From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.
Emma Lunder (Biathlon Canada) racing last January at the 2017 IBU World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germany. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
Emma Lunder may be a relatively recent addition to Biathlon Canada’s World Cup team, but the 26-year-old Vancouver native has raced her share of International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cups.
On Saturday, Lunder demonstrated both experience and composure, just as she had done the day before with close to zero visibility in the sprint, in the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit in Hochfilzen, Austria. Despite having started more than two dozen World Cups since the 2013/2014 season, this was only her third pursuit.
“I went into this race knowing that both snow and wind were expected, so I anticipated conditions similar to yesterday’s sprint,” Lunder, who had previously raced to 42nd in the sprint with 9-for-10 shooting, wrote in an email. She had started second of 102 racers in the sprint and had to clear her own path through new snow while trying to stay on course.
On Saturday, she started 42nd, 2:04 minutes behind the sprint winner, Darya Domracheva of Belarus, and within 12 seconds of 32nd.
“With all of the racers starting fairly close together, a nice little track formed right in the middle of the ski trail so I just tried to ski in that path as much as I could during the race,” Lunder explained.
It was snowing as expected on Saturday afternoon, but not as heavily as the day before, and the wind was variable.
On the first prone shooting stage, Lunder missed her first shot but hit the next four. She had to ski a penalty lap and left the range in 45th, 2:35 minutes behind Domracheva, who had cleaned to remain in first place.
“On the range today I had some windy bouts and some calm bouts, so I took the information I had from yesterday about correcting and clicked accordingly,” Lunder recalled.
After missing her first shot, which she attributed to being slightly hesitant with her setup, Lunder went on to hit the next 19 — cleaning the next three bouts. In doing so, she rose to 37th after a clean second prone, then 32nd after the first standing, then 25th after the last stage.
“In standing I ended up on lanes near the start of the range (lanes 7 and 3) so it gave me a few extra seconds to recover from the climb into the range,” she wrote. “I focused on the same cues I’d been using yesterday and tried not to think too much, and that seemed to do the trick for me.”
Lunder crossed the finish line in 27th, 2:31.6 behind Slovakia’s Anastasia Kuzmina who also shot 19-for-20 after an early prone miss (1+0+0+0) to take the win in 34:41.2.
It was Lunder’s best World Cup pursuit result and second-best result of her career after placing 21st in a 15 k individual race last season in Antholz, Italy.
“I was getting splits throughout the race telling me what position I was in, but I just tried my best not to think about it too much, and keep skiing as fast as I could and shooting as well as I could!” she wrote. “Coming into the last standing I felt a little bit shaky, but once I was on the shooting mat I just went for it as if it was any other shooting bout, and I ended up with a good result. I’m really happy with my performance today. … to crack the top-30 in the second weekend of World Cup racing is definitely motivating for me!”
Emma Lunder (r) with fellow Biathlon Canada national-team member Rosanna Crawford after the women’s modified sprint at Biathlon Canada’s team trials in November in Canmore, Alberta. Lunder placed second in that race to secure one of the last two spots on Canada’s IBU World Cup Team, while Crawford, who had been pre-selected for the team, placed sixth in that race. (Photo: Peter Collins/petercollinsphoto.com)
The other Canadian in the race, Rosanna Crawford, finished 39th (+3:44.3) after starting 49th and shooting 16-for-20 with one miss in each stage (1+1+1+1). Crawford had the fourth-fastest overall shooting time out of 56 women in the pursuit.
“I feel like today was a bit more like my normal shooting speed for standing and a little slower than my normal for prone,” she wrote. “I was really taking my time in zero for prone because the snow was making it so hard to see the target. Visibility was slightly better in the race, but I still tried to take my time in the hopes of hitting all 5.”
In placing 39th, she tied her previous season best from the 15 k individual last week in Ostersund, Sweden, and scored World Cup points for the second time this season.
“It’s disappointing to miss one shot every time, and to get into the top 30 I would have had to hit 18 or better,” Crawford wrote. “I’m glad I got a few points today, but feeling frustrated that I can’t put a good skiing and shooting together in the same race. Skiing was pretty good for the first 3 laps, and I slowed down a bit for the last 2, but today was my best skiing so far this year.
“Looking forward to France where I am sure some good cheese will help fuel some good races!!” she added of this week’s upcoming races in Annecy, France. “Also just so happy for Emma Lunder! She really did a great job today, in the range to hit 19 and move up to 27th is awesome!”
The lone American in the women’s pursuit, Clare Egan finished 53rd (+5:21.6) after starting 36th and having to ski seven penalty laps (2+2+2+1).
