere fractions of a second.
Scott Gow missed four shots in his prone stage before cleaning all targets in standing (4+0), finishing 2:14.0 back in 61st place. That was just 0.1 seconds behind Romania’s Cornel Puchianu, who had incurred just one penalty, and finished 60th.
Gow told FasterSkier he took special care to bundle up before the race to keep warm fingers and a feeling for the trigger, but when he reached the prone stage, the wind had changed directions from the zeroing target practice, posing yet another problem.
“I had a fairly consistent wind from the left I would say, then when I came in to shoot in the race, it had switched directions,” Gow said. “So I thought I had accounted for it and I could hear that I was actually, we call it splitting, but hitting like half the target there and I didn’t want to chance making an overcorrection. So it was disappointing. I think luck-of-draw type of thing. It was too bad.”
The four penalty laps set him back two minutes and all the way to 84th place at the split time, and despite hitting all his targets in the following standing stage, Gow couldn’t quite make up that deficit.
On the course he skied the 46th-ranked time of the day overall and the 29th-ranked final loop.
“It’s a really hard course,” Gow said. “It’s basically three big hills with a couple downhills in-between. There’s no transitional areas, there’s no flatter spots. So it feels like you’re always grinding up a hill just to go back down and have to go up it again. … I felt like I could go a little harder on the first two-thirds of the course, and then just make sure I drop back a little bit on the last climb before you come back into the stadium just for the shooting sake. Then also with the wind, especially the headwind, to try and ski behind people if possible to get a good draft. … Overall I would say I did a fairly solid job with my race plan.”
Christian Gow (Biathlon Canada) racing to 62nd in the men’s 10 k sprint at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
His brother Christian Gow was just behind him in 62nd, 2:14.7 back with three penalties (2+1). Thus he also was less than a second out of the top 60.
“The conditions are tough today,” Christian said after. “It’s windy. It’s not nearly as bad as it was this afternoon, that was crazy. But regardless, it’s changing a lot, which I think is the hardest thing.”
“I corrected in prone and so I have to talk to the coaches and see if it was me or if I missed the correction, where those misses were,” he said of his shooting performance. “Then standing I think was a bit more my fault than anything. Shooting on lane 30 here, it’s quite sheltered. It blocks most of the wind, so it was pretty calm when I shot there and I still came away with a miss.”
Christian skied the 61st-ranked course time, acknowledging that he was impacted by the cold temperatures and wind.
“Today I felt a bit heavier than I would have liked to on the track,” he said of his skiing. “It’s a tough course for sure, really big climbs in it, and you’ve got to manage your energy so that you can do them time and again. … The wind, absolutely you get thrown around by it, but I kind of figure that everyone is getting some of that at some point.”
Brendan Green (Biathlon Canada) en route to 82nd in the men’s 10 k sprint at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
The fourth Canadian starter Brendan Green cleaned prone and was also shown on the international broadcast as a potential late contender when he came into the range for his standing shooting. But with strong wind he then missed three shots, ultimately finishing the race in 82nd place (+3:09.2, 0+3).
“It was a tough day,” Green said. “The conditions were obviously very challenging. But on a day like today that … opens up the door a bit, there’s a good opportunity, but I just was not able to put together a solid performance today. … Standing I just had a lot of gusts, just couldn’t quite overcome the wind for standing.”
“It’s a very challenging course,” he said of the conditions. “The cold weather and the wind. The snow is very dry and very slow, kind of like a sandpaper feel to it. But hopefully the weather starts to cooperate and things start to warm up a bit and the wind drops.”
The biathlon competitions in PyeongChang continue Monday with pursuits for the women at 7:10 p.m. local time (5:10 a.m. EST) and men at 9 p.m (7 a.m. EST). The times back to the winner from the sprint carry over into the pursuit race.
Norway’s Simen Hegstad Krüger celebrates after winning gold in the men’s 30 k skiathlon on Sunday at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
It was an improbable move: Norway’s Simen Hegsted Krüger attacked a few kilometers from the finish of the men’s 30 k skiathlon, and the rest of the field let him go. Krüger didn’t let up and at one point had a lead of 25 seconds with just about two kilometers to go, all the more impressive because he had crashed just meters into the race and broken a pole, having to then make up 35 to 40 seconds to get back to the lead pack.
Norwegian teammates Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Hans Christer Holund tried to close the gap to Krüger in the final kilometer, but the 24 year old hung on for a 8-second win. Sundby was second and Holund was third (+9.0) to give Norway a medal sweep.
Denis Spitsov of the Olympic Athletes of Russia, also in his first Olympics, finished fourth, 12.7 seconds back. Maurice Manificat of France was fifth (+14.2), Dario Cologna of Switzerland sixth (+25.1), Andrew Musgrave of Great Britain seventh (+25.7), and Alex Harvey of Canada edged Martin Jaks of the Czech Republic for eighth (+33.4 and +33.8, respectively). Johannes Høsflot Klæbo of Norway, one of the pre-race favorites, finished 10th (+43.4).
For the U.S., Scott Patterson led the way in 18th (+1:07.5). Erik Bjornsen finished 42th (+4:34.7), Paddy Caldwell 51st (+6:58.1), and Noah Hoffman 54th (+7:08.7).
After Harvey’s top-10 finish, the next Canadian across the line was Devon Kershaw in 36th (+3:35.3). GraemeKillick finished 45th (+5:19.6), and Knute Johnsgaard was lapped and did not finish.
University of Utah alum Snorri Einarsson finished 56th (+7:13.9) in Iceland’s best result in Olympic cross-country skiing since 1994.
Arnd Peiffer on his way to winning the 10 k sprint at Alpensia Biathlon Center today. The German was one of just four men to shoot clean in windy conditions. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
With the race favorites each picking up a bevy of penalties, Germany’s Arnd Peiffer skated to a gold medal in the men’s 10 k sprint on Sunday. Both he and silver medalist Michal Krčmář of the Czech Republic shot clean, and were two of only four men in the field to do so. With that performance, Peiffer — whose lone senior Championship-level individual medal came when he won the World Championships sprint back in 2011 — made Germany two-for-two in biathlon races so far after Laura Dahlmeier’s win in the women’s sprint on Saturday.
The top of the results sheet was tight, with Krčmář finishing just 4.4 seconds slower than Peiffer. Krčmář only has one World Cup podium to his name, coming last season. Dominik Windisch of Italy finished with the bronze medal (+7.7) despite one missed shot, and edged out Austria’s Julian Eberhard (+8.4) seconds, who also had one penalty.
Erlend Bjøntegaard of Norway was fifth (+17.4) with two penalties, and Benedikt Doll (+17.6) and Simon Schempp (+21.4) gave Germany an impressive three spots in the top seven.
Those pre-race favorites? Martin Fourcade of France missed three shots in prone and despite cleaning standing, couldn’t make up enough time on the final loop for a top result. He finished eighth, +22.1. Johannes Thingnes Bø of Norway missed three shots in prone and then another in standing, finishing 31st, +1:12.7.
For the U.S., Lowell Bailey cleaned prone and then collected one penalty in standing to end the day 33rd (+1:15.6). Tim Burke had four penalties to land 47th (+1:47.5), and Leif Nordgren will join them in Monday’s pursuit after finishing 58th (+2:10.2) with two missed shots. Sean Doherty missed four of his five prone targets and was unable to come back from that blow, finishing 65th (+2:16.4).
The Canadians also suffered shooting woes. with Nathan Smith able to limit the losses to one penalty and finish 44th (+1:43.5). He is the only team member to make the pursuit. Brothers Scott and Christian Gow missed four and three shots, respectively, to earn the unlucky honor of being the first two men outside the pursuit cutoff in 61st (+2:14.0) and 62nd (+2:14.7). Brendan Green cleaned prone but then missed three shots in standing to finish 82nd (+3:09.2).
The women’s 10 pursuit and men’s 12.5 k pursuit are set for Monday at 5:10 a.m. and 7 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Darya Domracheva of Belarus (center) won the final World Cup race before the Olympics, a 12.5 k mass start in Antholz, Italy. Anastasiya Kuzmina of Slovakia was second and Kaisa Makarainen of Finland third. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
On Saturday, Darya Domracheva watched as second place in the World Cup pursuit skied away from her.
She had stepped on competitor Dorothea Wierer’s pole in the final corner of the 10 k pursuit in Antholz, Italy, and felt it unsportsmanlike to try to beat Wierer to the finish when the Italian had only one ski pole. So she let Wierer go and settled for third.
In Sunday’s World Cup mass start, Domracheva was rewarded by some combination of karma, skill, and hard work, and rounded that same corner to the finish line all alone in first place to claim her second win of the season.
Nobody shot better than Domracheva, and only six other women matched her single penalty loop. The Belarusian left the shooting range after the fourth and final stage with just a 3.3-second lead on Slovakia’s Anastasiya Kuzmina, who missed three shots in total and was coming out of the penalty loop as Domracheva skated past.
Germany’s Maren Hammerschmidt fights through thick snow in the forest during Sunday’s 12.5 k mass start in Antholz, Italy. (Eurovision screenshot)
“It was very tough race, and very slow snow conditions,” Domracheva said in a press conference of the abundant fresh snow that had fallen overnight and continued to fall off trees and onto the trails (and racers) during the competition. “So I understood from the start of the competition that it was really important to be focused on shooting today.”
But Domracheva was able to put the hammer down and extend the gap on Kuzmina, who had been the most dominant athlete of the first half of the season, and win by 11.9 seconds.
“I can say that today was quite a tough race for me,” Domracheva said. “The feeling was not so light. It was also not in the plan that here in Antholz would be very easy. So we are still in preparation, and it’s one very important step in my preparation for the next races.”
It was the last World Cup competition before the Olympics, where Domracheva will do her best to follow up on the three gold medals she won in Sochi in 2014.
Kaisa Makarainen of Finland fights to the finish line. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
Third place went to Kaisa Makarainen of Finland, who was frustrated by four missed shots and left the range (and penalty loop) the final time in eighth place. But in a stunning show of grit and speed, she charged past racer after racer; she had the fastest ski time of the day and that was particularly true on the last loop.
The Finn celebrated as she crossed the line 16.2 seconds behind Domracheva. That meant another podium – her fifth of the season – and two spots on Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier, thus hanging onto the yellow bib of the overall World Cup leader until racing resumes after the Olympics (which don’t count for World Cup points).
“I tried to ski as fast as possible and catch some places,” Makarainen said in the press conference. “I was not sure if I could catch the podium because it was quite a big gap. But I guess some other girls were more tired than me!”
Fourth place went to Norway’s Marte Olsbu (+22.6), fifth to Dahlmeier (+23.9), and sixth to her teammate Maren Hammerschmidt (+25.2).
Wierer had shot clean through three stages and led the race onto the shooting range the last time, to the thrill of the home crowd. But she missed two shots and ended the day in seventh, +29.4.
Fourcade Extends World Cup Lead with Another Win
While Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø came into the men’s 15 k mass start with two consecutive wins under his belt, he immediately missed two shots in the first prone stage, then two more in the next prone stage.
While Bø has turned in some of the most stunning performances on the World Cup this season, another man leads the standings, and that’s Martin Fourcade of France. Fourcade is nothing if not consistent and with only two missed shots in the mass start, he picked up his sixth win of the season.
Martin Fourcade of France leading the 15 k mass start in Antholz, Italy, where he picked up his sixth win of the season. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
“It’s good to find back this position in Antholz,” he said in a post-race press conference. “It’s only my second victory here. The first one was in the mass start in 2011, so it’s been a while and I’m very satisfied and happy to be back on top of the podium in Antholz.”
The last time Fourcade was off the podium was in the single mixed relay in Östersund, Sweden, in the very first race of the season, and the last time he was off the individual podium was back in Kontiolahti, Finland, in the second-to-last weekend of last season.
“The weekend was really nice,” Fourcade said. “I had not my best ski level on the first two competitions, but today felt really good on the skis and it gives me confidence for the Olympics… I want to keep my hunger from that last [bullet] I missed, to keep some things to work on for the Olympics.”
With the younger Bø out of the picture, the two men who ended up battling behind Fourcade were both still Norwegian: Tarjei Bø, the older brother in the family, and his teammate Erlend Bjøntegaard.
Tim Burke of the United States after finishing 22nd in the World Cup mass start in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: USBA/Instagram)
Former World Champion Bø won their sprint to the finish, crossing the line 2.8 seconds behind Fourcade (who had eased through the last few hundred meters after maintaining a big lead through the rest of the course), and Bjøntegaard picked up his first career podium in third (+5.1).
“It was quite fun actually,” Bjøntegaard said of his battle with Bø. “I’ve had a lot of hard sessions with that guy in the past two years. We were talking to each other on the fourth loop and the last loop, trying to exchange who was in front. I think that worked out quite well. I know that he is strong in the head, especially at the end, but I think I gave it a good shot and I really tried.”
After the Norwegians it was two Germans battling to the line, with Benedikt Doll taking fourth (+16.0) and Johannes Kuehn fifth (+18.3), each with two missed shots.
Johannes Bø struggled mightily against his five total penalties, and remarkably managed to make it up to sixth place, just 29.2 seconds behind Fourcade.
Leif Nordgren (US Biathlon) skiing the second leg of the IBU World Cup men’s 4 x 7.5 k relay on Sunday in Hochfilzen, Austria. The U.S. men ended up ninth overall out of 26 teams. (Photo: IBU/NordicFocus)
Strong gusts of wind on the range required strong nerves and a lot of luck in the women’s and men’s relay races that concluded the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria, on Sunday afternoon.
While the relays concluded with teams on the podium one might expect there, tempestuous weather conditions that at times made it almost impossible to hit the targets also gave outsiders a good chance, and both the U.S. men and Canadian women remained in contention for a long time. The men’s 4 x 7-5-kilometer relay was particularly wild with more than 100 penalty laps, and it began with a big surprise.
Belgium’s starter Michael Rösch tagged off in first place for the first time in the history of that team, representing a country that until now, rarely had enough athletes for a relay and had thus far had a 24th place at the 2016 World Championships to its credit. And on his tails was Norway’s Ole Einar Bjørndalen, and shortly behind them US Biathlon’s Lowell Bailey in third.
