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Tag: Mari Laukkanen

  • Fourcade Wins Despite Ammo Flub; ‘Squirrel Drama’ in Women’s Mass Start in Oslo

    Fourcade Wins Despite Ammo Flub; ‘Squirrel Drama’ in Women’s Mass Start in Oslo

    France’s Martin Fourcade (c) in first, Latvia’s Andrejs Rastorgujevs (l) in second and Austria’s Simon Eder (r) in third on the podium following the men’s 15 k mass start at the season-finale 2017 IBU World Cup in Oslo, Norway. (Photo: IBU)

    Between breaking historic biathlon records and waiting for the imminent birth of his second child, France’s IBU World Cup dominator Martin Fourcade forgot one crucial detail of Biathlon 101 before Sunday’s final race of the season in the men’s 15-kilometer mass start: loading his ammunition clips.

    Fourcade only realized he had started with four empty clips when he crouched down on the shooting mat for the first prone shooting, then signaled for help. His coach standing at the range reacted the fastest and threw him a full clip. Fourcade inserted it into his rifle and went on to hit all five shots, leaving the range in 18th  position and 21 seconds behind the leaders, almost the time it takes to ski a penalty lap.

    But what he and his coach had done strictly was not allowed: Fourcade would have had to wait and receive the spare clip from a race official, because the range is a “no-coaching zone”. While the race went on, Fourcade’s name was marked with an asterisk on the timing screens, and the race jury and technical delegate started discussing if Fourcade maybe should be disqualified or hit with a time penalty.

    Fourcade later said he was aware the violation was under review, but decided to keep racing like normal. Before the second shooting he had compensated the gap passing the whole field to take the lead again, and received additional spare magazines this time from an official kneeling next to the first-lane shooting mat.

    Seemingly undeterred by the problems, Fourcade went on to clean not only the second stage, but also the two standing stages to create a lead of almost 25 seconds, already celebrating as he left the famous Holmenkollen arena for the final loop. He was the only athlete in the field to shoot clean in all four stages, crossing the line in a time of 37:32.2 minutes under the huge applause of thousands of fans in the stands who had just witnessed a demonstration of his abilities. But would his victory stand?

    “I am simply an idiot, because I forgot to reload my magazines before the start,” Fourcade explained during a press conference later. “Today I had a really good day in spite of this huge mistake. I succeeded getting back the time I lost, and then shot clean. I am really happy and proud of my competition. It was probably one of the best days in my career, but it was a competition full of stupidness.”

    Behind him, Austria’s Simon Eder and Latvia’s Andrejs Rastorgujevs – usually known as a fast skier but shaky shooter – manged to also clean the final standing stage and went out on the last loop together. Rastorgujevs was faster there, overtaking and then distancing Eder to achieve the first World Cup podium of his career with two penalties in the race (0+1+1+0), 17.4 seconds behind Fourcade. Eder finished third (+32.4) with one penalty (0+0+1+0) to claim his third individual podium of the season (plus two in single mixed relays and two in men’s relays).

    In his long career, Rastorgujevs, 28, had been on the podium at IBU European Championships, winning gold in 2014 and at Summer Biathlon World Championships on rollerskis, but never in a World Cup where he only had four fourth-place finishes to his name.

    “The first podium in I think more than five years for me, after a lot of fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eigth, ninth, tenth places,” Rastorgujevs said during the press conference. “I am really happy, and I want to say a big thanks to my team and my service guys, who have worked very hard for this second place … I think today is a special day, and it’s also a big party for my team … Now I think this is opening the door for more podiums. We will see what happens next season.”

    “Yesterday I joked about a podium [in an interview], I don’t know why I did that, but I am really happy I got this podium today,” Eder explained. “The third race in a row is always a problem for my body, I already know this. I prefer to have a rest day, so I knew it was gonna be hard today. I am happy I got the third place. I saw Andrejs behind me which made me happy, and tried to keep up with him as long as possible hoping for the third or maybe second place but he was too strong for me.”

    Lowell Bailey (US Biathlon) shooting during a standing stage in the men’s 15 k mass start, the last race of the 2016/2017 IBU World Cup season, on Sunday in Oslo, Norway. He went on to finish 15th. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)

    Halfway through the race, US Biathlon’s Lowell Bailey had been in the lead after two clean prone shooting performances, taking the first lane in the standing shooting. But he missed two targets in that stage and had to ski a penalty lap, and then missed another one in the final shooting.

    “I think this was one of my best races of the season in terms of ski speed. I felt composed and focused in prone, and was happy with two cleans,” Bailey wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “In the first standing, I didn’t necessarily plan on shooting on point 1, but [Russia’s Anton] Shipulin did not want to lead in and I thought, if anything, it would be a bit of an advantage to be on point 1 if the wind came up. Those two misses set me back a fair amount, but I’m happy I stayed in the race mentally, only had one miss in the last standing, and was able to ski my way back into a top-fifteen.”

    Bailey finished the race in 15th place with three penalties (0+0+2+1), 1:10.4 behind Fourcade. But had Fourcade actually won, or would he be disqualified or relegated back?

    After the race, the competition jury could be seen on the TV broadcast deliberating the case for several minutes, and ultimately they decided to not take any actions against Fourcade.

    “I knew after the first shooting I was under disqualification [review], because the way I got back my full magazine is not the way exactly to do it,” Fourcade said. “It was a possibility to be disqualified, so I wanted to show to everyone, to all the other athletes, to the audience, to the jury also, that it was my day. And if they decided to not give me the victory, I knew in my heart that I had it.”

    “I think the jury was right,” Bailey wrote in his email. “I’ve been there. I know what it’s like to make a simple, costly mistake, and I think he definitely didn’t gain any advantage by NOT loading his clips.”

    Aside from Rastorgujevs and Norway’s fourth-place finisher Emil Hegle Svendsen (+42.2 with two penalties), the athlete who would have stood to benefit the most from a punishment for Fourcade was Germany’s Simon Schempp, who had been in the lead in the mass-start score World Cup standings before the race. But just coming back from a lengthy illness after last month’s World Championships where he won the men’s mass start, Schempp only finished with a 20th place (+1:28.5 with three penalties) in the same discipline on Sunday, and thereby still lost that title to Fourcade.

    “The hope was there, but with my current form it is very tough,” Schempp told ARD after the race. “I gave it everything I had. I am disappointed, but something like that can’t be fixed when you come here basically without any training. I lost a lot of points in the standings the last weeks, and I can still feel the illness in my bones. I can’t help it, it happens.”

    But Schempp also did not want to get the award back “off the course” by a disqualification.

    “I wanted to thank and to give all my respect to the team of Germany and to Simon Schempp, who decided to not ask for a protest,” Fourcade said in the press conference, unprompted. “That’s a big gesture. I really take my hat off to Simon Schempp. I must say how impressed I am by their class, they deserve much more than a crystal globe today.”

    Bailey finished the season in eighth in the World Cup Total Score standings, a career best all the more impressive considering he skipped an entire week of races in Oberhof, Germany, for a longer rest and training break after Christmas. That paid off, with a gold medal in the men’s 20 k individual at World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria, a second place in the sprint at the World Cup in PyeongChang, South Korea, and another second place in Kontiolahti, Finland, in the single mixed relay together with his teammate Susan Dunklee.

    “This is, by far, the best season of my life,” Bailey wrote reflecting on his season. “At 35 years old, I can say that I’ve waited a long time for this season. I have so many people to thank, first among them, my wife Erika for believing in me through it all, and being by side every step of the way. It’s been so great to have her and my daughter on the tour for the majority of the season.”

    Eckhoff Wins Final Mass Start at Home Despite ‘Squirrel Drama’

    Norway’s Tiril Eckhoff crossing the finish line with the Norwegian flag to celebrate her victory in the women’s 12.5 k mass start at the 2017 IBU World Cup on Sunday in Oslo, Norway. (Photo: IBU)

    “I hope I didn’t kill it,” was the first comment by Tiril Eckhoff after Sunday’s race to broadcaster NRK.

    What the Norwegian was referring to was the only small thing that disturbed her victory in the women’s 12.5-kilometer mass start at her home venue in Oslo: a streaking squirrel crossed the course in a ditch before the longest climb seven kilometers into the race, right in front of a six-person lead group that included Eckhoff, France’s Justine Braisaz and American Susan Dunklee.

    The little animal seemingly was confused which way it should try to escape, then jumped up when Braisaz tried to break, with Eckhoff almost running over it as well.

    “That squirrel was my favorite part of the race,” Dunklee wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “It ran in front of me then I saw it collide with Justine. I couldn’t help but laugh!”

