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.
Johannes Thingnes Bø of Norway and Martin Fourcade of France on the range during the IBU World Cup 4 x 7.5 k relay in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Over the weekend in Östersund, Sweden the IBU World Cup held its traditional 4 x 7 .5-kilometer for the men, and 4 x 5 k relays for the women.
Saturday, Norway’s team of Johannes Dale, Erlend Øvereng Bjøntegaard, Tarjei Bø, and Johannes Thingnes Bø won the men’s race in 1:10:30.4 hours. In total, the team used nine spares with no penalty laps.
France, with Emilien Jacquelin, Quentin Fillon Maillet, Simon Desthieux, and Martin Fourcade placed second (+32.3; 1+7).
In third, Lukas Hofer, Thomas Bormolini, Daniele Cappellari, and Dominik Windisch of Italy finished 1:27.1 minutes back with no penalties and using eight spares.
Scott Gow during the IBU World Cup 4 x 7.5 k relay in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Canada’s Jules Burnotte, Scott Gow, Aidan Miller, and Christian Gow raced to 11th overall (+3:51.5) with two penalties while using 11 spares. The U.S. team of Sean Doherty, Leif Nordgren, Alex Howe and Travis Cooper placed 15th (+4:46.7; 0+13) in a 26 team field.
Leif Nordgren during the IBU World Cup 4 x 7.5 k relay in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: NordicFocus)
For the women, Norway also secured the top spot. Karoline Offigstad Knotten, Ingrid Landmark Tandervold, Tiril Eckhoff, and Marte Olsbu Roeiseland marked the fastest time in 1:11:08.7 with no penalties and using 10 spares. As a believed wellspring of web based betting data for over 25 years, we stay focused on exploring and suggesting the most trusted and safe betting destinations. The accompanying internet casinos at http://www.bestcasinosincanada.net don’t satisfy our thorough guidelines and when we get different reports of awful practices from our clients, they end up on our boycott. Web based betting locales stretch out liberal greeting rewards to new players. Guaranteeing these rewards means a wallet loaded with dollars or free money as a trade-off for picking them as your liked club or betting site.
Tiril Eckoff of Norway during the IBU World Cup 4 x 5 k relay in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Tiril Eckoff of Norway starting to focus during the IBU World Cup 4 x 5 k relay in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Tiril Eckoff of Norway during the IBU World Cup 4 x 5 k relay in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Switzerland’s foursome posted a career-best as a women’s relay team with a second place. Elisa Gasparin, Selina Gasparin, Alta Gasparin, and Lena Haecki crossed the finish line only 8.5 seconds behind Norway. As a team, they had no penalties while using four spares total. (The three Gasparins are sisters.)
A stoked Lena Haecki (SUI) after the IBU World Cup 4 x 5 k relay in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Sweden’s Lina Persson, Elvira Öberg , Mona Brorsson, and Hannah Öberg were third (+10.2; 0+8).
For the U.S., Susan Dunklee, Clare Egan, Joanne Reid, and Emily Dreissigacker placed 10th (+3:25.0; 0+8). Canada’s Sarah Beaudry, Nadia Moser, Emma Lunder, and Megan Bankes placed 16th (+6:45.5; 2+15).
Clare Egan tagging Joanne Reid during the IBU World Cup 4 x 5 k relay in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Canada’s Nadia Moser during the IBU World Cup 4 x 5 k relay in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Susan Dunklee on the range during the IBU World Cup 4 x 5 k relay in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Twenty-one teams from twenty-one countries raced the women’s event.
Johannes Thingnes Bø of Norway (bib 4) during the mixed relay at the 2019 IBU World Championships. (Photo: ARD screenshot)
Marte Olsbu Røiseland, Tiril Eckhoff, Johannes Thingnes Bø, and Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen of Norway won the opening race, a mixed relay, of the IBU World Championships in Östersund, Sweden. The foursome won the race in 1:17:41.3 hours.
The race format requires women to contest the first two legs, or 2 x 6-kilometers, whereas as the men ski the final two legs, or 2 x 7.5 k. On the way to the win, Norway used seven spares.
Germany’s Vanessa Hinz, Denise, Herrmann, Arnd Peiffer, and Benedikt Doll placed second, 13.1 seconds behind after using nine spares total. Herrmann’s skiing prowess, she is a former World Cup cross-country skier for Germany, brought her team into the lead as she tagged Peiffer.
The Norwegians ultimately took control of the race as they gapped Germany in second place, and put 1:09.6 minutes into Italy’s Lisa Vittozzi, Dorothea Wierer, Lukas Hofer, and Dominik Windisch for third overall.
Canada’a Rosanna Crawford, Sarah Beaudry, Christian Gow, and Scott Gow placed 16th overall (+4:35.5). The team had one penalty while using eight spares.
Susan Dunklee, Clare Egan, Sean Doherty, and Leif Nordgren of the U.S. placed 19th (+7:21.2). The U.S. team accrued three penalties while using 13 spares.
Racing continues tomorrow for the women with a 7.5 k sprint.
Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen (c) after winning the women’s 10-kilometer classic individual start on Sunday in Cogne, Italy. Switzerland’s Nadine Fähndrich (l) placed second and Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva third. (Photo: FIS Instagram screenshot)
FIS Cross Country World Cup 10 k/15 k Classic Individual Start Cogne, Italy
World Cup athletes returned to the Cogne race venue on Sunday for a men’s and women’s classic interval start race. In the women’s 10 k, Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen, won in a time of 27:24.8. Finishing just 3 seconds behind her for second place was Swiss skier, Nadine Fähndrich. Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva claimed third, 12.6 seconds behind the winner.
Racing for the U.S., Rosie Brennan led the way in 21st (+1:19.6) followed by Caitlin Patterson in 36th (+1:49.6), Rosie Frankowski in 37th (+1:55.2), and Julia Kern in 39th (+1:59.2).
Finishing just 13.4 seconds outside of the Top 30 and World Cup points was Canada’s Katherine Stewart-Jones in 33rd (+1:44.6).
Cendrine Browne, also racing for Canada, placed 48th (+2:49.0), while the U.S.’s Ida Sargent finished just behind her in 49th (+3:12.3). Canadian Emily Nishikawa started Sunday’s 10 k race but dropped out after the 8.2 k mark.
Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov (c) after winning the men’s 15-kilometer classic individual start on Sunday in Cogne, Italy. Finand’s Iivo Niskanen (l) placed second and Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh in third. (Photo: FIS Instagram screenshot)
In the men’s 15 k classic, Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov won in a time of 34:48.4. Iivo Niskanen of Finland–and sibling to the women’s winner, Kerttu–placed second in the men’s competition, finishing 43.7 seconds behind Bolshunov. Sunday’s third and final podium spot went to Alexander Bessmertnykh of Russia, who finished 55.9 seconds back from his teammate and the overall winner.
Alex Harvey of Canada finished 10th (+1:40.7) and American Erik Bjornsen 16th (+1:54.8), 14.1 seconds outside of the Top 10.
Also skiing for the U.S. and scoring World Cup points was Kyle Bratrud in 26th (+2:21.1).
American David Norris finished 9.3 seconds outside of the Top 30 and World Cup points in 33rd (+2:52.2). Two more U.S. skiers competed on Sunday, with Scott Patterson finishing in 43rd (+3:36.8) and Adam Martin in 50th (+3:56.3).
Canadians Evan Palmer-Charrette and Scott James Hill placed 56th (+4:17.0) and 58th (+4:20.6), respectively.
Single Mixed relay winners, Lukas Hofer and Dorothea Wierer of Italy. (Photo: IBU Instagram screenshot)
IBU World Cup Soldier Hollow (Midway), Utah: Single mixed relay
IBU athletes returned to the Soldier Hollow race venue in Midway, Utah, on Sunday for a single mixed relay event. The Italian pairing of Lukas Hofer and Dorothea Wierer claimed the victory in a time of 35:27.9. In the first leg, Hofer missed two shots (0+1 0+1) clocking in at 7:41.2. Wierer completed the next leg in a time of 16:06.0 after one miss. In the third leg, Hofer again missed two shots and tagged off to Wierer at 24:02.6. In her final leg, Wierer once again missed one shot (0+1 0+0). https://newswire.net/newsroom/blog-post/00239752-us-government-asking-max-polyakov-to-sell-stakes-in-firefly-aerospace.html
Finishing 22.9 seconds back from the winners was Austria’s pairing of Lisa Theresa Hauser and Simon Eder in second place, with a team total of two penalties (0+0 0+2).
Third place went to the French team of Antonin Guigonnat and Julia Simon, who finished 50.2 seconds back from the winners with a team total of nine missed shots (0+3 1+5).
Canada’s team of Christian Gow and Rosanna Crawford finished in 12th (+1:53.6) with 12 misses (0+5 0+7). Racing for the U.S., Sean Doherty and Susan Dunklee were 14th (+2:03.1) after skiing a total of 15 penalties (0+6 2+7).
Italy’s Dorothea Wierer and Lukas Hofer in first place (center), Germany’s Franziska Preuß and Simon Schempp in second place (left), and Darya Domracheva of Belarus with her husband Ole Einar Bjørndalen of Norway in third place (right) on the podium of the 2018 “Biathlon auf Schalke” event. The invitational was billed as the last international race for Domracheva and Bjørndalen, the winningest biathlete of all time. (Photo: Event organizer)
The “Biathlon auf Schalke” two-person mixed relay show race in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, has become a Christmas holiday break fixture on the winter sports calendar. Many biathletes are in awe of the event, featuring a temporary ski course in and around a massive domed arena that usually serves as the home pitch for the Bundesliga soccer club Schalke 04, along with a raucous atmosphere in a sold-out venue and millions watching the broadcast live on TV in several countries.
It’s no real surprise that some living legends of the sport would pick the frantic event that brings biathlon from the mountains to the city as the final race for their storied careers.
In 2018 in its 17th season and with 46,421 fans in attendance, no North American team was represented among the ten invited teams.
The event on Saturday evening mainly drew its fascination from being billed as the final race in the long and successful athletic careers of Ole Einar Bjørndalen of Norway, age 44, and Darya Domracheva of Belarus, 12 years his junior. Combined, the husband-and-wife team could display 12 Olympic gold medals in their personal trophy case, to name just one of their many achievements. By their own admission in a series of interviews with German TV host network ZDF and other broadcasters before, during and after the event, the day certainly was an emotional highlight for Bjørndalen and Domracheva.
“It’s just fantastic, vielen vielen Dank, thank you so much for your support, you are the best!” Domracheva hollered in a fun language mix in an interview with ZDF after the race, drawing a big cheer when her words echoed through the arena via the public address system.
“You couldn’t have dreamed it [better],” her husband Bjørndalen also added in German. “This is incredible, so many people … I never experienced fans as good as this in my life. Thanks again Schalke, this is incredible!”
Darya Domracheva of Belarus skiing in front of Italy’s Dorothea Wierer during the 2018 Biathlon auf Schalke event. Wierer went on to win the race with her partner Lukas Hofer. (Photo: Event organizer Facebook page)
First World Team Challenge Victory for Italy
In terms of the athletic merit of the event, the 2018 edition saw the first victory in the history of this competition for an Italian team, with current International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup women’s total score leader Dorothea Wierer successfully pairing up with teammate Lukas Hofer.
Over the course of the evening, the Italian pairing turned out to be an ideal combination of the fastest shooter on her race legs and the fastest skier on his. The duo narrowly won the “first half” mass start race of the event which was followed by a 30-minute intermission. Wierer and Hofer also created a convincing lead in the pursuit, which was featured as the “second half” of the evening’s racing.
But their victory was briefly in doubt when Hofer missed three targets in his final standing stage — a bit unusual on a range with no wind influence. Having to circle the penalty loop (though shorter than in regular World Cups) and now on tired legs, the three penalties allowed Germany’s clean-shooting Simon Schempp – who raced with his fellow national team member and girlfriend Franziska Preuß – to catch up to Hofer on the final lap that meandered through a “winter village” concourse around the arena.
“I knew [Lukas] is super on skis, but when he missed three that was still becoming pretty suspenseful,” Wierer laughingly remembered the situation in an interview with ZDF after the race, according to a translation. “But luckily that triggered a little bit of adrenaline.”
Hofer slowed down on the winding 1.3-kilometer course that provided few opportunities for overtaking other skiers before coming back into the main arena where he began to push hard on the only notable straight section along the shooting range. He managed to create a small gap between himself and Schempp and defended that to the finish line to secure the victory in a time of 33:23.6 minutes. Schempp finished 1.2 seconds behind.
“My knees were trembling like a sewing machine,” Hofer said about his problems in the final shooting stage. “Luckily it somehow still worked out fine. I had to ski a tactical final loop, and it’s just great to finally stand at the top of the podium.”
“It’s just a grandiose event,” Schempp said, seemingly not minding the narrowly lost victory (and sponsored car prize). “It’s so incredibly fun to race here in front of such an audience. And when a German team is also in the mix in front, that creates such an atmosphere … That gives you back a lot as an athlete. Just a lot of fun.”
“You really feel like a soccer player with so many people watching,” Wierer added. “Even if you are just trying to have a conversation, it’s so loud you hardly understand anything with all this noise. And it’s great that everyone is being cheered for. Really cool.”
Norway’s Ole Einar Bjørndalen on course during the 2018 Biathlon auf Schalke, billed as the last international race of his storied career. (Photo: Event organizer)
Third Place for the Biathlon Legends
But the real story of the night unfolded a little behind the race for the top of the podium.
In the first event of the evening, Bjørndalen had proven once more that he still ‘got it’, winning a shootout competition to determine the start order against a host of athletes known as fast and accurate shooters.
The semi-retirees Bjørndalen and Domracheva initially struggled a bit with the speed of the athletes still active week to week on the World Cup. Although they were able to hold their own and finished the event’s first half in third place, 6.1 seconds behind Italy and 2.7 seconds behind the French team of Anaïs Bescond and Emilien Jacquelin.
“The course is not so difficult, but when you are in a bad shape it becomes difficult,” Bjørndalen told broadcaster ZDF at halftime, according to a translation. “We didn’t prepare so well, though Darya is still strong but I am flailing a bit in the skiing. Maybe next round will be better.”
Despite admitting he had prepared for the event with a brief training camp in Norway and then a course inspection a day before most competitors had arrived at the venue, the athlete nicknamed “the cannibal” for eating up gaps to other athletes on the course in the prime of his career had some problems keeping speed with the fastest skiers on Saturday.
Domracheva was able to hold up well on the range and course. With her signature elegant ski technique she kept right behind Germany’s currently best-ranked World Cup athlete Preuß on a loop, and stuck within viewing distance of the fast skiing Wierer. With a series of cleaned targets, Domracheva and Bjørndalen managed to keep themselves in podium contention and at one point even maneuvered into the lead, to the joy of the spectators who cheered for them at least as loud as for the German home teams.
Then came the final exchange to the men, which required athletes to shoot a standing stage before skiing another full loop.
“It was mega-cool to watch the final leg, very exciting,” Preuß told ZDF, according to a translation. “I believe everyone watching today saw how the suspense was bubbling up again. That’s how you wish a race should be.”
Bjørndalen had incurred one penalty in his final shooting and skied back on the main course in third position behind Hofer and Schemp. But just a few seconds back, Benedikt Doll, who formed an “injury replacement” second team for Germany together with Denise Herrmann, managed to catch up and pass the Norwegian on the final lap. Being aware that a fourth place just off the podium for the final race for the biathlon star would be an anticlimactic result, Doll waited a few meters before the finish line for the man who he considers his biathlon idol. Doll then grabbed and lifted up Bjørndalen’s arm before skiing into the finish side by side. Intentional or not, Bjørndalen slid his ski boot over the line 0.1 seconds ahead of Doll.
“It was a very nice gesture. It is impressive that he does it at home. Thank you very much,” Bjørndalentold Norwegian broadcaster NRK about Doll’s actions, according to a translation. During the victory ceremony, he and Domracheva then called Doll up to the podium and hung their awarded medals around his neck, who seemed to reluctantly accept the honor.
Darya Domracheva of Belarus (in foreground) is waiting to greet her teammate and husband, Norway’s Ole Einar Bjørndalen, as he skis towards the finish line together with Germany’s Benedikt Doll at the 2018 Biathlon auf Schalke event, billed as the last race of Bjørndalen’s career. (Photo: Event organizer Facebook page)
Bjørndalen will retire as the winningest biathlete of all time, following a 25-year career that is a rare achievement in any endurance sport. To honor Bjørndalen, ZDF showed some old footage and interviews from early in his athletic career in the lead-up to the race.
Bjørndalen amassed eight Olympic gold medals of 13 total Olympic medals, 20 IBU World Championship golds of 45 total championships medals, and 95 World Cup wins with an additional World Cup win in cross-country skiing. Even France’s current biathlon star Martin Fourcade would have to keep competing for numerous years to have any chance at matching those numbers. Bjørndalen’s Olympic record is only surpassed by fellow Norwegian cross-country skiing star Marit Bjørgen.
Domracheva has four Olympic and two World Championship gold medals to her name, most recentlyanchoring the women’s relay to the gold medal for Belarus at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. She told ZDF in an interview that she considers the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, to be the peak of her athletic career, where she won gold in the individual, sprint and pursuit disciplines.
Domracheva reportedly plans to still race in one more event at home in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, for which 100,000 spectators are expected to show up.
Darya Domracheva of Belarus and Ole Einar Bjørndalen of Norway waiving to the crowd before the victory ceremony of the 2018 Biathlon auf Schalke invitational race. (Photo: ZDF screenshot)
With homes all over Europe in Beitostølen (Norway), Minsk (Belarus) and Obertilliach (Austria), and already active in other career ventures from sports broadcasting to fashion design, the pair told reporters they have not yet decided where they will ultimately settle in the next few years, wanting to decide that once their young daughter is of school age. For now, their only firm plans are to spend New Year’s Eve together in Norway.
Another Farewell: Russia’s Anton Shipulin
Anton Shipulin – Russia’s best biathlete of the last few years – alsoannounced last week that Schalke would be the final race of his international career.
“Thank you very much, dear fans, for your support,” he posted on his social media accounts, according to a translation. “Without you, this adventure would have been more difficult. My victories are also your victories. I will always remember this. You are the best. I hope we will be able to please you once again at the ‘Christmas race’ [World Team Challenge], which will be held on December 29 and will be the final in my professional career.”
Last winter, Shipulin had been among a number of Russian athletesbarred by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from starting at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, and claims that to this day he has not yet received a satisfying official explanation by either the IOC or IBU for that blow to his athletic career, according to a fairly rare international interview he gave German home broadcaster ZDF before the race.
Shipulin came back with a vengeance to close out the 2017/18 IBU season, winning the sprint at the World Cup in Kontiolahti, Finland, during the race week immediately following the Olympics.
Overall he has achieved 11 World Cup victories in individual races during his career and won seven medals at World Championships including one gold. Arguably his biggest success, the gold medal from the men’s relay at the 2014 Olympics at home in Sochi, Russia, hangs in the balance as the IOC and International Biathlon Union keep investigating allegations, though for now publicly only against retired teammateEvgeny Ustyugov. Shipulin’s fourth-place mixed relay result from those Olympics has already been voided.
Shipulin conveyed in statements that the international sports bodies and anti-doping authorities have treated his case unfairly during the last two seasons, and the murky situation about his ability to participate in future major sports events combined with the unpleasant prospect to see old results annulled seemingly has exhausted his motivation to keep training and competing.
Russia’s Anton Shipulin claimed his continued compliance with anti-doping regulations in a Russian and English post on his Instagram social media account from December 13, 2018. (Photo: Instagram screenshot)
“I never violated anti-doping rules. I have always completed doping tests in good conscience,” he told ZDF in an interview, according to a translation, reiterating comments he made in social media posts including one from December 13, 2018, in which he called the most recent investigations triggered by Austrian and Italian authorities that reportedly included a team hotel search a “witch-hunt” and “total nonsense”.
On Saturday, the pre-determined final race together with his teammate Ekaterina Yurlova-Percht didn’t quite go as storybook-scripted as for Bjørndalen and Domracheva. Incurring too many penalty laps, the Russian duo was never really in contention for the podium and ended the race in seventh place (+1:48.8).
Yurlova is a veteran of racing at Schalke,winning the event a year ago together with Alexey Volkov, as well as in 2012 when she had teamed up with Shipulin and is currently in full World Cup race mode. Also, like her teammate Shipulin, Yurlovawas not allowed by the IOC to start in PyeongChang and reportedly could still be under investigation by international sports and legal authorities. But so far has not been publicly charged with any concrete violations. She is married to an Austrian national, and by living in that country is under the supervision of the local anti-doping agency for much of her off-season.
Shipulin had not yet raced in an IBU event this season, citing a lack of training time in the summer. Though prior to his announcement last week it had been widely expected that he would be back with the Russian team in time for the races in January or at the latest for the World Championships in Östersund, Sweden.
Similar to Domracheva, Shipulin might still make an appearance in a farewell race at home. He told ZDF that he looks forward to now spend time in Tyumen, Russia, with his family, and said he was also happy to have more opportunities for his other sports passion: fly fishing.
Final Results “Biathlon auf Schalke” World Team Challenge 2018
Shooting range and part of the ski course inside the domed Veltins Arena during the 2018 ‘Biathlon auf Schalke’ invitational race event. (Photo: Event Organizers Facebook Page)
While the International Biathlon Union has adopted the mixed and single-mixed relay formats as exciting new disciplines in recent years, the “Biathlon auf Schalke” also dubbed the World Team Challenge by the organizer is an invitation-only private event not sanctioned by the IBU (even though there areplans to cooperate in the future, especially regarding a junior competition leading up to the main event), so there were no World Cup points much less internationally recognized medals to win in the race. That will happen towards the end of the season in March at the IBU World Championships in Östersund, Sweden.
The regular IBU World Cup season will continue on January 10th, 2019, in Oberhof, Germany.