The three aforementioned athletes all raced in the Olympic relay more than a decade ago at the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, Italy, but back then Rösch raced for Germany and won gold with his team.
“I wanted to tag off in first at all costs, to see the Belgian flag at the top,” Rösch told TV broadcaster ARD on Sunday while the race was still going on. “But Ole made it really hard for me. … I was on my last fumes, I tumbled into the finish, I was just seeing black, but it definitely was worth it.”
Just a turn behind, Bailey had gotten off to a strong start for the U.S. team, temporarily taking the lead out of the arena on the first lap before shooting clean in his prone stage to put himself in the lead group of seven. Facing strong wind in his standing stage, Bailey missed two targets but avoided the penalty lap with his last spare in that stage (0+0, 0+3), and tagged off to teammate Leif Nordgren in third position, 23.8 seconds out of first.
Nordgren ended up with a penalty in his first prone after missing two targets, and returned to the course in fifth. While his penalty had increased the gap to first by 50 seconds, Nordgren made up a few seconds with a clean standing bout, hitting all targets without requiring a spare (1+3, 0+0).
Italy and France passed him on the final loop, and Nordgren handed off in seventh, 1:34.2 minutes behind Norway setting the pace up front.
“The team came pretty close to a good result today in a relay with nasty weather,” Nordgren wrote on his Instagram account. “Personally I’m quite disappointed with my skiing, it’s been a struggle to find the top gears so far this season and I’m far from where I know I should be. It’s a long season though and there is still plenty of time to turn it around.”
US Biathlon’s Tim Burke loading a spare in his prone stage of the men’s relay at the 2017/2018 IBU World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria. The team went on to finish 9th. (Screenshot: ARD broadcast)
Taking over next for the U.S. was Tim Burke, who pointed out this was one of the most challenging races in terms of wind that he’d experienced.
“This was definitely one [of the] windiest races that I have taken part in,” Burke wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “We knew it would be very challenging right from the start but our team tried to look at it as an opportunity for a top result. I feel like our team did a great job at avoiding any big disasters on the range and this allowed us to stay near the front for most of the race.”
After only needing one spare in his prone shooting to hit his last target, Burke incurred a penalty in his standing stage (0+1, 1+3), but kept his position on the final loop in a hard race against Switzerland’s Jeremy Finello to exchange still in seventh, now another minute back (+2:49.4).
“I was not surprised to see a mix of different teams near the front today,” Burke wrote. “It was one of those days that any team could find themselves with multiple penalty loops after a windy shooting stage.“
Taking over from Burke as the U.S. anchor leg was Sean Doherty, coming off two strong shooting performances in the sprint and pursuit earlier this week.
U.S. relay anchor Sean Doherty taking aim in difficult wind conditions during his standing stage of the men’s relay at the 2017/2018 IBU World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria. His team finished ninth. (Screenshot: ARD broadcast)
In his prone stage, Doherty again shot clean and fast (with the second-fastest prone shooting time on his leg) and overtook Switzerland to move into sixth. He kept that position on the course, vying for a position in the top five with the teams from France, Italy, Ukraine, and Russia also in his vicinity.
“Today was a crazy one for sure,” Doherty wrote in an email. “The conditions on the course were decent, firm tracks and we had good skis. The wind was whipping, so that really just made some sections a lot harder than normal when you added in the head wind. I have done races in bad weather before but today was amongst the most windy.
In the standing stage, Doherty hit his first four shots in another fast sequence before missing the last one. It looked as if he had thought that final shot was also a hit as he dropped his rifle slightly, but then realized he had to load spares. Unable to clear the last target, Doherty ended up with the team’s third penalty.
“With the shooting you try to get a general idea of how far the wind is pushing the shots and do the best you can,” Doherty explained. “It’s a total toss up and the finish order is just a ranking of who battled the wind the best and had most to least luck along the way.”
He set out on his last loop in eighth place with Ukraine’s Dmytro Pidruchnyi and Switzerland’s Mario Dolder right ahead of him, and Russia’s Anton Shipulin ten seconds behind.
“The fight on the last lap is always tough,” Doherty wrote. “Although I felt better today I was not able to hang with the two guys I left the range with. I was able to ski a good lap but not enough to hold off Anton.”
After Shipulin passed him up the big last climb, Doherty came to the finish in ninth position, 3:38.3 minutes behind the winners with a team total of three penalties and 13 spares.
“We were not too excited with the end result because we saw the potential was there for a top 5,” Burke concluded for the team. “We are also all far from our best on the tracks right now, but are hopeful that will come with more racing.”
Norway Successful with Its ‘Second Unit’
Norway’s Lars Helge Birkeland, Erlend Bjøntegaard, Henrik L’Abée-Lund and Ole Einar Bjørndalen (left to right) following their victory in the men’s relay at the 2017/2018 IBU World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
Norway started the men’s relay race without Emil Hegle Svendsen, who was sidelined with a cold, and also rested brothers Johannes Thingnes Bø and Tarjei Bø, both of whom had already won races this season.
But shooting was more important than skiing in a relay decided by strong crosswinds on the range, and that’s where the Norwegians coped by far the best. While Norway also required nine spares, which usually is a rather average performance in a relay, on Sunday this was the top shooting performance of the men’s relay.
After veteran Bjørndalen, Henrik L’Abée-Lund and Erlend Bjøntegaard had created a fairly comfortable lead of almost a minute on the first three legs, Lars Helge Birkeland anchored them to the victory by shooting clean in prone and only needing one spare to hit every target in his final stage despite some widely spread shots.
“It is really nice; a good start for Norway and good self confidence for the the rest of the season,” L’Abée-Lund said at the post-race press conference.
“It’s always fun to compete on the highest level with the best guys,” Bjøntegaard said. “I think I did pretty good on my leg today. It was tough conditions as it was for everyone else. I am just happy to show what I am capable of.”
“It feels great, it was an amazing feeling on the last loop, and really satisfied with my own leg,” Birkeland said. “I just decided to be offensive and attack and don’t think about the others and just do my own race. … We have a really strong team with a lot of good guys, so we don’t need to have all the best at the start to have a chance to win.”
All hopes for Germany’s Simon Schempp to contend with Birkeland for first were dashed when Schempp required three spares to clear both his prone and standing stages, narrowly avoiding the penalty lap twice.
Due to the huge distances between the top-three teams, the final loop was more of a cool down for their anchors, with Norway taking the win in 1:21:21.8 hours, just under two minutes ahead of Germany, with Erik Lesser, Benedikt Doll, Arnd Peiffer and Schempp, in second (+1:54.9, with zero penalties and 17 spares).
“At least we avoided the penalty loop, for me it was definitely close in standing,” Peiffer told German broadcaster ARD. “There was so much wind that it was impossible to shoot calmly and controlled. … It was clear that today there would be some upsets, like Belgium being in the mix in front. You just had to somehow avoid the penalty lap.”
“The last years in Hochfilzen we have never been on the podium, so it’s the first time in like six years we are back again,” Peiffer said at the press conference. “So that’s a good start for us because normally we are struggling here and we don’t know why.”
France, which had rested its star Martin Fourcade and started Jean-Guillaume Beatrix, Simon Desthieux, Emilien Jacquelin, and anchor Quentin Fillon Maillet, finished another 40 seconds later in third (+2:34.0, with three penalties and 13 spares).
Another 20 seconds back, Sweden with Peppe Femling, Jesper Nelin, Sebastian Samuelsson, and Fredrik Lindström crossed the line in fourth (+2:54.8, with three penalties and 12 spares).
“Today was very hard, very strange result, because when we look at all the penalties on the result list it was just crazy,” Beatrix said at the press conference. “I am satisfied for the team, and I am also really satisfied for the newcomer Emilien because it’s his first two weeks on the World Cup and first relay, and he did a every good job and brought us to the podium.”
“Today I was a little bit stressed, because the French guys are so strong and I had to be at their level, so I am happy to do a good relay today,” the 22-year-old Jacquelin said.
And what happened to the brave team from Belgium? With three athletes who had just made an overnight trip from an IBU Cup race in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, they came through the second exchange in second place after Florent Claude only needed one spare in standing. On the last two legs, however, three penalties for both Tom Lahaye-Goffart and Thierry Langer put them in 16th at the finish (+6:24.9) , which was still a team-best relay result for Belgium.
Just ahead of them in a finishing sprint anchored by Brendan Green was Biathlon Canada, with a lineup that earned bronze at the 2016 World Championships in Oslo, Norway. On Sunday, however, the Canadians’ race began with difficulties for brothers Christian Gow (1+3, 2+3) and Scott Gow (1+3, 2+ 3), each having to ski three penalty laps and exchanging in 21st position already 4:45.7 minutes back. Then Nathan Smith (0+0, 0+2) and Green (0+3, 0+3) were able to move them up a bit again, with Smith putting them as high as 13th by the final exchange and Green anchoring them to 15th (+6:22.5, with six penalties and 20 spares).
Of 26 teams in the men’s relay, Norway and Germany were the only ones that succesfully avoided the penalty lap.
Hochfilzen World Champs Women’s Podium Repeats
Later on Sunday afternoon in the women’s 4 x 6 k relay in slightly better conditions than the men’s race, last season’s reoccurring winner Germany struck gold again.
Germany with (left to right) Vanessa Hinz, Franziska Hildebrand, Maren Hammerschmidt and anchor Laura Dahlmeier shows off their medals following their victory in the women’s relay at the 2017/2018 IBU World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
The victorious world-champion quartet of Vanessa Hinz, Franziska Hildebrand, Maren Hammerschmidt,and Laura Dahlmeier won with a large lead ahead of Ukraine (+44.9) and France (+1:04.5). The first-, second- and third-place teams were a repeat of last season’s World Championships relay in Hochfilzen this past February.
Fighting for position with Ukraine and Switzerland on the third leg, Hammerschmidt got her team on the road to victory when she cleaned every target within 24 seconds despite difficult conditions to reclaim the lead, erasing the gap she had been handed of almost 30 seconds to first.
“For me it was very important to have a good standing shooting today, because the last two days were not so good,” Hammerschmidt said at the press conference. “I thought it was one of my best standing shootings, and I was so happy to go on the last loop and fight for every second to give to Laura.”
Dahlmeier returned to the World Cup after missing last week’s opening races with a cold, then had no major problems defending the lead. Dahlmeier used just one spare in each of her shooting stages, while Switzerland’s Irene Cadurisch as the closest pursuer had to ski a penalty lap. Germany finished in a time of 1:14:36.4, with zero penalties and nine spares.
“It’s a really cool feeling to be here again,” Dahlmeier said at the press conference. “Especially with the team. We know we can make a good race, but it’s important for every person to be good on the range and on the tracks. Relays are special races.”
“From the last year we have good memories about Hochfilzen … and today it was a good place, too,” Hildebrand said “I was really impressed with [Ukraine’s] Yulia Dzhima’s standing shooting, because she took all targets out while I used two extra bullets and was happy I could go out on the track again.”
Ukraine’s Olena Pidhrushna anchored her team, with Vita Semerenko, Yulia Dzhima and Valj Semerenko, to second (+44.9), thanks to the best team shooting performance of zero penalties and five spares, and despite a fall on the first leg by Vita Semerenko.
“I think our team spirit is very strong, without that we wouldn’t be on the podium, so I am very thankful to all the girls and our staff for making this happen,” Valj Semerenko said at the press conference, via a translator.
“My start this season was not so good … Actually today I was so nervous ahead of the relay,” Pidrushna explained. “But I saw that we had a little bit of extra time at the last exchange, and I calmed down a little bit and it worked well in the end. … And I think my team believes in me [to anchor it successfully].”
Twenty seconds behind her, France with Marie Dorin Habert, Celia Aymonier, Justine Braisaz and the current women’s World Cup leader Anaïs Bescond, passed Russia’s Ekaterina Yurlova-Percht on the final loop to claim third place (+1:04.5, with two penalties and 13 spares).
“Honestly at the beginning when I started I didn’t think a podium was still possible, but loop after loop I thought maybe I can still catch a podium [position],“ said Bescond, who skied the fastest course time on the final leg amidst strong competition.
A few seconds behind, Russia with Victoria Slivko, Tatiana Akimova, Irina Starykh, and Ekaterina Yurlova-Percht finished fourth (+1:09.0, with no penalty and nine spares).
Another 16 seconds back, Switzerland, with Elisa Gasparin, her older sister Selina Gasparin, Lena Häcki and Cadurisch finished fifth (+1:25.7, with two penalties and 12 spares) for Switzerland’s best women’s relay result, which fulfilled its national qualification criteria for the Olympics.
Canada in Contention
For Biathlon Canada, Emma Lunder started off the race in the middle of the field, and managed hit all her targets with one spare in her prone stage to leave the range in 16th position.
Biathlon Canada’s starter Emma Lunder (r) exchanging to Rosanna Crawford in the women’s relay at the 2017/2018 IBU World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria. Crawford temporarily moved up to fifth before the team finished in ninth position. (Screenshot: ARD broadcast)
While a number of competitors, including France’s Dorin Habert, incurred penalties, Lunder again needed just one spare to clean (0+1, 0+1) and moved Canada up to 1oth. After losing a few more seconds on her last loop to the leaders, with Germany’s Hinz up front, she tagged Rosanna Crawford in 12th position, 51.7 seconds back.
Crawford started out fast and also needed just one spare to hit all five prone targets, improving by three places to ninth.
“It was a tricky shooting day today, you really had to be aware of the wind, and be prepared to do a correction even part way through a bout of shooting,” Crawford wrote in an email. “In prone I made a correction of 5 left and 2 up and it was enough to keep me pretty centred.”
Then in her standing stage, she picked off four more positions with clean shooting and no spares to leave the range in fifth place, while most teams around her needed spares or even incurred a penalty in seemingly difficult wind conditions.
“I was really happy with my standing today,” Crawford explained. “I saw Brendan [Green] right before zero and he said that it’s worthwhile to take your time and make each shot a good one. So I really thought about that as I came into the shooting, there was a big gust right off the start, so I waited and could hear the women around me missing. Each shot was really precise. My shooting time was 33 seconds which is really slow for standing but still the 2nd fastest of my leg, which says a lot about the wind today!”