    “Braisaz drove over the squirrel, so I just had to take my ski up and hope it goes well,” Eckhoff told NRK. “It’s good to see some wildlife in the forests of Norway.”

    After the race she could have a good laugh about the incident, which her home country’s TV broadcaster dubbed “Eckhoff vs. ekhorn” and “ekhorndrama” by the Norwegian word for squirrel.

    Reportedly the squirrel got away alive. And luckily it had not been Eckhoff vs. moose, another common dweller of the Norwegian forests.

    Shooting 19-for-20 after she earlier in the season had never hit more than 16 shots in a four-stage race (0+0+1+0), Eckhoff took the lead after the final shooting ahead of Czech Republic’s Gabriela Koukalová, and pushed hard throughout the last loop to create a gap that allowed her to grab a Norwegian flag before the last ski bridge in the Holmenkollen arena, waving to the fans as she skied down the homestretch before crossing the line in a time of 34:23.1.

    “I was very fed up with [always] going to the penalty loop,” Eckhoff said at the press conference. “So I just said to myself, ‘Now I’m gonna take those targets down,’ and I managed that, so now I’m really happy … because that has been my main issue.”

    Eckhoff had won gold medals in the sprint and the women’s relay at last year’s World Championships at home in Oslo, where she grew up and still lives. But partly due to illnesses she struggled with this season, she didn’t return to form until after this year’s Hochfilzen World Championships. She went on to notch a second place in the sprint in PyeongChang, South Korea, and then a sprint win in Kontiolahti, Finland.

    Behind Eckhoff, Koukalová finished Sunday’s race in second place (+22.6) with one penalty (0+1+0+0), thereby securing the World Cup title in the mass start discipline ahead of Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier, who finished ninth after shooting three misses (+54.2), not able to defend the small lead she held before the final but winning the overall World Cup Total Score title for the first time.

    After the race, Sweden’s Hanna Öberg also received the IBU award for the “Rookie of the Year”.

    “I was not under pressure today,” Koukalová said with a big smile at the press conference. “I had no expectations. I tried to imagine that I’m already somewhere else, at the athletes’ party this evening for example … It’s one of the best seasons of my life.”

    “I am totally exhausted, and happy that there is no more race tomorrow,“ her rival Dahlmeier told German broadcaster ARD after the race. “The miss at the end ruined a better result today, and on the course it was also really tough for me. I have reached my limit now … I hope some energy comes back to celebrate the season tonight.”

    Before the final shooting Dahlmeier’s teammate Franziska Hildebrand had been in the lead by almost 20 seconds thanks to three clean shooting performances, with her first individual podium of the season within her grasp. But she missed her very last shot, causing her coach to let out an audible swear, and she had to ski a penalty lap, which allowed the clean-shooting Eckhoff and Koukalová to pass her.

    Coming back on the loop still in third place, Hildebrand was chased down by Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen and Czech Republic’s Veronika Vitkova, who passed her shortly before the finish skiing down into the Holmenkollen arena. Mäkäräinen claimed the third place on the podium (+34.5) with two penalties (0+0+1+1), while Vitkova finished fourth (+36.1) and Hildebrand fifth (+39.0). Mäkäräinen’s teammate Mari Laukkanen, the winner of the preceding sprint and pursuit races in Oslo, finished sixth (+40.0) to round out the most successful weekend of her biathlon career.

    “It has been some hard time the last two weeks,” Mäkäräinen said in the press conference, referring to the passing of Finnish shooting coach Asko Nuutinen. “I’m sure that has somehow affected my results in a negative way, and now yesterday and today I managed to get the power and do some better races. So I am happy with the result today. I just tried to focus on what I do, not thinking about the result that much.”

    “It’s been a very special week with what happened to the Finnish girls, and I am very impressed with Kaisa and Mari,” Eckhoff said at the press conference.

    Halfway through the women’s mass start, Dunklee had been in the lead after shooting clean in both of her prone stages, then held on with the top group on the course, mostly letting Eckhoff dictate the tempo.

    But after also struggling on the range in Saturday’s pursuit race with ten penalties, Dunklee, who recently exhibited remarkably consistent shooting performances, started to miss and incurred three penalties in the first standing stage and another two in the last one (0+0+3+2).

    “I am not entirely sure what has been off in standing this weekend,” Dunklee wrote in her email. “It’s frustrating. Maybe the biathlon gods thought it was time for a dose of humility. My ski form is the best it has been all year.“

    In the end she came to the finish in 20th place, 1:43.8 behind the winner Eckhoff.

    Still, Dunklee managed to retain the 10th position in the World Cup Total Score standings, another career best to end a season that included a silver medal in the mass start at the World Championships and another podium at the World Cup in Kontiolahti in the single mixed relay with Bailey.

    “This is the sort of history making team that every athlete dreams of being part of during their lifetime,” Dunklee reflected on the season. “We have staff who have worked for decades believing this level is possible. Now the door has been opened. I don’t think they will have to wait decades for the next relay medals or World Championships podiums.”

    Results: Men | Women

    Final World Cup Total Score standings: Men | Women

  • Saturday Rundown: Quebec City, Oslo and Lillehammer (Updated x4)

    Saturday Rundown: Quebec City, Oslo and Lillehammer (Updated x4)

    The men’s 15 k classic mass start podium on Saturday at World Cup Finals in Quebec City, with Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (c) in first and Niklas Dyrhaug (l) in second, and Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)

    FIS Cross-Country World Cup Finals (Quebec City): 10/15 k classic mass starts

    During Saturday’s 15-kilometer classic mass start at World Cup Finals, Canada’s Alex Harvey was in it until the end. But so were Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and Niklas Dyrhaug, and Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh, to name a few.

    Sitting in second with a few hundred meters to go, Harvey was primed to make his move on Dyrhaug, who was leading at the time. But then came 20-year-old Klæbo, the season-long Sprint World Cup champion, who proved to have more left in the tank than anyone else and passed them both to lead into the finishing straight.

    Klæbo took the victory — his first in a World Cup distance race — on a bluebird day under a beating sun in 35:23.7 minutes, 0.6 seconds ahead of Dyrhaug. Bessmertnykh followed another 0.2 seconds back in third (+0.8) just ahead of Harvey in fourth (+1.2).

    Norway’s Sjur Røthe took fifth (+1.7), Switzerland’s Dario Cologna placed sixth (+1.9), and Norway’s Pål Golberg was seventh (+2.5), half a second ahead of another Norwegian Didrik Tønseth in eighth (+3.0). The top nine were within 3.7 seconds of first, with Russia’s Andrey Larkov in ninth.

    Devon Kershaw was the second Canadian in the points on Saturday in 28th (+1:08.4), after breaking a pole and working his way back up from outside the top 60.

    Erik Bjornsen led the U.S. men in 31st (+1:16.8), about a second ahead of Canada’s Graeme Killick in 32nd (+1:17.7).

    Also for the U.S., Matt Gelso finished 37th, Andy Newell 45th, Scott Patterson 46th, Noah Hoffman 48th, Ben Lustgarten 49th, David Norris 50th, Simi Hamilton 54th, Paddy Caldwell 59th, Jack Hegman 62nd, Cole Morgan 64th, and Brian Gregg 69th.

    For Canada, Bob Thompson finished 55th, Knute Johnsgaard 57th, Len Valjas 61st, Russell Kennedy 63rd, Evan Palmer-Charrette 65th, Andy Shields 66th, Jess Cockney 67th, Brian McKeever 68th, Joey Foster 70th, Gareth Williams 72nd, Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier 74th, and Julien Locke 75th.

    The women’s 10 k classic mass start podium on Saturday at World Cup Finals in Quebec City, with Norway’s Marit Bjørgen (c) in first, Norway’s Heidi Weng (l) in second and Finland’s Krista Parmakoski (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)

    In the women’s 10 k classic mass start earlier in the day, Norway’s Marit Bjørgen racked up her seventh victory of the season after leading a pack of two other Norwegians and Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski and holding them off to the finish.

    Bjørgen put a few meters into the foursome as she entered the finishing stretch and held her lead across the line in 24:23.6 minutes. Norway’s Heidi Weng finished 0.6 seconds back in second to lock up the Distance World Cup title, in addition to the Overall World Cup title she secured on Friday.

    Pärmäkoski finished 2.9 seconds after Bjørgen in third, and Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Østberg missed the podium in fourth (+7.8).

    Behind them, Germany’s Nicole Fessel outlasted a large chase pack to place fifth (+18.6), just ahead of Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla in sixth (+19.9) and Anna Haag in seventh (+19.1).