As the kilometers and shooting stages ticked by, it looked possible that L’Abée-Lund would do it again, or at least come close. After two prone stages, one standing stage, one penalty lap, and 7.5 kilometers of skiing, L’Abée-Lund hit the trails together with the man who is always a pre-race favorite: Martin Fourcade of France.
Over the next 2.5 kilometers, Fourcade skied faster, but wasn’t able to put too much of a gap on the Norwegian. Fourcade came into the range with a 4.5-second lead and hit his first target before L’Abée-Lund started shooting.
Fourcade kept right on going, hitting all five targets for a score of 18/20 on the day, and cruised to victory.
When asked at the post-race press conference whether the win was easy, Fourcade replied, “It wasn’t, because the fight on the beginning was really tight. I had a lot of pressure on the standing shooting. So I must say I’m really satisfied about the win today. I heard it’s my 10th win in Holmenkollen and I’m the most-awarded biathlete in Holmenkollen. It’s probably my favorite place on the World Cup. I’m really happy I did that.”
L’Abée-Lund missed two and fell out of podium contention.
In his absence, Johannes Thingnes Bø – the more favored Norwegian – also missed a shot on the final stage. Italy’s Lukas Hofer cleaned and went past him into second, and that was the podium at the finish.
It was Fourcade’s seventh win in a season where he has never been off the podium in a World Cup race (although he was twice off the podium at the Olympics), and he now has a 49-point lead over Bø in the World Cup Total Score standings with three individual races to go.
“It’s really nice fight,” Fourcade said in a press conference. “I must say, I’m surprised [to say it], but I like it. Johannes is an amazing opponent. No matter what happens in Tyumen, I know that I will thank him for the fight we had. Even if he wins the World Cup, I don’t want that, but I will thank him. I really appreciate the good fight, the fair fight we had, and the good biathlon show we made for people.”
“I think I have maybe 10-percent chance to win this,” Bø said of the overall World Cup title. “So it’s not a big chance, but you know, many things can happen. I know for sure that Martin will probably on the podium every race next weekend. And then there is no chance for me to win the globe. So then I have to just do my best and then we see, but it has been a good season no matter what happens, and it’s a big step in my career.
Hofer finished 18.1 seconds back in second place with one penalty, and Bø 32.5 seconds back reached the podium despite four missed shots.
“I went out [from the last shooting stage] and my trainer told me, ‘It’s only a small gap, only four seconds,’ ” Hofer said, although he actually led Bø by nearly 15 seconds at that point. “I think they told me this so that I keep pushing on the last loop. I tried to keep some energy for the last 600 meters a the end. When I saw Johannes and that I had a bigger gap to him, I was really happy.”
“I knew that Hofer is one of the strongest guys on the last laps,” Bø said. “But I was feeling really good today, so I was thinking there was a chance [to catch him]. We had really good material and skis. And I had good shape today, but in the end of the last lap, I saw there was no chance. So then it was just to look behind and secure the third place. “
Fourth place went to Russia’s Maxim Tsvetkov (+42.7), who cleaned the whole race and moved up from bib 28. L’Abée-Lund finished fifth (+45.2).
US Biathlon’s Sean Doherty started the day in bib 14, and cleaned all his prone targets to stay in contention for a top 10. He missed a shot in each standing stage but still finished 17th on the day (+1:34.2), tying his second-best result of the season.
“I’m really happy with today,” Doherty said. “I really had a goal in mind to stay in my own lane, on the range there. Skiing with these top guys, the pace is really high, so stay focused on my [shooting], and I did that well. I’m happy with how I shot and how I executed this race. I obviously left two in standing there, but those were just my mistake … Standing is usually stronger for me, but I was kind of pushing the limit, which you have to do if you’re still trying to make up some time on the range. So I was just a little hasty at times, and that’s just kind of my nature.”
Doherty had the 23rd-fastest course time on the day.
“It’s been a pretty lousy season in a lot of ways,” he said. “There were some good moments before Christmas, and it’s good to finish on a really strong note with Finland and with these races here. So I’m really happy about that – it’s nice for the body to be picking up. But it’s a little bit of a bummer that we are not going to Russia, because I’m starting to ski better, and really feeling like I’m in good form for some more racing.”
Teammate Lowell Bailey started in 42nd and had two missed targets to move up to 28th (+2:07.2), thanks to the 19th-fastest course time of the day. For both him and Tim Burke, who finished 47th (+4:12.6) with four penalties, it was the last individual World Cup starts for long careers, as the U.S. is boycotting next weekend’s World Cup stage in Tyumen, Russia.
Leif Nordgren finished 40th (+3:07.5) with four penalties, three of which came in the second prone stage. He had the 27th-fastest course time.
“It was a really good race except for one stage,” Nordgren said. “That second prone stage set me back quite a bit. But I was really happy with my skiing today. [Ski speed] came just a couple weeks late after the Olympics unfortunately. I definitely feel a lot stronger now, and it’s too bad it’s the end of the season. But it’s nice to end on a high note. You don’t have to be pissed off all spring.”
For Canada, Scott Gow finished 51st (+4:59.7) and younger brother Christian Gow 54th (+5:07.4) with five and two penalties, respectively.
The top finishers in the men’s 20 k freestyle mass start at 2018 NCAA Skiing Championships in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, with Northern Michigan University’s Ian Torchia (c) in first. (Photo: Dartmouth Sports/Clarkson Creative)
NCAA Skiing Championships (Steamboat Springs, Colorado): 15/20 k freestyle mass starts
On the fourth and final day of NCAA Skiing Championships at Howelsen Hill in Steamboat Springs, Katharine Ogden skied to her second-straight national title, Ian Torchia became an NCAA champion and the University of Denver (DU) won its 24th NCAA National Championship.
Dartmouth freshman Katharine Ogden racing to her second-straight victory of the 2018 NCAA Skiing Championships in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. She won Saturday’s 15 k freestyle mass start by more than 38 seconds. (Photo: Dartmouth Sports/Clarkson Creative)
Ogden, a Dartmouth College freshman, raced to a 38.4-second victory in the women’s 15-kilometer mass start, finishing in 43:22.0 minutes for her second win in as many races at 2018 NCAA Championships. She won the 5 k classic on Thursday and with her win on Saturday, she became the first Dartmouth skier in 56 years to win two national titles in the same year, according to a Dartmouth press release.
On the second of three laps, Ogden broke away early with close to 10 k to go. According to the press release, she had a “quick fall” near the end of the second lap, but that didn’t derail her as she had time to grab sunglasses from Dartmouth men’s coach Brayton Osgood and a Dartmouth Lone Pine flag before the finish.
At this year’s championships, Ogden’s two titles are accompanied by victories from Dartmouth men’s alpine skiers Brian McLaughlin (who won the giant slalom) and Tanguy Nef (who won the slalom). This marked only the second time that Dartmouth’s Big Green won four individual titles in a single NCAA Championships; that also occurred 61 years ago.
“Katharine absolutely wanted this one, and she really likes to win,” Dartmouth Director of Skiing and Women’s Nordic Head Coach Cami Thompson Graves said in the press release. “She wasn’t about to let a fall slow her down, she has such a great competitive fire. But she also showed her playful side grabbing Brayton’s glasses and smiling all the way to the finish line!”
Hailey Swirbul of the University of Alaska Anchorage placed second and Linn Eriksen (DU) reached the podium in third (+46.3). Denver had three in the top 10 with Jasmi Joensuu in ninth and Taeler McCrerey in 10th. Also landing in the top 10 for All-American honors were Guro Jordheim of the University of Utah in fourth, Emma Tarbath (Montana State University) in fifth, Petra Hyncicova of the University of Colorado Boulder (CU) in sixth, Christina Rolandsen (CU) in seventh, and Lauren Jortberg (Dartmouth) in eighth.
Torchia, an Northern Michigan University (NMU) junior and U.S. Ski Team Development Team member, became the seventh NCAA champion in NMU Wildcats nordic skiing history, according to an NMU press release. Fredrick Schwenke was the Wildcats’ last nordic champion; he won the 2015 NCAA Championships 20 k classic.
Torchia drew bib 1 for Saturday’s 20 k freestyle mass start and crossed the finish line first in 54:21.0, just 2 seconds ahead of CU’s Alvar Alev. Eivind Kvaale (DU) finished just four seconds back in third, and Denver had three in the top seven with Dag Frode Trollebø in fourth and Lars Hannah in seventh. Darmouth’s Cal Deline placed fifth, Zane Fields of Colby College finished sixth, and the 20 k freestyle’s 2017 NCAA champion Martin Bergström (Utah), who also won Thursday’s 10 k classic, placed eighth. CU’s Petter Reistad and Sondre Bollum finished ninth and 10th, respectively.
In the team standings, Denver beat Colorado by 41 points for the overall win with a total of 604 points between the nordic and alpine events at this year’s championships. Dartmouth placed third, 114.5 points behind Colorado, and Utah was another 63 points back in fourth.
According to a DU press release, Denver has won at least one national championship in each of the last five athletic seasons (skiing: 2013/14, 2015/16, 2017/18; hockey: 2016-17; men’s lacrosse 2014/15), joining only Stanford on the list of schools that have done so in the last five seasons. (Oregon, West Virginia, Penn State, Oklahoma, Ohio State and Florida could potentially join that list later this year.)
“It feels incredible,” said DU head coach Andy LeRoy said in the press release. “I am so happy for all of our athletes, they’ve been training all week and all season and to do it in Steamboat in front of our crowd is special.”
The Holmenkollen men’s 50 k freestyle mass start podium on Saturday at the World Cup in Oslo, Norway, with Switzerland’s Dario Cologna (c) in first, Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby (l) in second, and Russia’s Maxim Vylegzhanin (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
FIS Cross Country World Cup (Oslo, Norway): Men’s 50 k freestyle mass start
A four-time Olympic champion, Dario Cologna of Switzerland won his first 50-kilometer World Cup race on Saturday, topping the podium in the famous Holmenkollen 50 k freestyle mass start after outlunging Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby (who won the event last year) for the win in 2:01:48.1. Sundby finished one-hundredth of a second behind for second place, ahead of Russia’s Maxim Vylegzhanin, who was 1.1 seconds back in third in his first World Cup race since November of last year.
The photo finish for first between Switzerland’s Dario Cologna (near) and Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby at the Holmenkollen 50 k freestyle mass start on Saturday in Oslo, Norway. Cologna got it by 0.01 seconds. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
Norway’s Sjur Røthe came out on top in a race for fourth (+4.2), ahead of Russia’s Denis Spitsov in fifth (+4.4) and his Norwegian teammate Hans Christer Holund in sixth (+4.5). Great Britain’s Andrew Musgrave followed in seventh (+15.1), Germany’s Florian Notz placed eighth (+25.9) and Canada’s Alex Harvey finished ninth (+32.4), ahead of France’s Robin Duvillard in 10th (+33.5).
Scott Patterson led the U.S. in 16th (+56.3) coming off an 11th place in the 50 k classic mass start at last month’s Olympics, and Canada’s Devon Kershaw finished in the points in 28th (+3:43.6). Just outside the top 30, Canada’s Graeme Killick finished 34th (+4:55.1).
Also for the U.S, David Norris placed 38th (+6:19.7), Paddy Caldwell was 46th (+8:12.3), Noah Hoffman 49th (+10:27.9), Kevin Bolger 52nd (+12:44.2), and Simi Hamilton did not finish.
Canada’s fourth man in the race, Andy Shields finished 47th (+8:13.6).
Italy’s Lukas Hofer celebrates his team’s win in Saturday’s mixed relay at the IBU World Cup in Kontiolahti, Finland. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
IBU World Cup (Kontiolahti, Finland): Single mixed relay & mixed relay
(Note: This rundown has been updated to include comments from Christian Gow and Sean Doherty.)
In the last single mixed relay and mixed relay of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup season, France and Italy came out on top, with France winning the two-person single mixed relay and Italy taking first in the coed mixed relay.
France’s Anaïs Chevalier and Antonin Guigonnat after winning Saturday’s single mixed relay at the IBU World Cup in Kontiolahti, Finland. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
France’s Anaïs Chevalier and Antonin Guigonnat combined for zero penalties and six spares to finish first in the single mixed relay in 33:29.1 minutes. Guigonnat as the team’s anchor secured the win by just 2.4 seconds over Austria’s Julian Eberhard while Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø finished 4.4 seconds back for third.
Chevalier put France in fifth after the first leg, 15.5 seconds behind Ukraine’s Iryna Varvynets in first. Guigonnat used just one spare on his first leg to move them into fourth, 9.2 seconds back while Norway led at the second exchange. On Chevalier’s second leg, she shot clean in both stages to lead through the final exchange, with Ukraine skiing just 6.2 seconds back in second.
On the final leg, Guigonnat used two spares and stayed out of the penalty lap, keeping the team in first through the finish. Eberhard skied the second-fastest course time on that leg to elevate Austria (with Lisa Theresa Hauser) from fourth at the tag to second place at the finish, and Bø skied all the way up from eighth to third place for Norway (with Marte Olsbu) with the fastest course time.
Ukraine’s Artem Tyschenko used just one spare but slipped to fourth with the 11th-ranked course time on that leg, as he finished 10.8 seconds behind Norway.
Behind Russia in fifth and Italy in sixth, Canada placed seventh (+23.8) with Rosanna Crawford and Christian Gow. The duo combined for zero penalties and six spares, and put themselves in third place early in the race. Crawford skied them into third on the first leg, using just two spares and tagging Gow 7.4 seconds out of first.
Gow went on to take the lead after cleaning prone without any spares, and he cleaned standing as well but slipped back to third while Bø took the lead. Gow tagged Crawford in third, 8.9 seconds behind Norway in first.
“I didn’t think too much about being tagged in third,” Gow recalled in an email to FasterSkier. “It was exciting for sure, but I let it fade to the background so that I could focus on my job both on the track and in the range. It was great to leave prone in first place! It was also surprising, but it was a good place to be in.
“My skiing was ok today,” he continued. “It is a really challenging and demanding race format that we don’t get a lot of practice with. I was sick after the Olympic Games and only finally coming around the past couple days. The Sprint race was horrendous for me, so today was much better than that. In the range I just focussed on myself and trusted my shooting. I tried my best not to get caught up in the race going on around me and it worked to my benefit.”
Crawford then slipped to seventh and 21 seconds back with three prone spares, but avoided the penalty lap, and Gow held onto seventh through the finish, using just one spare and skiing the eighth-fastest course time on that leg.
“We are both happy with this result,” Gow wrote. “I think that we are both looking at the 23 second gap to first and thinking that if things had worked out just a bit better we could be there. It can be both exciting and frustrating to be that close to the podium. We know we can do it, it’s just a matter of putting it together on the right day. We are happy with 7th, but hungry for more.”
Susan Dunklee and Lowell Bailey finished 14th for the U.S., 1:13.0 out of first with one penalty and 14 spares. The penalty came on Dunklee’s first leg during her standing stage, after she had cleaned prone without any spares. She tagged Bailey in 14th and he brought them up to 11th, using three spares on that leg, then Dunklee came through the final exchange in 13th after using four spares to clean. Bailey lost one place on the final leg, using four spares but staying out of the penalty lap.
Twenty-six teams competed in the single mixed relay, compared to 23 in the mixed relay that followed.
Team Italia celebrates its win in the IBU World Cup mixed relay on Saturday in Kontiolahti, Finland, with its relay members Dorothea Wierer, Lisa Vittozzi, Dominik Windisch, and Lukas Hofer. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
In Saturday’s 2 x 6 + 2 x 7.5 k mixed relay, Italy nabbed a 1.5-second victory over Ukraine in 1:15:08.3. Dorothea Wierer, Lisa Vittozzi, Dominik Windisch, and Lukas Hofer — the same Italian team that took bronze in the mixed relay at last month’s Olympics, although in a different order — combined for the win with one penalty and 13 spares.
Ukraine, with Anastasiya Merkushyna, Vita Semerenko, Artem Pryma, and Dmytro Pidruchnyi, had zero penalties and just three spares throughout the whole race. For the second-straight relay on Saturday, Norway placed third (+9.1) with Synnøve Solemdal, Tiril Eckhoff,Henrik L’Abée-Lund, and Tarjei Bø totaling zero penalties and nine spares.
Italy’s lone penalty came in Vittozzi’s second leg, but it didn’t derail the team as it improved from sixth to fifth with Vittozzi, who skied the third-fastest course time on that leg. She tagged Windisch 6.8 seconds out of first, and Windisch, who had anchored the team in the Olympics, took the lead by the final exchange after using two spares to clean. Hofer left the exchange just 3.3 seconds ahead of Norway’s Bø but used just one spare and skied the second-fastest anchor leg to finish first, beating his rivals up Kontiolahti’s infamous climb known as “The Wall”. Ukraine’s Pidruchnyi also shot clean with a single spare and clocked the fastest anchor leg to move his team from fourth to second place. Bø lost one place and finished third after using one spare as well and skiing the third-fastest anchor leg.
Russia followed in fourth, France fifth, Sweden sixth, Germany seventh, Austria eighth, and the U.S. ninth (+2:48.4). The U.S. team, with Clare Egan, Joanne Reid, Tim Burke, and Sean Doherty, had one penalty and 11 spares. Egan cleaned her first prone but had to ski a penalty lap after her standing stage, tagging Reid in 17th, 58.7 seconds out of first.
Reid used three spares on the second leg and moved up to 13th by the second exchange, and Burke used three spares as well to pick off one more place and tag Doherty in 12th. Doherty skied the eighth-fastest anchor leg and used two spares to clean to put the team in ninth at the finish.
“I don’t consider two spares to be anything special, but today it was enough to make up some ground,” Doherty wrote in an email to FasterSkier.”I felt strong skiing, more like myself which is fun even if it’s a little late in the season. We had very good skis which always helps. I have done quite a few laps on this course over the years so the lines and transitions are pretty refined, so that is where I made time on the course.
“I am happy with my leg. I enjoyed my little battle for 9th,” he continued. “I can’t speak too much for the other members of the relay tonight but I think 9th is a solid effort.”
Canada finished 17th (+4:34.9) with Emma Lunder, Julia Ransom, Scott Gow, and Brendan Green combining for one penalty and 13 spares. Lunder put them in 12th at the first exchange and Ransom skied up to 10th, but Scott Gow had a penalty on his standing stage to drop to 16th. Green lost one more place on the last leg despite only requiring two spares.
The women’s 5 k classic podium at 2018 NCAA Skiing Championships in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, with Dartmouth’s Katharine Ogden (c) in first, Colorado’s Anne Siri Lervik (l) in second, and University of Alaska Anchorage’s Hailey Swirbul (r) in third. (Photo: Clarkson Creative/DartmouthSports.com)
On the first day of NCAA Skiing Championships at Howelsen Hill in Steamboat Springs, Dartmouth College freshman Katharine Ogden and University of Utah senior Martin Bergström were crowned champions in the women’s 5-kilometer and men’s 10 k classic races, respectively.
“There isn’t much more to say about Katharine’s performance today other than she absolutely crushed it!” said Dartmouth Director of Skiing and Women’s Nordic Head Coach Cami Thompson Graves, according to the Dartmouth press release. “It was such a treat to watch her perform so well.”
Martin Bergström (University of Utah) after winning his third-straight NCAA Skiing Championships title with a win in the 10 k classic on Thursday in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. (Photo: University of Utah)
CU, this year’s NCAA Championships host, had three women in the top 11 with last year’s classic champion Petra Hyncicova placing sixth and Christina Rolandsen finishing 11th.
The CU Buffs took the lead in the team standings on Thursday by nine points over the University of Denver (DU). Utah is currently 41 points back in third, Dartmouth moved up to fourth, and the University of Vermont, which led after Wednesday’s Day 1 alpine races, slipped to fifth.
In the men’s race, Bergström, who won both races at last year’s NCAA Championships, posted an 8.5-second victory over CU’s Petter Reistad with a winning time of 27:37.1. Dag Frode Trollebø of DU placed third (+14.7) ahead of his DU teammate Eivind Kvaale in fourth (+38.9). On his 22nd birthday, Ian Torchia, of Northern Michigan University and the U.S. Ski Team Development Team, was the top American finisher in fifth (+46.2).
Alpine slalom races will take place on Friday, while NCAA Championships will conclude with 15/20 k freestyle mass starts on Saturday.
IBU World Cup (Kontiolahti, Finland): Men’s 10 k sprint
First, a little geography lesson. Kontiolahti, Finland, is only about 100 kilometers from the Russian border, so most of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup (and World Championships) events held there attract a mostly Russian crowd.
The men’s 10 k sprint podium at the IBU World Cup in Kontiolahti, Finland, with Russia’s Anton Shipulin (c) in first, Latvia’s Andrejs Rastorgujevs (l) in second, France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet (r) in third. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
And here’s a little more background: Russia’s Anton Shipulin showed up for Thursday’s IBU World Cup in Kontiolahti raring to go after having been barred from last month’s Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.
So Shipulin hadn’t raced since Jan. 21 in Antholz, Italy. The International Olympic Committee’s decision to ban him from the 2018 Games went public on Jan. 23.
Back in action in Kontiolahti, in front of Russian fans, Shipulin delivered a 5.8-second win in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint, shooting clean and finishing in 23:51.6. It was the 31 year old’s third non-relay podium of the season and first World Cup win of 2017/2018, and he did so on a relatively moderate evening by Kontiolahti standards (at -6 degrees Celsius, or 21 Fahrenheit) with a “stiff breeze” on the range, according to an IBU press release.
“I felt very good on the tracks and shooting and today it was enough to win,” Shipulin told the IBU. “I am very happy about this … all of the Russian fans gave me a lot of support on the tracks.”
Latvia’s Andrejs Rastorgujevs tied his career best in second place, after shooting a perfect 10-for-10 as well. He acknowledged his mom and women in general after the race.
“This is very important for my team,” Rastorgujevs told the IBU. “I would also like to congratulate all of the ladies and especially my mom on International Women’s Day.”
France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet also shot clean to place third (+17.3) for his third non-relay World Cup podium of the season.