Biathlon Canada’s Megan Bankes shooting in her standing stage in the women’s relay at the 2017/2018 IBU World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria. The team finished ninth overall. (Screenshot: ARD broadcast)
Crawford tagged Megan Bankes in fifth (+36.3), after having regained 15 seconds on the leaders and skiing the second-fastest course time on the final loop.
“It’s always fun to tag off in a high position but today was a bit of a lucky draw for what you got in the range,” Crawford concluded.
The 20-year-old Bankes as Biathlon Canada’s youngest team member started out just as fast, nearly maintaining that time gap on the first loop.
“I was super stoked to be tagged in such a good place, but I definitely still felt that I was able to ski my own race,” Bankes wrote in an email. “I wanted to ski my best, and not lose to much time on the tracks, but also be controlled on the range, because I knew it was going to be a tricky shooting day.”
She was able to get through the prone stage with two spares in a stage when all leading teams needed them, keeping her in fifth. Bankes followed that up with just one spare in her standing shooting, temporarily moving up to fourth after overtaking Sweden’s Mona Brorsson.
“Coming into the range I was focussed on my own shooting more than anything else,” Bankes wrote. “I knew that the wind was pretty variable, and that I needed to make sure I took good, smart shots, and correct appropriately for the wind. I was super happy with how I ended up doing on the range, and also with my speed on my first couple of laps.”
On the last loop, Brorsson and Russia’s Starykh passed her, and Bankes came through the final exchange in sixth place (+1:28.8).
“I died a bit at the end, but I still managed to tag Julia in a good position, so for me it was a pretty great race!” Bankes concluded.
Shown on television in the exchange zone, looking back at the final curve to see when Bankes would arrive, Ransom took over as the anchor and skied a very fast first loop, just 1 second off the fastest pace on that loop.
She then managed to still clean all five targets in a controlled fashion, leaving the range again in fifth position, with Switzerland in sight and Russia nearby as well.
After a slower second loop, Ransom struggled to clean all her targets in the final stage, but avoided the penalty lap with her last shot and left the range in ninth position. Sweden’s anchor Anna Magnusson was still in sight, 10 seconds ahead, but extended her lead on the final loop, while Japan’s anchor Rina Mitsuhashi was already more than a minute behind Ransom in 10th.
Ransom crossed the line in ninth place (+2:31.6) with zero penalties and nine spares for the team.
“A top 10 is a decent result for our team, it’s nice that we were fighting for a top 6 for most of the race,” Crawford wrote. “Our team has come a long way and I’m really proud to be a part of this team! Emma and Megan had a great leg and Julia an awesome prone and then it was quite windy for her standing, but most teams have their strongest women on the last leg, so it’s always a hard fight!”
In other good news for Biathlon Canada this weekend, the team finished eighth in an IBU Cup mixed relay and national team member Megan Tandy raced to 11th place in the sprint followed by ninth place in the pursuit this weekend in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
“Another #perfect#shooting day! I was hoping for more, but you gotta work with what you got – in my case very heavy legs skiing. Nonetheless, a solid race,” Tandy wrote on Instagram after shooting clean in both the sprint and mixed relay.
The U.S. Women and Nation Cup Standings
US Biathlon could not start a women’s relay on Sunday because it only has three women currently on the World Cup circuit: Susan Dunklee, Clare Egan and Emily Dreissigacker. US Biathlon had hoped that its fourth woman Kelsey Dickinson, would qualify for the first trimester of World Cup racing by scoring necessary points at the IBU Cup opener in Sjusjøen, Norway. But unfortunately that did not work out.
In addition to Dickinson missing out on the World Cup starts because of that technicality, and her teammates now missing out on one of only three opportunities on the World Cup competition calendar to prepare for the relay in the upcoming Olympics, this also means they lost out on valuable points for the Nation Cup Score. That ranking is its own award category in the World Cup season (last year Germany won it for both the women and men), but more importantly for the North American teams, also determines the starting quota for the following season.
With a third of the races counting towards that already completed (unlike at World Championships the races at the Olympics don’t apply, neither do pursuits and mass starts), the U.S. is currently in 21st position for the women with 676 points and in danger of losing its fourth starting position for next year again, which would make team selections and travel planning even harder.
While certainly not impossible — last year the U.S. women also did not start a relay in Pokljuka, Slovenia — it will be a bit of an uphill battle to make that up the rest of the season, requiring a number of strong results. For instance, South Korea is currently 357 points ahead in 17th, the benchmark for a fourth quota spot.
The Canadian women are currently in 14th position with 1220 points. Last season they were 15th and the U.S. 14th. For the men’s teams, Canada is currently in 12th position with 1260 points, the U.S. is 13th with 1198.
The teams will now travel to Annecy-Le Grand Bornand, France, for the next World Cup from Thursday, Dec. 14, to Sunday, Dec. 17.
Caitlin Patterson (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) charging up the wall climb en route to the win in the women’s 10 k freestyle on Sunday at the Sovereign Lake NorAm/SuperTour near Vernon, B.C. (Photo: Peggy Hung)
NorAm/SuperTour (Sovereign Lake near Vernon, British Columbia): 10/15 k freestyle
VERNON, B.C. — The combined NorAm and SuperTour event at the Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre continued with individual-start distance races and continued with the theme of U.S. domination of the leaderboard.
Ian Torchia, of Northern Michigan University (NMU) and the U.S. Ski Team D-team, started the day with a big victory in the men’s 15 k freestyle, finishing in 36:29.7 minutes and on the heels of Canadian Para-Nordic guide Graham Nishikawa, who started 30 seconds ahead of him and ended up sixth. Jack Hegman of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) placed second, 19.0 seconds back, to complete his good weekend. Canadian Para-Nordic superstar Brian McKeever rounded out the podium in third, 22.6 seconds back.
Graham Nishikawa (l) and Ian Torchia worked together after Torchia closed the 30-second gap en route to a victory in the men’s 15 k freestyle on Sunday at the Sovereign Lake NorAm near Vernon, B.C. (Photo: Peggy Hung)
The women were next to get some time in the sunshine with two laps for 10 k. Caitlin Patterson of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CRGRP) upgraded from Saturday’s silver to gold on Sunday with winning time of 27:13.0. Rosie Frankowski of Alaska Pacific University (APU) snatched second, 30.7 seconds back. Caitlin Gregg (Team Gregg) raced to third, 1 second behind Frankowski.
Former Canadian national-team biathlete Zina Kocher started her new cross-country career as the top Canadian in seventh (+1:31.2).
The weather was a repeat of Saturday: -2 degrees Celsius, windless and sunny. Smiles were evident everywhere, even for athletes who didn’t quite nail the pacing on an unforgiving course.
France’s Maurice Manificat (c) after winning the men’s 15-kilometer freestyle on Sunday in Davos, Switzerland. He finished ahead of Russians Sergey Ustiugov (l) and Alexander Bolshunov in second and third respectively. (Photo: FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)
FIS Cross Country World Cup (Davos, Switzerland): 10/15 k freestyle
After a day of sprinting, cross-country racers returned to the Davos World Cup venue on Sunday for the women’s 10-kilometer and men’s 15-kilometer freestyle individual start competitions.
For his first World Cup win in almost two years, France’s Maurice Manificat took the men’s 15 k race title in a time of 33:56.2. Exactly 4 seconds flat behind Manificat in second place was Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov. Ustiugov’s teammate Alexander Bolshunov, finished 10 seconds behind Ustiugov and 14.6 seconds behind Manificat for the men’s third and final podium spot.
The remainder of the men’s top ten included Norway’s Simen Hegstad Krüger in fourth (+21.3), Switzerland’s Dario Cologna in fifth (+26.5), Sweden’s Marcus Hellner in sixth (+35.4), Russia’s Denis Spitsov in seventh (+36.1), Hans Christer Holund of Norway in eighth (+36.9), Russian Alexey Chervotkin in ninth (+54.2), and Alex Harvey of Canada in 10th (+1:01.2).
The next best male North American finisher was American Patrick Caldwell in 41st (1:50.2).
Canada’s Devon Kershaw placed 44th (1:59.8), Graeme Killick 59th (+2:27.8), Russell Kennedy 68th (+2:43.4), and Julien Locke in 94th (4:27.5). Knute Johnsgaard did not start.
For the U.S., Noah Hoffman finished 48th (2:05.5) and Scott Patterson 88th (3:46.2). Simi Hamilton did not start and Andy Newell did not finish.
The women’s 10 k freestyle podium on Sunday at the Davos World Cup in Switzerland, with Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Østberg (c) in first and Ragnhild Haga (l) in second, and Finland’s Krista Parmakoski (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
In the women’s 10 k, 75 starters finished the 10 k course with Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Østberg claiming first in a time of 25:28.5. Her Norwegian teammate, Ragnhild Haga finished 5.9 seconds behind her for second place. Krista Pärmäkoski of Finland raced to the third and final podium spot, 7.9 seconds back from Østberg’s winning time.
Rounding out the women’s top ten was Heidi Weng in fourth (+14.5), Austria’s Teresa Stadlober in fifth (+16.4), Switzerland’s Nathalie von Siebenthal in sixth (+16.4), Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen in seventh (+24.9), Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla in eighth (+26.8), Norwegian Marit Bjørgen in ninth (+35.9), and Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen in tenth (+37.6).
Leading the U.S. women was Sadie Bjornsen in 12th (+44.6), seven seconds outside the top ten. The next two Americans finishers were within 3.1 seconds of each other, with Kikkan Randall finishing 14th (+56.8) and Jessie Diggins in 15th (+59.9).
Also scoring World Cup points for the Americans, Rosie Brennan finished in 17th (+1:11.2) and Chelsea Holmes in 29th (+1:32.9).
The U.S.’s Liz Stephen and Sophie Caldwell finishedin 40th (+1:58.5) and 52nd (+2:20.1), respectively.
For the Canadians, the team was led by Cendrine Browne in 45th (+2:05.9), followed by Emily Nishikawa in 50th (+2:18.4). Dahria Beatty placed 73rd (+2:53.0) and Katherine Stewart-Jones 79th (+3:44.6).
IBU World Cup (Hochfilzen, Austria): Men’s and women’s relays
Men’s and women’s relays took place on the final day of racing in Hochfilzen, with Norway winning the men’s 4 x 7.5 k and Germany topping the women’s 4 x 6 k by considerable margins.
Norway’s Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Henrik L’Abée-Lund, Erlend Bjøntegaard, and Lars Helge Birkeland raced to first in 1:21.21.8 hours, nearly two minutes clear of Germany in second, after taking the lead on L’Abée-Lund’s second leg. They avoided the penalty loop and used a total of nine spares, and never lost hold of first place for the rest of the race.
Germany raced to second (+1:54.9) with Erik Lesser, Benedikt Doll, Arnd Peiffer, and Simon Schempp, with zero penalties and 17 spares, after Peiffer lifted them from fourth to second on the third leg. Schempp held them there, despite using a maximum of three spares on each of his shooting stages, in the final leg.
France claimed third (+2:34.0) with Jean-Guillaume Béatrix, Simon Desthieux, Emilien Jacquelin, and Quentin Fillon Maillet, despite three penalties and 13 spares. Two of their penalties came on Beatrix’s first leg and another in Fillon Maillet’s final shooting. After being tagged in fifth, Jacquelin raced them up to third on the third leg and Fillon Maillet held onto that position for the last spot on the podium.
The U.S. men finished ninth (+3:38.3) with Lowell Bailey, Leif Nordgren, Tim Burke, and Sean Doherty, after they combined for three penalties and 13 spares. Bailey avoided the penalty lap and put them in third at the first exchange, while Nordgren slipped to seventh after a penalty, Burke remained in seventh with one penalty as well, and Doherty had one more penalty to anchor the team to ninth.
Canada placed 15th (+6:22.5) with six penalties and 20 spare rounds, with Christian Gow, Scott Gow, Nathan Smith, and Brendan Green. After being tagged in 21st, Smith raced them up to 13th, using just two spares to clean. Green anchored them to 15th after using six spares and skiing the 15th-ranked time on that last leg.
In the women’s relay that followed, Germany won by 44.9 seconds over Ukraine, with Vanessa Hinz, Franziska Hildebrand, Maren Hammerschmidt, and Laura Dahlmeier using nine spares while staying out of the penalty lap.
After Hinz raced them into first, Hildebrand slipped to fourth after using four spares on the second leg. Hammerschmidt raced the fastest third leg to put them back in first, and Dahlmeier held them there to the finish, crossing first in 1:14:36.4.
Ukraine (0 penalties, 5 spares) took the lead on the second leg but ultimately settled for second with Vita Semerenko, Yuliia Dzhima, Valj Semerenko, and Olena Pidhrushna. Dzhima put them in second heading into the race’s halfway point, but Valj Semerenko lost two places to tag Pidhrushna in third. Pidhrushna used just two spares on the final leg to bring them to second, about 20 seconds ahead of France in third.
Despite a tough first leg for Marie Dorin Habert, in which she had two penalties and tagged off in 14th, France rose to third place at the finish (+1:04.5) thanks to strong skiing and shooting from anchor Anaïs Bescond.
The team had a total of two penalties and 13 spares. Celia Aymonier used four spares to put them in ninth after the second leg, and third-leg Justine Braisaz lifted them one more place to seventh before Bescond skied the fastest last leg to pick off four more places.
Canada placed ninth (+2:31.6) with Emma Lunder, Rosanna Crawford, Megan Bankes, and Julia Ransom, with no penalties and nine spares. Crawford put them in fifth after the second leg, Bankes lost one place on the third leg, and Ransom slipped three more with three spares on her final shooting to finish ninth.
Marte Olsbu of Norway leads the women’s 12.5 k mass start out of the stadium in Sjujøen, Norway. (Photo: Vegard Breie/sesongstartskiskyting.no)
After a disappointing day of sprints in Sjusjøen, Norway, on Saturday, the Norwegian biathlon team rebounded in Sunday’s mass starts to claim wins from Marte Olsbu in the women’s race and Erlend Bjøntegaard in the men’s race.