    Sadie Bjornsen of the U.S. Ski Team led the North American women in 15th (+29.9) after skiing at the back of that chase pack in the final stretches of the race. Also for the U.S., Jessie Diggins placed 27th (+1:06.9) and Sophie Caldwell 38th (+1:56.0).

    Canada was led by Emily Nishikawa in 37th (+1:51.7). Behind her, Cendrine Browne finished 41st (+2:28.2), Dahria Beatty was 53rd, Annika Richardson 54th, Katherine Stewart-Jones 56th, Frederique Vezina 59th, Annika Hicks 60th, Sophie Carrier-Laforte 61st, Andrea Dupont 62nd, Katherine Weaver 63rd, Alannah MacLean 64th, Sadie White 66th, Lisle Compton 67th, Mia Serratore 68th, and Laura Leclair 69th.

    For the U.S. Caitlin Patterson finished 44th, Liz Guiney 45th, Kaitlynn Miller 47th, Chelsea Holmes 48th, Rosie Brennan 50th, Julia Kern 52nd, Erika Flowers 55th, Becca Rorabaugh 57th, and Jennie Bender 58th.

    One day left in the 2016/2017 World Cup season remains, with the women’s and men’s 10/15 k freestyle pursuits on Sunday in Quebec City.

    Results: Men | Women

    World Cup Finals standings (Day 2 of 3): Men | Women

    ***

    Finland’s Mari Laukkanen pointing to the sky in honor of her late shooting coach, after she won the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit on Saturday at the 2017 IBU World Cup in Oslo, Norway. (Photo: IBU)

    IBU World Cup (Oslo, Norway): Women’s and men’s pursuits

    Less than 24 hours after winning her first IBU World Cup on Friday in the women’s 7.5 k sprint, Finland’s Mari Laukkanen immediately capitalized on her ideal position with a start-to-finish victory in Saturday’s 10 k pursuit that was never in doubt, cleaning the first three shooting stages before incurring one penalty in her final standing shooting (0+0+0+1) to cross the line in a time of 29:33.3 minutes.

    In addition to experiencing the most successful weekend of her biathlon career by far, it was an emotional day for the 29-year-old Finn due to a personal reason. Laukkanen spread her arms like wings skiing down the homestretch with a commanding lead, pointing repeatedly to the sky and a black ribbon she wore around her right upper arm, before kneeling in the snow in the finish for a few seconds. With those gestures, she reportedly wanted to commemorate her shooting coach Asko Nuutinen, who passed away Friday after suffering a heart attack during the World Cup in Kontiolahti, Finland, a week ago. He was 60 years old.

    “It’s been a really emotional day for me. We have heard really really sad news that last night we lost our longtime shooting coach,” Laukkanen told reporters with a trembling voice in the press conference. “After this it was more or less only about working for him. Working as he has asked me to do for years and years. So I wasn’t thinking about losing or winning today, I was only thinking about him. And I feel really big pleasure that I was able to come to the finish like this, that I can own the victory for him.”

    “I knew it will be difficult after the first victory in my career took me so long,” she added. “And to do it again immediately with good shooting. But as I said I didn’t think about winning or losing today, just doing my work.”

    Finishing 26.5 seconds after her, the Czech Republic’s Gabriela Koukalová reached the finish, moving up from her fourth place starting position with a clean shooting performance (0+0+0+0).

    “I wanted to miss all targets yesterday because I was so tired I didn’t even want to race,” Koukalová confided in the press conference. “It’s difficult to concentrate, three World Cups after the main goal of the season [the World Championships] is too much. Last year it was many times easier… I tried to catch her, but about one kilometer before the finish I saw her far away so I was happy I didn’t have to fight with anyone and was just enjoying the last meters.”

    Despite four penalties (1+1+0+2), France’s Justine Braisaz defended the third place on the podium against a three-person chase group on the last loop (+1:01.4), falling back only one position after having finished the sprint in second.

    “I did not expect such a good place today during the race,” Braisaz commented in the press conference. “Because in the last shooting I completely [failed]. I really wanted to have a clean shooting today, and I did not succeed. So I am happy and surprised, too.”

    Her teammate Anais Bescond who had started the pursuit in third place fell back to 22nd position (+2:53.5) with seven penalties.

    Slovenia’s Teja Gregorin finished fourth with one penalty (+1:08.2), Austria’s Lisa Theresa Hauser shot clean as the only athlete aside from Koukalova on her way to move up from 22nd to fifth place (+1:12.5), while Norway’s Marte Olsbu finished sixth like in the sprint despite three penalties (+1:15.9).

    Unlike in Friday’s sprint race where Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier had still given up a seemingly commanding lead in the sprint World Cup discipline standings to Koukalova, she held onto her lead in the pursuit standings on Saturday, moving up from the 31st starting position to ninth place with a penalty in each of her standing shootings (0+0+1+1, +1:53.8). A 22nd place would have been sufficient to win the “small crystal globe” award in the pursuit. Laukkanen’s teammate Kaisa Mäkäräinen finished 8th  with two penalties in the standing stages (+1:51.2), and thereby claimed the third place in the World Cup pursuit ranking.

    “I knew that I didn’t need to have a perfect race today, just a good one, but that’s always easier said than done,” Dahlmeier told broadcaster ARD after the race. “I am incredibly happy that it worked out and that I could secure myself another small globe… It’s a bit of a weird feeling, standing at the start gate in the middle of the field and the clock ticks and ticks as one athlete after another skis out on the course. And you can only observe how far they have gone and have to wait and be patient, and not make a false start. But then the snow burns, then the chase begins!”

    US Biathlon’s Susan Dunklee experienced an uncharacteristically problematic day on the shooting range and fell back to 37th place (+4:00.2), after starting seventh and less than a minute behind Laukkanen. Dunklee had three misses between two prone stages and seven more in her standing shootings (2+1+4+3) therefore having to ski more than an additional kilometer in the penalty lap.

    “It is a testament to her fighting spirit that she notched the fourth-fastest ski time — one of her best ranks of the season — and never gave up despite suffering a biathlon blowout on the range,” teammate Clare Egan said of Dunklee, according to a US Biathlon press release. “Bad races happen to the best and Susan is no exception, but not everyone fights through till the end no matter what.”

    Egan herself started the pursuit in 34th position and initally was able to make up ground, but then fell back slightly to 41st place (+4:13.9) with four penalties (0+2+0+2).

    “I am satisfied with my race even though the result was not what I was hoping for, and that’s how I would summarize my entire season as well,” Egan said after the final race of her season. “I’ve made a good step forward but my competitors also work hard all summer and we seem to improve at a similar rate.”

    Canada Biathlon’s Julia Ransom moved up to 47th place (+5:04.8) with three penalties (1+0+1+1), after starting in 52nd position.

    [UPDATED] Later on Saturday in the last men’s 12.5 k pursuit of the season, the three best athletes of the season fought throughout the race exchanging in the lead, before they stood next to each other on the range for the final shooting to decide the winner.

    Russia’s Anton Shipulin managed to shoot clean with his elaborate rifle stock in the design of a red dragon, proudly waving to the cameras as he left the arena while his two competitors had to ski into the penalty lap. France’s Martin Fourcade – who had already secured himself the overall World Cup Total Score title as well as the award for the pursuit discipline – was left to duke it out against Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø, the winner of Friday’s sprint.

    On the last big climb before the Holmenkollen arena, Fourcade accelerated with a series of explosive jump-skate steps to decisively gap Bø. He even got fairly close to Shipulin on the finish stretch, who had slowed down a bit to grab a Russian flag before skiing over the line in a time of 32:11.9 minutes with one penalty (0+0+1+0), 5.7 seconds ahead of Fourcade who had incurred two penalties (1+0+0+1). While Fourcade shook hands with Shipulin, Bø came into the finish in third place, 21.6 seconds back and also with two penalties (1+0+0+1).

    “It was a crazy race, but I am happy that I managed to finish first,” Shipulin said in the press conference through a translator. “Tough conditions on the shooting range, I had to really work to concentrate on my shooting. On the last loop I was all alone until I saw Martin chasing me, then I got a little bit scared but I managed to [keep him behind].”

    It was Shipulin’s second win of the season, for which he credited his recently improved shooting performance.

    “It was a really exciting competition with Johannes and Anton,” Fourcade agreed with his rival. “I expected to fight with them for the victory on the last loop, but then Anton was simply stronger in the last shooting. My strategy was to be focused on my technique and skills and not on the results, like I did too often in the past few weeks focusing on records and not the victory.”

