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Tag: Susan Duklee

  • (Press Release) Egan and Dunklee Conclude Olympic Careers with 11th Place Relay

    (Press Release) Egan and Dunklee Conclude Olympic Careers with 11th Place Relay

    Susan Dunklee (USA) – (Photo: NordicFocus)

    In the final Olympic race of their careers, Susan Dunklee (Craftsbury, Vt./Craftsbury Green Racing Project & USBA) and Clare Egan (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Craftsbury Green Racing Project & USBA) helped guide the U.S. women to an 11th-place finish in Wednesday’s 4×6-kilometer relay at the Beijing 2022 Winter Games.

    Three-time Olympian Dunklee was first out of the shooting range after prone, having cleaned all five targets. She also cleaned from the standing position but admittedly was sluggish on the skis and made the first exchange with Egan in 18th position.

    “It was a beautiful day to be out here skiing and I was really excited for it,” said Dunklee. “I had a lot of fun in the first loop and put myself in it like I usually do. I got near the front and tried to play my normal game and shoot fast in prone. I got out first which was really satisfying for the first 100 meters. I did well in standing but the last loop my body just shut down. Today was one of those days. No matter how hard I was trying to force myself to go my body just wouldn’t go.”

    Clare Egan (USA) -(Photo: NordicFocus)

    Egan, competing in her second Olympic Games, brought the U.S. team up to 15th place at the midway point despite using five spare rounds and incurring a penalty in standing. She tagged off to first-time Olympian Deedra Irwin (Pulaski, Wis./ National Guard Biathlon & USBA) who cleaned from prone and had a penalty and three spares in standing. Irwin made the final exchange to two-time Olympian Joanne Reid (Grand Junction, Colo.) in 13th position.

    Deedra Irwin (USA) – (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Reid turned in a fantastic final leg as she also cleaned prone and used just one spare in standing to move into 11th place at the finish, 4 minutes, 47.4 seconds back of the winning time.

    After the race, Irwin spoke about the impact Dunklee and Egan have had on the sport.

    “It was really awesome to see Susan clean the race and that was a good motivator,” Irwin said. “They’re just so inspirational…they’re trailblazers in U.S. Biathlon. I just hope to live up to the legacy they’ve created for this program. They’re definitely going to be missed in the future.”

    Irwin now looks forward to Saturday’s mass start where she will toe the line with 29 other women in the 12.5km race, the final biathlon competition of the Beijing Games.

    “I’m feeling a little better after how I skied today,” added Irwin. “I definitely was a little nervous after not feeling so hot in the sprint and pursuit with my legs, but today skiing felt really awesome and half of my shooting race went pretty well. I’m pretty excited to go into my first mass start ever. It’s going to be memorable to have it here and have my entire team out cheering me on.”

    Joanne Reid (USA) -(Photo: NordicFocus)

    The Swedish quartet of Elvira and Hanna Oeberg, Mona Brorsson and Linn Persson used just six spare rounds to win the gold medal in 1:11:03.9. The silver medal went to the Russian Olympic Committee with one penalty and seven spares, 12 seconds back. Germany captured the bronze medal with six spare rounds, 37.4 seconds behind Sweden.

    Women’s 4x6km relay results

    1. Sweden (Persson, Brorsson, H. Oeberg, E. Oeberg) 1:11:03.9/0+6
    2. ROC (Kazakevich, Reztsova, Mironova, Nigmatullina) +12.0/1+7
    3. Germany (Voigt, Hinz, Preuss, Herrmann) +37.4/0+6
    11. USA (Dunklee, Egan, Irwin, Reid) +4:47.4/2+9

     

    Check out the Watch Olympic Biathlon schedule for viewing options of all the races from Beijing. You can also follow all the action on the IBU app – download it today!

    https://apps.apple.com/app/official-ibu-app/id1581415457?l=en

    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=at.ibu.app

    Biathlon Event Schedule for Beijing 2022 Olympic Games (all times EST)

    Saturday, Feb. 5 (RECAP)
    4:00 am – Mixed relay

    Monday, Feb. 7 (RECAP)
    4:00 am – Women’s 15km individual

    Tuesday, Feb. 8 (RECAP)
    3:30 am – Men’s 20km individual

    Friday, Feb. 11 (RECAP)
    4:00 am – Women’s 7.5km sprint

    Saturday, Feb. 12 (RECAP)
    4:00 am – Men’s 10km sprint

    Sunday, Feb. 13 (RECAP)
    4:00 am – Women’s 10km pursuit
    5:45 am – Men’s 12.5km pursuit