In the women’s 12.5 k mass start, Olsbu had just one penalty, in the first prone stage, and came back through the field to ski to a 25-second win over Anais Bescond of France, who had two penalties. Synnøve Solemdal of Norway was third (+31.6) and Fuyuko Tachizaki of Japan fourth (+48.7), both shooting clean.
“It was very fun,” Olsbu told Norwegian broadcaster NRK, according to a translation. “I did what I had planned, and it means a lot that I can stand on the podium with another Norwegian.”
The men’s field was so large that it was split into two mass start races, an “A” and a “B” competition, each of which had more than the 30 standard entrants for a mass start competition.
Martin Fourcade of France was near the front for almost the entire race, on form after having won Saturday’s sprint, but missed the last shot of the competition. He was unable to make it back into first place by the end of the 15 k race.
Erlend Bjøntegaard heading for the win in Sunday’s 15 k mass start in Sjusjøen, Norway. (Photo: Vegard Breie/sesongstartskiskyting.no)
Instead, it was Norway’s Bjøntegaard taking the win. Bjøntegaard had missed just one shot, in the second shooting bout. He skated to an 11.8-second victory over teammate Johannes Thingnes Bø, who missed three shots over the course of the race. Fourcade was third, +16.1.
Despite his win, Bjøntegaard is not headed to the World Cup opener in Östersund, Sweden, next week. Norway’s team had already been decided, and Lars Helge Birkeland and Henrik L’Abee-Lund, who did not have stellar results this weekend, will go instead. They told NRK that they had not focused on these Sjusjøen races because the priority was instead performance at the World Cup.
“That’s how it is,” Bjøntegaard told NRK. “I don’t bother to spend time on it. I can promise that my possibilities will come.”
Based on his 29th-place finish in Saturday’s sprint, Scott Gow of Canada made the “A” mass start. He picked up six penalties, including three in the third stage, and skied to 37th place (+4:12.3).
“I shot poorly today due to me being too much inside my own head,” he wrote in an email. “My first prone was an oversight on the wind conditions, and my first standing was me totally rushing. Lesson learned, I hope… I would say I still have some speed in the tank. Shooting, aside from today, has been very good lately, so I’m happy with that. Skiing has been solid too, but I could feel the travel a bit this weekend, so hopefully that’s all gone by next weekend.”
Gow and his brother, Christian, went to Sjusjøen along with fellow Biathlon Canada National Team member Brendan Green. It was not an official team trip, but the trio felt the need to get some extra acclimation to the European time zone and another set of races under their belts before the World Cup begins.
“Christian, Brendan and I had been talking about wanting the team to go to Sjusjøen for a while, but that was never going to happen with our [national team] budget woes, so we took it upon ourselves to make the trip happen,” Scott Gow wrote. “We believe the early acclimation and high-end racing is great preparation for Östersund, where the three of us always feel like we start flat and struggle to achieve good results. Our goal is to adjust to Europe and have our bodies is the best shape possible. I would say we’ve accomplished our goals. We adjusted well to the jet lag, and we all had at least one decent race.”
After the sprint, Christian Gow and Green were slotted into the “B” mass start. They made the most of the opportunity, with Green missing two shots but taking the win, and Gow missing one shot and finishing 8.8 seconds behind in second place.
Things didn’t go particularly smoothly for either Canadian. Both of Green’s missed shots came in the first shooting bout, but he faced challenges even while cleaning the other bouts.
“In addition to the two misses, I had some problems in the range during each prone shooting which caused me to lose some more time,” Green wrote in an email. “I spent the entire rest of the race working my way back to the lead group. I think I came in for my final shooting bout in seventh, left the range in third, and was able to ski to the lead from there. Christian lost time early on with a broken pole right at the start of the race, so we both had our work cut out today.”
While the goal had been to make the “A” mass start, Green pointed out that there was value in racing in a competition where he was fighting for the win, even if few of his regular World Cup competitors were in this race.
“Today was still good preparation for the World Cup next week, and a nice way to finish the weekend of racing here,” he explained. “ t’s good sometimes to have a little more control during a race, and there is still the pressure when you’re at the front to perform which is always good practice.”
While Green said his speed was not yet at 100%, the group was excited to be back competing after a long summer and fall of training.
“I love this time of year because it means we’re racing!!!” Scott Gow wrote.
Emil Iversen celebrates his win in the 30 k classic mass start in Falun, Sweden, on Sunday. Norwegian teammate Martin Johnsrud Sundby finished second and Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson third.
FIS Cross-Country World Cup (Falun, Sweden): 15 / 30 k classic mass start
In the women’s 15-kilometer classic mass start on Sunday, Norway swept the podium with Marit Bjørgen taking the win in a time of 41:28.8 in Falun, Sweden. Crossing just half a second behind her was her teammate, Ingvild Flugstad Østberg in second place. Rounding out the podium was Heidi Weng in third (+8.1).
American Jessie Diggins was the first to cross the line for the U.S. in 10th (+1:37.5). Three other U.S. women finished in the top 30, with Sadie Bjornsen finishing 21st (+2:43.6), Rosie Brennan 24th (+2:57.0), and Liz Stephen in 29th (+3:24.5).
Just outside of scoring World Cup points was American Caitlin Patterson in 32nd (+3:47.6) and Ida Sargent in 34th (+4:02.8). Canada’s Cendrine Browne finished 46th (+5:41.4) and American Liz Guiney 49th (+6:22.6).
After losing the skate sprint yesterday in a photo finish to Italy’s Federico Pellegrino, Emil Iversen ascended to the top step of the podium in the men’s 30 k classic mass start on Sunday in Falun.
The Norwegian was often near the front, but hadn’t tried to lead a breakaway like his teammates Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Sjur Røthe did earlier in the race. In the final two kilometers, Sundby – the overall World Cup leader – put in a sprint to try to drop the field. But Iversen caught up, drafting his veteran teammate into the stadium. In the final up-and-over before the finish line, Iversen made a pass and then accelerated down the finishing stretch to beat Sundby by 1.14 seconds.
“I got motivation from yesterday’s last 20 meters,” Iversen told FIS in a finish-line interview. “So today I fought all the way, and I was really stronger. It is amazing for me to be second yesterday and first today. I’m really proud of that.”
Calle Halfvarsson, who had been falling off the back of the lead pack just a few kilometers earlier, managed to get back to the front and claim third place for Sweden (+1.72 seconds) in a photo finish with Røthe (+1.76 seconds). Niklas Dyrhaug was next (+2.52 seconds) to give the Norwegian men’s team four in the top five.
In his return to the World Cup stage, Norway’s Petter Northug finished 31st (+3:10.6).
Alex Harvey was the lone Canadian on the start line. After skiing near the front of the field for the early part of the race he was dropped by the lead pack in the final kilometers, finishing 15th (+1:17.5).
Erik Bjornsen and Noah Hoffman took 35th and 37th places for the United States, finishing +3:30.8 and +3:59.8, respectively. SuperTour leader Matthew Gelso — familiar with the Falun course after competing in 2015 World Championships — finished 44th (+5:23.6), and Andy Newell placed 53rd (+7:45.3).
IBU Open European Championships (Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland): Single mixed & mixed relay
Russia’s Alexander Loginov (center) is greeted at the finish by his teammates Irina Starykh, Svetlana Sleptsova and Alexey Volkov after anchoring his team to the gold medal in the mixed relay at the 2017 IBU Open European Championships in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland. (Photo: IBU)
[UPDATED] The Russian victory in the final 2 x 6 + 2 x 7.5-kilometer mixed relay event of the 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Open European Championships in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland, was only briefly in doubt, when Alexander Loginov skiing the anchor leg required all spares in his prone shooting stage. But with his final shot he managed to also hit that target to avoid the penalty lap, leaving the range with a lead of more than 30 seconds.
Loginov then did not need any spares in the last standing stage, and could take his time on the final loop. Unlike Russia’s Evgeniy Garanichev earlier in the day during the single mixed relay, he also managed to pick up a flag for the final meters of the race, crossing the line in a time of 1:12:26.0 hours.
The Russian team with Irina Starykh, Svetlana Sleptsova, Alexey Volkov and Loginov led from the first exchange and required only six spares with zero penalties.
With this medal, the 28-year-old Volkov became the most successful athlete in history at European Championships, according to an IBU press release, surpassing the retired Polish biathlete Tomasz Sikora. Russia was the most successful team of the 2017 Open European Championships with six gold, four silver, and three bronze medals.
Behind them, a number of teams vied for the positions on the podium. Sweden initially looked like a strong contender exchanging in second place after the women, but fell back with three penalty laps to only finish 10th.
Still six seconds back after the final shooting, Norway’s Fredrik Gjesbakk caught up to and outsprinted Ukraine’s Ruslan Tkalenko in the finishing stretch to claim the silver medal (+36.4) with the bronze left for Ukraine (+37.1).
“I thought that I made sufficient gap to win silver,” Tkalenko told the IBU. “But in the end, on the final downhill before the finish, I was very surprised when the Norwegian guy passed me, I truly did not expect that.”
The Norwegian team with Karoline Erdal, Marion Rønning Huber, Erlend Bjøntegaard, and Gjesbakk needed nine spares and had no penalties.
Ukraine with Anastasiya Merkushina, Yulia Dhzyma, Oleksander Zhyrnyi (who originally started for Russia before making the switch in 2014) and Tkalenko required six spares, and Dhzyma had to ski a penalty lap only temporarily setting the team back.
Bulgaria finished fourth (+1:16.4), with its anchor Vladimir Iliev narrowly beating Czech Republic’s Lukas Kristejn (+1:17.4) in the finishing stretch. Both teams needed 11 spares and had no penalties.
Jakob Ellingson skiing the anchor leg for the U.S. mixed relay at the 2017 IBU Open European Championships in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland. The U.S. team finished 14th. (Photo: IBU/Eurovisionsports.tv screenshot)
Starting at the back of the field in bib 20, US Biathlon’s Emily Dreissigacker got her team off to a strong start with a clean prone shooting and one spare round in standing, exchanging in 10th, a minute behind the leaders. Hallie Grossman needed one spare in each of her stages, tagging off to the men in 14th position and now 2:39 behind. Max Durtschi also had one miss each in prone and standing, coming into the last exchange still in 14th position, but another minute back. Jakob Ellingson required all three of his spares in his prone shooting stage narrowly avoiding the penalty lap, and one more in his final shooting stage. As the team from Finland was racing over a minute behind the Americans, he was able to keep the 14th position into the finish (+4:47.4), with a team total of nine spares and no penalties overall.
For Biathlon Canada, Erin Yungblut starting in bib 19 shot clean in her prone stage and required two spares in her standing shooting, tagging off in 18th position and more than two minutes back from first. Leilani Tam von Burg stayed clean in her prone shooting stage and needed one spare in standing, moving up two positions to exchange in 16th place, yet more than four minutes behind the leaders. After the exchange to the men, both Matthew Neumann and anchor Carsen Campbell managed to shoot clean in all of their stages, but lost additional time on the course to finish 16th (+6:39.9) ahead of four lapped teams.
Canada had the best shooting result of all 20 teams starting the relay, with just three spares and no penalty.
Russia’s Daria Virolaynen (l) and Evgeniy Garanichev after winning Sunday’s single mixed relay at the 2017 Open European Championships in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland. (Photo: IBU)
Earlier on Sunday, pretty much the only thing that went wrong for Russia’s Daria Virolaynen and Evgeniy Garanichev in the single mixed relay happened on the last meters of the finishing stretch, with Garanichev gesturing for a Russian flag he wanted to cross the line with. But the handoff was too short and the flag dropped past his outstretched hand to the snow. He glanced back, weighing if his lead was big enough to ski back, but decided it was not worth the risk, instead skiing into the arms of his partner waiting for him behind the line in a time of 37:10.2 minutes.
Russia needed seven spare rounds and incurred zero penalties. Garanichev secured the victory in the final shooting, when he only needed one spare – albeit fumbling a few seconds to insert it – while his direct opponents standing next to him required more time to hit their targets.
“Probably, I took some risk at the last standing,” Garanichev said, according to an IBU press release. “I wanted to shoot fast and clean, but missed with the last shot. But in general, I felt very comfortable; came and worked at the range in my rhythm.”
6.3 seconds behind, Norway with the team of Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold and Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen placed second, with seven spares and zero penalties.
“These are very short loops,” Christiansen commented on the fairly new, single mixed relay format. “You feel the pressure from the crowd and to shoot fast every time.”
The 20-year-old Tandrevold previously earned three bronze medals, including one in the single mixed relay, also with Christiansen, at last year’s Open European Championships in Tyumen, Russia.
To big cheers from their home crowd fans who had come out to the Duszniki Arena in beautiful but cold weather, the Polish husband-and-wife team of Krystyna Guzik and Grzegorz Guzik placed third with just five spares and zero penalties (+13.9), not quite able to keep up with Christiansen on the final loop after leaving the range together within a second.
“It is so nice to win a medal here in Poland,” Krystyna Guzik said. “We were both very disappointed with all of our mistakes in the other competitions. So today, we were relaxed and laughing before the competition, hoping not to have those mistakes again. We did not … and now have a medal.”
It was the first medal for Poland at these championships.
Ukraine with Iryna Varvynets and Andriy Dotsenko finished fourth, also with five spares and zero penalties (+20.9).
Biathlon Canada’s Aidan Millar skiing the final loop of the single mixed relay at the 2017 IBU Open European Championships in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland. With teammate Sarah Beaudry, Canada finished 13th (Photo: IBU/Eurovisionsports.tv screenshot)
For Biathlon Canada, Sarah Beaudry and Aidan Millar required seven spares during their race and had no penalty, just like the winning Russians and Norwegians, but could not quite keep up with the best teams on the course in the fast-paced race format with short loops somewhat comparable to a team sprint in cross-country.
Beaudry cleaned her first shooting stage and then needed one spare to hit all targets in standing. At the first exchange Canada was 10th, 35.8 seconds behind the then leading team from Poland.
Millar missed one shot in his first prone stage, leaving the range again in ninth position. Then he needed two spares in his standing shooting on the way to exchanging back to Beaudry in 11th (+56.4).
On her second leg, Beaudry had one miss in prone and required two spares in standing, falling back a bit to exchange in 13th (+2:12.0).