Fillon Maillet was one of the earliest starters in bib 6 yet held off Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø, the 30th starter, by 1.7 seconds for the last spot on the podium. Bø had been a race leader after cleaning prone but missed two standing targets (0+2) to slip out of contention and into fourth at the finish (+19.0).
Germany’s Olympic sprint champion, Arnd Peiffer placed fifth (+27.4) with one miss (0+1), and France’s Simon Desthieux finished sixth (+28.3) with one prone penalty (1+0), and Germany took seventh and eighth with Erik Lesser (+30.6; one penalty) and Simon Schempp (+32.0; two penalties), respectively. Italy had two in the top 10 with Lukas Hofer in ninth (+35.2; one penalty) and Dominik Windisch in 10th (+38.3; one penalty).
Lowell Bailey of the U.S. posted his best sprint result of the season in 16th (+48.4) after cleaning prone and missing one standing target (0+1). After starting 22nd, he recorded the 13th- and 14th-fastest overall shooting and range times, respectively, and 23rd-ranked course time.
After the Olympics, Bailey returned home to Lake Placid, N.Y., for a brief training block. Despite a hefty amount of travel over the last week and a half, he explained in an email that he felt good in his first race back.
“I felt better than I have for most of the season. Sometimes that can happen. I guess that’s the part of the unpredictability of biathlon,” Bailey wrote of Thursday’s race. “The conditions were great today; hard tracks and calm winds on the range. There was a bit of wind, but compared to the three weeks in South Korea, it seemed pretty tame.
“Shooting felt solid today,” he added. “That missed shot in standing was sooo close, but not close enough!”
Overall, Bailey stated that he was happy with his performance and looking forward to the rest of the races in Kontiolahti.
Leif Nordgren (US Biathlon) raced to 17th for his best result in three seasons on Thursday in the men’s 10 k sprint at the IBU World Cup in Kontiolahti, Finland. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
His teammate Leif Nordgren finished just one place behind him in 17th (+49.9) for his best result in three years. A later starter in bib 55, Nordgren also cleaned prone and missed one standing (0+1) with the fifth-fastest shooting time and seventh-fastest range time. Overall, his course time ranked 28th out of 100 finishers. Nordgren’s individual career best on the World Cup is 16th in a sprint in February 2015. He has finished 17th three times; the last time was in a pursuit in March 2015.
Brendan Green shot clean to lead the Canadian team in 34th (+1:29.5). American Sean Doherty followed in 35th (+1:29.7) with three penalties (1+2), and Tim Burke placed 38th (+1:36.1) for the U.S., also with three misses (1+2).
In his World Cup debut, American Alex Howe finished 68th (+2:23.1) with two misses (1+1).
Canada’s Christian Gow finished 79th (+2:47.4) with two penalties (1+1), and Scott Gow was 86th (+3:01.7) with three misses (1+2).
This year’s Kontiolahti World Cup does not include a pursuit race. The women’s 7.5 k sprint is scheduled for Friday at 11:45 a.m. EST in Kontiolahti, and the single mixed relay and mixed relay will follow on Saturday. Racing in Kontiolahti will conclude with men’s and women’s mass starts.
Martin Fourcade waves the tricolore down the finishing straight as France claims gold in the biathlon mixed relay on Tuesday at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — In its four-card-deep deck, the French biathlon team had an ace. Anchoring France’s 2 x 6 + 2 x 7.5-kilometer mixed relay was Martin Fourcade. The 29 year old had already taken two individual gold medals at these Winter Games. The final leg of Tuesday’s race presented the opportunity for another.
Coming through the last exchange, it was Germany’s Erik Lesser tagging off to Arnd Peiffer. Without Fourcade chasing them, Germany’s chances of a medal would have seemed certain.
Peiffer, who learned around 1 p.m. that afternoon that he would start the relay in place of Simon Schempp, who reportedly was feeling under the weather, was first into the range after one loop for his round of prone shooting. There, Peiffer missed two shots, but using two spares, hit the remaining two targets and stayed out of the penalty lap.
Then came Fourcade. The Frenchman shot clean. Skiing into the range with France was Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen and Italy’s Dominik Windisch. Svendsen and Windisch both used one spare each to clean and steer clear of the penalty lap as well.
Out on course, Peiffer had a 6.1-second buffer between himself and Fourcade. Windisch was the third racer to depart the range, 16.3 seconds out of first, and just 0.1 seconds behind him was Svendssen.
The 6.1 seconds separating the two frontrunners was soon down to zero. Fourcade attacked on the first uphill, passing the German and was the first into the range for the standing shooting — exactly the type of stage Fourcade craves.
Five days ago, Fourcade was in a similar situation. During the men’s 20 k individual race, he skied into the range for the final round of shooting with a comfortable lead. The almost-always clutch Frenchman missed the last two targets, losing the gold and finishing fifth on the day.
Martin Fourcade cleaning his final five targets of the day to secure gold for France in the mixed relay at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
During Tuesday’s mixed relay, Fourcade was on his A-game. Five pings heard throughout the stadium and five targets down. With his remaining 2.5 k to go, another medal for France and Fourcade was certain. Not long after, it became clear that medal would be gold.
Back in the range, Peiffer struggled, using three spares and having to ski a penalty loop. Meanwhile, Svendsen used one spare to clean and Windisch two. Svendsen slid into second place, 34.3 seconds behind an already long-gone Fourcade.
Windisch left about 15 seconds after the Svendsen. After emerging from the penalty lap, Peiffer skied up behind Windisch. In a moment of déjà vu, Fourcade carrying France’s fluttering flag crossed the finish line first in a time of 1:08:34.3 for the gold medal. Svendsen held his own with the third-fastest anchor lap to secure silver for Norway, 20.9 seconds behind Fourcade.
For Fourcade, it was his fifth gold medal in two Olympics and his first in a team event. France last won the mixed relay at the world-championships level at 2016 World Championships in Oslo, Norway.
Asked what it was like capturing his fifth Olympic gold, Fourcade responded at the press conference, “Tonight it’s not about numbers, it’s not about personal, it’s a team adventure that began in 2009 in the world champs in [PyeongChang] Korea, and tonight it’s a really big emotion for the team and all the crew because we are individual athletes and the emotion of an individual Olympic gold medal is amazing, but when you can share it with your teammates it’s something really much more incredible.”
“I think for the Norwegian team, we have a big priority on this relay,” Svendsen said at the press conference. “We really like it a lot, great to race both women and men together. You can see the best biathlon nations … so great event, it was very exciting.”
Italy’s Dominik Windisch (r) celebrates bronze for his team in the mixed relay, which he took by 0.3 seconds over Germany’s Arnd Peiffer (l) at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
The battle for third and fourth came down to a contentious last 100 meters.
As they rounded into the finishing straight, Peiffer was skiing in the left lane and Windisch in the right. In one final push to the line, Windisch crossed over into the Peiffer’s lane and took third place and bronze medal by 0.3 seconds ahead of him, 26.9 seconds after Fourcade.
Peiffer crossed in fourth place (+27.2) and Germany subsequently filed a protest that Windisch obstructed Peiffer. Ultimately, the protest was denied and the results stood.
Speaking to German broadcaster ARD after the race, Peiffer initially said Windisch’s move was within the rules. However, after viewing the replay, he changed his mind.
“I believe he [Windisch] would have beaten me if he’d just remained straight ahead in his corridor and not skied such a curve,” Peiffer later told ARD, according to a translation. “That’s what I also told him. I told him I congratulate him because I believe he was better today. I just did a poor job today, that’s how it even came to this situation…
Germany’s mixed relay anchor Arnd Peiffer during his last shooting stage on Tuesday, where he incurred a penalty and slipped out of gold-medal contention and ultimately finished fourth in the event at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
“I took another look at it now, and to me it’s a rule violation,” Peiffer added. “But from experience I know that the jury never makes any decision or generally denies appeals. Just because they don’t have the courage, I believe. I am sorry for the other three, because they did a great job. I don’t believe I would have deserved a medal today, but it’s always sad if rules get broken.”
During a post-race press conference, the issue of Italy’s move was raised again. One reporter directed a question at Windisch, asking about his thoughts on the filed complaint.
“It happened realy really fast because it come down from the downhill and I was convinced to do the right thing because I was in front of Peiffer,” Windisch said.“The jury had a long, long meeting to take this decision and they decided for us. I am really happy about this, so I think they had their reasons and I am happy for Italy.”
The same reporter posed the question to Fourcade, stating that the move seemed like one the Frenchman has done in the past.
“As Dominik Windisch told you it happened really fast in a situation we are not fully able to decide really quickly because we already have 7.5 kilometers in the legs,” Fourcade said. “When you are looking a the picture you can see it’s probably not the best decision Dominik took, but in the end it changes nothing because Dominik is stronger than Arnd in the sprint and he didn’t change anything with the final results. I think and I’m sure if it happened again he would choose another line.”
Italy’s Strong Start
Italy’s Lisa Vittozzi (2), alongside Germany’s Vanessa Heinz, leads the first leg of the 2 x 6 + 2 x 7.5 k mixed relay on Tuesday at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. She went on to hand off in first, and Italy ultimately earned bronze in the event. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
In the first leg of the race, Italy’s Lisa Vittozzi and Germany’s Vanessa Heinz tagged off in first and second, respectively, with Germany 2.2 seconds back at the exchange after both skiers shot clean without any spares. Vittozzi hanged off to Dorothea Wierer, while Heinz tagged Germany’s strongest leg Laura Dahlmeier, who took gold in the sprint and pursuit to start the Games and placed third in the 15 k individual.
Dahlmeier shot clean in the first prone and used one spare to clean standing, tagging Lesser in first, 29.9 seconds ahead of Italy, at the second exchange.
Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø racing the third leg of the mixed relay at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. After being tagged in 10th, he skied up to fourth at the last exchange, and Norway ultimately finished second. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
Norway’s ascent to second place involved a strong third leg from Johannes Thingnes Bø. Using just a single spare to clean his two stages (0+0, 0+1), Bø overcame two less-than-stellar legs from teammates Marte Olsbu (0+2, 0+1) and Tiril Eckhoff, who had a penalty (0+2, 1+3). When Eckhoff tagged Bø, he was in 10th, 1:24.4 minutes behind Germany in first. With the fastest third-leg course time, Bø handed off to Svendsen in fourth place, 33.1 seconds behind the Germans and half a second behind Italy.
Canada 12th, U.S. 15th
Canada finished the relay in 12th (+2:36.7) after skiing three places up from their bib number.
Rosanna Crawford skiing the first leg of Canada’s mixed relay at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. She tagged off in 11th and Canada went on to finish 12th. (Photo:FlyingPointRoad)
Rosanna Crawford skied the opening leg, using two spares, one each in prone and standing, to avoid the penalty lap.
“I tried to be super focused in prone,” she told FasterSkier after. “I went on to have one miss, that was just a bad trigger pull on my part. Skiing wasn’t great, but I just tried my best to stick with the women around me and give Julia the best chance I could.”
Crawford tagged teammate Julia Ransom in 11th, 34.7 seconds out of first. Ransom shot without a miss in prone and used two spares to clean standing. She maintained 11th while tagging Brendan Green 1:44.7 minutes behind the leaders.
After what Ransom considered a less-than-ideal personal start to the Olympics, she was pleased with how she felt racing on Tuesday.
“Today I felt like I could actually push a little harder and have fun racing,” she said.
Canada’s Brendan Green racing the third leg of the mixed relay at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
Green used three spares in total (0+1, 0+2) but remained clear of the penalty lap. He came through the last exchange in 14th, 2:27.9 out of first.
“I thought the wind would make it a little bit challenging today,” Green said after finishing his leg, with Canada’s fourth-leg skier, Christian Gow, still on course. “It was up a bit from the other days, [but] thankfully it was fairly consistent. This won’t be the result we are hoping for but it’s a good primer for the men’s and women’s relays later this week and so looking forward to that.”
In his first mixed relay and first time anchoring a championship relay, Christian Gow headed out on the final leg to pick off some places.
Canada’s Christian Gow racing to 26th in the men’s 20 k individual for his best non-relay result at his first Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
“I knew there would be a bit more pressure depending on the position that we were in when I got tagged because all the teams were putting their strongest guys last,” Gow said after. “It’s some pretty big names when you’re looking at the list. You’re like, ‘OK, there are some of my idols,’ so there’s a bit more pressure there, but I have been feeling pretty good.”
The 24-year-old Gow shot clean and then used two spares in standing, racing the ninth-fastest last leg to put Canada in 12th at the finish (+2:36.7).
“I think Nathan [Smith] one time told me you can’t idolize your competition, which is very true,” Gow said of his teammate and fellow Olympian. “I think I get a little better at that every year, believing in myself a little more and not looking at the big names I’m racing as untouchable or anything like that. I am especially happy with how I have been doing that this year. You try to handle it just like any other race and it doesn’t matter who the guy is next to you, it’s what you do in the race to beat them.”
Julia Ransom racing the second leg for Canada in the mixed relay at the 2018 Olympics. She kept the team in 11th and they went on to place 12th. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
Four years ago at the Olympics in Sochi, Russia, the Canadian mixed relay finished 11th. As the race was still going on Tuesday, Crawford said a top eight would be a good result and top six would be “the dream result.”
Despite their goals, Ransom, a first-time Olympian, said they hadn’t felt any added pressure coming into the mixed relay.
“… Everybody on the team knows that we’re all trying our best and are gonna bring our best to the day,” Ransom, 25, said of the team’s effort on any given relay day. “It’s an unsaid sort of encouragement, I guess.”
For the U.S., Susan Dunklee skied a strong first leg, putting the team in fifth at the first exchange, 23.8 seconds out of first. She used two spares to clean prone and hit every target in standing (0+2, 0+0).
Susan Dunklee (center, in all blue) leading out for the U.S team in the first leg of mixed relay at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. She handed off in fifth and the team ultimately finished 15th. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
“I definitely felt better today than I did in the individual,” Dunklee said, referring to the 15 k race where she placed 19th. “I was closing on the lead group for the first kilometer or so and then by the top of the big hill, I kind of ran out of steam a little bit and was just trying to get into the finish.”
After being tagged in fifth, right behind the Czech Republic* in fourth, Joanne Reid hung in contention in sixth after cleaning prone without any spares. But in standing, she missed all five targets and used all three spares, ultimately having to ski three penalty laps. She went on to tag Tim Burke in 18th, 3:10 minutes back.
“It went poorly,” Ransom said after. “… The best I could do was just try and stick on and hand over with something they could work with, and that didn’t really work out for me today.”
“I guess the strategy was once I got tagged try to make some time, try to get in contact with at least one other team so that Lowell could have someone to chase,” Burke said.
Tim Burke racing the third leg of the U.S. mixed relay at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. After being tagged in 18th, he moved the team into 16th and they ultimately finished 15th. (Photo: FlyignPointRoad)
Burke in fact caught two other teams, shooting without a miss in prone and using three spares to clean standing (0+0, 0+3), and tagging teammate Lowell Bailey in 16th (+3:24.4).
The U.S. anchor leg, Bailey used one spare in prone and none in standing (0+1, 0+0). He skied the seventh-fastest anchor leg and finished the race in 15th (+3:31.1) out of 20 teams.
“We actually had decent performances, it was really just one bad stage,” Bailey said. “Joanne had a good race otherwise and Susan had a great start, Tim had a solid race, I feel good about my race, so unfortunately, it’s eight stages not seven, but I think everyone gave everything they had and that’s the way biathlon goes. Some days go your way and some days don’t.”
Olympic biathlon racing continues Thursday with the women’s 4 x 6 k relay.
*Note: After her race, Dunklee told reporters about her collision with the Czech Republic’s Veronika Vítková as the two first-leg skiers came through the exchange with several others. The crash broke Vítková’s rifle right after she tagged off in fourth, just ahead of Dunklee.
“I feel really bad,” Dunklee said. “I tangled with [Vítková] in the tag-off zone and she tripped and broke her rifle and that just puts a real damper on everything. So that’s sad. … It doesn’t affect her race today, but it certainly affects her races going forward. Stocks are highly customized pieces of equipment and you can spend months tinkering with them to get them to fit you just right, so it’s not easy to fix them when they break.”
The Czech team went on to finish eighth (+1:39.3).
Germany en route to a clean sweep of the podium in the men’s nordic-combined individual large hill/10 k on Tuesday at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, with Johannes Rydzek (5) leading Fabian Rießle (6) and Eric Frenzel (4). They went on to place first, second and third, respectively. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
A few shooting errors by pursuit bronze medalist Anais Bescond were not enough to derail France, as the team of Marie Dorin Habert, Bescond, Simon Desthieux, and Martin Fourcade took gold in the mixed relay. Skiing the first leg, Dorin Habert shot clean and tagged off just seven seconds behind the leading team from Italy. Bescond then used four spare rounds over the course of her relay leg, dropping the team to fourth (+48.9) at the halfway point. But both Desthieux and Fourcade shot 10/10, capitalized on the errors of others, and ended up with a clear 20.9 second margin for gold at the finish.
Susan Dunklee put the U.S. in fifth after the first leg of the mixed relay. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
Norway came back from a rough start to earn silver despite a whopping eleven spare rounds and a penalty loop. Marte Olsbu had three spare rounds to tag off in ninth, 32.8 seconds back, and then Tiril Eckhoff used two spare rounds in prone and then took a penalty loop in standing. But Johannes Thingnes Bø used just one spare round and skied the team from tenth to fourth, in contact with the medal pack, on his relay leg, and then Emil Hegle Svendsen used one spare round in each shooting stage to climb into a clear second; he skied alone on the final loop before crossing the line for silver.
There was controversy about bronze, however. Germany had led much of the race thanks to a solid leg by Vanessa Hinz to start and then a brilliant leg by Laura Dahlmeier; Erik Lesser also excelled, and at the third exchange the team had used just two spare rounds and had a 32.6-second lead on the field. But sprint gold medalist Arnd Peiffer couldn’t keep it together and first used a spare round in prone, then took a painful penalty loop in standing.
He exited the loop just as Italy’s Dominik Windisch went past. Lisa Vitozzi had put Italy in the lead after one leg thanks to perfect shooting, and despite three spare rounds Dorothea Wierer had tagged off in second at the halfway point. Lukas Hofer had maintained that position and Windisch was really only in fourth because of three of his own spare rounds.
Windisch and Peiffer battled all the way around the final 2.5 k, with Windisch leading the final downhill; the pair were nearly even coming into the stadium, but Windisch sprinted for the finishing lanes and in doing so angled from one far side of the trail to the farthest finishing lane, just barely getting there ahead of Peiffer and debatably choosing a lane before the lane markings began. Peiffer, who had skied a straight course all the way from the downhill into the finish, was forced to then switch lanes and couldn’t regain the momentum to keep up with the Italian, who crossed the line in third place.
The Germans protested, but the race jury ultimately decided to keep the Italians in third place, awarding them bronze, and the Germans finished fourth.
“The jury has decide to keep the bronze medal for Italy; Peiffer did not have to alter his speed, therefore no reason to disqualify Windisch,” the IBU stated in a tweet. (The response to that tweet has nearly unanimously condemned it as the wrong decision.)
The IBU 2016 Competition Rules give only a vague definition of obstruction, stating, “It is strictly forbidden to impede other competitors in any way at any time during the competition.”
The Canadian team of Rosanna Crawford, Julia Ransom, Brendan Green, and Christian Gow finished 12th, +2:36.7, with nine spare rounds.
The U.S. team of Susan Dunklee, Joanne Reid, Tim Burke, and Lowell Bailey finished 15th, +3:31.1, with three penalty loops and nine spare rounds.
Germany pulled off a podium sweep in the second nordic combined combined competition of the Olympics, with Johannes Rydzek, Fabian Riessle, and Eric Frenzel earning gold, silver (+0.4 seconds), and bronze (+0.8 seconds), respectively. They had been ranked fifth, sixth, and fourth after the jumping round on the big hill, but edged Norway’s Jarl Magnus Riiber off the podium. Riiber had the second-best jump of the day and ended up just 2.8 seconds out of a gold medal. Japan’s Akito Watabe topped the jumping scores and finished fifth, +12.5 seconds.
For the U.S., Bryan Fletcher led the way again and just like in the normal hill competition, finished 17th. This time he was ranked 23rd after the jump and made up six places to cross the line +1:42.9. Ben Berend, Ben Loomis, and Jasper Good finished 39th (+4:28.2), 40th (+4:38.8), and 43rd (+5:50.2).
The Norwegian men’s relay after winning the 4 x 7.5 k on Friday at the IBU World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germany, with Lars Helge Birkeland (l), Tarjei Bø (far r), Emil Hegle Svendsen (second from r), and Johannes Thingnes Bø (second from l). It was their second win of the season (after winning with Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Henrik L’Abée-Lund, and Erlend Bjøntegaard, and Birkeland in the first men’s relay of the 2017/2018 season in Hochfilzen, Austria. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
IBU World Cup (Ruhpolding, Germany): Men’s 4 x 7.5 k relay
Less than a week after Sweden won the men’s 4 x 7.5-kilometer relay in Oberhof, Germany, with an up-and-coming group, Norway posted its second win (in three relays) this season, with an all-star lineup on Friday in Ruhpolding, Germany.
Lars Helge Birkeland, Tarjei Bø, Emil Hegle Svendsen, and Johannes Thingnes Bø took the lead during Johannes Bø’s anchor leg and ultimately the win in 1:13:11.1 hours, 24.9 seconds ahead of France in second and 53.4 seconds ahead of Russia in third.
On a bluebird day with no wind in the range, according to an International Biathlon Union (IBU) press release, the Norwegians avoided the penalty lap and used seven spares to clean. First-leg skier Birkeland put them in second with near-perfect shooting (0+0, 0+1), just 0.4 seconds behind Germany’s Erik Lesser, who cleaned without any spares, in first. (Birkeland was also on the Norwegian team that won the first relay of the season in Hochfilzen, Austria.)
Norway remained in second during Tarjei Bø’s second leg, in which he had to use three spares to clean prone (0+3, 0+0). He tagged Svendsen in second, 0.6 seconds behind Italy, which had risen to first thanks to Lukas Hofer’s fast skiing and solid shooting (0+0, 0+2).