    Asked about his blazing attack on the final climb, Fourcade added: “Of course I train for that, but I think a lot of athletes do. I talked to Johannes, it was my revenge for the [2016] World Champs where he did exactly the same to me on the last uphill. But I know how it is, it can be different already tomorrow.”

    “I am happy with a new podium of course,” Bø said in the press conference. “I was not at my best in the skiing today. But I still managed to shoot 18 out of 20. As Martin said it was [annoying] that we did not shoot zero [misses] and could not fight with Anton in the finish, but it was quite interesting and fun to stand there in the last shooting … I expected Martin’s attack the second he did it, but I had no energy to fight with him. That was quite strong.”

    Sweden’s Fredrik Lindström placed fourth with no penalties (+44.7), and was the only man in the field who managed to shoot clean in all four stages.

    “For the podium, I was never really close“, Lindström told the IBU in a post-race interview. “But it was a great day anyway. Four times zero [misses], and especially in the standing stages that makes you climb a lot in the standings. Super happy with my performance.”

    US Biathlon’s Lowell Bailey, who had to start closer to the back of the field in 44th position, almost two minutes behind the leaders based on his sprint result, managed to move up 21 spots in the race despite three penalties (2+0+1+0).

    “I’m happy with the race, considering it started out pretty rough with the first two misses,” Bailey told US Biathlon after placing 23rd (+2:23.3). “I just read the wind wrong and didn’t correct enough. After that, I tried to keep my head in the race and make the best of it. I was happy with my skiing and glad to clean the last stage; this brought me up nine spots and I was able to gain another in the last loop. Now, it’s just one race to go. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

    Shooting quickly, Bailey recorded the ninth-ranked range time of the day and the ninth-fastest last loop.

    His teammate Sean Doherty started 35th but fell back after having to ski six times through the penalty lap (1+3+1+1) to finish 46th (+4:05.6).

    For Sunday’s mass starts as the final races of the 2016/2017 IBU World Cup season, the only qualified North American starters will be Dunklee (currently in 10th position in the World Cup Total Score standings) and Bailey (currently in eighth).

    The women’s season award in the mass start discipline once more will be decided between Germany’s Dahlmeier and Czech Republic’s Koukalova, while Germany’s Simon Schempp will try to defend his narrow lead on Fourcade. But during Saturday’s final loop, the French star did consider saving energy for the final competition.

    “No,” he simply quipped when asked about this in the press conference. “Of course the mass start is important tomorrow because it will decide about the [mass start] crystal globe. But I think today the pursuit was also really important, and you fight for victory and being one of the best athletes. You can’t be satisfied with only a third place when you can claim a second, and I think all athletes in my position would do the same.”

    Results: Women | Men

    ***

    Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby after winning the Norwegian 54 k classic Birkebeinerrennet, part of the Ski Classics series, on Saturday in Lillehammer, Norway. (Photo: Ski Classics)

    54 k Birkebeinerrennet (Rena to Lillehammer, Norway): Part of the Ski Classics series

    [UPDATED] Not even a snowmobile clipping him and sending him tumbling 20 k before the finish could keep Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby from winning the Birkebeinerrennet on Saturday in Norway. Representing Team United Bakeries, Sundby set a high pace from the start and broke the group down to three by 9 k, with Petter Eliassen of Team LeasePlan and Simen Østensen of Team BN Bank sticking with him until about 30 k in the 54 k marathon.

    With about 20 k to go, Sundby collided with a Ski Classics TV production crew snowmobile while trying to double pole in the snowmobile’s tracks. He was OK and went on to win by 48 seconds over Eliassen in second, and smiled about the incident after the finish.

    “It came in with tremendous speed and mowed me down,” Sundby told NRK, according to a loose translation.

    Ski Classics CEO David Nilsson told NRK he didn’t know exactly how that happened and emphasized that it was unacceptable.

    “We always put safety first, but it is a difficult balancing act with the snowmobile at high speed to get TV pictures,” he said, according to a loose translation. “The skiers often ski in the [snowmobile] track and here it happened and somehow the driver missed it.”

    While Sundby pulled out the win in 2:20:53.5 hours, Eliassen took second and Østensen followed another 3.5 seconds later for third place.

    In the women’s race, Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk (Team Santander) pulled out a 4 minute and 15 second win over Sweden’s Britta Johansson Norgren (Lager 157 Ski Team). Japan’s Masako Ishida (Team United Bakeries) was another 48.6 seconds back in third.

    “I’m really happy to win this race,” Kowalczyk said, according to a Ski Classics press release. “Everything went well and the cheering on the course was amazing. I will do the rest of the races in Visma Ski Classics, but this victory was the most important for me. Of course, I want to win again in Årefjällsloppet like I did last year, but to win here in front of this audience means so much to me.”

    Tord Asle Gjerdalen, who finished fourth in the men’s race, and Johansson Norgren continue to lead the overall Ski Classics standings with three races to go. The next stop is the Årefjällsloppet in Sweden on March 25.

    “It was a great race and we kept a high tempo up all the way,” Sundby said, according to the press release. “I was able to use uphills for my advantage and get a gap. I had good skis, the conditions were perfect, and to win here was one of my goals for the season. I have the Norwegian Championships in two weeks, and I haven’t counted out the option of going to Finland for the Visma Ski Classics finale.”

    Results

  • Laukkanen Gets Her First Win in Oslo; Dunklee 7th; U.S. Men Secure 5th Quota Spot

    Laukkanen Gets Her First Win in Oslo; Dunklee 7th; U.S. Men Secure 5th Quota Spot

    Finland’s Mari Laukkanen celebrates her first IBU World Cup victory on Friday in the last women’s 7.5 k sprint of the season at Holmenkollen in Oslo, Norway. (Photo: IBU)

    For races and ski jumpings at the famous Holmenkollen arena on a hillside above Oslo, a frequent visitor in the audience is the King Harald V of Norway, a passionate and knowledgeable fan of all nordic sports. And usually the winners of the competition get the honor of being invited up to the royal suite overlooking the arena.

    On Friday in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint at the Interntional Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup final in Oslo, American Susan Dunklee was on pace to maybe get that much-vaunted meeting with the king and his family, setting the best time after the prone shooting that no other athlete starting behind her could get close to anymore, with the next-best competitor more than 20 seconds behind at this point.

    But perhaps she started out a little too fast, and high winds posed an additional challenge on the shooting range for all the athletes.

    “Normally I am good at executing a smart controlled pacing plan but today I hammered straight out of the start and tried to hold on,” Dunklee wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “It made for a very painful second half of the race.”

    “I felt like I had rammed into a wall during the final two loops,” she added, according to a US Biathlon press release.

    In the end, a victory was no longer in the cards for Dunklee after she shot two misses in her standing stage, and the king instead got to meet Finland’s Mari Laukkanen after her first World Cup win in a time of 20:33.5 minutes, and later in the day with Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø, who won the men’s race and was one of his subjects he was already familiar with.

    US Biathlon’s Susan Dunklee racing to seventh place in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint at the 2017 IBU World Cup in Oslo, Norway. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)

    Dunklee initially finished sixth, before later being pushed down one more position to seventh place (+56.7). It was her sixth top-10 finish in her last seven individual races at the end of a remarkably consistent season.

    “On a windy day, half the battle is deciding the best correction to take; the other half is feeling confident in whatever decision you make,” Dunklee said of shooting. “Today I felt confident in prone. During my standing stage the wind wasn’t that bad, I just made a couple bad shots … I love racing in Holmenkollen. The crowd has a positive energy and the stadium is steeped in so much tradition.”

    Despite a tough end to her own race day, Dunklee was also happy about the first World Cup victory of Laukkanen.

    “Mari has always been nice and easy to talk to,” she added. “During my first year on the World Cup she invited our team to her family’s cabin near Kontiolahti for sauna-ing. I am happy to see her win.”

    On Friday, all three women on the podium shot clean in both stages despite the difficult conditions.

    Laukkanen started early in the field with bib 7, and combined with the third-best course time of the day set a time in the finish that would not be matched by anyone in the field of 103 starters.

    Starting just three bibs behind her, France’s Justine Braisaz came closest, leaving the range after the standing shooting just 14.4 seconds behind and continuously closing the gap on the final loop by skiing the fastest course time of the day, but it was not enough to catch up to Laukkanen anymore finishing 7.9 seconds behind.

    Braisaz’s teammate Anais Bescond started in the second group with bib 41, and her clean shooting and solid performance on the course with the 15th-ranked course time were enough to grab the third position on the podium (+23.1).