The women’s 10 k pursuit podium at the IBU World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria, with Slovakia’s Anastasia Kuzmina (c) in first, Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen (l) in second, and Darya Domracheva of Belarus in third. (Photo: IBU/biathlonworld)
In the race for first, Kuzmina, who had started second, 22 seconds behind Domracheva, maintained her position for the first half of the race despite a penalty on the first stage. After leaving the range 27 seconds behind Domracheva after the first shooting, Kuzmina was within 9 seconds of her after the second prone stage, which both women cleaned.
The first standing stage that followed proved to be the turning point, with Domracheva missing one and Kuzmina cleaning to take the lead by nearly 13 seconds. Both cleaned the final standing, but Kuzmina skied faster to keep Domracheva at bay, racing to the win while Domracheva was passed by Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen on the final loop to end up third (+11.8). Mäkäräinen claimed second place (+10.2), up from starting 50 seconds back in sixth place, with 18-for-20 shooting (1+0+0+1) and the fastest course time of the field. (In comparison, Kuzmina skied the seventh-fastest overall course time and Domracheva’s time ranked 31st.)
While it was Mäkäräinen’s first podium of the season, it was Kuzmina’s first win since a mass start in March 2014.
“It is always great to be on the podium and especially in first position,” the 33-year-old Kuzmina said, according to an IBU press release. “After yesterday, I thought I had a chance, but it was not easy for me, especially on the shooting range; I could not catch my breath … I just tried to stay positive. I took a long time on the last shooting, but finally it was good.”
“Overall, it was not an easy race with such weather conditions,” Domracheva said. “Like Anastasia, I think I took some extra time for that last shot, but I had 19-of-20 and that is very good.”
Sunday is a relay day with the men’s 4 x 7.5 k and women’s 4 x 6 k wrapping up racing in Hochfilzen. Canada is listed as starting Lunder, Crawford, Megan Bankes, and Julia Ransom, while the U.S., with three women on the circuit, will not be entering a women’s relay.
US Biathlon’s Sean Doherty (79) racing to 22nd in the IBU World Cup men’s 10 k sprint on Friday in Hochfilzen, Austria. On Saturday, he raced up to 17th for his best pursuit result on the circuit. (Photo: US Biathlon/NordicFocus)
One day after winning the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup men’s sprint, Johannes Thingnes Bø held onto first place in the men’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit on Saturday in Hochfilzen, Austria. In difficult conditions with heavy snowfall and strong gusts of wind, the Norwegian decided the race when he shot clean in the final standing stage. He reached the finish line uncontested on the last loop in a time of 36:41.1 minutes, almost a minute ahead of Slovenia’s Jakov Fak (+58.8 with one penalty) and last season’s Overall World Cup winner Martin Fourcade (+1:10.0 minutes with five penalties).
“Best start of the season so far in my career,” the 24-year-old Bø said after his third victory of the season in a post-race press conference. “I have to enjoy it, you never know what the next races will bring.”
2:12.8 minutes behind him, US Biathlon’s Sean Doherty finished 17th for his best career result in a World Cup pursuit, improving by on an 18th place from a pursuit last season in Kontiolahti, Finland.
A day after scoring his first points of the new World Cup season in 22nd and shooting a perfect 10-for-10 in Friday’s 10-kilometer sprint, Doherty shot 18-for-20 in the pursuit (1+0+1+0).
“I am very happy with the race today,” Doherty wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “The execution on the range was good in the tough conditions we had today. It’s nice to have a solid back-to-back set of races here. … The ski shape is still a ways off but it’s heading in the right direction.”
In very difficult conditions in the first standing stage, several of the top racers like Norway’s Henrik L’Abee-Lund and Germany’s Arnd Peiffer incurred multiple penalties and to slip out of contention. Meanwhile, Doherty hit all but one of his targets in that stage and moved up to 16th. On the next loop he maintained that position about 1:50 back.
“The course was slow today, although not too soft,” Doherty commented on the conditions. “Fortunately it was not as snowy and windy as yesterday afternoon. There was a steady wind but it was manageable. I am pleased with my work on the range. If you want to compete at this level you have to shoot well.”
After the race up front had been decided in a final duel between Bø and Fourcade in the last stage, Doherty once again shot clean in the last standing stage and moved up to 11th. On the final loop, he could not quite hold that position and a small group passed him, yet coming onto the finishing stretch he was able to keep Ukraine’s Dmytro Pidruchnyi 0.4 seconds behind him in a push for 17th (+2:12.8).
“Unfortunately I didn’t quite have the legs to back up the solid shooting, as was clear on the last lap,” Doherty wrote. “Looking over my shoulder I saw that big pack of guys and I just tried to give it all I had. I wasn’t able to hang on but I was glad to be in that situation nonetheless.”
Starting out in 19th place based on his sprint result, Biathlon Canada’s Nathan Smith finished the day in 31st, 3:02.2 after Bø with three penalties (1+1+0+1).
After the first shooting stage, Smith had moved into 14th despite incurring a penalty.
“The wind was a bit changeable, especially in the first prone where it was blowing quite strongly,” he explained in an email after the race.