On his final leg, Millar was able to shoot clean in both stages, reducing the time gap to the top but not able to make up another position, and finished in 13th place (+1:56.1).
US Biathlon is only represented with two women at the Open European Championships in Poland, and decided to forgo a start in the single mixed relay, instead entering a team in the mixed relay later on Sunday.
Katerina Smutna (left) and Tord Asle Gjerdalen (right) of Team Santander won the 2017 Marcialonga. (Photo: Visma Ski Classics)
Tord Asle Gjerdalen won the Marcialonga, a Worldloppet and Swix Ski Classics marathon for the third time – in a row. This year was on a shortened course, “just” 57 rather than the traditional 70 kilometers.
The Team Santander athlete finished in two hours, eight minutes, and 36 seconds, edging Johan Kjølstad (Team United Bakeries) and Morten Eide Pedersen (Team BN Bank) in a sprint finish by 2.6 and 2.9 seconds, respectively.
Tyler Kornfield and David Norris of Alaska Pacific University finished 43rd (+5:03.8) and 66th (+10:43.1). Canadian Paralympian Brian McKeever finished 57th (+9:13.5) and guide Graham Nishikawa 81st (+12:56.5), followed by Ian Murray in 85th (+13:37.5) and Erik Carleton in 111th (+17:50.2).
In the women’s competition, Katerina Smutna, also of Team Santander, won her third straight Ski Classics competition. She crossed the line in two hours, 22 minutes, and 46.4 seconds. Britta Norgren of Team Lager 157 was second by just 0.8 seconds, and Sara Lindborg (Team Serneke) third, +4:22.2. University of Utah alum Maria Graefnings was tenth, +10:35.8.
Norway won the men’s 4 x 7.5 k relay on Saturday at the IBU World Cup in Presque Isle, Maine, with (from left to right) Lars Helge Birkeland, Johannes Thingnes Bø, Tarjei Bø, and Erlend Bjøntegaard. Sean Doherty (far right) anchored the U.S. to fifth, its best result since 2013. (Photo: IBU/NordicFocus)
Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Lowell Bailey.
It’s often a tall order being the anchor leg in a relay, but that kind of pressure is what most closers thrive on. Take Tarjei Bø, for example. The 27-year-old Norwegian had been sent out in first after the final exchange, after his younger brother Johannes Thingnes Bø tagged him two-tenths of a second ahead of Russia in the men’s 4 x 7.5-kilometer relay in Presque Isle, Maine.
It was the final day of the IBU World Cup in the U.S., and the last day of World Cup racing before World Championships March 2-13 in Oslo, Norway. For the Norwegians, this was it; Tarjei had three loops and two shooting stages to see what he could do to hold off Russia, as well as France, 13.4 seconds back, to take the win.
Italy trailed 25.6 seconds behind in fourth and the U.S. was another 12 seconds back in fifth at the start of the last leg. For the Americans, Lowell Bailey, Leif Nordgren and Tim Burke had used a combined six spares and avoided the penalty lap to reach as high as fourth during Nordgren’s second leg, and with Sean Doherty closing, they were within 25 seconds of the podium with 7.5 k to go.
Sean Doherty (US Biathlon) skied the anchor leg for the U.S. in the men’s 4 x 7.5 k relay on Saturday at the IBU World Cup in Presque Isle, Maine. The U.S. placed fifth for the best team result since 2013. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
But before we get ahead of ourselves and the historic third or fourth place the Americans were eyeing, let’s get back to the race between Norway and Russia.
One and a half kilometers into the last leg, Tarjei remained 2.6 seconds ahead of Russia’s 24-year-old Maxim Tsvetkov, and extended that lead to 7 seconds half a kilometer later.
In his first prone stage, Tarjei hit all five targets, while Tsvetkov needed two spares to clean. France’s Jean Guillaume Beatrix cleaned with the fastest shooting and range time on that stage, moving into second, 26.7 seconds behind the Norwegian with two loops to go.
Tsvetkov left the range in third, 46.7 seconds out of first, while Doherty improved to fourth — another 14 seconds back — with one spare. Meanwhile, Germany’s Benedikt Doll used one spare as well to move into fifth, 10 seconds behind Doherty, and Italy’s Thomas Bormolini needed three spares to clean and fell to sixth.
Tarjei took his lead and ran with it, opening up 35 seconds on Beatrix in second place by 4.5 k. The Norwegian entered the range for the last time without anyone in sight, hitting his first four targets then needing one spare to clean. Beatrix again shot without a miss to secure second place, heading out on the last loop 14 seconds behind Norway.
One spare for the Russian kept him in third, 47 seconds out of first, and Germany’s Doll left the range 10.7 seconds later in fourth with a single spare. Just 2.4 seconds behind, Doherty followed in fifth, after using two spares to clean the final stage.
For Tarjei, the last 2 k was more or less a victory lap as he remained nearly 27 seconds ahead with 1 k to go. He crossed the finish without anyone else in sight, securing the Norwegian win in 1:12:09.8. France’s Beatrix finished 30.1 seconds later in second, while a fight for third unfolded behind them on the final loop.
Initially, Doll led Doherty out of the range, then attacked early in the loop while a US Biathlon staff member ran alongside Doherty to encourage him to latch on. But Doll, who recently placed second in the mass start at the World Cup in Canmore, Alberta, was on a mission for the podium — and he needed to drop Doherty and catch Tsvetkov to reach it. He overtook the Russian by the 6.5 k mark, skiing 2 seconds ahead of Tsvetkov while Doherty followed in fifth,, 4.6 seconds behind Tsvetkov.
At the finish, Doll remained in control of third, crossing the line 42.6 seconds behind Norway, while Tsvetkov and Doherty duked it out for fourth. The Russian took it in a photo finish, 48.3 seconds back, and Doherty finished with the same time in fifth.
“Today’s race was a great result for me individually and for the team as a whole,” Doherty said in a US Biathlon press release. “I felt strong on the skis and the finish was so close. I think we are all feeling optimistic for the upcoming worlds in Norway.”
In all, the U.S. finished with nine spares and no penalties, and captured its best result in a men’s relay since 2013. In January, the same lineup placed sixth in the men’s relay in Ruhpolding, Germany. Fourth would have been an unprecedented team best.
“The relay was a great indicator of where we are as a team right now,” Bailey wrote in an email.
Norway, with Lars Helge Birkeland, Erlend Bjøntegaard, and the Bø brothers, combined for first with seven spares and no penalties. They overcame a rough start when Birkeland used three spares on the first prone stage and dropped to 16th in the field. He cleaned standing to improve to 11th, then came through the first exchange in 12th.
“The relay is important for us, especially before the world champs, we wanted to win to have a good feeling,” Tarjei told German broadcaster ARD after the race. “The whole team had two or three misses too many, we didn’t know what would happen, but a really good job.”
Germany stood in first after the opening leg, with Erik Lesser hitting all 10 targets without a miss and handing off to Andreas Birnbacher 17 seconds ahead of Switzerland in second. Serafin Wiestner had elevated the Swiss team with the fastest course time of the first-leg skiers, using one spare in each stage to bring them within striking distance of Germany. Belarus followed just 0.7 seconds behind in third, after Vladimir Chepelin cleaned prone and used one spare in standing. France’s Simon Fourcade came through the exchange a second later in fifth, 18.8 seconds behind Germany.
American Lowell Bailey (r) leads Norway’s Lars Helge Birkeland during the first leg of the men’s 4 x 7.5 k relay at the IBU World Cup in Presque Isle, Maine. The Norwegians went on to win and the U.S. placed fifth for its best result since 2013. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
For the U.S., Bailey tagged Nordgren in 11th, 39 seconds out of first and 11.6 seconds ahead of Norway in 12th. Bailey used one spare in prone and two in standing to leave the range in sixth, then 12th, respectively.
“I didn’t have an especially great day, but the rest of the guys had solid performances and brought us back up into legitimate contention for a bronze,” Bailey wrote.
Canada’s Scott Perras cleaned prone to follow Bailey out of the range for the first time in seventh, then used three spares in standing and slipped to 13th, more than a minute behind the leaders.
At the exchange, Perras tagged Carsen Campbell in 14th, 1:15 back. Campbell improved to 13th, using one spare in each stage, and Matthew Neumann used five spares (three in prone, two standing) to slip one spot to 14th, but the Canadians were taken out of the race on the final loop when Matthew Hudec was lapped. Hudec used just one spare in prone but incurred a penalty loop after using all three in standing, making the team total 14 spares and one penalty.
At the front of the race, Switzerland took control on the second leg with Benjamin Weger, who cleaned prone and used one spare in standing. Italy moved into second, 33.4 seconds back after Lukas Hofer used three spares (one prone, two standing) and skied the second-fastest course time of the second leg.
Alexander Povarnitsyn put Russia in third, 38.4 seconds behind, with a clean prone and single standing spare, and Germany fell to fifth when Birnbacher used all three spares in prone and two more in standing.
“I really have no explanation for my prone shooting,” Birnbacher told German broadcaster ARD. “I somehow felt I had hit, but… Then I clicked after the second or third miss, by right, because the wind was a little coming from there. In zeroing it was kind of the same. So this is pretty inexplicable.”
Temperatures were frigid in Presque Isle on Saturday morning, around -22 degrees Fahrenheit, which warmed up to about 8 degrees by the 2:20 p.m. start. Windchill was still a factor, and some athletes, like Perras, skied with mittens over their gloves to keep their hands warm for shooting.
Leif Nordgren (US Biathlon raced the second leg for the U.S. men’s relay on Saturday, bringing the team from 11th to seventh by the second exchange at the IBU World Cup in Presque Isle, Maine. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
“I like racing in the cold weather,” Nordgren, the Americans’ second-leg skier, wrote in an email. “I think as North Americans that’s something that we get used to growing up, and have an advantage over central Europeans maybe.”
He rose from 11th at the exchange to seventh with a flawless prone stage, then left the range in fourth after standing, where he used one spare.
“I was pretty happy with my race today, I tried to be aggressive and attack right from the start, with my shape I’ve had this season that is the only way I’m able to hang in the race,” Nordgren wrote. “I was so disappointed with my shooting after the sprint race, I just made sure to follow my shooting plan and it paid off. Getting the tag from Lowell in 11th, I knew that with good shooting would be the best chance I had of moving up.”
In Thursday’s sprint, Nordgren placed 65th with 7-for-10 shooting. On his final loop on Saturday, he slipped three places (behind France, Norway and Germany) to seventh, tagging Burke 55.8 seconds out of first and 4.3 seconds behind Germany in sixth.
“It was too bad that I ran out of gas on the final loop, it would have been nice to put Tim in a better position, but I gave all I had with my shape for today,” Nordgren wrote.
Switzerland dropped out of contention when 25-year-old Mario Dolder failed to cleaned prone with three spares and had to ski a penalty loop. That put him in fifth, then he used all three spares again and incurred another penalty in standing to slip to eighth. He tagged Swiss anchor Martin Jaeger nearly 1:50 minutes back in eighth.
Norway moved from fifth to first with Norway’s J.T. Bø, who had been tagged 51 seconds out of first and came within 19 seconds of the lead in fourth after prone (using two spares to clean). In standing, he used one spare and left the range in second, 6.3 seconds behind Russia’s Dmitry Malyshko, who had cleaned the stage and used one spare previously in prone.
Behind Norway and Russia, which ultimately came through the last exchange in first and second, France picked off one place to tag in third, ahead of Italy and the U.S.
France put together the most consistent race of the day, after Simon Fourcade tagged Quentin Fillon Maillet in fourth, then he held that position to hand off to Simon Desthieux in fourth, 48 seconds out of first.
Desthieux shot without a miss to elevate the team to third, 13.4 seconds behind Norway with one leg to go.
Tim Burke (US Biathlon) racing the third leg for the U.S. in the men’s relay on Saturday at the IBU World Cup in Presque Isle, Maine. He brought the team from seventh to fifth by the final exchange. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
Meanwhile, Burke used a spare in each stage to bring the U.S. from seventh to fifth, with the fourth-fastest course time of the third leg.
Doherty skied the fourth-fastest anchor leg, behind Austria’s Julian Eberhard (who anchored his team to ninth), Doll and Bø, respectively.
“It was good to make a win in the last race,” Tarjei Bø said. “Now we have two weeks at home…”
Switzerland’s Jaeger was lapped and his team ended up 13th, ahead of Canada in 15th.
When ARD asked the Germans how they would spend their last day in Presque Isle before heading home, the team’s third leg, Daniel Böhm responded, “We have planned our day front to back, we basically don’t know how we’ll get everything done,” he said with a laugh. “No, Walmart I think is closed on Sundays, so it will be difficult to get through the day. I think it will come down to surfing on the internet, reading, and maybe playing some cards.”
Nordgren wrote that he’ll fly to Germany on Sunday for a week of “easy training” before World Championships. The rest of the U.S. team could not be immediately reached for comment.
France’s Martin Fourcade leaving the range during one of four shooting stages in the pursuit on Friday at the IBU World Cup in Presque Isle, Maine. He went on to win by 24.8 seconds over Johannes Thingnes Bø of Norway. (Photo: IBU/NordicFocus)
The same three athletes who stood on the podium after the International Biathlon Union (IBUo) World Cup sprint on Thursday in Presque Isle, Maine, did so again after the men’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit on Friday, only their order had changed.
In cold and windy conditions, France’s Martin Fourcade took the victory in 31:04.4, with two penalties in the four shooting stages. The third starter, Fourcade finished 24.8 seconds ahead of Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø, who had won the sprint and thus started the pursuit first with a 28-second head start. Russia’s Anton Shipulin started second and ended up third (+1:11.5) with two penalties.
American Tim Burke moved into fourth place on the penultimate loop, but two misses in the final standing shooting set him back to seventh, and he kept that position to the finish, placing seventh and 2:04.9 behind Fourcade with three total penalties.
Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø (l) congratulates France’s Martin Fourcade after placing second to Fourcade in the IBU World Cup men’s pursuit in Presque Isle, Maine. (Photo: IBU/NordicFocus)
“Today I joined Raphaël Poirée with the number of World Cup wins,” Fourcade said of his 44th victory in a post-race interview with the IBU. “That means a lot for me. I grew up watching Raphaël on TV. To join legends you need to [be] inspired, and I know how much he inspired me.”