    “It feels good to shoot 0-0, the last time I shot that I was also on the podium, I should do it more often it seems,” a smiling Laukkenen said during the press conference. “I had a full crisis with myself yesterday, I was looking at my statistics and I could see that I am running stable and strong to make higher results, but I am constantly missing one or two too much. So it feels good today to make it.”

    Asked about the conditions in her shooting stages, she added, “It was not an easy day for sure, and I didn’t expect it to happen. I was a little bit lucky on the standing stage. It hasn’t been easy (for me) to clean it even without wind. So I am just happy to do it, and that it was enough to win today.”

    The 29-year-old Finn said she had to take a longer break after a disappointing last season, before she decided to continue with her athletic career. Earlier in the 2016/2017 season, Laukkanen had also taken time away from biathlon in order to qualify for and compete in the cross-country World Championships at home in Lahti, Finland, where she reached the semifinal in the women’s sprint.  At the IBU World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria, she narrowly missed a medal in the 15 k individual finishing fourth.

    “I was a little bit nervous,” Laukkanen said about meeting the king on Friday. “For a Finn, it’s always special to win here in Holmenkollen. It’s a legendary place, mostly because of the cross-country history. It feels good.”

    For Braisaz, it was the second podium of the season, and with the second place she tied her career-best.

    “I really enjoy Oslo and Holmenkollen,” Braisaz said in the press conference. “I hoped to stay concentrated and to stay focused until the end of the season. But I was not very confident about my shooting. Especially in January and February, I was not very successful on the shooting range. So I decided to work for the future, for the next years, and to just enjoy it even though it was very windy today… I don’t think the conditions changed too much today (throughout the field), but some athletes probably were not fortunate and had no chance to clean.”

    For her teammate Bescond, it was her third podium of the season. Despite her good form, she had only received one start in the individual race at the World Championships in Hochfilzen, and also was not nominated for France’s relay teams.

    “I feel full of energy because I didn’t compete much in February,” Bescond stated in the press conference. “Now I feel good while a lot of girls here are probably tired now… It was my goal after Hochfilzen to be good in March. I am really happy with my result… My three medals from the (2016) World Championships in Oslo were a really good memory, and when I come back here I always have a lot of good things in my mind.”

    Koukalová Takes Sprint Title

    Gabriela Koukalova of the Czech Republic with her “crystal globe” after winning of the 2016/2017 sprint discipline award following the IBU World Cup women’s 7.5 k sprint on Friday in Oslo, Norway. (Photo: IBU)

    Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier had gone into the last sprint race of the season with a 28-point lead over Gabriela Koukalová of the Czech Republic — a lead that looked fairly secure for the recently very consistent winner of the overall World Cup.

    But in Friday’s race, Dahlmeier struggled with the tricky wind conditions, incurring three penalties in the prone shooting which set her back all the way to a 93rd place, before she could move up again with a clean standing shooting, but in the end her time in the finish was only sufficient for the 31st place this time.

    That was not enough to match Koukalová, who only shot one penalty (0+1) and initially finished third, before Bescond bumped her to fourth (+37.4). Dahlmeier would have needed at least one more athlete to finish ahead of the Czech, who made up 33 points to finish ahead still claiming the “small globe” in that discipline.

    “Today’s race somehow was jinxed,” a disappointed Dahlmeier later told German broadcaster ARD. “That started last night with the bib draw when I got unlucky with the last position in the first group, and I think I picked the wrong skis today, in terms of waxing we were not competitive with the very best, I didn’t feel so fit anymore, and then in prone a giant screw-up happened to me. There was quite some wind, I have to analyze it again but if I remember correctly I clicked in the wrong direction [adjusting the sights]. That moved the shots left, and then the race was all but over.“

    “Of course life goes on, it was still a crazy season,” she added. “I only would have liked to show another good race in the fight for the sprint globe … Today I wouldn’t even have needed a perfect race, just a good one, that would have been sufficient.”

    After the race, Dahlmeier still received her “crystal globe” for the season’s winner of the 15 k individual discipline as a consolation. Two days of racing remain on the schedule: Saturday’s pursuit and Sunday’s mass start.

    Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen placed third in the overall sprint ranking, after finishing 27th on Friday with four penalties (+1:44.6).

    Three North Americans in Pursuit

    Dunklee will be joined in Saturday’s 10 k pursuit by teammate Clare Egan, who finished 34th with one penalty (+2:03.7). The third American, Joanne Reid placed 80th with five penalties (4+1), 3:32.2 out of first.

    One Canadian qualified as well, with Julia Ransom fininishing 52nd with two penalties in her standing stage (0+2), 2:28.9 back, after having been ranked as high as ninth after prone.

    In her second World Cup weekend, Canada’s 19-year-old Megan Bankes finished 64th (+2:53.0) with two penalties (1+1), missing the qualification for the pursuit by 12 seconds.

    Sarah Beaudry was 75th (+3:20.5) with three penalties (2+1), while the fourth Canadian Emma Lunder in 84th with the same shooting result (+3:46.7).

    “We have an incredible team of ski service technicians and coaching staff who plan to give 110 percent until the last race is done,” Dunklee said, according to the press release. “I have two tremendous opportunities still in front of me with these last races and I don’t plan on wasting them.”

    Dunklee will be in a very good position for the pursuit, starting 33 seconds behind the podium and less than a minute behind Laukkanen. Only reportedly the schedule of the King of Norway won’t permit him to attend the biathlon races on Saturday and Sunday, so there likely will be no meeting should she be successful there.

    In the Women’s Nation Cup Score, which is its own World Cup award category but also determines the starter quota spots for the following season, Germany’s women’s team secured the victory and the crystal globe with 7951 points, ahead of France (7646) and Ukraine (6605).

    The U.S. finished 14th with 4743 points (despite not starting a relay in Pokljuka, Slovenia, earlier this season), while Canada tied Finland for 15th with 4619 points. Both North American teams will retain the four guaranteed World Cup starter spots for sprints and individual races they already had this season, which enables them to travel the World Cup circuit with a full team.

    ***

    Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø (c) after winning in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint at the 2017 IBU World Cup in Oslo, Norway, ahead of France’s Martin Fourcade in second (l) and Russia’s Anton Shipulin in third place. (Photo: IBU)

    Bø Wins Men’s Sprint; U.S. Men 10th in Nation Cup

    Later on Friday, Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø got to meet King Harald V after winning the men’s 10 k sprint, shooting clean in much calmer wind conditions than during the women’s race to finish in a time of 24:53.3.

    “That’s always nice,” Bø said in the press conference when asked about meeting the king. “It’s my second time, and that’s the most memorable thing for this season I think.”

    It was the second win of the season for the Norwegian and the 13th of his career. After starting early in bib 15, Bø had to wait a long time to see if anyone could still beat his time.

    “Of course I was happy about my race, but since I lost some seconds on the last lap I was not sure if it would hold for the win,” Bø commented in the press conference. “It was a long wait, but in the end it was worth it and I am very happy to get a win here.”

    “It’s quite nice to be back at Holmenkollen,”  Bø added. “Today was quite hard conditions … I think a lot of athletes started hard but got really tired. We had very good skis today, that helped me a lot… In shooting when the people cheer for you between the shots, I feel that helps and makes it more easy to hit the next target. That is the biggest advantage, but of course there is also the pressure.”

    France’s Martin Fourcade, the dominant male biathlete of the season who reached the podium in all but three individual races, finished second (+13.6) after missing a shot in his standing shooting and having to ski a penalty lap, and only being able to make up 10 seconds on the final loop.

    “I am angry about my miss for sure,” Fourcade said at the press conference. “I think I had the power to clean it, but I am not angry about my competition. Johannes was really good today, he was at 100 percent and I can just congratulate him to his victory. I am really satisfied with my second place.”

    Fourcade had already secured himself the “small crystal globe” title in the sprint discipline, and is anxiously awaiting the birth of his second child any day now.

    “I think my biggest challenge was to be ready for this race in spite of the challenging preparation,” he explained. “I went back to France on Sunday, and then I had a long travel to Oslo again on Wednesday missing my connection. I had only one little training yesterday to be ready for this competition. So I am really satisfied about the job I did today, and my team helped me a lot to be ready.”

    Starting very late in bib 106 out of 108 starters, Russia’s Anton Shipulin (+21.3) shot clean and bested Austria’s Dominik Landertinger, who had a penalty in standing, off the podium by just 0.2 seconds (+21.5).

    “Of course I am satisfied to be on the podium, because the guys were very strong today and I fought until the end,” Shipulin said via a translator in the press conference. “I was very well informed (about my position) during the race. I am thankful to all the staff and the fans who kept me informed and motivated.”