Smith skied the next lap in a group that included Germany’s Simon Schempp, who eventually would finish the race in podium contention, and got into a slight tangle with Schempp in a right-hand turn at the far point of the course, but both remained on their feet.
“I started pretty aggressive on the first lap but wasn’t able to maintain the speed of those around me after that,” Smith wrote. “I didn’t see who was tangling with me on that turn, but it was definitely an odd place to attempt an inside pass. I can’t say yet that things are turning around in the skiing department. I think I will just have to be very very patient.”
In the second prone stage, Smith incurred another penalty and dropped to 29th place, almost two minutes behind the leaders. He cleaned the first standing stage that followed, then had one more miss in the fourth and final stage.
“My shooting was pretty good once again today, given the challenging conditions,” Smith wrote. “It was definitely tougher conditions today, although the temperature was low enough that the falling snow wasn’t sticking to my glasses. The tracks were a little soft, and quite slow, especially out of the track where athletes were skiing.”
He started the final loop in 27th position and “like the previous ones, I was mostly focused on trying to minimize the number of skiers passing me,” Smith wrote. “It’s fun to pass but when you’re not feeling it its important to try and conserve energy.”
On the final meters of the race, he went head to head with Italy’s Thomas Bormolini and finished 0.4 seconds behind him for 31st.
“I thought I could take Bormolini but he got the middle track,” Smith recalled. “I tried my best in the outside and made a little ground, but the snow was just too deep over there. Tactically it would’ve been best to be in front heading through the tunnels [that are leading into the stadium].”
Smith’s teammate Brendan Green finished 33rd (+3:15.7), also with three penalties ( 1+0+1+1), after climbing nearly 20 places from his starting position by using his extensive experience to deal with snowy conditions that he described as “a classic Hochfilzen day”.
“Today was a much better race for me,” Green wrote in an email. “Yesterday felt completely off for some reason, so to be able to put together a solid performance today is reassuring. … I’m quite happy with the shooting considering the conditions. I was really hoping to shoot clean in the last bout, which would have made for a really great day, but all in all I’m happy with how I performed.”
After incurring that third penalty in the last standing stage, Green, who started 52nd, came back on the course in 37th place. He recalled seeing a group ahead of him, which he was able to catch by skiing the 17th-fastest course time on the final loop.
“I attacked early on and skied my way past a train of 5 athletes, and was able to hold them off for the rest of the loop with the exception of [Belgium’s] Michael Roesch. This was my strongest ski of the season which is hopefully a sign that my shape is coming around. It seems that no matter what I do, I struggle to find my form early on in the season.”
Doherty’s teammate, Lowell Bailey, the only other American who qualified for the pursuit, moved up from 53rd to finish 36th (+3:20.6) with three penalties (0+2+1+0).
The two remaining Canadian starters, Scott Gow and Christian Gow, finished 48th (+5:08.4) and 49th (+ 5:13.7), respectively, with Scott ending up with seven penalties (1+1+3+2), while his younger brother Christian had five penalties (2+0+1+2) and improved five places from the sprint.
Bø and Fourcade in Sync… Until Final Shooting
The two dominant athletes of the IBU World Cup season so far swapped the lead out on course and dueled on the range in Saturday’s pursuit. In the end the podium was nearly a repeat of Friday’s sprint, with Bø in first, and Fak and Fourcade flipping positions in second and third, respectively.
Medal ceremony for the men’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit at the 2017/2018 IBU World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria, with Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø (c) in first place, Slovenia’s Jakov Fak (l) in second place, and France’s Martin Fourcade (r) in third place. (Photo: IBU/biathlonworld)
In the first shooting bout, Bø incurred two penalties to lose his 12-second head start on Fourcade, but he set out on his second loop just a second behind Fourcade. In the second prone stage, the two both shot clean, after shooting alongside each other and almost hitting their targets in a synchronous rhythm, before starting the third loop together.
While not quite able to hold up with Fourcade and Bø on the course with the 35th-ranked overall course time, Fak, who had started the day in third, was able to keep in touch with the leaders due to another solid shooting performance.
The 30-year-old, Croatian-born Fak, who has been racing for Slovenia since the beginning of the 2010/2011 season, is coming back from a slight slump last season, but is looking back on a storied career that includes a third place in the 2014/2015 World Cup Total Score and two gold medals at the 2012 and 2015 IBU World Championships.
By his own account, in preparation for the new season Fak mostly trained with the Ukrainian women’s team, which is coached by one of his old mentors. “They shoot good and I wanted to beat them and I guess that also works in the men’s field,” he said with laugh at the press conference.
In the first standing stage, Bø and Fourcade each incurred a penalty, and while Fourcade shot his sequence slightly faster, Bø was able to easily make up a six-second gap on the next loop, taking the lead again up the first big climb.