Svendsen slipped slightly to third place by the final exchange despite only needing one spare to clean (0+0, 0+1), but was still just a second out of first at the tag. France had moved into first place with a predictably strong third leg from Martin Fourcade (0+0, 0+0), in which he brought the team from seventh to first place, just ahead of Italy’s Dominik Windisch and Norway’s Svendsen.
Johannes Bø skied the third-fastest anchor leg and cleaned prone and used two spares in standing (0+0, 0+2) to overtake France’s Antonin Guigonnat and Italy’s Thierry Chenal, who slipped to second and seventh, respectively, by the finish.
Guigonnat shot well, requiring just one spare (0+1, 0+0), but finished nearly 25 seconds after Bø for second place. Russia reached the podium with Anton Shipulin picking off two places, after being tagged in fifth.
In all, France had zero penalties and six spares, with Simon Desthieux, Quentin Fillon Maillet, Fourcade, and Guigonnat, and Russia used a total of just four spares and had no penalties with Alexey Volkov, Maxim Tsvetkov, Anton Babikov, and Shipulin.
Germany finished fourth (+1:26.5) with zero penalties and 10 spares, with Lesser, Benedikt Doll, Arnd Peiffer and Simon Schempp. After Doll dropped to fifth on the second leg, they skied in fourth on the last two legs.
Austria took fifth (+1:39.8) with zero penalties and six spares, with David Komatz, Simon Eder, Daniel Mesotitsch, and Dominik Landertinger. Sweden followed in sixth (+1:50.6) with zero penalties, six spares and three of the same men who won last Sunday’s relay (Sebastian Samuelsson, Martin Ponsiluoma and Fredrik Lindström) with new member Torstein Stenersen. Italy finished seventh (+1:58.5) with one penalty and 11 spares.
Of 26 teams in the relay, Canada placed 14th (+3:22.3) with one penalty and 10 spares, and the U.S. finished 24th (+16:21.6) with eight penalties (four of which stemmed from cross-firing) and 13 spares.
Notably, the U.S. had been fourth and just 3 seconds out of first after Lowell Bailey’s first leg, which he cleaned without any spares (0+0, 0+0). Leif Nordgren then dropped to 22nd with a penalty in each of his shooting stages (1+3, 1+3) and the 25th-ranked second-leg time. Tim Burke as the team’s third leg had to ski two penalty laps as well (0+2, 2+3), and anchor Sean Doherty was penalized for cross-firing in his last standing stage (0+1, 4+1), according to a US Biathlon press release, and the team was hit with four additional penalties.
“We have a solid team and I know we didn’t show our true potential today,” Bailey said, according to the release. “But the most important relay is still to come. We’ll just have to wait until then.”
“I was happy to put together a good race on the track and in the range,” he said. “The first lap was a bit of a roller derby with no easy way to get to the front. I was fortunate to clean without extra rounds because this allowed me to leapfrog up to the lead pack exiting the range. I tried to keep an even pace for loop two and I thought I would be able to hang in second or third, but no one wanted to pass so I had to lead for most of the loop.
“I had struggled in standing in the previous race so I wanted to get back to taking good shots in standing,” he added. “Although I didn’t shoot as quickly as some of the other guys, I felt good about the stage and the fact that I didn’t have to use extras. It was a fight to catch the lead group on the last loop, but fortunately I had some help from [Italy’s Thomas] Bormolini (of Italy) and we worked together to get back in contact with the lead group.”
Canada finished 14th with Christian Gow, Scott Gow, Macx Davies, and Brendan Green. On the opening leg, Christian Gow put them in 11th with clean prone shooting and just one spare needed to clean standing (0+0, 0+1), but they slipped one spot to 12th with a penalty on Scott Gow’s second leg (0+0, 1+3). Davies then dropped two more places to 14th despite avoiding the penalty lap (0+3, 0+1), and Green held that position to the finish (0+1, 0+1).
The women’s 4 x 6 k relay will be held Saturday in Ruhpolding, with Canada starting Emma Lunder, Julia Ransom, Sarah Beaudry, and Rosanna Crawford. For the U.S., it will be Susan Dunklee, Clare Egan, Emily Dreissigacker, and Joanne Reid. Watch it live on the Olympic Channel at 8:30 a.m. EST.
APU’s Tyler Kornfield (126) leads APU’s Eric Packer (118) and DU’s Eivind Romberg Kvaale (124) to the line in the men’s 30 k classic mass start at 2018 U.S. Cross Country Championships on Sunday in Anchorage, Alaska. Kornfield, Packer, and Kvaale finished first, second and third, respectively. Kris Freeman (10, second from left) was fourth overall and the third American.
U.S. Cross Country Championships (Anchorage, Alaska): 20/30 k classic mass starts
Sweden’s Hedda Bångman denied Caitlin Patterson of her first outright victory of the week at 2018 U.S. Cross Country Championships, but Patterson as the first American racked up her third-straight national title in the women’s 20-kilometer classic mass start at Kincaid Park on Sunday in Anchorage, Alaska.
The top-three Americans in the women’s 20 k classic mass start on Sunday at 2018 U.S. nationals in Anchorage, Alaska, with Caitlin Patterson (1) of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP) in first, Rosie Frankowski of APU (l) in second, and Kaitlynn Miller (r) of CRGP in third.
Bångman, a 22-year-old freshman at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU), pulled off a 15.9-second win in the mass start, crossing the line in 1:00:55.3 hours. Patterson, of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP), finished second, but was the top American in the event for the third time this week, and Rosie Frankowski, of Alaska Pacific University (APU), notched third (second American), 19.6 seconds back.
Rounding out the top 10 was Jessica Yeaton, who trains with APU and races for Australia, in fourth (+44.1), Kaitlynn Miller (CGRP) as the third American in fifth overall (+1:13.5), Alayna Sonnesyn of the University of Vermont (UVM) in sixth (+1:25.3), Chelsea Holmes (APU) in seventh (+1:55.4), Norwegian CU skiers Christina Rolandson and Anne Siri Lervik in eighth (+1:55.7) and ninth (+1:56.1), respectively, and Erika Flowers of the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) Elite Team in 10th (+2:14.6).
The men’s 30 k classic mass start was incredibly close, with APU’s Tyler Kornfield taking his first-ever distance national title (he was the 2012 classic sprint national champion) in 1:21:43.6. He edged his teammate Eric Packer by 0.7 seconds at the line, and Eivind Romberg Kvaale, a sophomore at the University of Denver (DU), finished 1 seconds back in third.
Kris Freeman (Caldwell Sport) was just off the overall podium in fourth (+1.6), but was the third American. Another DU skier, Dag Frode Trollebø, also from Norway, finished fifth (+2.0), and APU had three in the top six with David Norris in sixth (+2.5). Noah Hoffman (Ski & Snowboard Club Vail) finished seventh (+2.6), Scott Patterson (APU) eighth (+3.6), and Craftsbury’s Adam Martin and Ben Lustgarten followed in ninth (+14.7) and 10th (+14.9), respectively. With Brian Gregg (CXC/LNR/Team Gregg) in 11th (+16.1), the men’s top 11 were separated by less than 17 seconds.
IBU World Cup (Oberhof, Germany): Men’s and women’s relays
Racers on the range during the men’s 4 x 7.5 k relay on a foggy Sunday at the IBU World Cup in Oberhof, Germany. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
The Swedish men’s team and French women won the second relays of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup season on Sunday, with Sweden winning the men’s 4 x 7.5 k relay by 1:10.8 over Italy, and France besting Germany by 32.4 seconds.
Notably, most of the top teams didn’t start all of their “A” teamers.
In the men’s race, Sweden’s Martin Ponsiluoma, Jesper Nelin, Sebastian Samuelsson, and Fredrik Lindström combined for their first win together — and the first win for most of the members on the team.
“It is a dream when you are a kid to compete in a World Cup,” Samuelsson said, according to an IBU press release. “To have a win is really amazing!”
The Swedish women’s team also landed on the podium in third (+48.2).
“What a race by the whole team,” said Lindström, who also has one non-relay World Cup win (from 2012) to his name. “It could not be better.”
Conditions could not have been much more difficult for shooting on Sunday, with the fog that had descended early in the day for the women’s race worsening for the men’s race. When there wasn’t fog, there was wind.
Misses were common throughout the two races, and even with racers being able to use three spares per shooting stage to clean, there were a high number of penalty laps.
But the Swedish men kept their penalties to a minimum, with just one for the entire team and a total of nine spare rounds used among them. After Ponsiluoma came through the first exchange in sixth, Nelin skied them into third, Samuelsson picked off another place despite skiing a penalty after his standing stage to put them in second, and Lindström anchored them to first.
“The conditions today were so special. Somehow I felt not so nervous, I was calm and had luck on my side,” Lindström said at a post-race press conference about his nearly flawless shooting (0+0; 0+1).
“I have never [been first] before,” he added. “Not like this in a relay at least. That’s really fantastic.”
“I had to look up to see if I was aiming the right way,” Nelin said after cleaning prone (0+0) then using two spares to clean standing (0+2). “I had no idea where I was aiming, so it was really difficult. But I hit, and it was good. Maybe these conditions fit me and I should never see anything.”
Italy placed second with Thomas Bormolini, Lukas Hofer, Dominik Windisch, and Thierry Chenal combining for two penalties and 11 spares. Hofer had skied them up from eighth to second, and Windisch then took the lead on the third leg to put them in first at the final exchange, 1 minute ahead of Sweden. But Chenal slipped with the seventh-fastest last leg time and a penalty after standing.
“Being on the podium with the team is always a special feeling,” Hofer said at the press conference. “For Thierry, it’s the first year in the World Cup, and he does a really good job, not just today. I am really happy that he could close out this relay. Second place is like a win for us.”
Norway placed third (+2:04.6) with Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen, Henrik L’Abée-Lund, Lars Helge Birkeland, and Tarjei Bø. Together, they had three penalties (two from L’Abée-Lund and one from Birkeland) and 14 spares.
“I grew up on Holmenkollen so I practiced a lot there [in fog],” L’Abée-Lund said. “But today was really really hard, I didn’t see anything in prone. Standing was OK, but prone was really difficult.”
“It’s great to be on the podium,” Christiansen said. “Of course Norway always wants to win, but today we are very happy for our brothers in our neighbor-country Sweden.”
The Canadian men placed 10th (+6:23.1) out of 25 teams with Christian Gow, Scott Gow, Brendan Green, and Carsen Campbell having a combined six penalties and 20 spares. Three of those penalties came on Scott Gow’s second leg, two from Campbell’s anchor leg, and one on Christian Gow’s first leg.
After a penalty on his first prone stage (1+3), Christian cleaned standing with a spare (0+1) and tagged Scott in 11th, 53 seconds out of first. Scott then had two penalties in prone and three in standing, but managed to improve to eighth given how much everyone else was struggling with the shooting as well. Green kept them in eighth with two clean stages (0+2, 0+3), and Campbell, in his first World Cup relay, cleaned prone (0+2) but had two standing penalties (2+3) to put the team in 10th at the finish.
In an interview with German broadcaster ARD halfway through the race, Canadian coach Matthias Ahrens called the range conditions, which ranged from thick fog to unpredictable wind, “very hard to assess.”
“… To be honest, the good thing was that conditions were very bad,” he later added. “So regarding visibility, almost everyone was on the range at the same time [with the same irregular conditions]. They had to wait very long, and of course had bad conditions to shoot, but much of the field was there at the same time.”
The French women’s team, of Anais Bescond, Anais Chevalier, Celia Aymonier, and Justine Braisaz, celebrate their relay victory on Sunday at the IBU World Cup in Oberhof, Germany. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
In the women’s race, with better shooting visibility, France’s Anais Bescond, Anais Chevalier, Celia Aymonier, and Justine Braisaz took the win in 1:12.42.4, with one penalty and 10 spares. After Bescond put them in first through the first exchange, 6 seconds ahead of Italy in second, Chevalier had to ski a penalty loop after prone but cleaned standings (1+3, 0+0) and tagged off in second, 23 seconds behind Italy, now in first.
One loop later, France was back in first thanks to Aymonier, who cleaned with just two spares (0+0, 0+2), and they extended their lead from 0.8 seconds at the last exchange to 32 seconds at the finish with Braisaz, who shot 0+1, 0+3, and skied the fastest anchor leg.
“I know that it’s always good for Justine to start in the first position, so I really wanted to pass the relay to her in that,” Aymonier said in a press conference after.
“I was nervous, too,” Braisaz said. “That kind of shooting turned my mind upside down, actually. The crowd was very loud, and … I wasn’t very focused on what I did. It was a bit foggy, too, so that made it harder. But finally it was a French day, maybe.”
“In my mind the whole team is really strong, and really able to get the first place,” Bescond said. “After years and years and years behind Germany’s team we finally did it. So just Oberhof spirit I think.”
Germany placed second with Vanessa Hinz, Denise Herrmann, Franziska Preuss, and Maren Hammerschmidt. They combined for two penalties and 13 spares; with a penalty on Hinz’s first leg and one more on Hammerschmidt’s last shooting. After being tagged in 14th, Herrmann skied them into fourth, 40 seconds out of first, and Preuss elevated them to second, which Hammerschmidt held onto.
“I was struggling a little bit in the prone shooting,” Herrmann said. “But the skiing was good today, and also the standing [shooting]. I tried to go fast on the track and catch some girls.”
Sweden, with Linn Persson, Anna Magnusson, Elisabeth Högberg, and Mona Brorsson, avoided the penalty loop and used eight spares to reach the podium for the first time in six seasons. In sixth place at the first exchange, they slipped one place to seventh on the second leg, but Högberg raced them up to fourth with near-perfect shooting (0+0, 0+1) with one leg to go. Brorsson then anchored them to third with clean shooting (0+2, 0+1) and the third-fastest last leg.
“It’s just super nice for us! I am super happy,” Magnusson said. “We were very emotional at the finish.”
When Brorsson was asked if she believe she could fight for the podium, she responded, “Not really. But I said to Linn, ‘Maybe it is our day today. Please let it be our day today.’ ”
The Canadian women finished 14th (+6:37.5), out of 20 teams, with two penalties and 13 spares. Sarah Beaudry initially put them in 15th after shooting 0+1, 0+2, then Julia Ransom had a standing penalty (0+2, 1+3) to slip one place to 16th. Megan Tandy picked off three places with clean shooting (0+0, 0+2) and tagged Emma Lunder in 13th, and Lunder had a penalty in prone but cleaned standing (1+3, 0+0) to finish in 14th.
The men’s overall 2018 Tour de Ski podium atop Alpe Cermis after the final Stage 7 hill climb: with Switzerland’s Dario Cologna (c) in first, Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby (l) in second and Canada’s Alex Harvey (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
Dario Cologna of Switzerland added a fourth Tour de Ski (TdS) title to his list of accolades on Sunday, winning the 2018 edition of the race in dominant fashion, with a 1:26.5-minute win over Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby. And Canada’s Alex Harvey scored his first TdS overall podium in third.
The 31-year-old Cologna started the 9-kilometer freestyle pursuit up Alpe Cermis 1:15 ahead of Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin in second. Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov, slated to start third, did not start due to a back injury. Thus Harvey was the third man off the start line, 1:23 behind Cologna.
(Sweden’s Marcus Hellner, 13th after Saturday’s Stage 6, also did not start the Tour’s final stage.)
Early on, Cologna started putting time into his competitors, extending his lead on Poltoranin to 1:20.5 and Harvey to 1:24 at 1.8 k.
By 4 k, however, Harvey had used his speedy skiing on the flatter portions of the race leading up to the climb to catch Poltoranin, and the two clocked through that checkpoint 1:19.4 behind Cologna. Behind them, Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov skied just ahead of Sundby, another 21 seconds and 22 seconds back, respectively, in fifth and sixth.
While Harvey clawed back a few more seconds on Cologna, he was still 1:17.8 back at 6.2 k, with Poltoranin just 0.7 seconds behind him in third.
Harvey remained in second until around 8.5 k; with just a half kilometer to go, Sundby had caught both Poltoranin and Harvey, passing them both. Sundby held that position and finished second, 1:26.5 behind Cologna, who won in 28:52.1.
Harvey stayed strong for third (+1:30.6) while Poltoranin dropped off the Canadian’s pace in the final half kilometer and finished fourth (+1:41.7). Norway’s Hans Christer Holund placed fifth (+2:17.8), Bolshunov lost a spot to finish sixth (+3:09.7), France’s Jean-Marc Gaillard finished seventh (+3:16.7), Sweden’s Daniel Rickardsson eighth (+3:20.8), and Russia’s Alexey Chervotkin and Andrey Larkov took ninth (+3:33.5) and 10th (+3:37.8), respectively.
France’s Maurice Manificat, known for his strength in freestyle hill climbs and pursuit races, rose from 14th to 11th (+3:45.7) with the second fastest time of day, 12.8 seconds slower than Sundby as the time of day winner in 28:36.4. Cologna’s time was fourth fastest (+15.7), behind Russian U23 skier Denis Spitsov in third (+14.3) (Spitsov started 20th and finished 13th). Holund’s time ranked fifth (+20.6) and Harvey’s time was sixth fastest (+23.6) of the 43 men that finished the race.
The lone American man to complete this year’s Tour, Paddy Caldwell (U.S. Ski Team) skied the 22nd fastest time of day for 38th overall (+11:54.8).
Heidi Weng (center) celebrates her second Tour de Ski victory, with teammate Ingvild Flugstad Østberg second and the U.S. Ski Team’s Jessie Diggins third. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
In the women’s hill climb that kicked off the day, Heidi Weng raced to her second consecutive TdS title. The Norwegian started the day within two seconds of teammate Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, and the two skied together for the flat section of the nine-kilometer stage of the competition. But when the climbing got steep on Alpe Cermis, Weng left her teammate behind and eventually racked up a 48.5-second win.
The battle for third was less predictable. Jessie Diggins of the United States started the day in fourth, but made up the ten seconds to third-place KristaPärmäkoski of Finland in the first few kilometers. The pair climbed together for a while before Diggins attacked. Pärmäkoski tired on the final sections of the Alpe Cermis and Diggins took the podium in definitive style, 2:23.2 behind Weng and 24 seconds ahead of Pärmäkoski. It’s the first overall Tour de Ski podium for Diggins or any American athlete.
Teresa Stadlober of Austria finished fifth (+3:09.4), Kerttu Niskanen of Finland sixth (+4:17.0), Russia’s Anastasia Sedova seventh (+4:49.6), and Switzerland’s Nathalie von Siebenthal eighth (+4:56.1).
Sadie Bjornsen started eighth and slipped one spot to finish ninth (+6:15.0), giving the U.S. two top-ten finishers in the Tour de Ski for the first time. Liz Stephen finished 16th (+8:25.8) and Rosie Brennan 24th (+10:59.6).
En route to her win, Weng notched the fastest time of the day on the 9 k stage. Stadlober’s time was second, Diggins third, Østberg fourth, and Stephen fifth.
32 women finished this year’s edition of the Tour de Ski.
(Left to right) Norwy’s Emil Hegle Svendsen, Johannes Thingnes Bø, Tiril Eckhoff and Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold show off their medals after winning the mixed relay on the opening day of the 2017/2018 IBU World Cup season in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: IBU/biathlonworld)
Even the most renowned athletes and national teams in the mixed relay on Sunday afternoon admitted they had not yet found their perfect groove in Östersund, Sweden, on the opening day of the 2017/2018 International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup season.
Nevertheless it still made for an exciting race, with four teams vying for the podium on the last lap. And in the finishing stretch, anchored by veteran Emil Hegle Svendsen, the same country prevailed as in the last two seasons in the same race and at the same place: Norway.
In a time of 1:11:31.7 hours, Svendsen held off a final push from Italy’s Lukas Hofer by 5.3 seconds. Norway required 13 spare rounds on the shooting range while Italy needed just six; however Hofer incurred a penalty lap in his prone stage, momentarily falling back 30 seconds and to fourth place before returning to the top three.
Germany, anchored by Arnd Peiffer, placed third, 6.4 seconds back with 10 spare rounds and no penalties, with Peiffer managing to overtake Slovakia’s Matej Kazar on the final lap. Slovakia narrowly finished off the podium after a strong team performance with its best World Cup result in a mixed relay in five seasons. The team finished 7.7 seconds out of first, with nine spares and no penalties.
“It was a really tough fight with Lukas just behind,” Svendsen recounted of the final lap during the post-race press conference. He had used all of his spares to clean his standing stage.
“I was happy to walk away with the win. I looked back, it’s impossible not to I think, but I felt quite strong…,” he continued. “I was unsure if I should just let him come to me and then we can finish in a sprint, but I looked behind and I had about a five-second gap so I just said to myself to just go and see what happens … Always a good feeling to start the season with a victory, good for the team, good for the spirit.”
“The last lap, when I went out from the stadium, I saw Emil in front of me and tried to close the gap as fast as possible,” Hofer said at the press conference. “But it was a bit too much because he also pushed so strong, and normally he is one of the best on the last loop. I was happy to finish like this… It was a really good start into the season.”
In the mixed relay format, with a 2 x 6 + 2 x 7.5-kilometer course length, two women followed by two men hand off to one another on the track, and each can use up to three spare rounds per shooting stage to avoid a penalty lap.
This time of the year, the sun sets early in Östersund in central Sweden. In a race under floodlights with mostly calm wind conditions, Norway, with Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold, Tiril Eckhoff, Johannes Thingnes Bø and Svendsen, combined for the best performance once again.
“I was really nervous, but I think everyone was, especially on the first loop,” Tandrevold said at the press conference, after she got the nod to start, replacing sick teammate Marte Olsbu. “The standing shooting was really hard, but I think the rest of my race was good. I was happy to be in front on the last downhill, because last year I fell [there] so I was a bit scared.”
“I was a bit rusty, I need some more races, then hopefully it will be a really good season,” added her teammate Eckhoff.