    “I think it was an advantage to start early today because the tracks were not that firm anymore in the end,” he added. “I had to move from left to right all the time especially in the downhills and it was quite challenging.”

    “In principle I had a perfect race today,” Landertinger told Austrian broadcaster ORF after narrowly missing out on the podium. “If you want to be in the mix in front, you have to take some risk on the shooting range. Usually one miss is too much for a podium position in sprint, although of course it was damn close today.”

    For the U.S, Sean Doherty was the top finisher in 35th with two penalties (0+2). He had been in 18th after the prone shooting stage, and after skiing 300 extra meters due to his penalties in standing he was still able to make up a few positions on the final loop with the 24th-ranked course time (29th-fastest overall). A week ago in the pursuit in Kontiolahti, Finland, Doherty achieved his best individual result of the season in 18th place after shooting clean in the four-stage race.

    Lowell Bailey, who had a recent series of strong shooting performances on his road to a gold medal in the individual race at World Championships and two second-place finishes in the sprint in PyeongChang, South Korea, and the single mixed relay (with teammate Dunklee) in Kontiolahti, initially shot clean in prone on Friday and left the range in 11th position. In standing, he had three penalties, which set him back to 50th position and Bailey ultimately finished 44th (+1:51.6).

    The three starters for Biathlon Canada missed qualifying in the top 60 for the pursuit.

    Christian Gow shot clean, but skied the 91st-ranked course time to finish 61st  (+2:25.8), just one position and less than two seconds behind Bulgaria’s Dimitar Gerdzhikov in 60th (+2:24.5). Brendan Green had a penalty in each stage (1+1) to finish 85th (+2:58.6), while Scott Gow was 95th (+3:25.1) with one penalty (0+1).

    Also missing the pursuit were the final two American starters Paul Schommer in 98th (+3:41.9) and Leif Nordgren in 100th (+4:07.9), each with three penalties (2+1).

    Despite not making many points in the final race of the season counting to the Nation Cup Score, the U.S. men finished in 10th place in those standings with 5290 points, thereby also securing an additional fifth quota spot for next season’s regular-season World Cups (the top five teams get six, sixth to 10th get five, 11th to 17th get four, and so on). Canada finished 13th with 4625 points, and will keep the four spots they had this season. Just like the women, Germany secured the World Cup win in this category with 7448 points, narrowly ahead of France with 7416 points, and Russia in third (7192) just ahead of Norway (7181).

    “Germany has a great team, and they deserve this victory in the Nations Score,” Fourcade said during the press conference. “France never won it, so of course it was a really big goal and we are disappointed about not winning it. But that’s the game of sport, and we will try to win it next season.”

    Results: Women | Men

    Pursuit start lists: Women | Men

  • Thursday Rundown: Silver and Bronze for Diggins, Randall at Lahti World Champs; Bankes Golden at IBU Junior Champs

    Kikkan Randall (l) and Jessie Diggins celebrate their bronze and silver medals, respectively, in the women’s individual freestyle sprint on Thursday, the first day of 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)

    FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Freestyle sprints

    Women’s report | Men’s report

    [UPDATED] Two medals for the U.S. on Day 1. That’s exactly what happened Thursday in the first medals race of 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland, where American Jessie Diggins raced to second and her U.S. teammate Kikkan Randall third in the women’s 1.4-kilometer freestyle sprint final, right behind Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla, who took gold.

    Two Americans reached the podium in the women’s freestyle sprint on the first day of 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland, with Jessie Diggins (l) placing second and Kikkan Randall (r) third, behind Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla (c) in first. (Photo: FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)

    While Falla crossed the finish line first in in 3:02.34 minutes, Diggins finished 1.66 seconds back in second and Randall 3.76 seconds behind in third. Three U.S. Ski Team members reached the six-woman final, with Sophie Caldwell placing sixth (+5.37), behind Sweden’s Hanna Falk (fourth) and Ida Ingemarsdotter (fifth).

    Race favorite Stina Nilsson of Sweden ended the day in 12th overall after being relegated to last in her semifinal.

    Diggins won her quarterfinal and semifinal before finishing second for her second individual World Championships silver medal (she previously earned silver in the 10 k freestyle at the 2015 World Championships in Falun, Sweden, and before that, gold in the freestyle team sprint with Randall at 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy).

    It’s the second-straight championships that the U.S. has had individual medalists in the same race. Caitlin Gregg captured bronze in the 10 k freestyle, just behind Diggins. Four U.S. women qualified for the heats, with Ida Sargent finishing fifth in her quarterfinal for 24th overall.

    U.S. Ski Team head coach Chris Grover was universal in his praise when asked about the personal significance of Thursday’s two-medal night. “I am just really proud of the athletes — all of the athletes that were competing today,” Grover said after the women’s final. “All the athletes in the US program that were not competing today that were cheering in front of the television I’m sure this evening and are getting ready for races coming up. I am really proud of the team that we have collected here in terms of service team, and coaching team, and medical and support team … And everybody that is surrounding the event for the U.S.A. It’s just been a team over the last few World Championships that yes there has been a few people that have come off and come on, but there has really been a core group that provide this kind of stability on which we can have these kind of results.”

    In the men’s 1.6 k freestyle sprint final, Italy’s Federico Pellegrino outlasted three others within 0.7 seconds of the win, crossing the finish line first in 3:13.76.

    Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov missed out on the gold by 0.15 seconds and Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo took bronze (+0.44). Three Norwegians reached the final, with Finn Hågen Krogh placing fourth (+0.67), Petter Northug fifth (+12.13), ahead of Finland’s Ristomatti Hakola in sixth (+12.28).

    Canada’s Alex Harvey was the lone North American to reach the semifinals, where he was relegated to last in his heat for 12th overall.

    For the U.S., Andy Newell placed 21st on the day after finishing fifth in his quarterfinal and Simi Hamilton was 28th after taking sixth in his quarterfinal.

    Results: Women’s final | Men’s final

    Qualifying results

    All four of the U.S. women’s starters qualified for the heats to start the day, with Randall leading them in 10th, followed by Caldwell in 13th, Diggins in 19th, and Sargent in 27th.

    Norway’s Falla put down the fastest time in the women’s sprint qualifier in 3:03.14, Finland’s Mari Laukkanen was 2.37 seconds back in second, and Slovenia’s Katja Visnar 2.42 behind in third.

    Randall’s time was 4.45 seconds off Falla’s mark, Caldwell +5.66, Diggins +7.97, and Sargent +9.37.

    Canada’s Dahria Beatty missed the top 30 necessary to qualify by 3.67 seconds in 37th, 13.66 seconds behind Falla. Canada started three women with Cendrine Browne finishing 48th (+20.42) and Katherine Stewart-Jones 58th (+26.29) out of 107 women.

    In the men’s 1.6 k freestyle sprint qualifier that followed, Hamilton qualified 11th and Newell 20th for the U.S., and Canada’s Harvey qualified 13th.

    Russia’s Ustiugov topped the men’s qualifier in 3:11.72, while Norway qualified second and third with  Norway’s Krogh (+2.71) and Sindre Bjørnestad Skar (+3.39), respectively.

    Hamilton clocked in 7.6 seconds back in 11th, Harvey +7.85, and Newell +8.9.

    Also for the U.S., Erik Bjornsen missed qualifying by 2.22 seconds in 36th (+12.59), and Cole Morgan, in his first World Championships race, placed 54th (+18.41).

    Canada’s three other men entered in the sprint, Jess Cockney, Len Valjas and Knute Johnsgaard finished 47th (+16.82), 48th (+17.16) and 53rd (+18.39), respectively, to miss advancing to the heats.

    Qualifying results: Women | Men

    ***

    The junior women’s 12.5 k individual podium on Thursday at IBU Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia, with Canada’s gold medalist Megan Bankes (c), Austria’s Julia Schwaiger (l) in second and Germany’s Anna Weidel (r) in third. (Photo: IBU Junior Cup/Twitter)

    IBU Youth/Junior World Championships (Osrblie, Slovakia): Junior individual races

    Race report

    [UPDATED] To say Canada is on a roll at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth/Junior World Championships would be a massive understatement. On Thursday in Osrblie, Slovakia, Megan Bankes raced to a world title in the junior women’s 12.5-kilometer individual, hitting all 20 targets and finishing first in 37:22.0 minutes. After starting 19th, her time held up through 67 finishers, with Austria’s Julia Schwaiger coming closest for second place, 47.9 seconds back.