“[I] had a perfect race together with Johannes,” Fourcade said at the press conference. “We each did half the [work] in the front and it was a smart move because we wanted to keep the advantage and we knew the answer would be on the final shooting.”
Fak also had his only miss of the day in the third stage, but managed to improve his position as conditions worsened and a number of athletes had several penalties in this stage. Russia’s Maxim Tsvetkov and Germany’s Schempp were the first ones to clean this stage to leap into podium contention. Bø’s older brother Tarjei also cleaned.
Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø shooting in the standing position in difficult weather conditions on his way to the victory in the men’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit at the 2017/2018 IBU World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria. (Photo: IBU/biathlonworld)
In the final stage Johannes Bø and Fourcade again stood side by side on the range, but this time Fourcade missed three while Bø hit every target to embark on the last loop with nearly a minute lead.
“He got the answer, and I didn’t…,” Fourcade sighed when he tried to explain what had happened in his final shooting. “With the snow conditions I went on my shooting mat a little late, I first had to open my rifle [sights snow cover] and I was simply a bit late compared to Johannes by just one or two seconds. … Then I heard that Johannes had a good shooting and I tried to shoot faster to catch him, and that was totally wrong today.”
“The people are always speaking about a fight of Martin against the Norwegian team,” Bø stated in the press conference. “Of course both me and him think about this, but still we fought together out there, we exchanged in the first position [helping each other], and that was a smart move for us.”
Fak managed to shoot clean again to leave the range for the last time in second, and while he could be relatively sure of second place, a fierce fight for third ensued behind him.
“It was very hard on the track, but I managed to stay calm on the shooting range and tried to shoot as [few] mistakes as I could,” Fak said. “It was only one mistake and so I am pretty happy about that, because if we look at the weather it was not so easy on the shooting range. On the track I used my shooting as an advantage, and it got me in the second position on the last lap, so I just needed to go a little faster in the beginning and then cruise to the finish.”
A group of Schempp, Tsvetkov and Tarjei Bø also came through the final stage with a clean shooting performance, and Fourcade joined them after he had completed his three penalty laps.
Fourcade led that group going into the longest climb of the course, then tried to break away, pushing hard over the crest of the hill with only Schempp able to stay on his tails into a corkscrew downhill section.
Schempp and Fourcade had a minor tangle as they positioned themselves on the slightly uphill finishing stretch, and Fourcade ended up outlasting Schempp in the final meters by half a second
“It was a big fight with Simon but also with Tarjei and Maxim Tsvetkov from Russia,” Fourcade said. “It was a big battle, and then at the finish line we crossed our skis. The advantage of being in the first position is that you can choose your own line, it’s what I did, and when I crossed my skis with Simon because I saw he chose the same line I went to the other line. … I said to Simon that I was sad, because I didn’t want to do it this way, but I fought really hard on the track to get the first position and choose my own track because it’s a big advantage.”
“In the finish sprint I really wanted to take the innermost lane, so wide right, and thought he’d take the middle lane,” Schempp told German broadcaster ARD in a post-race interview, according to a translation. “But then he still pulled onto my side and we tangled up and got a little bit into each other’s way, but everything is all right.”
Tarjei Bø came to the finish a second later in fifth (+1:11.9) with two penalties (1+0+1+0), while Tsvetkov finished sixth (+1:12.3), up from a 20th starting position, with just one penalty (1+0+0+0).
“I am happy I am in the top six, but I am a bit sad that I can’t fight today for a top three,” Tsvetkov told the IBU in an interview, via a translator.
“[Actually] I can’t understand why I missed today,” he added with a laugh when questioned about his lone penalty, which only he, Fak, and two more athletes achieved in this race.
The IBU World Cup in Hochfilzen concludes on Sunday with the first men’s 4 x 7.5 k and women’s 4 x 6 k relays of the season.
Fourcade announced during the press conference that he plans to skip the relay to focus on next week’s races in front of a home crowd in Le Grand Bornand, France.
Lowell Bailey (US Biathlon) on his way to 13th in the men’s 12.5 k pursuit at the IBU World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
Despite the best efforts of his competitors, it appeared French biathlon star Martin Fourcade was almost his own worst enemy in Saturday’s 12.5-kilometer World Cup pursuit in Hochfilzen, Austria.
In a scene reminiscent of Norwegian cross-country skier Heidi Weng’s mistake in Kuusamo earlier this season, Fourcade, who was being followed closely by Germany’s Simon Schempp and Russia’s Anton Shipulin, nearly skipped his final shooting stage. He was saved, though, because as he turned towards the finishing stretch, he saw his two competitors ski toward the range again. He very quickly realized his mistake, and followed them, keeping his focus to clean the final stage.
After that he never looked back until he finished first in 31:19.9, pounding his chest and pointing to the crowd as he did so. Schempp finished 8.9 seconds later in second place and Shipulin was 19.1 seconds back in third to round out the podium.