“Full speed from the start, that was the only plan I had,” Bø explained the tactics on his leg, where he required two spares in the prone shooting and all three in standing. “Of course I didn’t plan to use five extra [shots]. All in all I am satisfied, but there are still some things I need to improve on. A little bit faster skiing, a little bit better shooting.”
That prompted laughter from his teammates and his competitors on the podium.
Italy’s Dorothea Wierer tags Dominik Windisch at the halfway point of the mixed relay in Östersund, Sweden. The team went on to finish second on the day to open the 2017/2018 IBU World Cup season. (Photo: IBU/biathlonworld)
Italy, with Lisa Vittozzi, Dorothea Wierer, Dominik Windisch and Hofer, narrowly missed out on its first victory in the mixed relay, tying its second place from two seasons ago in Canmore, Alberta.
“I was sure that Lukas would catch Emil!” Wierer said in the press conference with a laugh. “I think we can be satisfied. Of course we are not in perfect shape yet right now. I for sure didn’t have the best autumn, I was sick three times in two months. So it wasn’t perfect, but with some more races I can get in shape.”
The defending mixed relay world champion Germany, with Franziska Preuss, Maren Hammerschmidt, Benedikt Doll and Peiffer, was also happy with its outcome. Last season’s 2017 World Championships star Laura Dahlmeier will likely miss the whole opening weekend following an illness.
“It’s always a good feeling to start the season with a podium,” Hammerschmidt said at the press conference. “First race, I am always very nervous.”
“It was OK. In prone I could have hit my shot if I had taken a little more time,” Peiffer told German broadcaster ARD in an interview after the race, according to a translation. “It was a hard last lap, they really pushed the tempo right out of the shooting range and then I immediately had a small gap. I am glad that I was able to make up one more position and secure the podium … You are always nervous before a relay, with a big audience, and you have to race against all the good guys again who you didn’t see all year, so everyone is a bit excited.”
Slovakia, with Paulina Fialkova, Anastasiya Kuzmina, Tomas Hasilla and Kazar, had to settle for fourth place, but still the team was all smiles in an interview with the IBU.
“I am really surprised, but it was great,” Fialkova said. “It was close to the podium, but we hope maybe next time.”
“A good start to the season, and we will do it again and again,” Kuzmina added.
“I was really happy for the shooting and also running, a good result for the team today, good motivation,” their teammate Hasilla agreed.
“Very happy from this competition,” Kazar said. “Very hard last lap, going from [second] place after the final shooting to fourth place in the finish. There were really good men [racing against me].”
The home team from Sweden, with Hanna Öberg, Anna Magnusson, Jesper Nelin and Fredrik Lindström, was fifth on the day (+34.5, with one penalty and five spares), delighting the fans in Östersund after Öberg tagged off in first place after the first leg.
Another surprise of the day was Finland, with Mari Laukkanen, Kaisa Mäkäräinen, Tero Seppälä and Tuomas Gronman, leading the race at the halfway point behind a strong performance from Mäkäräinen, who moved up from eighth to first place with the best first-leg course time.
“It was a hard race, especially with Kaisa Mäkäräinen, she was really fast today,” Eckhoff said during the press conference.
The two Finnish men could not quite hold on to that position, but still finished in eighth place, 1:32.4 back with one penalty and eight spares.
It was Finland’s best World Cup mixed relay performance since placing seventh during the 2011/2012 season and sixth at 2009 World Championships in PyeongChang, South Korea, host of the upcoming Olympics.
Also with Mäkäräinen and Laukkanen, Finland actually won the gold medal in the mixed relay at the 2016 summer biathlon world championships, a rollerski biathlon event typically skipped by a number of the world’s best athletes. Similarly three of Slovakia’s starters on Sunday had placed second in that event last summer, gaining some positive experiences for the upcoming season.
Canadians Satisfied with First Race, Despite ‘Race Jitters’
For Biathlon Canada, Emma Lunder, Julia Ransom, Scott Gow and Brendan Green formed the relay team on Sunday.
“Today was the second mixed relay I’ve ever done on the World Cup circuit, and I felt pretty calm going into the race,” the 26-year-old Lunder wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “My plan was to sit back on the first lap as I know it can get really frantic, and I didn’t want to get tangled up with anyone.”
She cleaned her prone stage, coming back on the course in 12th place just 13 seconds out of first.
“I’ve never raced in Östersund before and I’ve always heard that it’s notorious for tricky winds, but the flags were almost totally still during both my zero [target practice] and the race,” Lunder wrote. “I was really proud of my prone as I’ve been working hard to improve my accuracy and speed this summer.”
In the standing stage, she had to use all three spares to avoid skiing a penalty lap, but improved positions nonetheless as other teams struggled as well.
“I had a bit of a problem when I came into standing with my contact lens moving around leaving my eye blurry,” she explained. “I think I paid a little bit too much attention to that, and wasn’t as focused on the standing shooting as I would’ve liked.”
On the last loop, she was passed by three teams fighting for positions in a pack, but didn’t lose any more time to the top.
“We had amazing skis after a great performance from our wax team, so I was able to take advantage of that on the downhills and zip past people,” Lunder wrote. “It was pretty exciting for me to be skiing with a pack where I could actually see the leader of the race, and I felt strong for the most part. Overall I was happy with my race today.”
Lunder exchanged to Ransom in 13th position, still only 24.2 seconds out of first.
“I was very excited for Emma Lunder’s race,” Ransom wrote. “She handled the start leg calmly and confidently, tagging me off in a great position.”
Like Lunder, Ransom also shot clean in her prone stage, then needed two spares to also clear her standing targets.
“The shooting range was really calm, especially in comparison to past years I’ve raced here,” Ransom wrote. “I was happy that I kept my shooting somewhat together. That was a big improvement from last year’s mixed relay in Östersund.”
But on the course she had some trouble holding up with the pace set by the race leaders, losing more than 40 seconds to them on both her second and third loops.
“Today was a tough day for me. My legs were lead on the course, but I half expected that to be the case [on] day three after travel,” she wrote.
Ransom tagged Gow in 15th place, 1:46.2 back.
“It was nice to be back racing again,” Gow wrote in an email. “This was probably the most calm I have been for a season opener.”
The older brother of Christian Gow, who raced the single mixed relay with Rosanna Crawford earlier in the day, required all three spares in his prone stage and another two in standing.
“I was mostly happy with my race except for my shooting. The conditions can be very tricky here, but my problem was with my head, not the wind,” Scott Gow wrote. “I was so wrapped up in the race and trying to make as much time as possible that I think I was too excited going in to each shooting. I will try to be more relaxed for the upcoming races.”
He he tagged Green in 16th place, after losing more than another minute to the leaders (+3:03.9).
“Östersund can often provide some very tricky racing conditions, but today was actually almost perfect in terms of wind,” Green, Canada’s anchor, wrote in an email. “In my experience, it’s rare to see a day like this.”
He only needed one spare each in his prone and standing stages, and with the 15th-ranked course time improved again by one position to finish 15th, 3:28 minutes behind Norway, without any team penalties and a total of 12 spares.
“I always find the season opener quite tough,” Green explained. “Digging deep to find that extra gear always hurts at the beginning of the season, but hopefully it will get easier and start to feel better from here on out.”
The Canadians agreed that all in all, the race was a good building block to start off the new season.
“From chatting with the team I think we all had some good parts of our races, and a few things we’ll work on between now and the individual races,” Lunder concluded. “It was a good start today, and we can definitely build and improve from here!”
“After a few more days of adjustment I think our team is positioned for some great results this coming season,” Ransom wrote.
“I think I held us back a little bit with my shooting, but otherwise we did a decent job,” Gow wrote. “We got the race jitters out and now I think we will be ready to give it our all next week.”
“I think each of us were able to take away some positive aspects from todays race, but as a whole we are for sure expecting to improve upon today,” Green concluded. “It was good to get the first world cup race out of way, and we are looking forward to more racing this coming week.”
U.S. Still ‘Blowing Out The Cobwebs’
US Biathlon’s Paul Schommer racing the third leg of the mixed relay on the opening day of the 2017/2018 IBU World Cup season in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
US Biathlon’s original race lineup included 2017 World Championships gold medalist Lowell Bailey and silver medalist Susan Dunklee, Clare Egan, and former Junior World Champion Sean Doherty.
But on race day, teammate Paul Schommer had to take Bailey’s spot after he “woke up with congestion,” according to a US Biathlon press release.
“We had planned on racing Lowell for the third leg, he didn’t feel 100% today so Paul was subbed in,” Doherty explained in an email to Fasterskier. “Just no risk in pushing it with the hardest individual race of the year on Thursday.”
Dunklee started the team out well, taking the lead on the course to come into the first shooting stage and leaving in eighth position, just under 10 seconds back after needing one spare. She moved up with a pack out on course, but in the standing stage required all three spares after initially missing one target.
“I felt strong and relaxed skiing during the first two loops and I think my technique is already a notch above last year,” Dunklee wrote in an email. “The third loop was a bit painful as my legs flooded with lactic acid and I wasn’t quite able to reel in the pack ahead. I struggled in standing with the spare rounds despite favorable conditions but shooting can often improve with my better race fitness.”
Coming back on the course in 11th position and 26.1 seconds back, she still managed to cut the distance to the leaders in half on her final lap and tagged off in ninth place.
Egan got off to a strong start, both on the course and in her prone stage, where she cleaned without any spares and started her second loop in 11th. But with athletes like Mäkäräinen and Kuzmina setting a high pace up front, she explained she was struggling.
“This was my first race of the year and it was a rude awakening,” Egan wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “From the very beginning the pace seemed crazy and I was just trying to hold on. I am reminded now that the level is super high and I just need to go harder and faster all the time. I’ll get better as I race more but today was a bit of a shock.”
In the standing stage, she quickly ran out of spares and had to ski two penalty laps, which put her back to 20th (+2:27) when she returned to the course for her final loop.
“Conditions were perfect for me on the range today,” Egan wrote. “Last year in this race I did the exact same thing. I think the shock to the body makes it almost impossible to keep my mind where it needs to be for shooting. My prone is automatic — I am at the level of ‘unconscious competence’ — where I can do it right without thinking about it. But in standing I’m at the ‘conscious competence’ level. I really have to use my brain to execute all the steps.
“Today, I shot all 5 rounds from the clip plus 1 spare before suddenly having a moment of clarity and saying (out loud actually), ‘where have I even been aiming??’ …may or may not have included an expletive,” Egan continued. “Then, using my brain, I was able to easily hit my last two shots.”
She tagged Schommer in 21st, 2:51.5 minutes back.
Schommer lost more time on the course, but with a good shooting performance — needing just one spare in each of his stages and a range time ranked in the middle of the field — he avoided getting lapped and held the team in 21st, 4:29.5 seconds back.
It was only his second World Cup appearance in a mixed relay, following an eighth place last season in Kontiolahti, Finland.
From there, Doherty anchored the team to 21st place, also requiring just one spare round in each of his shooting stages.
“The conditions were uncharacteristically calm,” Doherty wrote in an email. “But I would not expect the conditions to stay calm for all the races so I forecast some challenging shooting on the [next] weekend.”
“It felt great to be back on the world stage,” he added. “It is a fantastic atmosphere. I enjoy competing on the world cup and I am always looking forward to the start of the season. The level of competition is just as high as I remember it last year and I am excited to see where I stack up after a great summer of training.”
“The good news was that I was never nervous, which is something I’ve struggled with in the past, and I shot fast today,” Egan reflected. “My shooting has been excellent in training since we got on snow, so I just need to transition into race mode. Today was what you might call ‘blowing out the cobwebs’!!!”
“The first race of the season is typically a tune up race for us and not one where we necessarily try to optimize our performance,” team veteran Dunklee concluded. “There are more nerves, there’s jet lag, and it often takes a few real races before the body starts to feel fully sharp again. We didn’t end up very high on the results list tonight, but I have no doubt that our best is yet to come.”
“I was impressed watching Emily [Dreissigacker] lead the first loop of the single mixed relay – she looked very comfortable in front of the pack,” Dunklee also commented on the performance of her teammates in Sunday’s single mixed relay. “Most rookies are terrified of trying something like that. You’ll see more of her in the future for sure.”
Racing will continue on Wednesday with the women’s 15 k individual, and the men compete on Thursday in the 20 k individual.
Next season, Östersund will host the 2019 IBU World Championships. Norway surely wouldn’t mind making it four wins in a row in Östersund in the mixed relay there.
The all-Norwegian women’s 30 k freestyle mass start podium at 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland, with Marit Bjørgen (c) in first, Heidi Weng (l) in second, and Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)
FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Women’s 30 k freestyle mass start
Marit Bjørgen made it a four-peat on Saturday with her fourth gold and third individual win over the last week at 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland. (She previously won the 15-kilometer skiathlon, 10 k classic, and 4 x 5 k relay.)
The 36-year-old Norwegian closed out the championships with a 1.9-second victory in the women’s 30-kilometer freestyle mass start, finishing in 1:08:36.8 hours after setting the pace and leading a large group for much of the race. The group began to separate around 15 k, where it was down to 13 women with five seconds of first. At that point, Americans Jessie Diggins and Chelsea Holmes were within that lead pack.
While Holmes started to fall off the pace around 16 k, Diggins stuck with the leaders to the very end, only until four Norwegians broke away to race for the medals over the final kilometer.
With Bjørgen still charging hard up front, her teammates Heidi Weng, Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen, and Ragnhild Haga followed, while Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski trailed another second back in fifth and Diggins was one more second behind in sixth.
Bjørgen led the downhill into the stadium and skied away from her teammates before the finishing stretch, leaving Weng and Jacobsen to duke it out for second place. Weng got it by less than one-hundredth of a second, Jacobsen took bronze (+1.9), and Haga completed the Norwegian top-four sweep in fourth (+7.4).
Diggins passed Pärmäkoski and notched fifth (+10.4) for her career-best 30 k result. Pärmäkoski placed sixth (+11.3), Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla finished seventh (+13.9), Austria’s Teresa Stadlober was eighth (+15.5), Sweden’s Anna Haag ninth (+20.3), and Russia’s Yulia Tchekaleva 10th (+1:20.9) after edging Switzerland’s Nathalie von Siebenthal in a photo finish. Germany’s Stefanie Böhler placed 12th (+1:23.5) and Holmes finished 13th (+1:28.1) for her career best.
U.S. Ski Team member Liz Stephen placed 25th (+3:09.4), 6.6 seconds ahead of Canada’s national U25 Team skier Cendrine Browne, who notched a career best 26th (+3:16) in her first World Championships.
Holmes’s Alaska Pacific University (APU) teammate Jessica Yeaton, who races for Australia, finished 33rd (+4:32), Canada’s Dahria Beatty was 34th (+4:45.2), and American Caitlin Gregg 36th (+5:03.7).
Great Britain’s Annika Taylor, a California native, placed 38th (+6:19.4). Canada’s Emily Nishikawa was 40th (+6:41.5) and Katherine Stewart-Jones 41st (+7:18.6), and Brazil’s Jaqueline Mourão, who trains in Quebec, was 46th (+13:44.6) out of 47 finishers.
IBU World Cup (PyeongChang, South Korea): Women’s and men’s pursuits
The women’s 10 k pursuit podium at the IBU World Cup in PyeongChang, South Korea, with Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier (c) in first, Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen (l) in second, and France’s Anais Bescond (r) in third. (Photo: IBU)
Coming off a fifth place in Thursday’s 7.5-kilometer sprint, Susan Dunklee held her position despite three penalties in the women’s 10 k pursuit on Saturday to finish fifth again at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier racked up her second-straight win in as many races in PyeongChang (and sixth-straight, counting World Championships), finishing in 27:58.0 minutes with clean shooting. She was just one of four women out of 58 finishers that hit all 20 targets in Saturday’s four-stage race.
Finishing more than a minute later, Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen placed second (+1:12.6) after starting fourth based on her sprint result. Mäkäräinen had two penalties, both in the first standing, but cleaned the other three stages (0+0+2+0). France’s Anais Bescond raced up from eighth at the start to third place (+1:18.9) at the finish, with a single penalty (0+0+1+0), while Norway’s Tiril Eckhoff missed her second-straight podium in fourth place (+1:32.0) after starting second but accumulating five penalties (1+2+1+1).
Eckhoff edged Dunklee, of the U.S., by half a second as Dunklee placed fifth (+1:32.5) with three misses (1+1+0+1).
Canada’s Rosanna Crawford rose from 30th to 19th (+2:49.1) for her best non-relay result of the season, with two penalties (1+1+0+0). Her teammate Megan Tandy also landed her first top 30 of 2016/2017 in 30th (+3:26.2) with two misses (1+0+1+0) after starting 39th. Also for Canada, Julia Ransom finished 44th (+4:18.4) after starting 41st and skiing four penalty loops (1+0+1+2).
Also for the U.S., Clare Egan finished 36th (+3:41.9) with three clean stages but three misses in her first standing (0+0+3+0), after starting 33rd. Joanne Reid slipped from 35th at the start to 52nd (+4:53.4), with five penalties (1+1+0+3).
The men’s 12.5 k pursuit podium on Saturday at the IBU World Cup in PyeongChang, South Korea, with France’s Martin Fourcade (c) in first, Russia’s Anton Shipulin (l) in second and Austria’s Julian Eberhard (r) in third. (Photo: IBU)
[UPDATED] One day after locking up the overall World Cup title, Martin Fourcade was back at the top of the podium in the men’s 12.5 k pursuit in PyeongChang.
Fourcade started third, after finishing third in Friday’s sprint, then shot clean to win in 31:24.2. Russia’s Anton Shipulin, who started 23rd, also shot 20-for-20 to race up to second place, 34.5 seconds behind Fourcade, with the fifth-fastest course time. In comparison, Fourcade’s course time was third fastest.
Friday’s sprint winner, Julian Eberhard of Austria finished third (+36.7) after skiing three penalty loops (0+2+0+1). His teammate Simon Eder placed fourth (+1:03.2) after starting eighth and cleaning three stages before missing two on the last standing (0+0+0+2).
Russia’s Evgeniy Garanichev improved from ninth at the start to fifth (+1:09.5) with two penalties as well (0+1+1+0). France’s Simon Desthieux was sixth (+1:13.5), Austria’s Dominik Landertinger seventh (+1:20.3), Germany’s Benedikt Doll eighth (+1:20.4) with the fastest course time after starting 20th.
American Lowell Bailey was another 0.2 seconds back in ninth (+1:20.6), just ahead of Italy’s Lukas Hofer in 10th, who finished with the same time. Bailey previously tallied the third podium of his career on Friday, placing second in the sprint, but had two penalties on Saturday (1+0+1+0) to slip to ninth.
Also for the U.S., Leif Nordgren improved to 28th (+2:28.9) after starting 37th and shooting 19-for-20 (0+0+0+1).
Christian Gow shot clean to lead Canada in 32nd (+3:17.4), up from 56th at the start. His older brother Scott Gow slipped from 27th at the start to 43rd (+4:05.9) with five penalties (0+1+1+3), and Brendan Green followed in 44th (+4:09.8) with three penalties (2+1+0+0) after starting 28th.
The mixed relay podium on the opening day of 2017 IBU World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria, with Germany in first (c), France (with Martin Fourcade at far left) in second, and Russia in third (r). (Photo: Glen Crawford)
Germany was front and center for the first race of 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Championships on Thursday in Hochfilzen, Austria, but there was a sideshow that stole a good chunk of the limelight between France (namely Martin Fourcade) and Russia (namely Alexander Loginov).
The action began with the 2 x 6 + 2 x 7.5-kilometer mixed relay, a co-ed event where teams start women for the first and second legs, followed by men for the third and fourth legs.
Germany ran away with the lead with a rock-solid performance from third-leg Arnd Peiffer, who cleaned both his prone and standing stages without using any spare rounds, but the team had to credit second-leg Laura Dahlmeier, who built the lead in the first place.
Dahlmeier, the World Cup Total Score leader, raced from sixth to first after getting the tag from her teammate Vanessa Hinz just 9.8 seconds out of first. Dahlmeier used two spares to clean prone and another two to clean standing, yet she avoided the penalty lap and remained in third for much of her race — behind Italy’s Dorothea Wierer and France’s Marie Dorin Habert.
As she left the range for the last time and embarked on her last loop, Dahlmeier remained in third, nine seconds behind Wierer in first. Dorin Habert remained on Wierer’s heels, 1.6 seconds back.
Dahlmeier caught both by the second exchange and tagged Peiffer in first, 0.8 seconds ahead of France and 3.8 seconds ahead of Italy.
The rest was history as Peiffer extended the gap to 11.1 seconds over Italy’s Lukas Hofer after the first shooting stage on the third leg. With another clean bout one loop later, Peiffer was up to 20 seconds ahead of Hofer, who used one spare in prone and cleaned standing without a miss.
“After the prone shooting I was alone on the loop, that is a pretty thankless job,” Peiffer told German broadcaster ZDF after. “Then I tried to focus on my tempo, to keep pushing into the standing shooting, and that worked well. But it was not clear to me while on the course that it would work out like that.”
Germany’s Arnd Peiffer (r) tagging his teammate Simon Schempp during the final exchange of the mixed relay at 2017 IBU World Championships on Thursday in Hochfilzen, Austria. Peiffer tagged in first, and Schempp held the lead through the finish. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
Peiffer tagged German anchor Simon Schempp 21.2 seconds ahead of Italy’s last leg, Dominick Windisch, and 46.5 seconds ahead of France’s Martin Fourcade in third. Russia entered the final exchange with France, with Loginov tagging Anton Shipulin just 0.9 seconds behind France.
That’s where things got interesting. Schempp executed as needed to secure the win — cleaning prone without any spares and using just one in standing — and Windisch as his most immediate threat fumbled on the last stage when the he missed two and left the range in fourth, 32 seconds behind Schempp.
There, Fourcade moved into second with his second-straight flawless stage (0+0, 0+0), 17.9 seconds behind Schempp, and Shipulin remained in third (+18.6) after cleaning both stages as well (0+0, 0+0). Fourcade and Shipulin started the race together and jockeyed between third and fourth for the first two loops, until both moved ahead of Windisch and had the opportunity to battle for second place on the last loop.