Asked if he feels like a legend himself now, Fourcade laughed: “No, I will never do. I just try to do my best.”
Poirée represented France on the World Cup from 1995 to 2007. He earned both silver and bronze at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, and another bronze in the relay at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy, as well as 20 medals at World Championships, seven of which were gold.
Unfortunately the end of the pursuit was overshadowed by a severe crash from Germany’s Arnd Peiffer, who had left the shooting range in 11th position, then fell on a downhill section on the final loop. At high speed, Peiffer came off the right side of the course without another athlete nearby, ripped through a safety net, and crashed head and shoulder first against a thinly padded group of trees. He later could be seen on the TV broadcast sitting upright leaning against the trees, with his skis and rifle removed by coaches and course staff. He was then strapped to a stretcher and put in a neck brace as a precaution, and taken to a nearby hospital.
“I saw the immediate aftermath of the crash,” American Lowell Bailey, who had left the range shortly after Peiffer in 15th, wrote in an email. “Arnd was off the side of the trail, just following a severe 180-degree turn. The turn is tight and there is little room for error. The outside of the turn was lined with mesh snow fence and all I could see were his feet sticking up onto the trail.”
“There was a lot of blood in the snow,” Germany’s assistant coach Andreas Stitzl, who was one of the first responders sprinting to the accident site, later told German TV broadcaster ARD. Stitzl suspected that Peiffer had, at a minimum, sustained a concussion and lacerations on his mouth and forehead. “I was completely shocked how he was lying there. The most important thing was that we first stabilized his head,” Stitzl said.
ARD later posted an interview with German team doctor Klaus-Jürgen Marquardt, who confirmed that Peiffer had suffered a severe concussion, but remained conscious and could remember the crash despite some loss of short-term memory about the morning of the race. Further evaluations still had to determine other injuries, but Peiffer reportedly was able to call his family at home.
No Athlete Unscathed in Four Stages
Wind conditions gave the entire 60-man field problems during the pursuit, with stronger gusts than they had experienced during the “zeroing” target practice immediately before the race. As a result, competitors either had to adjust their sights or wait for a calmer moment.
From left to right: Russia’s Anton Shipulin, Latvia’s Andrejs Rastorgujevs, Germany’s Eric Lesser, and France’s Martin Fourcade during one of two standing stages in the men’s pursuit at the IBU World Cup in Presque Isle, Maine. Fourcade went on to win and Shipulin placed third. (Photo: IBU/NordicFocus)
Penalties quickly started to pile up and separated the field. Bø, Shipulin and Fourcade all missed one in their first prone stage, but kept the positions they had held at the start.
In the second prone stage, Bø and Shipulin managed to stay clean, while Fourcade had another penalty and for a while, fell back to fifth place behind Germany’s Erik Lesser and Latvia’s Andrejs Rastorgujevs, who hit all 10 of their targets between the two prone stages.
In the next standing stage, Bø shot fast and clean a second time, despite having to reset his position before the third shot, and headed out on the fourth loop with a 44-seconds lead. Fourcade also cleaned to improve t0 second place again entering the loop, with Shipulin also staying clean and leaving the range in third.
In this stage, Lesser missed two and Rastorgujevs missed three to fall out of contention. They went on to place 13th (+2:42.8) and 21st (+3:21.7), respectively. Switzerland’s Serafin Wiestner, who had finished a career-best fifth in the sprint the day before, even “dirtied” his standing targets, incurring the full five penalties, and went on to finish 27th.
Switzerland’s Benjamin Weger at the IBU World Cup men’s pursuit in Presque Isle, Maine. Weger finished 17th with seven penalties. (Photo: IBU/NordicFocus)
In the last standing stage, Bø entered the range still in first, but this time, he missed two while Fourcade as the closest pursuer was able to clean his targets.
“When I came to the last shoot, I though ‘OK, don’t look at Johannes’ targets’,” Fourcade told the IBU. “At the last moment, my eyes decided to look at it. My body and brain didn’t want to, but my eyes just looked at the targets. And I saw that he had two mistakes. So I thought ‘OK, you can do it.’ ”
Fourcade left the range 7.9 seconds ahead of Bø in second, and Shipulin moved into third (+47.3) after also missing one — his second penalty of the day.
On the last loop, Fourcade increased his lead over Bø to more than 20 seconds with 1 k remaining. He went on to finish 24.8 seconds ahead of the Norwegian, and Shipulin secured third place (+1:11.5).
“It was a day of statistics,” Fourcade said at the press conference when told it was his 100th day holding the yellow bib of the World Cup leader, and matched the number of victories of his countryman Poirée. “I love statistics, even if I’m not fighting for records. And this means a lot to me.”
“Second position is nice, but I always want to win,” Bø said at the press conference. “I was in the lead all the way until the fourth shooting. I felt the wind came strong and my legs were a little bit tired, then I missed two.”
“When I was racing in the penalty loop I watched Martin hit all the targets. That was really boring,” he added with a laugh.
“I would say my success was about average,” Shipulin said of his overseas trip to North America, through a translator. “I had three podiums here. I can’t say I am in my perfect form yet. Actually it was more of a training World Cup period than a competitive one, so I am satisfied… I now plan to train hard and compete as best I can at World Championships.”
Fourth place went to Austria’s Simon Eder (+1:39.7), with three penalties, who improved from 11th after the sprint, but potentially missed a chance to move onto the podium with a miss in his last standing. He left the range for the last time 45 seconds behind to Shipulin and ended up 28.2 seconds off the podium.
“The wind situation was extremely difficult,” Eder said in an Austrian Skiing Federation press release. “In the first standing shooting I waited forever until the wind calmed down. Then I quickly shot right through it. For the last standing position it just would not calm down. Then I tried to hit shot by shot. For the last one it did not work out anymore…. Of course I am very happy about the fourth place.”
Burke, 7th, Leads Three Americans in Top 20
Tim Burke racing to seventh in the men’s pursuit at the IBU World Cup in Presque Isle, Maine. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
Just as it had done in the sprint, U.S. Biathlon ended up with three men in the top 20 in the pursuit. Similar to the men on the podium, the three Americans finished in a different order than on Friday.
The latest starter of the three in 20th, 1:33 minutes back based on his sprint finish, Burke raced into contention in the pursuit — putting himself in fourth with a chance at the podium. He incurred more penalties in the final shooting than those ahead of him, but still finished seventh (+2:04.9) with three penalties (1+0+0+2). Last week in Canmore, Burke also placed seventh for a season best in the mass start.
“I’m really happy with the race,” Burke told FasterSkier on the phone on Friday. “That was a great, great performance for me. That was really really tricky shooting conditions again on the range. I felt like I handled it pretty well, so I am really pleased with the result.”
“The real key to my race today was that clean first standing stage,” Burke recalled. “There I moved from 11th and I went out basically was 4th place after that. Definitely a tricky stage, it was really windy, but I just took my time. I refused to just give away a shot. I really fought for every shot there.”
On the penultimate loop, he moved up to fourth place after initially leaving the range in seventh:
“So our next loop there, I went out just behind Erik Lesser and Simon Eder,” Burke said. “I’m pretty sure there were a couple guys right behind me, I don’t know who they were. A little ways in to that loop those guys both pulled over and did not want to lead. So I ended up pulling for the rest of that loop and I felt really good.”
Burke came into the last stage still leading that pack in fourth place, but shot two misses pushed him back to seventh as he left the penalty lap again.
“I was excited for that last standing,” Burke said. “That was a really tough one. It was so windy as we were setting up. I just tried to be really patient, but I just ended up just having to go for it after awhile because I didn’t want to wait for too long.”
On the final loop, he was unable to catch those ahead of him who had passed him with just one penalty in the final stage, but Burke also didn’t lose another position, defending a narrow lead over Bulgaria’s Vladimir Iliev and Ukraine’s Artem Pryma.
“Overall I am really satisfied,” Burke concluded. “Of course I definitely wanted that sixth place to get into the [flower ceremony] awards there at the end. Going out onto the last loop I was just couple seconds behind [Czech Republic’s Michal] Slesinger. I know he’s really tough on the last loop too. We just kind of yo-yoed the whole loop: I’d make up a few seconds then lose a few seconds. Then, in the end I just felt like I was coming back to him pretty good in the last k. But I just ran out of room.”
Lowell Bailey (US Biathlon) racing to 14th in the IBU World Cup men’s pursuit on Friday in Presque Isle, Maine. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
About 40 seconds behind Burke, teammate Bailey finished the pursuit in 14th (+2:43.2) with five penalties (1+0+3+1). He had started the race in 15th, 1:22 behind Bø.
“There was a lot of wind in the shooting range today,” Bailey wrote in an email. “The venue is situated on top of a plateau and the prevailing winds come ripping across the range. Usually, the wind is from left to right, but today it was fickle, and changed dramatically from one stage to the next.”
Sean Doherty started the pursuit in 13th, 1:16 behind, and with six misses (2+2+1+1), he lost a few positions to finish 20th (+3:05.3). Despite struggling with the changing wind conditions, he was satisfied with his race.
“Although it was not my best shooting, today’s result was in no way bad,” Doherty, 20, wrote in an email. “It is still my third best world cup result and I am happy with it.”
Coming off a career-best 13th in the sprint, Sean Doherty (US Biathlon) finished 20th in the men’s pursuit at the IBU World Cup in Presque Isle, Maine. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
“Today for our race the wind picked up,” he explained of the shooting conditions. “It was much stronger than in zero by the time the race started. Overall it was challenging conditions on the range, but the tracks were in great shape.”
Without Biathlon Canada’s A-team at the races in Presque Isle, Scott Perras was the only Canadian who had qualified for the men’s pursuit, starting in 48th place. After a clean first shooting, he fell back in the subsequent stages, and ultimately finished 47th (+6:17.4) with seven penalties (0+2+3+2).
“The shooting conditions were pretty tough today,” Perras wrote in an email. “In zero, the wind flags would show very little wind close to the shooting mat, the flags closer to the targets were showing the truer shooting conditions. It was manageable at times but no one was given a free hit out there today, you had to work for them.
“The skiing felt ok, my legs should feel better but it takes a while to get used to the speed of the World Cup and it doesn’t happen over a weekend,” the 32-year-old Sochi Olympian added. “I was much happier with my skis today, and everything seemed a little better than in the sprint.”
Baby It’s Cold Outside
The night before the pursuit, temperatures in Presque Isle dipped to minus 21 degrees Celsius (-6 Fahrenheit). By the start of the race at 11:30 a.m. local time, the rising sun had warmed the temperature in the Nordic Heritage Center arena to a more manageable minus 16 Celsius (3 Fahreheit), according to the IBU race report.
During the pursuit, he appeared to be wearing the same gloves again, and swirled his arm several times before the shooting stages in an effort to increase blood flow in his shooting hand.
“Actually I think it’s a little colder than in Norway today,” his teammate Erlend Bjøntegaard, who skied to fifth place (+1:57.6) told the IBU. “I was just ready to attack today, and that’s what I did.”
He suspected his fifth-place result would help him to secure a spot on the Norwegian team for the upcoming World Championships in Oslo.
Sean Doherty (US Biathlon) placed 20th in the men’s pursuit at the IBU World Cup in Presque Isle, Maine. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
The winner, Fourcade could be seen wearing a breathing mask before the race to warm up the cold air.
“It was really not easy because it’s a long time since we have raced in this kind of conditions,” Fourcade commented on the race condition during the press conference. “For me it was really difficult. My left hand froze during the competition; luckily I shoot with the right hand. I think this was the limit with the wind where the body can react well to the cold.”
After the race, he decided to skip the relay and expected colder temperatures on Saturday, and flew home to France on Friday.
According to some athletes, the temperatures — the coldest they had raced in this season — weren’t a problem.
“We are from Russia so this is quite normal and comfortable for us,” Shipulin said with a smile in the press conference, through a translator. “We were training before this in Yakutia [a region in the far east of Russia], where minus 17 Celsius [1.4 Fahrenheit] is considered warm temperature. … I rather had too [many] clothes on me today.”
Leif Nordgren (US Biathlon) during in the IBU World Cup men’s sprint in Presque Isle, Maine. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
“Many Europeans [are] using breathing masks to warm up or train in temperatures many North Americans would consider mild,” Perras wrote. “Today was definitely warm enough that you weren’t going to hurt your lungs, but it was important to keep skin from being too exposed. I wore slightly thicker gloves in the race but decided to remove my right glove for the final standing shooting, I wanted a better feeling on the trigger. I knew that my hand would stay plenty warm for the last lap of the race even without my glove.”
“I was prepared for it,” Burke said of the frigid temperatures. “I knew there would be a good chance it would be really cold up here, so I packed all my best warm weather racing gear. I felt fine in the cold. The only part I struggled with was my hands, especially on the first loop. That first prone, I let that shot [that I missed] go without even knowing it. I just quickly pulled the trigger. After that, my hands warmed up and they were fine for the rest of the race.”
“Racing in the cold like this adds an extra bit of challenge,” Doherty explained. “It is tough on the hands, to keep them warm enough, and it adds a bit of extra stress and demand on the system. But luckily the weather is the same for everyone and you just have to work with it.”
“After growing up in the Northeast as a ski racer, I think you just learn to accept the discomfort that arises on a day like today,” wrote Bailey, of Lake Placid, N.Y. “I warmed up with a lot of extra layers so that I was as warm as possible before stripping down for the race. During the race, I lost feeling in all of my fingers except my trigger finger… It sounds odd, but for some reason, my index fingers seem to stay frost free, while I typically lose all feeling in the rest of my fingers on a day like today. But, it’s the same conditions for everyone … You just have to go out and make things work.”
Relays on Saturday
Later on Friday, organizers announced that the women’s relay would be moved from Sunday morning to Saturday at 4:10 p.m. Eastern time after the men’s relay at 2:20 pm, fearing even colder temperatures on Sunday could otherwise lead to a cancellation.
“All of us are very excited about the relay,” Burke said of his 4 x 7.5 k relay team, with Bailey, Leif Nordgren, him, and Doherty racing in that order. “I mean, two races in a row here with three guys in the top-twenty, I think [that] shows the kind of depth our team has. Coming off of two solid results, we are looking forward to this one.”