After what runner-up Simon Schempp (l) of Germany called a “psycho race” Schempp, winner Martin Fourcade (c) of France, and Russia’s Anton Shipulin (r) shared the pursuit podium at the IBU World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
During a post-race press conference, Fourcade had no comment on his nearly-disastrous wrong turn. But Schempp, who suspected a mistake mused it might just have been a move by Fourcade to avoid having to go on the first position on the shooting range.
“It was a wonderful victory at the site of the next [2017] World Championships,” Fourcade told the IBU. “My fan club, my family, is here, and it was a really good fight. I love to win, but I love to win more when the opponents are really strong. Today it was a great fight, which is why I’m so happy to succeed.”
For most of the race, Friday’s sprint runner-up Fourcade had struck with or been within a few seconds of sprint winner Schempp and Shipulin, who started fourth. After taking the control of the pursuit, each with two clean shooting stages, Schempp and Shipulin at times slowed down considerably on the track, skating next to each other with Shipulin gesturing wildly for Schempp to take his turn in front, but the German was seemingly unwilling to set the pace.
This posturing enabled a few athletes, including Fourcade, to close the gap to them again, after Fourcade had missed two targets in the second shooting. But he, too, didn’t want to take the lead.
All three athletes managed to leave the crucial last shooting stage without a miss. Fourcade shot the fastest, and Schempp entered the final lap about five seconds later, with Shipulin 12 seconds behind. They tried everything in their power to catch Fourcade, but to no avail.
“I am happy about the second place,” Schempp told the German broadcaster ARD, “but it was a complete psycho race. Like Martin not wanting to go in front, then attacking just ahead of the shooting, then he wanted to skate into the finish…”
“It was not so easy for my brain. Topsy-turvy, but that’s part of the game,” he added. “It was a fine competition [for me] with one miss on the shooting range. And of course I’m happy with the second place.”
Nathan Smith (Biathlon Canada) racing to 18th in the IBU World Cup pursuit in Hochfilzen, Austria. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
Both athletes complimented their fierce competition afterward.
“I gave all I had in the beginning of the loop,” Schempp said in the press conference. “The gap was the same a long time, but at the last hill, Martin was very strong, so I had to defend my second place to Anton.”
Fourcade echoed those remarks after swapping positions with Schempp in two races between Friday and Saturday.
“Simon showed me on the last lap it was necessary to do my best,” Fourcade said. “This week I had to give 100 percent. It was a great fight between us.”
Shipulin also expressed his satisfaction with his first podium of the season.
“I realized those are my conditions and I’m getting better and better compared to the first leg in Östersund,” he said through a translator. “I still have to work hard on my form, but I’m really glad this is the first podium for me, and I’m doing better and better race by race.
“I have always loved pursuits,” Shipulin added. “Of course, I was a bit disappointed [Friday] with the fourth place, but I only tried to pay attention to today and in the end the podium is a good result.”
Last week at the World Cup in Östersund, Sweden, Schempp struggled mightily with the windy range, missing the pursuit after placing out of the top 60 in the sprint.
Asked before Saturday’s race how he coped and turned a difficult situation into a sprint victory on Friday, Schempp revealed his latest training secret to ARD: last week, he had worked with his home-team coach and assistant national-team coach Andreas Stitzl, using a leaf blower to simulate strong sudden gusts of wind.
While he acknowledged Fourcade’s strong performance in the two Hochfilzen individual races, Schempp was not too pleased with a scene that happened during the final shooting stage. He claimed Fourcade, who was next to him, nicked Schempp’s ski poles on the mat between his legs while Fourcade left the range.
“You have to be able to focus on yourself, but of course you notice what happens left and right,” Schempp told ARD. “I noticed Martin had hit everything in the last shooting, he was a little bit faster than me. And then when he was leaving, he hit my ski poles good, while I still had one shot. That brought me out of my rhythm a little bit, but thank God I hit it. Then on the last round I tried everything, but there was nothing left.”
Schempp reiterated this irritation in his post-race interview with the IBU: “I was not calm every time. It was a psycho race. You have to be calm.”
Norway’s Tarjei Bø, who had started the pursuit in third, always kept the leaders in viewing distance but couldn’t quite catch them in the end, finishing with two penalties (0+1+0+1) and missing the podium by 12 seconds (+31.2).
With about 8,000 spectators in the stadium and lining the course in the Austrian Alps, local fan favorite Dominik Landertinger managed to move up eight positions with a single miss, finishing fifth place (+39.8), ahead of Norwegian stars Ole Einar Bjørndalen (+57.5) and Emil Hegle Svendsen (+59.5).
Landertinger told the Austrian television broadcaster ORF that he’s been struggling with the recent death of his mother and wished she could have been there to see him.