For Fourcade, who had already won 10 races (including relays) this season and entered the World Championships mixed relay as a defending champion with France, it wasn’t so much about the silver. It was about beating Russia.
As Fourcade and Shipulin descended a downhill together on the last loop, Fourcade took the lead by the bottom and attacked on the long uphill that immediately followed. Shipulin remained on his heels as the two came within view of Schempp, who was skiing what appeared to be a casual pace off the front — although Schempp would later say he was going full speed.
“I think you could see that they wanted to get back up to [Schempp],” German men’s head coach Mark Kirchner told ZDF of Fourcade and Shipulin on the last loop. “But when they reached the highest point of the course it looked like they rather skied tactically, who becomes second and who becomes third. Then I was sure that this would end well for us.”
About 100 meters before the finish, Schempp glanced back to see Fourcade and Shipulin charging hard. Schempp appeared unfazed and maintained his pace, holding his arms up to celebrate before he crossed the line first.
Germany’s Simon Schempp (2) celebrates his team’s victory in the mixed relay on the opening day of 2017 IBU World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria, after he held off France’s Martin Fourcade (second from r) in second and Russia’s Anton Shipulin in third. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
Germany took the relay gold in 1:09.06.4 hours, while Fourcade finished 2.2 seconds later to secure silver for France. One second later, Shipulin anchored Russia to bronze (+3.2).
“Fourcade really attacked enormously,” German men’s assistant coach Andreas Stitzl told ZDF. “Thank God Fourcade and Shipulin were not totally in agreement, so it went our way.”
Schempp later said he realized those two were getting closer, “but there was a bit of a buffer,” he told ZDF. “I wasn’t certain, so I still skied full speed … Of course this is an enormously cool start for our team into the World Championships, immediately with a first place. And I think I am speaking for everyone that we are overjoyed.”
It was the first mixed-relay win for Hinz and Dahlmeier.
“These are big emotions, winning it all in a team together with the men,” Dahlmeier told ZDF. “I have never won a mixed relay before, and this is only my second one ever. I think this means a lot to the whole team, that we became world champions right in the first race.”
“I am still a little bit speechless,” Hinz said. “I was very happy that the coaches trusted me with this assignment, and it means quite a lot to me.”
During the flower ceremony, Germany’s four racers stood on the highest step of the podium. France followed them to the second step, with Anais Chevalier, Dorin Habert, Quentin Fillon Maillet, and Fourcade, and Russia was introduced third, with Olga Podchufarova, Tatiana Akimova, Loginov, and Shipulin.
As the four Russians approached the French team to shake hands in usual fashion, Fourcade shook the hands of the two women, but did not come in contact with the two men. As Russia proceeded to its spot on the podium, Fourcade clapped sarcastically, then stepped down from the podium and attempted to leave the ceremony. Not long after, he returned, likely having been instructed to.
“I’m a bit sad,” Fourcade said at the post-race press conference. “I just want to remember that one week ago the president of the Russian federation asked the IBU to take disciplinary sanctions against me because I did a tweet about Loginov and today they decide to not shake my hand on the podium so I’m a bit surprised the president of the Russian federation wants to disqualify his own athletes.”
While it’s tough to pin down exactly which tweet Fourcade was referring to, he wrote on Twitter, “We didn’t think it was possible so they did it………….” on Wednesday, the day before the opening race of World Championships, likely when he learned Loginov would be starting the relay. Loginov is coming off a two-year ban for EPO use and dominated the competition at last month’s IBU Open European Championships.
Russia’s Alexander Loginov (l) takes a tumble after tagging his teammate Anton Shipulin (third from l) in the final exchange of the 2017 IBU World Championships mixed relay in Hochfilzen, Austria. France’s Martin Fourcade (second from l) skated left after getting the tag from his teammate Quentin Fillon Maillet (far r). (Photo: ORF screenshot)
Whether the Russian men didn’t shake Fourcade’s hand on the podium, or vice versa; whether they were upset about his tweet or the fact that he appeared to go out of his way to trip Loginov in the exchange zone on Thursday (after Loginov had tagged Shipulin right after Fourcade), one thing is clear: there is some definite tension between Fourcade and Team Russia.
And it’s not all on Fourcade; this has been months in the making after World Cup athletes demanded that the IBU implement stricter anti-doping policies and measures. Fourcade walked out of a meeting last month, telling NRK, “I am pissed off.” The next day, the IBU Executive Board announced it would hold an “Extraordinary Congress” before World Championships to vote on rule changes. The IBU announced the Congress decisions on Wednesday, which included plans to impose higher fines and reduced quotas for nations that violate anti-doping rules. Moreover, 2021 World Championships will not be held in Tyumen, Russia.
An IBU press release on Thursday didn’t get into details beyond the mixed relay itself: “Today is not the best example of a sprint finish battle that I could have done,” Shipulin said, according to the release. “I hope the rest of the World Championships it will be better.”
In terms of shooting performance, Russia was the best of the 25-team field with a total of four spares (three of which came on Loginov’s standing stage) and zero penalties. France had eight spares and overcame one penalty (on Fillon Maillet’s standing stage), and Germany used a total of seven spares but avoided the penalty lap.
“I was expecting us to be in the mix and fight for the medals,” Kirchner told ZDF, “but you can’t plan it working out like this, standing on the first position is always a surprise.”
Norway’s Marte Olsbu (front left) and Italy’s Lisa Vittozzi (front right) leading early in the mixed relay at 2017 IBU World Championships on Thursday in Hochfilzen, Austria. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
Italy (Lisa Vittozzi, Wierer, Hofer, Windisch) placed fourth, 28.7 seconds out of first and 25.5 off the podium, with six spares and zero penalties.
Vittozzi initially put the team in first at the first exchange, 1.8 seconds ahead of Norway’s Marte Olsbu in second. There, Austria’s Lisa Theresa Hauser followed 5.7 seconds back in third, and American Susan Dunklee was fourth, 7.6 seconds out of first.
Dunklee used two spares to clean prone and another two in standing (0+2, 0+2), but posted the second-fastest course time of the first-leg skiers to stick with the leaders through the first exchange. While Vittozzi hit all 10 of her targets (0+0, 0+0), Olsbu used a spare (0+1, 0+0) and Hauser required two (0+2, 0+0).
“It wasn’t overly tricky wind but there is more mental pressure in championship situations,” Dunklee wrote in an email about the conditions and why many of the top racers struggled on the range on Thursday. “The days when it matters most can be the days that it’s hardest to perform normally.”
She explained that she was disappointed with her shooting percentage but happy with her speed.
“My skiing feels sharper than it has all year and my body feels ready. That’s a big confidence booster going into the rest of the week,” Dunklee added.
Susan Dunklee racing the first leg of the 2017 IBU World Championships mixed relay for the U.S. She tagged off in fourth and the U.S. went on to finish 16th. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
The U.S. finished 16th (+3:20.2), with two penalties and 13 spares. Second-leg Clare Egan remained in the top 10 until her standing stage, where she skied a penalty lap (0+1, 1+3) and slipped to 17th by the exchange, 2:01 minutes out of first. There, Lowell Bailey took over and used one spare in each stage (0+1, 0+1) and skied the sixth-fastest third leg to hand off in 16th, 2:24.2 back. The team’s anchor, Sean Doherty had the team’s second penalty in his prone, but cleaned standing without any spares (1+3, 0+0) to finish 16th.
“We had a disappointing result as a team, but the Championships are long,” Dunklee wrote. “The most important thing is to take one day at a time and come to the venue fully focused and ready to make the most of each opportunity.”
Canada’s Julia Ransom (r) tagging teammate Rosanna Crawford after the first leg of the mixed relay at 2017 IBU World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria. Canada went on to finish 13th. (Photo: Glen Crawford)
Canada finished more than a minute ahead of the U.S. in 13th (+2:18.2), with nine spares and zero penalties. Julia Ransom started the Canadians off and used four spares (0+3, 0+1) to tag Rosanna Crawford in 18th, 59 seconds out of first. Crawford used three spares as well in prone but also avoided the penalty lap, and cleaned standing (0+3, 0+0) to tag her boyfriend Brendan Green in 15th, 1:29 back.
Green improved one place to 14th, using just one spare in his prone stage (0+1, 0+0) and tagged Scott Gow 2:06.8 out of first. Gow cleaned prone and used one spare in standing (0+0, 0+1) to finish 13th, just 0.6 seconds ahead of Switzerland in 14th.
“The goal during my leg was to ski hard and push the shooting as much as I could,” Gow wrote in an email.
Both his shooting and range times were sixth-fastest among the anchor legs.
“My shooting was good, and all I can attribute it to is my prep the last two weeks,” Gow explained. “Shooting conditions were quite good, a little bit of wind here and there, so the environment wasn’t too much of a factor. I spent the last two weeks adding extra stress to my shooting and making sure all the fundamentals were in place, and that is what helped me today.
“I’m happy with my race and our team is optimistic for what is to come,” he added. “There were a lot of positives from the past two weeks within the whole team, so there a lot of possibilities.”
Personally, Gow’s main focus for the championships is the men’s relay after Canada earned a historic bronze in the event at 2016 World Championships.
“Last year our team had an incredible result in the relay and it would be great to have another awesome team result at these championships,” he wrote. “Aside from the relay, I’m looking most forward to the sprint. I’ve had some great sprints this year and I’d like to continue the good trend.”
IBU World Championships continue Friday with the women’s 7.5 k sprint at 8:45 a.m. Eastern time. Watch it live on Eurovisionsports.tv.
Austria’s Julian Eberhard celebrating his victory in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint (along with the Oberhof snowman) at the 2017 IBU World Cup in Oberhof, Germany. (Photo: IBU)
Even Martin Fourcade is a mere mortal who can’t win every race he competes in. After winning the first three sprints of the 2016/2017 season and five races in a row, for once the French biathlon star had to settle for an eighth place after uncharacteristically missing three targets in his standing shooting stage.
That left an opening for other athletes to shine on Thursday afternoon in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup in Oberhof, Germany. Austria’s Julian Eberhard seized the opportunity and won the second sprint of his career in a time of 26:57.5 minutes, skiing the second-best course time, ahead of the Czech Republic’s Michal Slesingr (+10.8) and Italy’s Dominik Windisch (+40.3). All athletes on the podium had to ski one penalty lap.
“I rescued myself into the finish with my last power,” Eberhard told Austrian broadcaster ORF. “The competition could not have been any longer. Of course I am overjoyed now. That was an important victory, also regarding the World Championships at home in Hochfilzen [in February].”
A year ago, all races in Oberhof had to be canceled due to a lack of snow. After the organizers invested significant resources in snow-farming and storage capacities over the summer to prevent that from happening again, ironically two days ago the first heavy snowfalls of the season and one of the most severe winter storms in a decade that devastated the northern coast of Germany posed different challenges for the organizers: additional volunteers were needed to help prepare the tracks overnight, or simply to sweep snow off the seats in the arena.
“The conditions were really difficult,” Eberhard said during the post-race press conference. “Because there was a lot of fresh snow, and a lot of wind. But I like that. So I think it was a difficult but really good day for me.”
(Left to right): Czech Republic’s Michal Slesingr (second place), Austria’s Julian Eberhard (first place) and Italy’s Dominik Windisch (third place) on the podium for the men’s 10-kilometer sprint at the 2017 IBU World Cup in Oberhof, Germany. (Photo: IBU)
“Today, I was quite relaxed during the race,” Slesingr said at the press conference when asked about the difference to last racing at home in Nove Mesto. “Because I did not think about that race before too much. It was like I’m just going around the stadium and think ‘whatever, let’s do the race’. So I didn’t feel any pressure today.”
Slesingr smiled when asked if training in Oberhof during the summer maybe gave him an advantage, clarifying that his team mainly comes there to train in a ski tunnel near the venue.
“We don’t use the shooting range outside too much, so I can’t say that it helped us. In the tunnel you always have perfect conditions for shooting. No wind, no snowing like today.”
Late in the field in bib 70, Italy’s Lukas Hofer challenged for the podium after shooting clean, but he missed the time set by his teammate Windisch by one-tenth of a second at the finish (+40.4). It was Hofer’s best individual result since the 2013/2014 season, and Windisch’s second-career podium.
“Like an old saying… Start your day right… we just say “Start your year right” Hofer posted on social media with a picture of the Italian team celebrating the third and fourth place.
“I watched it while I was in the changing room,” Windisch recalled during the press conference. “When I saw that he was with me, at the same time, I thought maybe he will beat me. But at the end of the competition maybe I was a little bit faster. I am happy, but most of all I am happy for the whole team because this is a really good position for Italy. […] I really thought that someone would beat me, so until the end I was very surprised. And I still am.”
Behind Windisch and Hofer, Germany’s Erik Lesser finished fifth (+41.2) with two penalties in standing, after shooting clean and taking the lead following the prone stage. He was satisfied with the result, but the athlete living and training near Oberhof gave some insights into how difficult it can be to race in front of a raucous home crowd.
“I can’t complain about the fifth place,” Lesser told German broadcaster ZDF. “Especially with two misses I absolutely have to be satisfied with the result. On the course everything I worked for during the last days panned out. […] But I am a little annoyed about the two misses in standing. In Nove Mesto, we talked about the home field advantage for the Czech Republic, and then you see Gabriela Koukalová shoot 0+3 [in the sprint there], and I believe that’s how I also felt today in the standing stage. It was very quiet, I hit the first shot, and then there comes such a noise [from the stands] to the shooting range that it got me a little bit out of my concentration, which must not happen, so I am a bit angry about that.”
“Conditions were not easy,” Martin Fourcade told ZDF about his shooting woes with three penalties on his way to an eighth place (+51.3). “I was struggling with the wind. It was not easy. This is not an excuse, but I had my zeroing on the [lane position] target number one and it was quite easy for the prone shooting, but we had no wind for the standing [in target practice] and it was something I didn’t succeed to manage for my standing position in real wind conditions.”
Fourcade limited the damage for the following pursuit by once again skiing the fastest course time.
Three North Americans Onto the Pursuit
US Biathlon’s Tim Burke (21) on the course during heavy snowfall during the men’s 10-kilometer sprint at the 2017 IBU World Cup in Oberhof, Germany, leading Austria’s David Komatz. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
The best North American in the difficult conditions was Tim Burke, who finished 35th (+1:51.8) with two penalties (0+2).
“The heavy snow and gusty wind made for a challenging race today,” Burke said according to a US Biathlon press release. “We were lucky that the snow stopped right before the start today, but this also made for some challenging conditions on the track throughout the race. I feel like I was lucky in prone with having little wind, but standing was a real fight with strong wind and it took me a long time to get all five shots off.”
“Overall, I was pleased with my shooting performance today considering the windy conditions,” he added. “Unfortunately, I am far off my normal ski shape. I had one of my best training years, so I am a bit confused as to why I have been so flat racing, but I am confident that it will eventually come around. If we continue to have strong winds here in Oberhof, Saturday’s pursuit should present some great opportunities to move up.”
Also for the U.S., Russell Currier placed 46th (+2:15.1) with three penalties (1+2), qualifying for his second pursuit of the season.
In his return to the IBU World Cup after missing the first races of the season due to mononucleosis, last year’s junior world champion Sean Doherty finished 80th with three penalties (+3:20.2), missing out on the top 60 to qualify for Saturday’s pursuit.
Lowell Bailey is skipping the races in Oberhof for a training block at home in Lake Placid, N.Y. He plans to join the team again next week for the World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germany.
“I planned to skip Oberhof earlier this year when we laid out the seasonal training plan,” Bailey explained in an email to FasterSkier. “I wanted to put in a solid three-week block of training during the middle of the season so that I’m hopefully set up well for World Champs and the last half of the season. It’s tough to voluntarily sit out, but I think it is the right decision, and I hope it will pay off later on in the season.”
For Biathlon Canada, Scott Gow had the best result of the day in 43rd (+2:11.9) with one miss (0+1) and was the only Canadian to qualify for the pursuit. Macx Davies finished 68th (+2:51.1) with two penalties (0+2), just ahead of teammate Brendan Green in 69th (+2:58.0) with four misses (3+1).
In his second World Cup after one appearance last season in Presque Isle, Maine, Canada’s Matthew Hudec finished 90th (+3:50.8) with one penalty (0+1), and Christian Gow with three penalties (1+2) was 92nd (+3:54.7) in the field of 102 starters.
The other regular North American team members, Canada’s Nathan Smith and US Biathlon’s Leif Nordgren, have not yet returned to the World Cup.
Athletes-Only Meeting Regarding McLaren Report
On the eve of the races in Oberhof, about 50 athletes from various teams reportedly gathered for an athletes-only meeting for about 90 minutes to discuss the current status of the IBU investigation into the findings of the report by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) special investigator Richard McLaren, which also lists 31 biathletes. From the side of the IBU, Secretary General Nicole Resch was present for about 15 minutes to discuss the current status of the internal IBU investigation and answer some of the most pressing questions from the athletes, before she was asked to leave the meeting again.
Afterwards, few athletes in attendance wanted to go on record to the media about any details of questions and demands made towards the IBU before a concrete, common position had been agreed upon and written up for communication.
From public statements by several athletes after the race on Thursday, it could be inferred that nations losing starting quotas in cases of multiple doping violations or organized manipulations could be one of them.
Slesingr, reportedly one of the organizers of the meeting, along with Martin Fourcade and some others, told the gathered media members that the athletes don’t plan to boycott World Cup races, at least in Oberhof, but that “depending on how the IBU reacts [to our demands] we will then decide how we can increase the pressure again.”
Furthermore, Slesingr explained that they have asked the IBU to state how many of the biathletes mentioned in the McLaren report are still active in IBU-sanctioned events, seemingly a topic that is contentious among the athletes potentially having to race against athletes under investigation.
“We don’t want exact names, but a number,” he said. “Our demands mostly deal with how to protect our sport from doping and corruption in the future.”
From the Russian team, the most prominent athlete present was Anton Shipulin, according to reports by German broadcasters ARD and ZDF.
“I was asked many questions, but I also have more questions than answers myself,” Shipulin afterwards told the media, according to a translation. “I don’t want to wash dirty laundry in public. I asked all athletes for patience and to wait until after the IBU investigation. I can only say for myself: I have never doped. All my samples are clean.”
“I don’t want to make statements regarding individual names,” Secretary General Resch told ZDF after the athletes’ meeting and a second one with team coaches. “We currently have to generate proofs out of the evidence, and I don’t know yet for which ones we will be able to succeed with that. And for someone where we don’t have concrete evidence available, dragging that name through the media as a positive doping case would be irresponsible and unprofessional. We don’t want to do that.”
“It was a really constructive meeting yesterday,” Germany’s Schempp told ZDF when questioned about the situation after the sprint race. “Because the whole procedure was explained to us, the athletes, by the side of the IBU. That they are also not having an easy time with that, and that one should keep calm for some time. They are doing their best to clear that up, and to really not draw premature conclusions. I also believe that would be the wrong approach. We will see how that progresses, and will closely observe that, but I think this won’t have been the last meeting.”
“In general this is not about pointing fingers at the Russians,” his teammate Lesser told ZDF. “This is about fighting the basic evil of doping with all force. The IBU has to define its own marching order for that, how it internally wants to deal with that. And I hope that this will be tackled with maximum force, that starting quota spots are being taken away after multiple offenses, and then you have to punish the nation and not just the individual athlete. And I hope the IBU will figure that out some time and go after that.”
Races in Oberhof continue on Friday with the women’s 7.5 k sprint, followed by the men’s and women’s pursuits on Saturday. The times back to the winner from the sprint carry over into the pursuit race.
(l-r) Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø, Fanny Horn Birkeland, Marte Olsbu, and Ole Einar Bjørndalen celebrate after winning the first race of the 2016/2017 biathlon World Cup season, a mixed relay in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: IBU/Evgeny Tumashov/Twitter)
It’s a new season on the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup, but the Norwegian biathlon team made it clear that they didn’t want anything to change: just as they won the World Cup mixed relay trophy in 2016, they picked up a 33.7-second win in the event in Östersund, Sweden, on Sunday to kick off the new year.
And just as he had so many times before, it was Ole Einar Bjørndalen — the “King of Biathlon” — who provided one of the crucial contributions for the Norway team, bringing them a lead that his teammates would never relinquish.
The Norwegians were one of just three relay teams all afternoon to avoid the penalty loop, but things didn’t start out so auspiciously. Marte Olsbu used a spare round in the first prone stage, dropping to eighth.
But despite missing again in standing, she left the range in first place, then held on to the lead almost to the exchange, where she tagged off 0.1 seconds behind Susan Dunklee of the U.S.
Twenty-one-year-old Anna Magnusson of Sweden was also in the lead pack, tagging off 0.6 seconds back and making for a tough fight on the last loop.
Susan Dunklee (US Biathlon) racing in Sunday’s mixed relay, the first race of the 2016/2017 IBU World Cup season, in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
“I was really impressed with Sweden being right up there on the first loop, too,” said Dunklee, who had a similar battle with Olsbu in the mixed relay at 2016 IBU World Championships. “The three of us were just duking it out that whole last loop. I flooded my system a little early with lactic acid on one of the early hills… but then I came back and caught them towards the end of that lap and we all came in together. Yeah, it was fun!”
Norway’s second athlete, Fanny Horn Birkeland, held the lead for several kilometers, but was one of many women felled by the wind in the second-leg standing stage. Birkeland used all three spare rounds to knock down her targets, and yet only fell 9.3 seconds out of the lead; at this point all but one team in the field had used at least four spare rounds, and some had used many more.
Birkeland wasn’t thrilled with her shooting, but knew it was good enough to get the job done.
Clare Egan was another casualty of the wind. The American had taken the tag from Dunklee in first place, and maintained a sixth-place position close to the leaders at the halfway point of her race. But with two penalty laps in standing, she dropped to 13th, 1:39.9 from the lead.