    Bankes was one of five women to clean the four-stage race on Thursday. Her teammate Leo Grandbois did the same in the youth men’s 12.5 k individual race the day before and won by nearly a minute and 15 seconds to become the third Canadian to win at Youth/Junior Worlds. Bankes is the fourth (second at Junior Worlds).

    Joining Bankes and Schwaiger on the podium was Germany’s Anna Weidel in third (+1:20.0). Like Schwaiger, Weidel shot 19-for-20. Schwaiger’s miss came in the last standing stage; Weidel’s in the first standing.

    Also for Canada, Emily Dickson placed 28th (+4:21.3) with one miss (0+1+0+0), and Nadia Moser was just outside the points (top 40) in 41st (+5:55.8) with four penalties (2+0+0+2). Charlotte Hamel did not finish.

    Americans Siena Ellingson placed 50th (+7:11.5) with four penalties (0+1+2+1) and Nina Armstrong 65th (+14:15.3) with eight misses (4+1+2+1).

    In the junior men’s 15 k individual earlier in the day, Norway’s Sindre Pettersen won by 51.2 seconds, after cleaning the first three stages then missing two on his final standing stage (0+0+0+2). After starting 68th, he finished in 40:17.2 minutes, knocking Germany’s David Zobel out of the lead. Zobel had started 26th and shot three penalties (0+2+1+0) but held the fastest time until Pettersen crossed the line. Zobel’s time held up for silver despite a challenge from Russia’s late starter Nikita Lobastov (bib 84), who shot 19-for-20 (0+1+0+0) and finished just four seconds short of Zobel for third place (+55.2).

    Canada’s Zachari Bolduc led the North Americans in 34th (+3:44.7) with two penalties (1+0+0+1).

    Cody Johnson finished 50th for the U.S. (+5:08.3) with two misses, both of which came in the last stage (0+0+0+2).

    Canada’s Trevor Kiers and Jules Brunette placed 54th (+5:21.6) and 55th (+5:27.4), respectively, each with five penalties. The fourth Canadian, Pearce Hanna finished 65th (+6:38) with seven misses.

    For the U.S., Cameron Christiansen placed 72nd (+8:10.6) with six penalties, and Peter Carroll was 79th (+10:36.4) with four misses. Travis Cooper did not start.

    Results: Junior women | Junior men 

  • Makarainen is Top Woman at Home in Kontiolahti; Dreissigacker Posts Best-Ever World Cup Finish

    Makarainen is Top Woman at Home in Kontiolahti; Dreissigacker Posts Best-Ever World Cup Finish

    Hannah Dreissigacker shoots to a best-ever World Cup 28th-place finish. (USBA/Nordic Focus)
    Hannah Dreissigacker shoots to a best-ever World Cup 28th-place finish. (Photo: USBA/Nordic Focus)

    There was a gentle breeze and it was unseasonably warm when the women started racing this morning in Kontiolahti, Finland. The well-salted course was firm but very wet, with standing puddles in the snow that racers had to ski around. That didn’t stop Canada from putting three women in the top-30, including two in the top-15, and the US from putting two women in the top 30. Canada’s Megan Heinicke and the United State’s Hannah Dreissigacker were 15th and 28th, respectively, both posting best-ever World Cup finishes.

    Finnish hometown-girl Kaisa Makarainen took first place in spite of one penalty in standing, out-skiing her competition and finishing in a total time of 20:36.3 on the 7.5-kilometer course. Russia’s Olga Zaitseva was second (+6.1) and another Finn, Mari Laukkanen was third (+22.7). Both women shot clean. Tora Berger of Norway was fourth (0+1), Russia’s Olga Vilukhina was fifth (0+0) and the Czech Republic’s Veronika Vitkova was sixth (0+0).

    The Canadian squad showed strong depth, placing three women in the top-30 with two in the top-15. Rosanna Crawford was the top North American woman, finishing 1:05.8 off the pace to take 13th, with one penalty in prone. Heinicke was 15th (1+0) and Zina Kocher was 23rd (1+1).

    Heinicke was relieved to have all the parts of her training line up on the same day, having just beaten a lingering post-Olympic cold and having not had her best shooting in a number of recent races.

    “It was so much fun to feel strong again!” she wrote in an email. “I always tell myself that if I race like I train – just get out there, enjoy it and do my job – and everything will be fine, and that is what I was able to do today. My general feeling is:  Thank goodness I finally pulled it together!”

    Kocher was pleased with her performance, but had a bit of bad luck.

    “Unfortunately I had the worst luck with the wind and had to wait for the gust to die because it was too strong. I hit four out of five prone but it wasted a lot of time.”

    Though they didn’t rival their Canadian counterparts in the standings, the US team had two breakout performances:  Dreissigacker’s best-ever World Cup finish in spite of one penalty in prone, and Susan Dunklee, just behind Dreissigacker in 29th, using her post-Olympic fitness to post her fastest-ever splits. Unfortunately, she was foiled by “extra mistakes” in the shooting, causing her to earn a penalty in prone and three in standing.

    “I have been working on being more assertive in the aiming process by trying to use the bolting motion to land on the next target,” she explained in an email. “Unfortunately today I didn’t give myself time to fully settle the barrel on the target before taking the shot.  It is a small detail to fix, but one that caused a some extra mistakes.”

    Dunklee posted the second fastest course time, behind only winner Makarainen.

    American finishers were rounded out by Annelies Cook in 75th (1+4) and Sara Studebaker in 80th (3+3).

    World Cup competition continues Saturday with another sprint.

    Complete results

  • With Blazing-Fast Biathlon Races, Makarainen Contemplates Skiing 30 k in Sochi

    With Blazing-Fast Biathlon Races, Makarainen Contemplates Skiing 30 k in Sochi

    Kaisa Makarainen moving up on the trails in Ruhpolding today.
    Kaisa Makarainen moving up on the trails in Ruhpolding today.

    RUHPOLDING, Germany – When Kaisa Makarainen exploded onto the biathlon scene in 2011, people were scratching their heads. Where did she come from? The Finn went from being an unknown to winning World Cups, a World Championship, and the World Cup Total Score that year.

    Ever since, she’s been an intermittent presence on the podium, though never matching her 2011 season. Here in Ruhpolding today, she earned her fourth podium of the season, sprinting past Germany’s Franziska Preuss on the penultimate climb of the 12.5 k pursuit.

    It was a relief after she placed 10th in the individual despite fairly good shooting.

    “I had some problems in the individual, because it was a very icy track,” Makarainen said. “My skis were just slipping away. I couldn’t do my own skiing. Today the course was maybe a little better. Still the uphills were icy, but my skis did much better on the ice and it was much more fun to go.”

    The improvement must have been huge, because today she had the fastest ski time of the entire field, and an especially blazing last loop.

    “I was not so sure after the last shooting which position I had,” Makarainen said. “It was so loud with the spectators that the trainers tried to tell me, but I didn’t hear everything. I thought that the girls in front of me, the best of them was fourth. But then I heard that Franziska was in third place. It gave me more energy because I knew that it I could catch her, I would be on the podium.”

    That motivation allowed her to fly past Preuss as if she was standing still, despite being on a sickeningly steep climb out of the stadium.

    “Today was a good day for me,” she said. “Especially when the track is not really my track. It’s pretty easy here.”

    The result was important for Makarainen, who is trying to get ramped up for the Sochi Olympics.

    “I don’t do well now before the Olympics, I think it’s not possible to do well there,” she said. “So I think it’s very important to get good races before Sochi so that you have self-confidence and you can be more relaxed once you get there.”

    Despite her World Cup title in 2011, the Finnish team is still something of an underdog on the World Cup circuit. For instance, Makarainen doesn’t even really have a shooting coach.

    “Most of the summer I have been training on my own, without any shooting coaches,” she said. “And now in the winter, the people on the range have changed. So it’s not the same person all the time. We have much more responsibility about shooting, ourselves, than for some of the other countries. So I have to say that I have learned something, I have learned it myself.”

    Despite that, her shooting has improved somewhat and she is still lightning fast on her skis. She and teammate Mari Laukkanen are a force to be reckoned with on the trails.

    In fact, Laukkanen raced on the FIS Cross Country World Cup this weekend, qualifying for the skate sprint in 16th position and ending up 23rd in the final results. She is looking for a spot on the Finnish sprint squad in Sochi.

    Last season, Makarainen competed in FIS World Championships, placing 14th in the 10 k skate.

    She hasn’t finalized anything for the Olympics, but is eyeing a possible start if the skiers are willing to give her one. Unlike Laukkanen, she wasn’t willing to give up a weekend of biathlon racing or disrupt her preparations for Sochi by jumping in a ski race.