“Everything I had to go through in recent weeks, I can tune that out pretty well during the race,” he said. “I have a great family with everyone supporting each other, but this has been a hard time for me.
“That was a very good race. I came through the shooting great. I achieved exactly what I had set out to do. Focus just on myself,” Landertinger added. “But for the podium I should not have had that miss. You’ve got to be satisfied, there are so many good guys here.”
Bailey Just Outside Top 10
Lowell Bailey on his way to 13th in the men’s 12.5 k pursuit at the IBU World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
Of the eight North American men in Saturday’s pursuit, US Biathlon’s Lowell Bailey came closest to a top 10 after starting 12th and briefly moving into eighth with two clean prone stages. He skied the third lap in a fairly large chase group with six other athletes, but after missing a target in the first standing, Bailey fell back to 13th.
From there, the 34-year-old Bailey pushed to hang on up two climbs on the course. After cleaning his final standing stage, he left the range for a last time in 10th place, just between Germany’s Andreas Birnbacher and Slovenia’s Jakov Fak. Bailey faded a bit on the last loop, and in the finish he had given up the positions he previously gained on the shooting range, ending the day in 13th place (+1:20).
“Today was a great indicator of how strong the current men’s World Cup field is,” Bailey said in a US Biathlon press release. “I feel really good about my race today, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to hold or improve my starting place. Some days the field is just that strong and you just have to live with the result. Still, I’m happy with another top-15 and excited for the relay tomorrow.”
Nathan Smith (Biathlon Canada) racing to 18th in the IBU World Cup pursuit in Hochfilzen, Austria. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
Biathlon Canada’s Nathan Smith ended the day in 18th (+1:48.4) — the same position he had started in — with too many penalty laps preventing a better result. Smith missed two targets in the first shooting, then cleaned the next two stages before adding another two penalties in the last standing to his tally. His skiing remained strong, posting the fifth-fastest time on the final lap for the 13th-best course time overall.
On Friday, Smith had predicted “some spectacular crashes” in the pursuit, due to the difficult snow conditions on the course. Crashes didn’t decide the outcome of Saturday’s race, but indeed, there were some victims. Germany’s Daniel Böhm careened off the course on the third lap in a downhill hairpin turn, then struggled back to his feet and onto the elevated track. Worse yet, in addition to the lost time, Böhm damaged his rifle in the crash and had to switch to the official reserve each team has in store during a race. However, as he explained after the race, that replacement rifle has a generic fit, rather than being fitted to any one athlete. Böhm went on to miss three shots between the last two standing stages, ultimately falling nine spots to 55th (+6:14.2).
Tim Burke achieved another top 30 for the U.S., moving up three spots to finish the day in 27th (+2:38.5). He cleaned the first two prone stages, before missing three on the next two (0+0+2+1) and crashing, which set him back farther.
“I had a great start to the race today with two clean prone stages and solid skiing,” Burke wrote in an email. “Unfortunately, I had a huge crash on the third loop and lost a lot of time. This definitely took a little wind out of my sails.”
He was cheered on by his wife, retired German biathlete Andrea Burke (formerly Henkel), who attended the race with a few friends from her national-team days.
“Considering [the crash], I was very happy to still move up a few places,” Burke continued. “I was really happy with my skiing so far this week. It was a big improvement from Ostersund and I feel like I am back to my normal ski form.
“I am pretty banged up from the crash today,” he added. “But am hoping to feel better for the relay tomorrow. Everyone seems to be in good shape, so anything is possible!”
A third American, Sean Doherty started 45th and ended the pursuit in 35th (+3:24.8). He missed six (2+1+1+2) while skiing the 23rd-fastest course time. Leif Nordgren placed 52nd (+5:27.1) for the U.S., with three misses in the first shooting and five in all (3+0+1+1).
Canada’s Christian Gow moved up 20 spots to finish 39th (+3:43.1) after having missed two targets and cleaning both standing stages (1+1+0+0), while his older brother Scott Gow missed six targets (2+3+1+0), and dropped 12 places to end the day in 45th (+4:23.8).
France’s Martin Fourcade celebrates the finish of Sunday’s IBU World Cup 12.5 k pursuit in Hochfilzen, Austria, which he won by 4.1 seconds over Germany’s Simon Schempp. (Photo: Martin Fourcade/Instagram)
Martin Fourcade was pretty pumped about his 12.5-kilometer pursuit win on Sunday on the last day of the Hochfilzen IBU World Cup in Austria. Like, eight exclamation points excited.
“Yes!!!!!!!!” the two-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time world champion from France wrote on Instagram, posting a photo of himself holding his arms high above his head at the finish line.
Fourcade started seventh, 28 seconds behind Friday’s sprint winner Johannes Thingnes Bø of Norway, and raced his way up to sixth, 21.4 second back, after cleaning the first prone.
Bø cleaned as well to leave the first stage with a 19-second lead on Germany’s Andreas Birnbacher, who started 18 seconds back in third.