“Clare had a fantastic first half of her race,” Dunklee said. “I was really impressed that she stayed with the pack in the prone, and shot clean under that pressure. I think the pieces are there and they’ll come together later in the season for us as a team.”
By the next tag, Italay’s Dorothea Wierer had put together a small 4.9-second lead over Birkeland. Lukas Hofer, the first man out of the exchange zone, had a near-perfect start for Italy, extending his lead over the first loop and then using one spare round to clean his targets, finishing his shots before anyone else had even begun shooting.
But Norway’s Bjørndalen was steadily chasing, and on the second loop began to close ground. By the time the two came into the range for standing, it was a close race and Bjørndalen showed that despite being 42 years old, he still has the instincts and strength that have earned him well over 90 World Cup wins.
Hofer and Bjørndalen traded shots, cleaning one target after another, and Hofer began to leave his mat before realizing that his last target hadn’t actually fallen. Bjørndalen hit five for five and left with the lead, but Hofer had to use all three spare rounds to knock down that one target.
“I felt really good all the first four shots, and I was so sure I cleaned the last one, I was about to put the rifle back on,” Hofer lamented in the post-race press conference.
In the meantime, Benedikt Doll of Germany finished his shots and headed out on course in second place, 25.4 seconds behind Norway.
“There was a tricky wind today, which was noticeable in the standing shooting,” Bjørndalen said in a television interview with NRK. “For my part it went all right today. It ‘worked out’ and I was able to do what I was supposed to do.”
Johannes Thingnes Bø of Norway “flies” across the finish line to win the mixed relay in Östersund, Sweden.
Bjørndalen tagged off to Johannes Thingnes Bø, who cruised around his first loop and then missed his last target in prone. He easily cleaned it with a single spare round, however, and was back on his way.
In standing, Bø put on a clinic and had one of the fastest range times of the day while cleaning all five targets.
“The last leg is very hard, and I haven’t done it so many times,” Bø said in a press conference. “When I was starting alone the pressure was off, and I wanted to do my own race. I tried to gain some seconds from the very start.”
Arnd Peiffer likewise held Germany in second, using one spare round in prone and none in standing.
“I was pretty much alone the whole time, but I received pretty good information from the coaches, so I could find a good speed,” he said in an interview with Germany’s ZDF broadcaster. “In prone I was a bit hectic, also because it wasn’t so easy today, the wind was changing back and forth. Already during the zeroing [target practice] I had a few problems. So I was a bit insecure and unfortunately shot the last one away, but was able to hit the first spare. Overall I think it worked out pretty well today.”
So just like Norway, the German team had stayed out of the penalty loop and used just six spare rounds total.
“I have to say they worked really well at the range today,” German men’s coach Mark Kirchner told ZDF. “It was not so easy, with changing winds you had to be wide awake. You can’t complain if you need just one spare each.”
The most exciting finish of the day was the race for third place between Russia – a team which had bounced between fifth and seventh for much of the race – and Italy. Anton Shipulin pulled the Russians from seventh into fifth and then into third with two perfect shooting stages and the fastest ski time of all anchor leg skiers.
But Dominik Windisch of Italy was eager to make up for his teammate Hofer’s shooting collapse and after leaving the range just a few seconds behind Shipulin after standing, managed to catch up and stick on him like glue. Windisch looked labored as the two flew around the course, but he knew that the venue has a downhill finish.
Windisch shadowed Shipulin down the hill, then used a slingshot of momentum to fly past into the finishing straight and outsprint the Russian to secure third place for Italy, +44.2.
Tim Burke (US Biathlon) during his prone stage of the mixed relay, the first race of the 2016/2017 IBU World Cup season. The U.S. anchor, Burke brought his team from 10th to eighth at the finish. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
As for the U.S., Egan had already moved from 13th up to 12th by the time she tagged to Lowell Bailey, who brought the team into 10th. Tim Burke then brought them up into eighth place, despite three spare rounds.
“I was happy with my shooting from the clip in standing but disappointed that I needed three extras to get the last [standing] targets,” Burke wrote in an email. “I tried to push the pace on the first two spares and just missed with both. On the third extra round, I really took my time to make sure I hit because I knew there was no one to catch in front and that I would lose a few places if I missed… I just need to be a bit more relaxed with the extras in the future.”
Burke had the fourth-fastest course time of the anchor-leg athletes, and said that while he “did not feel at my absolute best”, his ski speed was where he wanted it to be at this early point in the season.
“It certainly was not our best race or perfect race, but a good sign that we can fight for the podium later in the season if we all have an ‘on’ day,” Dunklee said. “So that’s exciting to know.”
“Going into the race I know we all hoped for a better result,” Burke agreed. “[But] in years past, we could have been 15th place with this shooting, so we are encouraged by that improvement and we know more is possible in the future.”
The Canadian team was never really in the picture after leadoff athlete Julia Ransom skied two penalty loops in the opening standing stage. Megan Tandy and Scott Gow had shooting troubles of their own, and the team was sitting in 22nd place with those two penalty loops and 11 spare rounds before being lapped and pulled from the race.
Two members of the Norwegian mixed relay, Johannes Bø and Marte Olsbu, celebrate their win in the first IBU World Cup race of the 2016/2017 season on Sunday in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: ZDF screen shot)
Welcome to The Rundown, your quick primer of need-to-know information about the day’s racing. We’ll be updating this digest as the day goes on with additional results, photos and quotes. The Rundown is NOT a race report; stay tuned for complete race reports later today with interviews from the day’s top racers.
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IBU Cup in Beitostølen: 7.5/10 k sprints
[UPDATE] With the second set of men’s and women’s sprints canceled Saturday and moved to Sunday in Beitostølen, Norway, the first IBU Cup relays of the season were bumped off the schedule, and no North Americans competed on Sunday. (American Russell Currier placed 44th in the IBU Cup sprint on Friday.)
In the women’s 7.5 k sprint, Marketa Davidova of the Czech Republic pulled out a 3.6-second win over Germany’s Nadine Horchler, and Germany had two on the podium with former cross-country skier Denise Herrmann in third (+29.9). Davidova hit 9 out of 10 targets (1+0) en route to the victory in 24:18.3. Horchler missed just one target as well (0+1) and Herrmann (who won the IBU Cup women’s sprint two days earlier) had three penalties (1+2) but skied fast enough for the podium.
In the men’s 10 k sprint, Russia’s Matvey Eliseev edged his teammate Dmitry Malyshko by just 3.2 seconds for the win in 26:16.8. More than a minute later, Norway’s Henrik L’Abee-Lund placed third (+1:15.9) with four penalties (1+3). Both Eliseev and Malyshko had one miss apiece, with Eliseev missing one in prone (1+0) and Malyshko missing one standing (0+1).
The next IBU Cup is set for Dec. 6-11 in Ridnaun, Italy.
The first race if the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup season went to Norway, which won Sunday’s co-ed mixed relay (2 x 6 k + 2 x 7.5 k) by nearly 34 seconds over Germany in Östersund, Sweden.
The Norwegian team of Marte Olsbu, Fanny Horn Birkeland, Ole Einar Bjørndalen, and Johannes Thingnes Bø used a total of six spare rounds to get to the finish line first in 1:10.57.1.
Germany, with Franziska Hildebrand, Laura Dahlmeier, Benedikt Doll, and Arnd Peiffer, used the same amount of total spares for second place (+33.7), and both teams avoided the penalty loop.
Italy took third (+44.2), with Lisa Vittozzi, Dorothea Wierer, Lukas Hofer, and Dominik Windisch using a combined 12 spares and having one penalty loop during Hofer’s standing stage.
The Italians narrowly held off Russia (Olga Podchufarova, Tatiana Akimova, Maxim Tsvetkov, Anton Shipulin) by 0.3 seconds for the final spot the podium.
France placed fifth (+1:13.3), Sweden was sixth (+1:20.9), the Czech Republic seventh (+1:20.9), and the U.S. eighth (+2:38.5).
Susan Dunklee started first for the Americans using three spares to clean (0+1, 0+2), then tagging off to Clare Egan, who didn’t need any spares for prone, but had to use all three and skied two penalty loops in standing. Lowell Bailey used just two spares (0+1, 0+1), and Tim Burke locked up eighth for the team with a flawless prone and three spares in standing (0+0, 0+3). In all the team used 13 spares and had two penalty loops.
Of 24 teams in the race, Canada (Julia Ransom, Megan Tandy, Scott Gow, and Brendan Green) was among the four that were lapped. In seven out of eight stages, the team combined for 11 spares and two penalties.
FIS Nordic Combined World Cup in Ruka: Individual Large Hill/10 k
Germany’s 24-year-old Johannes Rydzek celebrating his first of two wins on Saturday at the Ruka Nordic Combined World Cup in Kuusamo, Finland. He now has eighth career individual World Cup victories. (Photo: FIS/NordicFocus)
Germany’s Johannes Rydzek can do the Usain-Bolt-victory stance all the way to the next Nordic Combined World Cup after winning the first two competitions of the 2016/2017 season, with another individual large hill/10 k win on Sunday in Kuusamo, Finland.
Rydzek posted the fifth-best jump after Norway’s Jarl Magnus Riiber, Watabe, Denifl, and Austria’s Mario Seidl, respectively. Rydzek started the 10 k Gundersen 1:04 minutes after Riiber and posted the seventh-fastest course time to capture first. Riiber slipped to 10th (+1:07.5) at the finish, with the 37th-ranked course time of 42 in the cross-country race.
Of note, Frenzel improved from 27th in the jump to 17th (+1:32.4) at the finish with the second-fastest course time.
Bryan Fletcher was one of two Americans in the race, finishing 31st (+3:40.7). His jump ranked 40th, but he skied the fourth-fastest course time to pick off nine places. Taylor Fletcher placed 40th (+6:24.4), improving slightly from 43rd in the jump.
The Nordic Combined World Cup now moves to Lillehammer, Norway, for a team and two individual competitions Dec. 2-4.
Visma Ski Classics Prologue in Pontresina: 8 k Classic
Petter Eliassen of Team Leaseplan Go (left) and Katerina Smutna of Team Santander (right) celebrate after winning the Visma Ski Classics 8 k prologue in Pontresina, Switzerland. (Photo: Visma Ski Classics)
The Visma Ski Classics series started off in Pontresina, Switzerland, with 8-kilometer time trials for both men and women.
In the women’s race, an individual interval start seeded last to first, Kristin Antonsen of Team Synnfjell set an early best mark. But as the previous season’s top women hit the course times began to come down, and the race ended as a battle between Britta Johansson Norgren of Team Lager 157 and Katerina Smutna of Team Santander. Smutna ended up with the win by just 0.66 seconds over Johansson Norgren, with Sara Lindborg of Team Serneke third (+20.66).
The men’s race was a team interval start, with the teams separated by five minutes and with skiers at 15 second intervals within that span. Last year’s Visma Ski Classics Champion, Petter Eliassen of Team Leaseplan Go, came out on top with a time of 19:42.66. Bastien Poirrier of Team Gel Interim Rossignol was second (+8.53), leading five members of his new France-based team into the top ten and turning heads along the way. Morten Eide Pedersen of Team BN Bank was third (+15.80).
Twenty-four-year-old Finnish A-teamer Iivo Niskanen notched his second-career World Cup victory the men’s 15-kilometer classic on Sunday, Day 2 of the Ruka World Cup in Kuusamo, Finland.
The men’s podium in Sunday’s 15 k classic at the Ruka World Cup in Kuusamo, Finland: with Finnish winner Iivo Niskanen (c) and Norway’s Emil Iversen (l) in second and Martin Johnsrud Sundby (r) in third. (Photo: NBC Sports screen shot)
Niskanen started 21st of more than 90 in the men’s field and finished in 35:27.6, which stood as the fastest time all day. After the finish, he paced between the leader’s chair and the finishing pen, even jogging around the stadium and course. But every time he looked the Finnish crowd, he was all smiles.
Niskanen held off three Norwegians in the top four, with Emil Iversen 10.2 seconds behind him in second, Martin Johnsrud Sundby 11.2 seconds back in third, and Didrik Tønseth missing the podium by about six seconds and tying Sweden’s Johan Olsson for fourth (+17.0). Norway’s Finn Hågen Krogh placed sixth (+18.3), Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson was seventh (+21.2), Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh was eighth (+24.3), Finland’s Matti Heikkinen ninth (+32.0), and Great Britain’s Andrew Musgrave 10th (+33.8).
Canada’s Alex Harvey was close behind in 11th (+35), and was the lone North American man in the points on Sunday. His teammate Devon Kershaw missed the top 30 by 4.5 seconds in 33rd (+1:23.4).
Erik Bjornsen led the U.S. men in 41st (+1:37.2). Canada’s Graeme Killick was 53rd (+2:12.9), American Noah Hoffman was 64th (+2:42.6). For Canada, Len Valjas was 76th (+3:19.8), Jess Cockney 78th (+3:26), Knute Johnsgaard 85th (+3:53.4), and Andy Shields 91st (+4:26.1), and for the U.S., Eric Packer 87th (+4:01) and Andy Newell 88th (+4:17.4) out of 96.
In the women’s 10 k classic earlier in the day, Marit Bjørgen of Norway picked up her first win of the season, a 4.6-second win over Finland’s Krista Parmakoski.
Marit Bjørgen of Norway (center) collected her first World Cup win of the season in the 10 k classic in Ruka, Finland, ahead of Finland’s Krista Parmakoski (left) and Norway’s Heidi Weng (right). (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
It is the 103rd World Cup win for the 36-year-old Bjørgen, who took last season off to have a baby. Norway followed up Bjørgen’s win with third and fourth place finishes by Heidi Weng (+12.7) and Ingvild Flugstad Ørtberg (+36.8).
Parmakoski also led a good day for the Finnish team, with Laura Mononen coming in seventh (+50.0). She was just behind sixth-place Nicole Fessel of Germany (+42.4).
Jessie Diggins led the U.S. women’s team with a 13th-place finish (+1:09.0), one of her best distance classic races ever outside of Tour and mini-tour stages. Sadie Bjornsen followed in 17th (+1.14.9), and 2016 SuperTour champion Caitlin Patterson of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project scored points in 28th (+1:45.4). The U.S. Ski Team rounded out its results with Rosie Brennan 39th (+2:22.2), Kikkan Randall 43rd (+2:29.7), Ida Sargent 44th (+2:30.4), and Sophie Caldwell 61st (+3:13.4)
Cendrine Browne and Emily Nishikawa slotted into 58th and 59th for Canada, +3:04.8 and +3:07.1, respectively. Dahria Beatty finished 74th (+3:54.4).
Norway’s Håvard Bogetveit leads American Lowell Bailey into the finish in a race for third in Sunday’s mixed relay at the IBU World Cup in Canmore, Alberta. The U.S. placed fourth for a team best in the event’s 11-year history. (Photo: Daniel S. Guay)
Considering anything better than sixth would have been a first-ever for either the U.S. or Canada in the IBU World Cup four-person (2 x 6 + 2 x 7.5-kilometer) mixed relay, that put Lowell Bailey in a bit of a position heading into the final loop of the last relay leg on Sunday.
Here he was, in fifth with 2.5 k to go, and just three seconds ahead of France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet in sixth and 4.6 seconds behind Canada’s Brendan Green in fourth. In front of both the Canadian and American teams, Norway set out on the final loop in Canmore, Alberta, 16 seconds ahead.
What or whom do you focus on? Should Bailey go for fourth? Should Green try to catch the Norwegian and the final spot on the podium? Or is it best to hold your own and not risk too much?
According to Bailey, a lot was going through his head after emerging from the final standing with clean shooting, thanks to two spares, shortly behind Green, who cleaned both stages without any spare rounds.
Tim Burke (l) after tagging U.S. teammate Lowell Bailey in fourth, about 36 seconds behind Norway in third, during the last exchange of the mixed relay at the IBU World Cup in Canmore, Alberta. (Photo: Daniel S. Guay)
“To be honest, I know [Fillon Maillet] and I know how good of a skier he is, he’s top 10 in the overall [World Cup],” Bailey said in a phone interview after the race. “So the thoughts going through my head on the last lap was, ‘OK, I’ve got to stay focused here,’ … My goal was to ski the first half of the loop well enough that France wasn’t going to get into my draft.”
The second half of the course was uphill and into the wind, and tactically, a skier able to catch a draft off someone in front of them on that part could be fresher for the last 700 meters to the finish.
In his effort to drop Fillon Maillet and make sure he wasn’t on the losing end of that strategy, Bailey inadvertently caught Green on the second-to-last major climb before the finish.
“It just so happened that I felt pretty good so I just went for it,” Bailey recalled.
After passing Green in fourth, he looked up and saw Norway’s Håvard Bogetveit, a 23-year-old Norwegian B-team member, in third.
“I didn’t see Norway until about halfway up that climb,” Bailey said. “I’m not sure if the Norwegian, if he was tired or what, but it didn’t become clear that there was a chance at third until that last uphill. Our team and ski technicians and coaches and staff were cheering me on and hoping that I could catch that gap.”
Meanwhile, Green, who had been tagged in seventh and climbed into fourth with perfect shooting, started to come undone.
“I really tried to race more aggressive. I had to. After the sprint on Thursday and knowing that my form wasn’t where it needed to be, I knew I couldn’t afford to hold back at all this race,” Green wrote in an email, referring to Canmore’s opening sprint last Thursday, where he placed 40th with one miss. “As for the shooting today I think I was just feeling confident. Canmore is often a very difficult range to shoot on, but I felt that [Saturday] I was really able to get a grasp of the wind while training, and was able to bring that confidence and shooting form into today.
“When I left [the range] in 4th I knew I was going to have my work cut out, especially given the pace of my second loop with France,” Green recalled. “That said, I gave it my all. I started to blow up and just couldn’t maintain the pace, but I think with a bit better form I could have hung on.”
Racing up and over the final climbs and into the finish, Bailey pushed to catch Bogetveit. He came within 1.7 seconds at the finish, but Norway secured the final spot on the podium, 1:23.8 minutes behind the German winners, and the U.S. claimed the so-called wooden medal in fourth. Regardless, it was the best showing for a U.S. mixed relay since its inception, officially at 2005 World Championships.
US Biathlon’s previous best mixed relay was sixth place four years ago at the World Cup in Kontiolahti, Finland, with Jay Hakkinen, Sara Studebaker, Annelies Cook, and Tim Burke. This time around, Susan Dunklee, Hannah Dreissigacker, Burke, and Bailey teamed up for fourth, 1:25.5 behind Germany. (Earlier in the day, Annelies Cook and Leif Nordgren raced the single mixed relay, placing 16th.)
“It didn’t become clear that there was a chance at third until that last uphill. Our team and ski technicians and coaches and staff were cheering me on and hoping that I could catch that gap.” — Lowell Bailey, who anchored the U.S. mixed relay to a team-best fourth on Sunday
“It’s easy to say, ‘Oh man, if I had known, I would’ve skied two seconds faster,’ but I really don’t think I could’ve,” Bailey said of finishing less than two seconds out of third. “I put everything I could have into that last lap. It’s bittersweet, but it’s also our best result ever in the mixed relay. … Fourth is where we ended up, and I think we have to be satisfied with that and keep that momentum going forward.”
Behind him, Green anchored Canada to sixth, 3.6 seconds behind Fillon Maillet, who notched fifth for France (+1:30.7). The result tied the Canadians’ best in a mixed relay after placing sixth in 2011 in Hochfilzen, Austria. Like the U.S., that team only included one of the same athletes from Sunday’s relay — Green — who had teamed up with Megan Imrie, Zina Kocher and JP Le Guellec in 2011. (Julia Ransom and Nathan Smith raced Sunday’s single mixed relay, placing 12th.)
“We’ll get to the podium eventually — it will just be a matter of small consistent steps, nothing drastic,” Green wrote. “The team was awesome today. Everyone did a really great job and set the race up well for the next person. I couldn’t have asked for more from them today.”
Germany in It to Win It
Germany topped the podium with a 1:12.9-minute win in the mixed relay on Sunday at the IBU World Cup in Canmore, Alberta, with (from left to right) Franziska Hildebrand, Franziska Preuss, Arnd Pfeiffer, and Simon Schempp. (Photo: Daniel S. Guay)
In the race for first, Germany established itself as a frontrunner early when Franziska Hildebrand tagged Franziska Preuss in third, just 1.4 seconds out of the lead. Switzerland’s Selina Gasparin had moved to the front of the first leg after cleaning her standing stage and leaving the range five seconds ahead of Italy’s Dorothea Wierer in second.
Wierer had previously been the first out of prone, 3.4 seconds ahead of Dunklee in second. Both women cleaned prone without needing any of three possible spares. Dunklee left the range two seconds ahead of Kazakhstan’s Alina Raikova in third, and almost immediately, the American caught Wierer. The two remained together off the front of the pack for the next loop, skiing 4.2 seconds ahead of Gasparin in third while Raikova dropped 13 seconds back to sixth before the second shooting.
There, Wierer needed two spares to clean and Dunklee used all three, but both avoided the penalty loop to leave the range in second and sixth, respectively. Wierer followed Gasparin into the final loop before the exchange, 5.1 seconds back, while Germany’s Hildebrand cleaned with no spares to move into third, 7 seconds out of first.
“I didn’t expect anything special today,” Dunklee wrote in an email, a day after placing 30th in the mass start with 10 penalties. “To be honest, I’ve been struggling this week to find my normal race hunger and my physical shape has felt flat.
Italy’s Dorothea Wierer (l) leads Susan Dunklee of the U.S. in first and second on the second loop of their first leg of the IBU World Cup mixed relay in Canmore, Alberta. Italy went on to place second and the U.S. notched a best-ever fourth. (Photo: Daniel S. Guay)
“[On Saturday] I dirtied a stage,” she said of missing every target — the opposite of “cleaning.” “Probably my first time doing so on the World Cup. Today I felt like a completely different animal. It was a good reminder that things can turn around suddenly.”
After leaving the range in sixth, 22.5 seconds behind Gasparin in first, Dunklee made up one place on the next loop to tag Dreissigacker in fifth, 16 seconds back, at the first exchange.