Note: In the women’s 10 k pursuit, Susan Dunklee started second and finished fifth for her second-straight flower ceremony in Presque Isle, and the U.S. women had three in the top 25 with Clare Egan in 23rd and Hannah Dreissigacker in 24th. Canada’s lone starter in the pursuit, Zina Kocher placed 46th.
“I think today was one of the women’s team’s best days ever,” Dunklee said. “Having three ladies in the top 25 is huge. It is going to be a fun relay and we have the potential to put together a great performance.”
Stay tuned for a separate report on the women’s race.
Watch the men’s and women’s relays live on Eurovision (Friday at 2:20 p.m. and 4:10 p.m. EDT)
Russia’s Anton Shipulin (l) celebrates after holding off Germany’s Simon Schempp (r) to anchor Russia to the men’s relay victory on Sunday at the IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy. Shipulin outlasted Schempp by 1 second for the win. (Photo: IBU/Rene Miko)
Russia’s Anton Shipulin and Germany’s Simon Schempp have met multiple times on the final loop of an International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup race and duked it out for first, both in individual races as well as relays. In fact, they did so in Saturday’s pursuit in Antholz, Italy, where Shipulin prevailed by 10 seconds to claim his first victory of the season.
On Sunday in the men’s 4 x 7.5-kilometer relay in the same packed arena with over 20,000 biathlon fans, Shipulin did it again to anchor a Russian team — with Maxim Tsvetkov, Evgeny Garanichev and Dmitry Malyshko — to first in 1:12:24.8, with no penalties and seven spare rounds.
The German team, with Erik Lesser, Benedikt Doll, Arnd Peiffer, and Schempp, finished just 1 second behind, with one penalty but just four spares.
“It has become sort of a tradition with me and Simon together on the last shooting range and then on the last lap,” Shipulin commented in the post-race press conference through a translator. “Honestly Simon becomes stronger and stronger every time, but today I would say I didn’t beat him physically, it was more about tactics. It is not a very long finish lane here, so I just made it tactically better to not give him a chance.”
“Being on the podium shows that we are in good shape,” Malyshko said through a translator. “We will try our best at the World Championships [in Oslo in March] to show everybody that we are even stronger than in the World Cups.”
“We trust in Anton, and Anton believes in the team,” one of Shipulin’s teammates added in an interview with the IBU.
Schempp was not pleased with a situation that happened when he and Shipulin came into the arena, having to pass a lapped athlete from Japan just before the last turn, with Shipulin overtaking on the right but Schempp getting slightly blocked.
“The lapped athlete ran in the middle of the track. The whole audience was yelling for him to go to the side. I don’t know, maybe he is deaf on his ears, or whatever he is doing,” Schempp told German broadcaster ARD. “With all the peace of mind he is running right between us, and that must not happen.”
Asked if he thought a protest with the IBU would be an option, Schempp replied: “Nah, surely that would not go through. That result stands.”
“I gave everything I had, it was a neat relay, and we were rewarded with the second place,” he added. “The Russians were very, very strong, especially Anton in the finish. We can live with that. It was a clear step forward in the relays [the German men’s first relay podium of the season]. Of course the end is a little annoying, but we can be satisfied.”
The head coaches for German and Russia, Mark Kirchner and Ricco Gross, respectively, hugged and congratulated each other in the coaching zone after the race. Both 45 years old, they are former German teammates and won gold together in the men’s relay at the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. More recently, they were also colleagues, with Kirchner coaching the German men’s team and Gross being an assistant for the women at the 2014 Olympics, before Gross took an offer last summer to lead the Russian men’s team (after being “demoted” to the IBU Cup by the German Ski Federation).
“It’s difficult to even pick the six best athletes for the World Cup,” Gross had told German newspaper FAZ in an interview published on Friday, just before Shipulin’s sprint victory. “I was extremely surprised in September when I watched the Russian championships for the first time, with more than 100 athletes. There is a giant talent pool … My target is the Olympic Games in 2018.”
Norway opted to rest its usual starters Tarjei Bø and Emil Hegle Svendsen for the relay on Sunday, instead starting veteran Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Lars Helge Birkeland, Johannes Thingnes Bø, and Erlend Bjøntegaard.
“They married and went on vacation,” Johannes Bø joked during the press conference when asked about the absence of his brother Tarjei and Svendsen.
Thus it fell to the relatively inexperienced Bjøntegaard to anchor the team. Bø tagged him with a 29.2-second lead over Russia, and 33.5 seconds ahead of Germany, with Shipulin and Schempp chasing after him.
“Now it’s becoming really exciting. I wouldn’t like to be in the shoes of Bjøntegaard right now,” Germany’s third-leg Arnd Peiffer said during an interview with ARD while the race was still going on. “I think he has a lot of stress now, and I am curious what happens.”
But facing this big challenge, Bjøntegaard did a good job skiing a fast first loop to return to the range still in first and only needing two spares in his prone shooting. Yet this still reduced his lead to 6.8 seconds over Schempp, who had shot clean, and 14.9 seconds to Shipulin, who required one spare.
In the final standing shooting, the Norwegian needed two more spare rounds, while Shipulin and Schempp both remained clean and left the range just 0.5 seconds apart. They skied together until the finishing sprint, with Bjøntegaard securing the third place on the podium, 22.9 seconds after Russia, but securely ahead of the rest of the field.
“With Emil and Tarjei, two of our best athletes were not in the relay,” Johannes Thingnes Bø said during the press conference. “I was hoping that we could make the podium, and we did. A perfect race for everyone on the team. Erlend and Lars Helge were called up last minute, but they were relaxed, and third place is good. It’s not easy for Erlend to go out with Schempp and Shipulin.”
Behind Norway, Austria, with Sven Grossegger, Julian Eberhard, Simon Eder, and Dominik Landertinger, finished fourth (+1:01.7), with one penalty and 11 spare rounds.
“Better shooting,” Simon Eder told the IBU in a video interview when questioned what it would have taken to reach the podium. “We always have the extra [penalty] loop. It’s not easy, it happens so fast. But we hope to manage it at the World Champs without it.”
“The running shape is very good in the Austrian team,” Landertinger added. “And if the shooting is a little bit better we can make the podium.”
France, starting without World Cup leader Martin Fourcade with a lineup of his older brother Simon Fourcade, Quentin Fillion Maillet, Simon Desthieux, and Jean Guillaume Beatrix, placed fifth (+1:39.3), with no penalties and 11 spares.
U.S. Ties Season-Best 6th; Canada 11th
Lowell Bailey (US Biathlon leads Russia’s Maxim Tsvetkov during the first leg of the men’s 4 x 7.5 k IBU World Cup relay on Sunday in Antholz, Italy. Russia went on to win and the U.S. finished 1:43.7 minutes back in sixth, tying a season-best team result. (Photo: IBU)
On the last leg, Beatrix narrowly won out a race against American Sean Doherty, who crossed the finish less than five seconds later in sixth place, 1:43.7 behind the winners. The U.S. ended up with one penalty and 13 spares, and tied its season-best result after having achieved sixth in the relay a week ago in Ruhpolding, Germany.
The Americans started the race in bib 6 with their now-usual lineup of Lowell Bailey, Tim Burke, Leif Nordgren, and Doherty, the same starters they had used at the World Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland, where the U.S. placed 14th in the men’s relay.
Bailey briefly took the lead on the loop out of the arena, before two misses in his prone shooting stage required spare rounds and set him back to 15th, but still within 15.5 seconds out of the lead. With another spare in his standing stage, he still moved up five positions, and with the second-fastest, first-leg course time on his final loop, he tagged off in seventh, 20.8 seconds behind Germany’s Lesser.
Burke held that position throughout his first loop, but two misses in the prone stage set him back. In the standing shooting, he used all three spare rounds to avoid the penalty lap, falling back to 14th before he made up ground again with a fast last loop (third-best course time) to tag Nordgren in ninth (+1:04.3).
“Today proved that last week was not a fluke,” Burke said in a US Biathlon press release. “We are happy to be right in the mix with the ‘big’ biathlon nations but we still know that we are capable of more.”
“I got the tag from Tim right with the Czech Republic,” Nordgren wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “For all of the first loop I just focused on staying nice and relaxed, trying to conserve as much energy as possible. Prone I wanted to be pretty aggressive and it worked out well.”
After a clean prone shooting, Nordgren left the range in seventh place, virtually tied with a few other teams.
“The second loop I left the range with Eder from Austria, again I was just tucked in with him saving energy,” Nordgren recalled. “Although I had super great skis today, so eventually on the downhill I put in a good transition and was pushing towards the French team in front of us.”
After using two spare rounds in his standing stage, Nordgren still managed to move up to sixth place as some other teams, such as Italy and Switzerland, struggled on this leg, and handed off 1:04.5 minutes behind the leaders — about the same gap he had when he started.
Russia’s Evgeniy Garanichev (l) leads Tim Burke (US Biathlon) during the second leg of the men’s 4 x 7.5 k IBU World Cup relay in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: IBU/Rene Miko)
“Standing was the only disappointing part about my race today, it was a bummer to have two mistakes, but I didn’t lose any places and I was quick with the extras,” Nordgren wrote. “I was surprised on the third loop, I actually had some energy to push. Eventually France passed me and got a small gap I couldn’t close.”
Doherty kept the team in sixth on his first loop and through the first prone shooting, which he cleaned, reducing his gap to first by about ten seconds.
“The conditions today were ideal,” Doherty wrote in an email. “The course was in great shape and there was no wind. The altitude here adds to the difficulty, but I also pushed hard on the second loop and I did not really hold it together on the range as I wish I could have.”
By the final standing shooting he had moved to fifth, and was on the range behind Austria, with France nearby and Slovakia further behind. Austria’s Landertinger shot clean and finished first, while Doherty caused a penalty lap. But he only lost one position and still had France’s Beatrix in sight who had needed three spares.
Doherty skied a fast final loop, almost closing a 20-second gap again, finishing sixth, 4.4 seconds behind France in fifth and 1:43.7 behind Russia.
“I am a little bummed to have had that penalty because I was excited to fight for 5th. But overall 6th was secure,” Doherty wrote.
“I am happy with another strong result,” Doherty added in the US Biathlon press release. “We were in the mix the whole time and even though I did not shoot my best the team did well. We are all looking forward to the next relay.”
“As a team I think we’re happy with this race, but it was nowhere near a perfect race for us,” Nordgren wrote. “We still have more to give and will be looking for more in the relays to come.”
Canada in bib 7 chose a lineup of Christian Gow, Nathan Smith, Macx Davies, and Scott Gow. Brendan Green had to sit out the relay because of back issues following his collision in Saturday’s pursuit, “which did not improve until race time,” according to Biathlon Canada head coach Matthias Ahrens. “We had to put Scott Gow in his place,” Ahrens wrote in an email.
Younger brother Christian Gow jumped out to the lead after cleaning the initial prone stage, but on the next loop he lost some ground, crossing the next timing point in 11th, just 10 seconds out of first. After he required two spare rounds in his standing stage, Christian lost additional time to the leaders, but kept his position in the field, tagging off to Smith in 11th (+1:08.3).
Smith, currently the highest-ranked Canadian in the overall World Cup, cleaned both stages for his first 100-percent shooting in a race this season. Reflecting on his race in an email, he said his ski shape was off — and it has been for the last couple days. Unable to move up in the field, he tagged Davies in 11th (+1:07.7).
“I wanted to make up some spots and get our team up to the top 10. I knew it would mean some really good shooting,” Smith wrote in an email. “I’m really happy to finally have my first clean of the winter, especially after poor shooting in the other two races this weekend. On the other hand my skiing hasn’t been where it should for the last two weeks. I’m not sure why, I went from my best ski shape to my worst ski shape in literally 3 days. I have been struggling with back pain after a hard downhill crash in the Ruhpolding 20 km.”
Davies went on to clean his prone stage and move into 10th, reducing the gap to the leaders to 41 seconds. In standing, he needed all three spares, which caused him to lose some time. Overall Davies skied the second-best course time of his leg (only behind Norway’s Bø), and handed off to Scott Gow in 10th place (+1:39.0).
On the anchor leg, Scott needed two spares in his prone stage and one in standing, with Estonia’s anchor Ermits Kalev still passing him on the final loop. The Canadian crossed the finish in 11th, 5.7 seconds behind Estonia and 2:28.9 minutes behind Russia.
Combined, the team had no penalty and required just eight spares. But 11th wasn’t exactly close to their season best: the Canadians finished sixth in Hochfilzen, Austria and 10th last week in Ruhpolding.
“There were some good aspects of our relay: Christian’s first prone was amazing, my shooting, and Macx’s skiing,” Smith wrote. “Overall though I would say unfortunately it was not a good relay. A good race for us is top 6. The potential for a medal is there if everyone can put together their best race on the same day. Easier said than done.”
The Biathlon World Cup resumes in two weeks on Canada’s home turf in Canmore, Alberta, with sprints on Thursday, Feb. 4 and Friday, Feb. 5, followed by mass starts on Saturday, Feb. 6, and single-mixed (1 woman, 1 man) and mixed (2 women, 2 men) relays on Sunday, Feb. 7.
“I’m going to North America in a good mood,” Germany’s Peiffer said at the press conference. “The last three weeks were really exhausting. Now I had a good week here in Antholz, and I am looking forward to go to Canmore. I have never been there before. Maybe not as many [spectators] as in Ruhpolding or Antholz, but it’s nice to see a new place for biathlon.”
“I will be in Romania for my last Junior World Championships,” Sean Doherty, 20, wrote, which will take place in Cheile Gradistei (Brasov, Romania) from Jan. 27 to Feb. 2. “So I will only be attending the Presque Isle World Cup [after Canmore].”
Sergui Sednev (UKR), Evgeniy Garanichev (RUS), Tim Burke (USA), and Erik Lesser (GER) on the foggy range in the men’s relay in Oberhof, Germany, on Friday. Photo: USBA/NordicFocus.
After watching the women slog through Thursday’s relay, the men of the IBU World Cup knew what they were in for in Oberhof on Friday.
But then, they knew what they were in for before even showing up to Germany this year.