After the second stage, Fourcade was up to fifth behind Bø, Slovenia’s Jakov Fak, Germany’s Simon Schempp, and Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen, respectively — all of which cleaned back-to-back prone stages.
On a calm, bluebird afternoon with warming conditions, the men’s race was clearly going to come down to mistakes — or who could escape without any.
Fourcade and Schempp turned out to be those guys. Both cleaned the two standing stages to shoot 20-for-20 and finish first and second, respectively. Schempp had started second, 14 seconds after Bø.
The 21-year-old Norwegian leader dropped to fourth on the third shooting stage with two standing misses, putting him 27.8 seconds out of first. Svendsen, Fak, Fourcade, and Schempp entered the ranged together after him, and Fak, Fourcade and Schempp emerged without any misses. Fak took the lead, 1.5 seconds ahead of Fourcade and 3.6 seconds over Schempp, and Svendsen dropped to ninth with two penalties.
On the fourth lap, Fourcade passed Fak, leading the Slovenian by one second at 8.7 k. Schempp was right there in third, trailing by another half a second. Meanwhile, Bø led the chase 31 seconds back in third, just ahead of Austria’s Dominik Landertinger and Russia’s Anton Shipulin.
Entering the range first a few seconds ahead of Fak and Schempp, Fourcade cleaned once more. Fak missed one and Schempp hit every target to move into second, 8.1 seconds behind Fourcade.
The penalty put Fak into fourth, 26 seconds back and 0.6 seconds behind Bø, who cleaned to leave the range in third.
“I knew Johannes was the best skier, but I tried to give it my all in the last uphill and that tactic paid off,” Fak told the IBU, after attacking on the last climb to pass and drop Bø, along with Shipulin in tow.
Fourcade held off Schempp on the last lap by 4.1 seconds for the victory in 32:53.7. Fak powered to third, 10.9 seconds after Fourcade, and Bø finished fourth, 5.3 seconds later. Shipulin fell off the pace on the last climb, but held onto fifth (+28.5), and Bø’s older brother Tarjei Bø placed sixth (+45.1), ahead of Birnbacher (+48.8) in seventh.
Landertinger, the fourth starter, ended up eighth with three penalties (+56.2), Ondrej Moravec of the Czech Republic was ninth (+56.5), and Russia’s Dmitry Malyshko took 10th (+1:02.6).
“This was a great weekend for me,” Fourcade told the IBU, after placing seventh in the sprint with clean shooting. “I am happy that I gave 100 percent of myself today and shoot 20. I am very happy with that … My instinct on the shooting range was not to go too fast but to hit the targets and win the race.”
Second twice this weekend, Schempp was satisfied.
“I am really happy with my start to the season,” he said. “The first two weeks have been really great for me. This is the result of good preparation for the season with no injuries and illness.”
Burke Top North American in 25th
Tim Burke on his way to 25th in the IBU World Cup 12.5 k pursuit on Sunday in Hochfilzen, Austria. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
After starting 13th, 40 seconds behind Bø, American Tim Burke ended the pursuit with five penalties and 25th overall (+2:35.6).
“I am definitely disappointed with my pursuit race today,” he wrote in an email. “I felt like I had really good ski form but I struggled with the shooting until the last stage.”
Burke missed one on each of his prone stages, then three in the first standing. He went from 16th after the first shooting to 34th by the end of his third bout.
“I was a little frustrated with my mistakes in prone because I felt like I had taken good shots and I was surprised with the penalties,” he wrote. “On the first standing stage I just never felt comfortable and was not able to get into any flow.”
As for his finish, he was pleased to land in the points, especially before the first mass start of the season next Sunday in Pokljuka, Slovenia.
“I feel like I am in great shape right now and Pokljuka is one of my favorite courses,” Burke wrote.
Lowell Bailey leads Bulgaria’s Krasimir Anev during Sunday’s 12.5 k pursuit in Hochfilzen, Austria. After starting 18th, Bailey went on to place 32nd. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
His US Biathlon teammate Lowell Bailey started 18th and 58 seconds behind first. With four penalties, one on each prone and two on the final standing, he finished 32nd (+2:53.2).
“It was just one of those days where nothing went totally wrong but nothing went right either,” Bailey explained in an email.
His prone penalties put him in 25th, nearly two minutes out of first, halfway through.
“I recovered a bit with a clean stage in the first standing but I set myself pretty far back with two misses in the end,” he wrote after leaving the range for the last time in 31st. “I’m not sure why I missed in the last standing. I felt good with the position and I felt stable. Sometimes you just miss!
“My legs were a little heavy, this being the third of a three-day mini-series… But that too is biathlon, three races a week, three weeks in a row,” he added. “It’s a brutal schedule but normally I’m able to handle it ok. The trick now is to get some recovery in before the next races in Pokljuka.”