Meanwhile, Crawford used one spare on each stage to climb from ninth after the first shooting to fourth after the second stage. She left the range just ahead of Dunklee, 21.1 seconds out of first with one loop to go, and came through the exchange just 0.3 seconds behind Dunklee to tag Beaudry in sixth.
Also on that loop, Sweden’s Emma Nilsson slipped from fifth to eighth, and Norway’s Marte Olsbu improved from seventh to fourth.
“Susan passed me like I standing still, it was very impressive, but then she slowed down again and I tried to hang onto Norway once they passed me,” Crawford explained in an email. “It was a tough fight on that last loop, my legs and lungs were screaming, but I knew that in about 3min I could collapse in the snow.”
On the first shooting of the second leg, Preuss cleaned prone quickly to move into first, 5 seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Aita Gasparin, who also cleaned without any spares.
Dreissigacker leapt into third for the U.S. with flawless prone shooting as well, 17 seconds behind Preuss. She needed one spare to clean standing but remained in contention in fourth, just 0.2 seconds behind Sweden’s Mona Brorsson in third and 31.6 seconds behind Preuss up front with one loop to go.
“I’m happy with my whole race,” Dreissigacker wrote in an email. “One spare in standing is good for me. And I got some good rides, skiing behind [Norway’s Synnøve] Solemdal and then battling with Mona Brorsson on the last loop. Skiing with people really helps me ski more efficiently.”
Hannah Dreissigacker (r) skied the second leg for the U.S. mixed relay on Sunday and brought the team to fourth by the second exchange. Norway’s Synnøve Solemdal (l) tagged in second, 23 seconds behind Germany (not shown) in first. (Photo: Daniel S. Guay)
She held her position to the exchange, tagging Burke in fourth, 1.5 seconds out of third and 36 seconds from the lead.
“I think that confidence was the biggest key to my shooting today. I just told myself, ‘I can do this. Just do what I always do. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just normal,’ ” Dreissigacker explained.
After starting her season on the World Cup, Dreissigacker, a 29-year-old U.S. A-team member, was put on the IBU Cup squad in January. At the last IBU Cup in Arber, Germany, she placed 10th in the sprint and 16th in the pursuit to earn World Cup starts in Canmore. In the Canmore on Friday, she finished 28th in the sprint for one of her top-six career results.
“You have to really respect the trajectory that Hannah’s taken over the season,” Bailey, 34, said. “I’ve been there, I know what it’s like to start off a season with high expectations and fall short early on and have to refocus. A lot of athletes give up, but the fact that she stuck it out and really believed in her ability is a testament to her as an athlete and an individual.
“I think this week she showed that she can be there, and especially today — Susan had a great leg and handed off to Hannah in a fairly high-pressure scenario,” he continued. “… It was great to see Hannah handle that pressure. She had an awesome, awesome performance and kept us in contention for the medals.”
Last spring, Dreissigacker made up her mind that she would retire after this season. She explained that decision “has nothing to do with how this season has gone or will go. It’s a decision about my life and what I want to do with it and what will make me most happy. For this season I’ve been trying to not think about that decision and just ‘be here now’ and enjoy it,” she added.
In terms of pressure, she had a new way of handling that.
“I made a promise with myself a few weeks ago that I would be done with feeling pressure in a negative way about racing,” she wrote. “I definitely got nervous today, but I decided to call it ‘excitement’ and not think about pressure.”
“It’s a decision about my life and what I want to do with it and what will make me most happy. For this season I’ve been trying to not think about that decision and just ‘be here now’ and enjoy it.” — Hannah Dreissigacker, on her decision to retire after this season
Sarah Beaudry used just one spare to clean two stages during the second leg of the IBU World Cup mixed relay in Canmore, Alberta, to come through the second exchange in sixth. Canada ultimately placed sixth to tie the team’s best result in the mixed relay. (Photo: Daniel S. Guay)
Canada’s Beaudry, also getting the call up from the IBU Cup for the Canmore World Cup, kept her team in sixth with a perfect prone and just one spare in standing. In her second shooting stage, she moved into fifth, 10 seconds behind Dreissigacker in fourth, but slipped one spot back to sixth when Italy’s Karin Oberhofer passed her on their last loop.
At the second exchange, she tagged Davies 1:07.3 behind Germany, while the Germans skied 23 seconds ahead of Norway in second place.
“On the range overall I wanted to be confident and relaxed,” Beaudry wrote in an email. “I shoot on this range all the time know the winds and wanted to use that as an advantage. The last lap I tried to give it everything I had to be able to give Macx every extra second I could. I was very happy with my performance and as a team we were definitely stoked with where we ended up tying Biathlon Canada’s previous personal best.”
Two days earlier, the 21-year-old British Columbia native posted her World Cup personal best in 38th.
“It has definitely been super exciting posting my best results at home in Canmore, for my family to be able to watch and all the Canadian Biathlon community,” Beaudry wrote. “I feel like I managed to take full advantage of my start spot in the sprint with the windy conditions being worse at the beginning. However this being my second World Cup weekend of the season and my other weekend [in Ruhpolding, Germany] being a last minute decision and three days of driving before the race I was able to be way more prepared for this event.”
The third-leg skiers for the U.S. and Canada, Burke and Davies, put their teams in fourth and seventh, respectively, by the final exchange.
Burke came within six seconds of third place after a clean prone without any spares, but had some trouble in standing, using all three spares and appearing to have problems loading at least one of them. He ended up with a penalty — the first and only penalty for the U.S. — and left the range in fifth, 1:36.6 behind Germany’s Arnd Peiffer, who shot flawlessly in both stages to take a 56-second lead over Norway.
Canada’s third leg of the mixed relay, Macx Davies used one spare to clean his standing stage and left the range in seventh before handing off to anchor Brendan Green (not shown) in the IBU World Cup mixed relay in Canmore, Alberta. Canada placed sixth to tie a team best. (Photo: Daniel S. Guay)
Thirty seconds behind Sweden’s Tobias Arwidson with one loop to go, Burke caught the Swede and moved back into fourth by the exchange — 36 seconds behind Norway in third.
As for Davies, he used two spares in prone and one to clean standing, leaving the range in seventh after both stages.
“After getting tagged in sixth I was hard pressed to stay with [Switzerland’s] Benjamin Weger and lost a bit of time on the first loop, so I was a little worried that I was skiing slowly, but when it came to the shooting range, that’s where I know you can make lots of time,” Davies wrote in an email. “So I was very focused going into prone on a fast clean bout. … My performance today was good [on] skis and in the range, nothing exceptional but I had a good day out there and very happy that I could stay in 7th on the final lap.”
Germany’s anchor, Simon Schempp mostly had to go through the motions to ensure the win after receiving the tag in first, 1:02.9 ahead of Italy in second and 1:03.6 clear of Norway in third. (Bailey was 1:40 back at the tag in fourth.)
Schempp used one spare in both stages and ended up sealing the win in 1:05:38.8, by 1:12.9 over Italy’s Dominik Windisch in second place and 1:23.8 ahead of Norway’s Bogetveit in third.
“I still started out fairly hard, make my own race, work clean on the shooting range, and after the standing shooting I noticed that it would be sufficient,” Schempp said in a post-race interview with Germany’s ZDF. “But before that you are never sure, anything can happen, so you can’t relax.”
He felt comfortable enough to high-five some of his teammates on the final loop.
“I saw a few [national-team] green jackets out of the corner of my eye on the edge of the course. And on the prior loops I already heard a few familiar voices,” he recalled. “So when you have the time and the whole team is celebrating with you, that’s something you can enjoy very much.”
Italy placed second in the mixed relay at the IBU World Cup in Canmore, Alberta, with Dorothea Wierer (second from r), Karin Oberhofer (second from l), Lukas Hofer (r), and Dominik Windisch. (Photo: Daniel S. Guay)
For the Italians (Wierer, Oberhofer, Lukas Hofer, and Windisch), another podium in Canmore was beginning to create expectations. In Canmore, Wierer finished third in the women’s sprint on Friday, then won the mass start on Saturday and Windisch won the men’s mass start that same day.
“Everyone at home expects bigger things every week,” Italy’s third leg, Hofer told the IBU afterward. The team finished with one penalty (from Oberhofer’s prone stage) and required 10 spares.
And Norway’s B-team (with its top athletes opting to skip the Canmore weekend and come to Presque Isle instead) wasn’t surprised with a podium: “We always try to be on the podium, but you never know,” Olsbu told the IBU. Olsbu, Solemdal, Alexander Os, and Bogetveit combined for third with seven spares and no penalties.
For Bailey, fourth (with a team total of one penalty and nine spares) was one step closer to the medals — a goal US Biathlon has been focused on for the last several years, specifically in the mixed relay, he said.
“Sochi was the first Olympics where we had it as a medal event now it’s a legit medal event,” he explained. “We realized that we had strong women at the top and strong men at the top and when you combine those, we start to be able to compete with the powerhouses.”
While fourth was “bittersweet,” he added that it was promising.
“It was by no means a perfect race for any of us. I guess that’s a good thing… that means you can do better,” he said. “We can feel satisfied, but we also have the momentum and the knowledge that … if we put together an excellent performance, we can be on the podium.”
“I’ve dreamed of being in the top 6 in a world cup relay for years and to be 2 seconds out of third is absolutely incredible!” Dunklee wrote. “Today was a great team effort. Hannah had a very rough start to the season with injury and it’s been truly inspiring to watch her turn it around. Lowell skied a heroic last loop leaving his pack behind and almost catching Norway, who didn’t seem within reach when he left the range.”
Canada’s Brendan Green acknowledges the crowd at the IBU World Cup mixed relay in Canmore, Alberta, after anchoring his team to sixth, tying a team best. “It was really fun and definitely special,” he said of the experience racing at home. (Photo: Daniel S. Guay)
Canada, with no penalties and six spares, was happy, too.
“We had a different team out there today with Brendan and I the veterans and Macx and Sarah the young guns in their first mixed relay!” Crawford pointed out. “We are showing more depth in our team that we can put together 4 athletes and come out with a pretty good mixed relay! We’ve been knocking on the door of the podium for mixed relay for a while and I am sure it will happen some day!
“It was so special having so many fans in the crowd, friends and family, that everywhere on course people were cheering for you, during warmup, the race and cool down!” she added. “Even though it was a disappointing sprint, it was super cool to have everyone cheering for me, and that they didn’t care how I did, they were just pumped to watch me race!”
On Monday, the U.S. team flew on a direct charter to Presque Isle, where the World Cup will pick back up again on Thursday through Sunday. The U.S. team will race on home soil while the Canadians still aiming to qualify for World Championships (Emma Lunder, Zina Kocher, Audrey Vaillancourt, and Erin Yungblut) will race in Maine, along with Smith, who ranks 19th in the overall World Cup standings.
Those prequalified for World Championships, including Crawford, Beaudry, Green, Davies, Ransom, Scott Gow, and Christian Gow, will train in Canmore until Feb. 22.
Fireworks are set off at the Biathlon World Team Challenge in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Photo: Karsten Rabas/www.biathlon-aufschalke.de.
There was plenty of hype going into Saturday’s Biathlon World Team Challenge, a two-person relay event held in the Veltins Arena stadium of the Schalke 04 soccer team in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
A mostly-annual event since 2002, the races feature many of the World Cup’s top biathletes in competing in relay-style mass starts and pursuits. And for the first time, Martin Fourcade of France, the reigning World Cup Champion, multiple medalist at the Olympics in February, and commonly deemed the best biathlete in the world, was participating.
But biathlon in a soccer arena is not the same as biathlon on real ski trails, and Fourcade didn’t make much of a splash. He and French teammate Anais Chevalier – whom Fourcade had specifically picked for the event – finished eighth in the mass start and fifth in the final pursuit.
Fourcade was still impressed with the whole shebang, though. “What a great experience in @BiathlonWTC!!!” he tweeted after all was said and done.
Serhiy Sememov of Ukraine leads Erik Lesser of Germany in the World Team Challenge. Photo: Karsten Rabas/www.biathlon-aufschalke.de.
What’s crazier about the event: is it the biathlon, or the race, surroundings, and spectators themselves? We look at each. And if you want a true taste of the event, check out the broadcast by Germany’s ZDF, which has been posted on YouTube.
Ukraine On Top
In each race, the women started by skiing a small loop, which took around three minutes, then shot prone. They skied any penalty loops they might have accrued, then tagged off to the male member of the team, who skied and then shot prone. This continued for eight shooting stages in total: women prone, men prone, women standing, men standing, and then all over again. The men got the honor of racing the final loop to the finish line.
(The format has since been adopted for the World Cup as the “super sprint mixed relay” and will see its debut in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, this year.)
Germany’s Franziska Hildebrand excelled both on the range and on skis.
Fourcade and Chevalier were beset by shooting woes, and with such short loops of skiing, Fourcade was unable to make up ground on the trails as he can in World Cup racing. Two other pairs were similarly unlucky: Switzerland’s Elisa Gasparin and Benjamin Weger never figured into either race, and Norway’s Fanny Welle-Strand Horn and Lars Helge Birkeland were never close to the front.
It wasn’t just the short loops that kept strong skiers from strutting their stuff. The entire format is an anomaly for those used to racing difficult World Cup courses with natural terrain. For instance, consider the range approach: the final loop of skiing around the stadium before the ten-lane range (facing a section of the stadium which was blocked off to spectators – no problem, as well over 40,000 people still got to watch live) culmintated in a man-made bridge requiring a few quick and hard V1 strides and then a fast downhill, sharp corner, and the shooting range.
Skiing could still win out over shooting, though. Italy’s Dorothea Wierer and Lukas Hofer won the mass start competition despite having five penalties to the four by runners-up Laura Dahlmeier and Florian Graf of Germany.
Yes Valj, you’re going to win!
Another German team, Franziska Hildebrand and Erik Lesser, were leading until Lesser – whose shooting speed was unparalleled throughout the day – missed three shots in the final stage and lost the win.
Less than an hour later, the ten teams regrouped and raced again. The format was the same, except it was an interval start based on the finish from the sprint. It would seem that winning the mass start would be a huge advantage – but Wierer and Hofer had a disastrous race, unable to replicate their efforts from earlier in the evening. With nine penalties combined, they finished second to last.
Instead, Valj Semerenko and Serhiy Semenov of Ukraine climbed steadily through the field from their fifth-place starting position to finish on top by seven seconds. They had just four penalties in the second competition.
The podium from the final pursuit competition in Veltins Stadium. Photo: Karsten Rabas/www.biathlon-aufschalke.de.
Hildebrand and Lesser matched that tally and finished second, while Russia’s Yana Romanova and Evgeniy Garanichev had the same tally and climbed from seventh into third – not only thanks to the good shooting, but to an aggressive final loop by Garanichev where he not only pulled off a pass of the Czech Republic’s Evgeniy Garanichev, but then put four seconds on him in the final few hundred meters.
The Scenery and Sideshows
Here’s another thing that World Cup racing doesn’t usually feature: institutionalized snowball fights. The event is also the host of the 2014 World Snowball Fight Championships, where teams of three have two three-minute periods to try to annihilate the competition. Helmets and goggles were required.
Also on the docket? A huge display of indoor and outdoor fireworks.
The soccer stadium was filled completely with snow, and trails delineated with large plantings of Christmas trees in the middle to make route easier to follow from the stands. Of course, many a ski race has seen lanes marked with evergreen twigs – but organizers at Schalke take that to a whole new level, creating fake forests of perfectly-spaced trees between the looping ski trails.
The podium from the snowball fight. Photo: Karsten Rabas/www.biathlon-aufschalke.de.
The luckiest spectators were not in the stands but got to watch trailside, on the snow level of the arena. A few of central Europe’s ubiquitous wooden huts were built to serve hot mulled wine.
Between loops, each team’s technicians furiously applied and brushed out layer after layer of fresh fluoros to the skis before athletes grabbed them and ran back to the exchange zone. In the center of the stadium, ski service was as much on display as the skiing.
And finally, a few snafus happened in the race that would rarely be seen on the World Cup: for instance when, at one of the many transitions, Norway’s Fanny Welle-Strand Horn forgot to bring her rifle.
“It was so hectic between stages,” she told Norway’s NRK news broadcaster. “It did not dawn on me until I see Lars Helge come into the exchange. I saw that people were beginning to point towards my back, and suddenly I realized I did not have a gun on my back. Then you get a little panicked.”
Simon Schempp of Germany leads Lowell Bailey (USBA) in the 2013 World Championships pursuit. Schempp won Friday’s 10 k sprint in Antholz, Italy in a tie with Lukas Hofer. (Photo: NordicFocus/USBA)
Simon Schempp and Lukas Hofer looked pretty chummy after the finish men’s 10 k sprint at the World Cup in Antholz, Italy this Friday. Maybe their laughter was a product of their relief of finishing a challengingly slow course, or maybe it was that both of them were on the podium for the first time this season. More likely, however, it was the fact they both sat atop that podium in a rare tie for first place having skied the 10 k in 22:44.9.
Schemmp a member of the German national team had originally been declared the winner of the race, edging out Hofer by 0.3 seconds. However, upon review of the finish line back-up system, the German and the Italian were declared to have a tie.
With a steady fall of snow and slow conditions, the race looked much different than the women’s 7.5 k sprint held Thursday.
Despite having to slug through the slow snow, the first starter, Simon Fourcade of France, was able to ski a fast first lap and shoot clean to keep him in first place for much of the beginning of the race. But as the snow got faster and the skiers got stronger, Fourcade saw his position decline in the standings.
One skier that contributed to Fourcade’s drop was Arnd Peiffer of Germany, who eventually finished in third. Starting in 27th position, Peiffer skied the fourth fastest first lap and shot clean in both prone and standing. His next two laps were slower, but they were enough to keep him in third.
The podium was the first of the season for Peiffer, and he was pretty happy about it. ”This is a good feeling and it fills a hole in my resume,” said the German in a press release. “I have never finished third before!”
Italian Lukas Hofer skiing in the 2012 World Championships. Hofer tied Schempp for the win in Friday’s 10 k sprint in Antholz, Italy.
Hofer came soon after Peiffer and was determined to leave everything on the course. An Italian hadn’t won a World Cup race in Italy since 1988, and while it often seemed there were more German and Norwegians in the stands than anyone else, a win in Antholz would not only be a personal triumph, but also a national one.
A strong skier, Hofer clocked the fastest time on the course in the first lap. He shot clean in prone, and skied a fast second lap. Unfortunately for the 24-year-old his luck didn’t hold through the standing and he accrued one penalty.
The setback didn’t stop Hofer as he skied his last lap. He skied agressively and crossed the line, 4.3 seconds ahead of Peiffer, then collapsed face-first into the blanket of newly fallen snow in the finish area.
“What more can I expect as an athlete?” the Italian said of his result. “I had a really good race and am really happy.”
Schempp who started 61st, raced with efficiency and purpose. The German skied the second fastest first lap, and the second and third laps were just as strong. His skiing, mixed with clean shooting, made for a lethal combination that earned him his first World Cup podium of the season and first career victory.
The overall result could have been different, however. Coming into the finish, Schempp chose to take the same lane as a Czech skier in front of him, which caused him to slow considerably just before he crossed the finish line.
Regardless, the German was very happy to have his first World Cup victory. “I am very satisfied with my race. It was an incredible day. Only first place was missing in my resume, so this is a good feeling; a perfect race,” he said in a press release.
Canada’s Brendan Green racing in 10 k sprint at the IBU World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria, earlier this month. Green finished eighth in Friday’s sprint in Antholz, Italy.
Canadian racer, Brendan Green, who just last week was racing in the IBU Cup, had a breakthrough result in Friday’s sprint, finishing in eighth place, a career best.
Green, who sat out last season due to an injury that required double-back surgery, has made a significant comeback this year and nabbed the last spot on the Canadian Olympic team earlier this year.
Before the Friday’s race Green was worried about the snowy and slow conditions because he was the 10th starter, meaning it was likely he would have a slower course.
American Lowell Bailey skiing in Friday’s 10 k sprint in Antholz, Italy. He placed 19th. (Photo: USBA/Nordic Focus)
“Conditions were definitely tough to race in but I just tried to focus on the process of putting together the best race I could at that time,” Green wrote in an email. “Antholz can be a tricky and weird range for shooting, so again I just tried to be solid with each shot and not get too ahead of myself.”
His mentality worked, as he was able to make it through the rounds of prone and standing shooting without missing a shot.
On top of that, Green was feeling better and better as he skied along the course.
“My skiing picked up with each lap throughout the race. It’s hard to say how much of that was due to the track speeding up, or maybe just me getting more and more into my groove. Maybe a little bit of both. “
At the end of the day, Green attributed his career best result to staying in the present and not thinking ahead. “Just getting the work done, one step at a time, one shot at a time.”
Looking forward, Green feels confident going into Saturday’s pursuit and next month’s Olympics.
“I’m definitely really happy with this result and the time frame that it has come in. Hopefully it’s a sign that my shape is progressing in the right direction and that I can still improve in some areas before we head over to Sochi.”
American Tim Burke skiing in Friday’s 10 k sprint in Antholz, Italy. He placed 50th. (Photo: USBA/Nordic Focus)
Green will be joined by teammate Nathan Smith and Americans Lowell Bailey and Tim Burke in Saturday’s pursuit.
Bailey finished 19th in Friday’s sprint. He was followed by Smith in 22nd and Burke in 50th.
Burke, who has said that the course in Antholz is one of his favorites, had an uncharacteristic tough day.
“I am pretty disappointed with my race today on all levels. My shooting was off with three penalties and I simply felt tired on the skis,” Burke wrote in an email.
He now plans to solely focus on the Sochi games in order achieve his best-possible Olympic results, even if that means making some sacrifices in the meantime. “I will put my entire focus now on the Olympics so I will only start tomorrow if I feel 100% recovered. I have been a little flat in all of my races lately so I won’t push too much now with only a few weeks left before the Olympics.”
Racing continues tomorrow in Antholz, with the women’s 12.5 k and the men’s 15 k pursuits.
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