“The conditions in Oberhof are as always, the same conditionsm,” Russian biathlete Alexei Volkov said through a translator in a post-relay press conference. “You can see them for yourself. So for us that doesn’t change a lot. The only thing that changed was sometimes the wind on the shooting range.”
And despite having a slightly longer loop, the men’s 4 x 7.5 k relay was arguably less sloppy than the women’s race – the rain wasn’t pouring out of the sky with the same intensity, the tracks had been salted and were a bit more firm, and a downhill hairpin turn that had claimed several victims was eliminated as the loop grew in length.
At the outset, Ukraine hoped to repeat the win garnered by its women’s team just one day before. The ladies had seized the dreadful course conditions and made them their own – and so did Serhiy Semenov, who, impressively, didn’t use a single spare round on the leadoff leg. No slouch on his skis, either, the Ukrainian tagged off with an 18-second advantage on the Czech Republic and Russia.
And more favorites had taken a beating. Germany was 30 seconds back in fifth, thanks to a penalty loop by Simon Schempp; Norway sat in ninth after Henrik L’Abee-Lund hit the penalty loop in each stage. Austria was 15th, France 19th, and Sweden 20th.
But a few athletes set out to change the standings on leg two. Most notable, Ole Einar Bjørndalen of Norway, who received the tag from L’Abee-Lund 33 seconds behind Ukraine.
“I went out determined and knew how I would go over the course,” Bjørndalen told Norwegian broadcaster NRK. “I should be proactive and drive on, do my thing. It worked well… it was easier for me to shoot today than many others.”
They don’t call him the king for nothing. 38-year-old Bjørndalen had the fastest time on the first loop, then cleaned the prone stage while several others struggled. Sergui Sednev of Ukraine used a spare round and was still in the lead, but it didn’t last long as Bjørndalen blew by him on the trail. He continued the pace on the second loop and then, incredibly, quickly cleaned the standing stage as well.
So far this season the champion had seemed quite far from showing the form that would allow him to capture World Cup victory number 94. His top finish had been seventh in the pursuit in Hochfilzen, Austria, where he was 30 seconds off the podium. But after today’s relay, he’ll surely be back in the mix in individual racing as well.
“Yeah, it was fun,” Bjørndalen told NRK. “A leg that shows that the most successful biathlete still has much to offer.”
Another man on the attack was Tim Burke of the American team. Starting his leg in seventh place, he used only a single spare round over the two stages to move into third, and then put in a furious effort on the final loop to overtake Erik Lesser of Germany and tag off in second position, 25 seconds behind Bjørndalen.
“I was not sure if I was going to catch Lesser on the last lap,” Burke told FasterSkier. “I think he actually put a few seconds on me in the first few climbs, but I was able to get by him in the approach to the finish. I really like the long flat heading into the finish here, it seems to suit my technique.”
(For more from the U.S. men, stay tuned for a later article.)
The top two teams both unleashed the least-experienced of their racers on leg number three: for the Norwegians, it was Erlend Bjøntegaard, in his first World Cup season, and for the U.S. Russell Currier, who is no stranger to the World Cup but hasn’t done as many relays.
While Bjøntegaard seemed to be purposefully using a loose, relaxed technique and trying to ski smoothly, Currier was swept up by veteran Arnd Peiffer of Germany and Artem Pryma of Ukraine. The three men were skiing hard to try to make up time, and visibly straining much more than the Norwegian. Currier skied with the group to the range, and then used a single spare to maintain that position.
Bjøntegaard had also used a spare, and was still in the lead. In standing he used another, but left with the lead again.
Peiffer, meanwhile, had dropped several places back after relying on all of his extra bullets to clean prone and then using one spare in standing. But he was on the move, pulling the Ukraine team along with him as he caught and passed Anton Shipulin of Russia and then Currier.
While Currier spent a long time on the range, waiting for lulls in the wind to avoid using more than one spare round, and left the range in fifth, Shipulin, Pryma, and Peiffer shot more quickly if not necessarily accurately. On the last loop it was Shipulin who was on the attack, grinding away at the course’s big uphills and dragging Peiffer with him. The two closed on the Norwegian and, amazingly, Shipuling tagged off only 1.5 seconds from the lead.
“As far as I’m concerned about my performance, yes, of course, I’m very satisfied, and that bodes well for the upcoming competitions,” Shipulin said through a translator at the press conference.
Bjøntegaard? He wasn’t as sure.
“Today I was terribly tired,” the Norwegian said after starting with a 40-second lead. “I was a bit dead and didn’t have any splash. I threw up when I got to the finish, and I’ve never done that before. It suggests that things aren’t quite as they should be.”
By the last leg, it was clear that the race was going to be a barnburner.
Emil Hegle Svendsen of Norway, Dmitry Malyshko of Russia, Florian Graf of Germany, and Andriy Deryzemlya of Ukraine all came together on the first loop and entered the range at the same time. The wind was blowing heavily at that point, and Svendsen was the only man to clean in prone. Unsurprisingly, he skied hard after leaving the rang with a 14-second advantage on Malyshko. But the Russian skied just as hard. Their loop times were separated by only 0.3 seconds.
So Svendsen came to the last shooting of the race – which, in the slow conditions, had already dragged on for an hour and fifteen minutes – with a 14-second lead. But then he began missing shots, three of them by the time he’d used his five bullets.
He carefully loaded his first spare round, and knocked down a target. Then did it again. And again. Meanwhile, Malyshko arrived, shot, used a spare round, and hit the trails.
“At the range, Emil was already shooting, and when I came in and got ready to shoot I felt that the wind was blowing really hard,”Malyshko explained in the press conference through a translator. “And that’s the moment where he basically missed two or three targets. I was lucky because when I started shooting there was a little lull in the wind, and I managed to shoot a lot better than him.”
“That was not cool, to stand there and know that [I had to hit them],” Svendsen told NRK. “But fortunately I did and it salvaged a podium.”
While he may have been disappointed that the lead he had so aggressively crafted was destroyed, Bjørndalen was nonetheless impressed by his teammate.
“Emil managed to bring down the last three of three shots, and that’s an achievement,” he said. “Some might say that it was a bad series to shoot three misses, and that’s okay, but when you get in the situation where you have three extra shots and every boom is a penalty loop, it’s a great achievement to hit on all three with trembling legs and 20,000 people in the stands.”
The gap to Malyshko was nine seconds, and it almost seemed like Svendsen would be able to close it; he’s accomplished more monumental feats before. But Malyshko, once again, showed no interest in being dominated by the former World Champion.
“As I came out of the last stage – we had a little break during Christmas and had some good training, and I felt well-rested and in good form,” he said. “On the last lap I let Svendsen come back a bit, but I just managed to keep the gap big enough, and so, yeah, we won. So I’m very happy.”
Svendsen, meanwhile, hung his head at the finish. His teammates tried to console him, but he was clearly disappointed.
Malyshko’s teammate, second-leg skier Evgeniy Garanichev, said that while you always hope for the best, he hadn’t expected to win; Shipulin complimented the whole squad.
“The relay in the end is a team sport, and I want to congratulate each of my team members because each of them because each ran an excellent race,” he said. “The fact that each of us ran very good is why we came in first.”
Graf hung in for a solid third place finish after cleaning the final stage. He wasn’t as fast on his skis as the two leaders, but still put a significant gap on Deryzemlya.
“I was actually just informed this morning that I would be able to race, so I was very happy,” Graf said through a translator in the press conference. “Erik [Lesser] had said before that we have to make the same position as the women yesterday, and with a solid performance of the whole team we achieved that.”
After Ukraine crossed the line in fourth, the United States brought it home in fifth, tying their best relay performances of the last two decades.
Notes and Quotes: Oberhof Atmosphere
To race in Oberhof is one of the most exhilarating things a biathlete can do. A few podium finishers weighed in during the press conference:
Malyshko: The last lap, when you come into the stadium in Oberhof, the wall of sound is massive and we really have to switch off your ears so you can concentrate on the shooting. Maybe in Ruhpolding, but I’ve never heard so much noise when coming into the shooting range.
Bjøntegaard: So many athletes and people have tried to explain to me how it is to race here, but I think it can’t be explained. You have to experience it. It’s so much fun to race for so many people. This is biathlon at its best. A lot of fun. Not always with the weather, but that’s part of the game – we race for twenty minutes, so I can take some rain!
Lesser: You have now here today 20,000 people pushing you. It’s really a danger at the Birgtseig – I was warned by some of my colleagues who aren’t here that you really have to avoid getting pushed too much. Two laps I could avoid that, but the third time it was a fact. But of course it was a great experience here.
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![Russia’s Alexander Loginov (center) is greeted at the finish by his teammates Irina Starykh, Svetlana Sleptsova and Alexey Volkov after anchoring his team to the gold medal in the mixed relay at the 2017 IBU Open European Championships in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland. (Photo: IBU)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/01/image1-2-3.png")
![Jakob Ellingson skiing the anchor leg for the U.S. mixed relay at the 2017 IBU Open European Championships in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland. The U.S. team finished 14th. (Photo: IBU/Eurovisionsports.tv screenshot)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/01/image2-2-1.jpg")
![Russia’s Daria Virolaynen (l) and Evgeniy Garanichev after winning Sunday's single mixed relay at the 2017 Open European Championships in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland. (Photo: IBU)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/01/jpg-6.jpeg")
![Biathlon Canada’s Aidan Millar skiing the final loop of the single mixed relay at the 2017 IBU Open European Championships in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland. With teammate Sarah Beaudry, Canada finished 13th (Photo: IBU/Eurovisionsports.tv screenshot)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/01/image2-3.jpg")
![Norway won the men's 4 x 7.5 k relay on Saturday at the IBU World Cup in Presque Isle, Maine, with (from left to right) Lars Helge Birkeland, Johannes Thingnes Bø, Tarjei Bø, and Erlend Bjøntegaard. (Photo: IBU/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/02/2016-02-13_147299f66c53ef4.jpg_image_scaler_800x0.jpg")
![Sean Doherty (US Biathlon) skied the anchor leg for the U.S. in the men's 4 x 7.5 k relay on Saturday at the IBU World Cup in Presque Isle, Maine. The U.S. placed fifth for the best team result since 2013. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/02/Doherty13022016cm143.jpg")
![American Lowell Bailey (r) leads Norway's Lars Helge Birkeland during the first leg of the men's 4 x 7.5 k relay at the IBU World Cup in Presque Isle, Maine. The Norwegians went on to win and the U.S. placed fifth for its best result since 2013. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/02/Group13022016cm164.jpg")
![Leif Nordgren (US Biathlon raced the second leg for the U.S. men's relay on Saturday, bringing the team from 11th to seventh by the second exchange at the IBU World Cup in Presque Isle, Maine. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/02/Nordgren13022016cm104.jpg")
![Tim Burke (US Biathlon) racing the third leg for the U.S. in the men's relay on Saturday at the IBU World Cup in Presque Isle, Maine. He brought the team from seventh to fifth by the final exchange. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/02/Burke13022016cm169.jpg")
![France's Martin Fourcade leaving the range during one of four shooting stages in the pursuit on Friday at the IBU World Cup in Presque Isle, Maine. He went on to win by 24.8 seconds over Johannes Thingnes Bø of Norway. (Photo: IBU/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/02/2016-02-12_61d7b56af610171.jpg_image_scaler_800x0.jpg")
![Norway's Johannes Thingnes Bø (l) congratulates France's Martin Fourcade after placing second to Fourcade in the IBU World Cup men's pursuit in Presque Isle, Maine. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/02/2016-02-12_c22e4e78388bb98.jpg_image_scaler_800x0.jpg")
![From left to right: Russia's Anton Shipulin, Latvia's Andrejs Rastorgujevs, Germany's Eric Lesser, and France's Martin Fourcade during one of two standing stages in the men's pursuit at the IBU World Cup in Presque Isle, Maine. Fourcade went on to win and Shipulin placed third. (Photo: IBU/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/02/2016-02-12_899a2d7cfac243f.jpg_image_scaler_800x0.jpg")
![Switzerland's Benjamin Weger at the IBU World Cup men's pursuit in Presque Isle, Maine. Weger finished 17th with seven penalties. (Photo: IBU/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/02/2016-02-12_e22e7893ac3b841.jpg_image_scaler_800x0.jpg")
![Tim Burke racing to seventh in the men's pursuit at the IBU World Cup in Presque Isle, Maine. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/02/Burke12022016cm73.jpg")
![Lowell Bailey (US Biathlon) racing to 14th in the IBU World Cup men's pursuit on Friday in Presque Isle, Maine. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/02/2Bailey12022016cm121.jpg")
![Coming off a career-best 13th in the sprint, Sean Doherty (US Biathlon) placed 20th in the men's pursuit at the IBU World Cup in Presque Isle, Maine. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/02/Doherty12022016cm63-1.jpg")
![Coming off a career-best 13th in the sprint, Sean Doherty (US Biathlon) placed 20th in the men's pursuit at the IBU World Cup in Presque Isle, Maine. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/02/Doherty12022016cm81.jpg")
![Leif Nordgren (US Biathlon) during in the IBU World Cup men's sprint in Presque Isle, Maine. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/02/Nordgren11022016cm210.jpg")
![Russia's Anton Shipulin (l) celebrates after holding off Germany's Simon Schempp to anchor Russia to the men's relay victory on Sunday at the IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy. Shipulin outlasted Schempp by 1 second for the win. (Photo: IBU/Rene Miko)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/01/2016-01-24_9dbc5a797d18dff.JPG_image_scaler_800x0.jpg")
![Lowell Bailey (US Biathlon leads Russia's Maxim Tsvetkov during the first leg of the men's 4 x 7.5 k IBU World Cup relay on Sunday in Antholz, Italy. Russia went on to win and the U.S. finished 1:43.7 minutes back in sixth, tying a season-best team result. (Photo: IBU)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/01/2016-01-24_d95da594619aca5.JPG_image_scaler_800x0.jpg")
![Russia's Evgeniy Garanichev (l) leads Tim Burke (US Biathlon) during the second leg of the men's 4 x 7.5 k IBU World Cup relay in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: IBU/Rene Miko)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/01/2016-01-24_3b655086040b447.JPG_image_scaler_800x0.jpg")