    Tuesday, Feb. 15 (RECAP)
    4:00 am – Men’s 4×7.5km relay

    Wednesday, Feb. 16
    2:45 am – Women’s 4x6km relay

    Friday, Feb. 18
    4:00 am – Men’s 15km mass start (No US starters)

    Saturday, Feb. 19
    4:00 am – Women’s 12.5km mass start

  • Stephen Crushes Competition in Blink Festival Opener

    Stephen Crushes Competition in Blink Festival Opener

    Liz Stephen completes an interview after winning the 2014 Blink Festival opener by 27 seconds. (Photo: Skifestivalen Blink)
    Liz Stephen completes an interview after winning the 2014 Blink Festival opener by 27 seconds. (Photo: Skifestivalen Blink)

    Liz Stephen already has the reputation as one of the best hill climbers in the world. Whether it’s the Tour de Ski’s final stage or Lake Placid’s Climb to the Castle, it seems like Stephen’s constantly on the up.

    The trend continued in Thursday’s Blink Festival opener, a 7 k uphill rollerski race in Lysebotn, Norway. With a time of 32:53.9, Stephen won the hill climb by 27.3 seconds over Norwegian Kristin Størmer Steira who finished with a time of 33:21.2. 

    In third place was last year’s hill climb winner, biathlete Kaisa Mäkäräinen of Finland, who finished 1:33.7 behind Stephen.

    Having finished third in the same event in the 2012 Blink Festival, Stephen had high hopes of winning the esteemed 2014 rollerski race. However, Stephen knew that she needed a concrete plan in order to top the challenging competition. Knowing that she couldn’t rely her finishing sprint, Stephen decided to set a hard place from the beginning and break away with 2 k left in the race.

    Liz Stephen and Kristen Størmer Steira congratulate each other after finishing first and second in the 2014 Blink Festival opener. (Photo: Skifestivalen Blink/Facebook)
    Liz Stephen and Kristen Størmer Steira congratulate each other after finishing first and second in the 2014 Blink Festival opener. (Photo: Skifestivalen Blink/Facebook)

    “I turned up the speed with about 1.5 k to go when the body was still feeling pretty good, though quite tired, and it worked out in my favor today,” Stephen wrote in an email. “It was really fun to ski with Kristin [Størmer Steira] the whole race until then and I am really happy to have been able to come away with a win today.”

    The only other American to compete in the women’s race was biathlete Susan Dunklee, who finished in 21st position with a time of 38:43.9.

    Dunklee, who just came off a large training block in Finland, said her legs felt heavy in the climb due to the recent volume of training but that she felt her result was solid.

    In the men’s race, France’s Maurice Manificat won the 7 k hill climb with a time of 29:57.2.He was followed by Norweigians Martin Sundby and Sjur Røthe in second and third.

    The first North American finisher in the men’s race was American biathlete Tim Burke who placed 15th with a time of 32:17.4.

    Burke and 35th place finisher and teammate Lowell Bailey arrived in Norway only several days prior to the Blink Festival. Burke called the race both a “shock to the system” and “really tough,” but said he was pleased with his effort.  

    “I am not in my best shape, but I was really happy with my effort,” Burke wrote in an email.  “It was a great experience to race with some of the best biathlon and cross country athletes on such a challenging course.”

    Maurice Manificat of France celebrates his win in the 2014 Blink Festival hill climb. (Photo: Skifestivalen Blink/Facebook)
    Maurice Manificat of France celebrates his win in the 2014 Blink Festival hill climb. (Photo: Skifestivalen Blink/Facebook)

    Bailey agreed, stating that “extended uphill races are definitely not my forte” but that he was still happy with the race.

    “If nothing less, it’s a good wake up for the body after traveling,” he wrote in an email. 

    Canadian Devon Kershaw also competed and finished 20th.

    The Blink Festival continues Friday with a 10 k criterium race which will take place around a 900 meter loop. Stephen plans to ski aggressive as possible while staying on her feet.

    “It can be terrifying to ski in a tight pack on roller skis when there is a lot of opportunity for crashing, but my goal is to relax and try to ski in the pack and work on my cornering and agility tactics in a tight pack,” she wrote.