    “I think that my only chance is the 30 k, which is after all the biathlon races,” she said. “But I can’t do any cross country races before that and I can’t compete against the Finnish girls. So I think it would be very difficult for the coaches to choose who to put there. But if there are only three girls who want to do the race, then maybe I could be the fourth one. It’s up to them, and I will not think about it until I have done all my biathlon races.”

    Hopefully, a 30 k start would be the icing on the cake of a successful Olympics, one that brings her a medal for Finland in biathlon.

    “I hope that Sochi is my highest point,” she smiled.

    Results – international race report

  • Randall Trounces Field at Sochi Olympic Test Event

    Randall Trounces Field at Sochi Olympic Test Event

    Kikkan Randall blasting to victory in the Tour de Ski opening prologue on Saturday. She skied to 14th in the pursuit on Sunday and is leading the U.S. women in the Tour de Ski standings after two stages. Photo: Marcel Hilger.
    Kikkan Randall (USA) in Tour de Ski action in January. On Friday in Sochi, Russia, she skied to her second individual sprint victory of the season to bring her season podium tally to nine. Photo: Marcel Hilger.

    On a foggy day in the mountains up the road from Sochi, Russia, Kikkan Randall (USA) proved to the world once again that she can overcome any obstacle to reach the top of a World Cup podium. The first Olympic test event of the weekend took place on Friday at the Laura Cross-Country Stadium, where Randall led each of her freestyle sprint heats from start to finish. In the final she bested France’s Aurore Jean and Norway’s Celine Brun-Lie to claim her second individual sprint victory of the season.

    This would just be another World Cup win at any other venue — which speaks to Randall’s consistency more than anything else — but in Sochi the result has added significance.

    “Over the last couple of years I’ve been trying to build my confidence leading into this knowing that I could be versatile over different courses and different conditions,” Randall said in a USSA press release. “To show up here and think ‘OK, this is the [Olympic] course and test it out’ — I’m super happy that my ability to be strong over many courses works out well on this course as well.”

    To say that Randall has been reliable this season is a severe understatement. Excluding the first sprint in Kuusamo, she has finished first or second in every sprint event, team or individual, she’s started in this year. In total, she has stood on a World Cup podium nine times since November.

    Friday’s victory in her marquee event is even more impressive when you consider she was sick earlier this week, and was forced to lay low upon arrival in Russia. The day before the sprint was the first time Randall said felt race-ready all week.

    “Just in the nick of time,” she wrote in an email on Thursday. “Not sure where my body will be tomorrow but I’m hopeful that it will spark through the rounds.”

    From now on, if Randall says she’s hopeful the day before her favorite event, count on her making it to the podium.

    She began the day with the second-fastest qualifier and didn’t let up until she crossed the line in the final round a half second ahead of Jean. The women’s course was relatively short in Sochi — only 1.2 k and well under three minutes skiing time. If Randall’s winning strategy is any indication, a strong start off the line was crucial to doing well.

    “Today there was snow falling and that was definitely part of it,” Randall said. “The tactics could change if it was a clear day, but today it was advantageous to be in front. I’d have strong starts each time and I’d get in the front, kind of ski up the hill and put in a good push over the top.”

    The course climbed for almost two minutes before dropping back down, spinning around a sharp downhill corner and shooting into the finishing stretch. Randall learned from how she successfully skied her quarter- and semi-final rounds that she could win by skiing from the front the whole way, and in the final she repeated the strategy. Brun-Lie challenged her out of the gate but Randall held her off to take the ‘hole-shot’ up the first hill, and never relinquished the lead.

    “It’s a fun course, it’s deceptively tough,” Randall said. “I think I skied it really well.”

    The second-place finisher in any race can sometimes be bitter about just missing gold, but on Friday this was not the case. It Jean’s first career podium finish on the World Cup and the best result the French women have seen all year.

    “It is amazing to be on the podium,” Jean said in the post-race press conference. “It was a great day… I almost started crying when I crossed the finish. The result has given me confidence to the next year.”

    For Brun-Lie in third, Friday’s sprint was only her second appearance on the podium this season. The depth on the Norwegian team typically overshadows her, but 24-year-old was plenty pleased to break through again in Sochi.

    “I am happy about the third place today,” Brun-Lie said. “I felt good the whole day. I liked the sprint course; it is very nice to be competing in Sochi and to test the courses for the Olympics.”

    Brun-Lie’s teammate Astrid Jacobsen took fourth in the final, 0.4 seconds out of third. The top four created a gap on Mari Laukkanen (FIN) and Ida Sargent (USA) in fifth and sixth, respectively. For both the final two finishers in the final, the outcome was the conclusion to a career-defining day. Laukkanen, a biathlete, had only started in three cross-country World Cups in her entire life prior to Sochi and had never before made it close to the top five. On Friday she posted the fasted qualifying time in the field, a half second ahead of Randall herself.

    Sochi was also a career-first appearance in a World Cup sprint final for Sargent, who qualified 17th. She proceeded to win her quarterfinal and made it through the semis as a lucky loser in a fast heat.

    “This is my third time this year making the semis and I always felt like I was close,” Sargent said. “I kind of felt like it was going to happen at some point, but I definitely wouldn’t have expected it in a skate sprint. It just worked out well today — we had awesome skis, the coaches did a great job, and I think we had a great week of training in Les Saises, it it’s just cool to see things come together.”

    When things come together at an Olympic test event, it’s hard not to look ahead. In victory, Randall was most excited about what Friday’s results mean for the rest of her team, who together put five women in the top 21.

    “This is actually the setup I used to dream the Olympic [venue] would look like before I went to my first one in 2002,” Randall said. “Obviously it’s a strong course for the team, so that’s exciting.”

    Women’s Sochi Freestyle Sprint Results

  • Sargent Sprints to Fourth at U-23’s; Finnish Biathlete Skis Away With Title

    Sargent Sprints to Fourth at U-23’s; Finnish Biathlete Skis Away With Title

    Mari Laukkanen (l) leads Ida Sargent (second from left) in their semifinal heat at the U-23 Championships
    Mari Laukkanen (l) leads Ida Sargent (second from left) in their semifinal heat at the U-23 Championships

    When Simi Hamilton lost a pole and was bounced from his quarterfinal heat, it was up to Ida Sargent to salvage the American hopes in the U-23 skate sprint. She didn’t disappoint.

    After qualifying in fourth, Sargent advanced easily through the quarters and semis, faltering only midway through the A-final. After some bad luck and tactical errors by the Americans over the last two days, you could almost hear the sigh of relief from her coaches and teammates.

    “Before that A-final, I thought Ida could win that thing,” said Pat Casey, head coach of the American U-23 squad. “I talked to her about it, and she thought she could win that thing, too.”

    Sargent was “unbeatable” off the line all day, Casey said, and the final was no different—she was in front headed into the first corner before Mari Laukkanen (FIN) got by. But on the way up the last big climb, she started running out of gas, and Denise Herrmann (GER) and Kathrine Rolsted Harsem (NOR) snuck past.

    Laukkanen was well clear of the group by the finish, but Sargent was still close with the others as the group entered the stadium. She just couldn’t quite match the pace at the finish.

    “I got a little tired on the second hill, so I lost some time there,” she said, “but I was able to pull it together…I feel like I’m right in there, so it was a really fun day.”

    Ida Sargent (l) chases Mari Laukkanen
    Ida Sargent (l) chases Mari Laukkanen

    Laukkanen won the qualifier by over a second, then proceeded to sweep every heat en route to her victory, improving on her third place finish in last year’s U-23 classic sprint in France.

    Laukkanen actually focuses on biathlon, and she said that her goal for the winter had been to qualify for the Finnish Olympic Team. She didn’t seem too overwhelmed by the win, already whipping out her cell phone just five minutes after the finals.

    Laukkanen did have good things to say about Sargent though, noting that the American was right on her heels in their semifinal.

    “It’s not surprising,” she said of Sargent. “In sprint, there’s always been a couple of very good [American women].”

    None of the three other American women made it out of the quarters. Both Rosie Brennan and Sadie Bjornsen were third in their heats, but neither advanced as lucky losers. Becca Rorabaugh found herself in the snow after getting tangled up on the first climb.

    It was clear that Sargent’s finish today gave the rest of her team a big lift, as Hamilton, Rorabaugh, and Peter Kling were all sprinting back and forth across the course during the finals to cheer her on.

    “We were hopeful yesterday that we could get that boost,” Casey said. “Coming in last night talking to the U-23 guys, I basically just told them…to break down those limitations and to know that any one of them could be world champions. And I think a couple of them demonstrated today that we weren’t far off of that.”