The third U.S. man, Leif Nordgren skied up to 37th after starting 51st and 2:19 back. On Saturday, Nordgren and the rest of the U.S. men’s 4 x 7.5 k relay were lapped on the final leg after a tough day on the range. After getting tagged in 11th, Nordgren used all his spares and skied four penalty loops.
Leif Nordgren racing up from 51st to 38th on Sunday in the IBU World Cup 12.5 k pursuit in Hochfilzen, Austria. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
He tried to forget it soon after.
“It was such a spectacular mess that it wasn’t worth even giving a second thought to,” Nordgren wrote in an email. “I know that I’m better than that, sometimes those things happen and it doesn’t help to worry about it! Not really sure what happened, or why, but like I said I’m not really trying to think it out.”
For Sunday’s race, he figured anything could happen and aimed to land in the top 30.
“The first lap is my least favorite, everyone in the back just guns it as fast as they can, I think this is the second week in a row where I’ve been the last one into the range for the first shooting!” he explained. “But I like starting out a little more conservative and hopefully having some more gas for the last loop.”
Nordgren cleaned his first two stages, missed one standing, and cleaned his last standing.
“I was a little too relaxed in the first standing, I took it shot by shot instead of getting into a nice rhythm,” he wrote. “So it was just a bad shot, I was more aggressive in the second standing and it worked out perfectly.”
Without much left to give on the last loop, he went from 36th to 37th at the finish (+3:30.1).
“Overall I’m pretty happy with the weekend,” he wrote. “It was a step up from Ostersund for sure, hopefully I can keep climbing into next week as well.”
The two Canadian men in Sunday’s race — Brendan Green and Nathan Smith — struggled on the range, with Green missing five and Smith being penalized two minutes for another racer’s crossfire. While it appeared he cleaned his first and last stages, Smith didn’t actually clean his last standing — the person next to him did.
“This has never happened to me in all my years of biathlon,” Smith explained. “I wasn’t exactly sure what to do so I waited for a good 40 seconds, the target did not reset, so I took my partially full magazine out, cleared the chamber and left.”
It didn’t take him long to realize that he’d be penalized for not firing all five shots.
“Right after I left I was like f***, I’m disqualified now!” Smith wrote. “Turns out it’s actually a 2 min penalty for failing to use each bullet. So that mishap cost me close to 3 minutes total.”
With two misses (0+1+1+0) and the added time penalty, Smith finished 49th (+5:19.6) after starting 44th and 1:57 behind the leader.
“I was really happy with my ski form in yesterday’s relay, so I was optimistic about how today could go,” he wrote, referring to his team’s sixth-place relay on Saturday. “I felt absolutely wrecked yesterday evening though and just hoped that I would feel a lot more energetic after a good night’s sleep.”
Yet on Sunday, he realized his skiing wasn’t there.
“It was a tough race for me and I couldn’t really find the extra motivation to give 100% because it was just hurting too much,” Smith wrote. “I made good time in the range, but suffered on course. I was mostly able to maintain position thanks to shooting quickly.”
Green started 49th and ended up 44th (1+0+1+3), 4:21.9 back. In an email, he explained that his race was “fairly decent” up until the last standing. For one, he was feeling good skiing and posted the 32nd-fastest course time overall.
“I had my best ski of the year today which is a step in the right direction,” Green wrote.
Hovering around 42nd before his last bout, he knew he could potentially move up with a clean last stage.
“Unfortunately I ended up with three misses,” he wrote. “I just kind of went for it with a nothing-to-lose attitude in the last shooting and the first miss felt very close to a hit so I continued with my rhythm and kept missing by what felt like just a small margin. It was frustrating and in hindsight I should have taken a second or two to reset after the first miss, but the shots were feeling good and not out of control. Lesson learned on that front today I guess.”
Overall, he felt the weekend was an improvement, although, “I’m still not content with my form and know I’m capable of a lot more,” he added.
On the bright side, after he and his teammates tied a team-best relay result, Green watched his girlfriend Rosanna Crawford achieve a career-best fifth in Sunday morning’s women’s pursuit.
“When it hit me that if she shot clean she would be leaving the range in 3rd or 4th I held my breath until she was done shooting,” Green wrote. “That’s when I started yelling at the TV and things really got intense! It was a little more action then I’m used to in the morning while I’m getting ready to race, but it was awesome.
“She’s had a taste of what it’s like to fight it out for a podium today and there’s no doubt it will happen any day now,” he added. “I think she’s finished in the top 10 just once prior to today, so as soon as she accepts that she belongs in the top 10 and then the top 5, a podium will be the next step.”
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![After what runner-up Simon Schempp (l) of Germany called a "psycho race" Schempp, winner Martin Fourcade (c) of France, and Russia's Anton Shipulin (r) shared the pursuit podium at the IBU World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/12/mensGroup12122015cm96.jpg")
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