    For all three American biathletes, the plan is to race in the remainder of the Blink Festival biathlon competitions, which include a mass start competition and a sprint race.

    “This is a great opportunity for me to test the techniques and shooting skills that I have been working on this year,” Burke wrote about the remainder of the Blink Festival. “I hope to qualify for the mass start competition [Friday]. It will definitely be a challenge, since they will only qualify five guys from around 50 competitors.”  

    Women’s results | Men’s results

  • Three North Americans Top-20 In Opening U26 Races

    Three North Americans Top-20 In Opening U26 Races

    Russell Currier (USA). Photo: Susan Dunklee.

    The American and Canadian teams have been off to a good start in Ridnaun, Italy, collecting three top-20 finishes in the opening individual-format races at IBU Under-26/Open European Championships.

    On Monday, the men kicked things off in the 20 k individual race, a format where each missed shot represents a one-minute time penalty. Tyson Smith of Canada missed only two of his twenty shots and finished 19th, just under four minutes behind Artem Pryma of the Ukraine, who eked out a nine-second win over Evgeny Ustyugov of Russia. It was a bit of a surprise finish: Pryma has started only three World Cups in his career, while Ustyugov won the mass start race at the Vancouver Olympics.

    Smith’s teammates Patrick Cote and Joel Pacas finished 34th and 56th with four and five penalties, respectively.

    Russell Currier led the U.S. team, finishing 29th with five penalties, 5:20 behind Pryma. Currier had the 14th-fastest ski time of the day, and only a single man who beat him missed as many shots. He was followed by Wynn Roberts and Bill Bowler in 52nd and 58th.

    On Tuesday, the women did the men one better: Susan Dunklee of the U.S. and Melanie Schulz of Canada finished 15th and 16th in the 15 k event, just under seven minutes behind winner Juliane Doll of Germany.

    “I started conservatively and tried to negative split,” Dunklee told FasterSkier. “There is a really tough climb partway through the 3 km and we saw a lot of the men start out too hard and toast their legs the first time up the hill.  The rest of the course is all about working transitions, so I focused on those.  A lot of teams were thrown off by the new snow, but our waxing staff did an awesome job.”

    Dunklee had trouble in the initial shooting stages, missing three shots in her first stage and two in the second stage. But after that, she gathered herself together and shot clean to finish the race. Her ninth-fastest ski time on the day allowed her to further salvage the situation.

    “I had a terrible first shooting stage,” she said. “My first shot went off before I was ready and hit the white, and then I finished the stage with two more misses on either side. Good shooting is crucial in an individual race, and I felt like I’d done a pretty good job of taking myself out of the competition. By the halfway point, I had nothing to lose and no expectations; I just had to finish the race as best I could.”

    Schulz shot better, collecting only two penalties over the four shooting stages.

    “In the range, I was calm and focused and shooting seemed easy,” she said in an e-mail. “In my first prone bout, the targets were going down so easily that I pulled my last shot, forgetting about follow-through and missing the shot. Then I did the same with one of standing shots in the next bout. Our wax tech Tom Zidek was out and the course and reminded me to follow-through in shooting, so I took his advice and cleaned my last two bouts. Looking at the competition analysis, I had the third fastest shooting time of the day, which I was pretty excited about as this means my shooting speed has gotten quite a bit faster this year.”

    While Dunklee was the only American woman in the race, there were two more Canadians. Rosanna Crawford finished 24th and Claude Godbout 32nd.

    The Open European Championships also feature junior races; in the junior women’s 12.5 k individual, Americans Corrine Malcolm and Grace Boutot finished 21st and 22nd with seven and four penalties, respectively. Kelly Kjorlien finished 36th and Canadian Emma Lodge 40th.

    In the junior men’s 15 k individual, Ethan Dreissigacker, one of the top U.S. juniors, had a rough start to his week.

    “The men’s race and the junior men’s race were both running at the same time, but the men did a 4 k loop and juniors did a 3 k,” Dreissigacker told FasterSkier. “The 4 k had three extra little loops, and I followed a guy in front of me (who was in the men’s race) and did one of the extra loops. It probably added about 40 seconds to my time, but apparently IBU rules say that if you deviate from the course by more than 5m you get disqualifieded… I was skiing really slow, and not having too great a race anyway.”

    In his absence, Raleigh Goessling was the only U.S. finisher, skiing to 41st place with six penalties. No Canadians competed.

    Full results are available at the IBU Datacenter.