For the women, Susan Dunklee, Clare Egan, and Joanne Reid all pre-qualified based on last season’s results. Emily Dreissigacker was named to the team on Monday. The women’s World Cup team has three start spots per race in Pokljuka. According to Monday’s announcement, coaches will determine which athletes get specific starts at a later date.
After the Pokljuka races, only three U.S. women will travel to Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, the host of this season’s second IBU World Cup .
The fourth biathlete will head to Ridnaun-Val Ridanna, Italy to race the second weekend of IBU Cup on Dec. 10-16. (The IBU Cup’s first weekend of racing will take place in Idre, Sweden on Nov. 26-Dec. 2).
Leif Nordgren and Sean Doherty both pre-qualified for the men’s opening World Cup races. The men’s side has four start spots in Pokljuka. Along with Nordgren and Doherty, Paul Schommer and Travis Cooper have been named to the first World Cup team roster.
Cooper’s path to Pokljuka will include a stop at the IBU Cup races in Idre. According to U.S. Biathlon, Cooper must first race in Sweden in order to earn his qualification for the IBU World Cup. Max Durtschi will travel to Pokljuka as a reserve athlete.
IBU Cup Teams
The SoHo and Jericho rollerski trials also served as a springboard to the second series of IBU Cups in Ridnaun-Val Ridanna, Italy. Hallie Grossman, Deedra Irwin, and Kelsey Dickinson were named as U.S. athletes for those races. They will be joined by one member of the women’s IBU World Cup team racing in Pokljuka.
The men also have four start spots at the second IBU Cup. Durtschi, Alex Howe, Jake Brown, and Vasek Cervenka have been named to the team for the Ridnaun-Val Ridanna, Italy competitions.
Below is the schedule for the first two IBU World Cup and IBU Cup races.
Schedule for the first IBU World Cup in Pokljuka, Slovenia.
Schedule for the second IBU World Cup in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic.
Schedule for IBU Cup #1 in Idre, Sweden.
Schedule for IBU Cup #2 in Ridnaun-Val Ridanna, Italy.
Emily Dreissigacker tags off to Joanne Reid in the women’s World Cup biathlon relay in Ruhpolding, Germany. Both women are on the roster for the U.S. for the next year of international biathlon. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
For the first time in years, the roster features more women than men. Following the retirements of Lowell Bailey, Russell Currier, and Tim Burke, Alex Howe (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) netted his first senior national team nomination, and joins 2018 Olympians Sean Doherty and Leif Nordgren, as well as Paul Schommer (Moose Nordic).
On the women’s team, all five members of the 2018 Olympic team have been renamed: Susan Dunklee, Clare Egan, and Emily Dreissigacker (all Craftsbury Green Racing Project), Joanne Reid (Colorado Biathlon), and Maddie Phaneuf (Polar Bear Ski Club). Dunklee and Egan recently said that they were not certain yet about retirement, but appear on the roster. The newest addition to the women’s senior team is Chloe Levins, who finished all three individual races at 2018 World Junior Championships in the top seven.
The “A” team athletes will be primarily based in Lake Placid, New York, while designated “B” team athletes (Phaneuf, Schommer, and Howe) will be based at regional training centers or with clubs, according to national team selection documents.
The federation has also named a development squad of Deedra Irwin (Wisconsin Biathlon), Travis Cooper and Jake Ellingson (National Guard Biathlon), Jake Brown (Loppet Nordic Racing), and Max Durtschi. All saw international race starts last season.
In addition, an 11-member Junior Development Group has been named, many of whom we interviewed this winter – see the links below to read about their experiences at World Youth and Junior Championships.
High Performance Team – Women
Susan Dunklee (Barton, Vt./Craftsbury Green Racing Project), A1 Team Clare Egan (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Craftsbury Green Racing Project), A2 Team Chloe Levins (Rutland, Vt.), A3 Team Joanne Reid (Boulder, Colo./Colorado Biathlon), A3 Team Emily Dreissigacker (Morrisville, Vt./Craftsbury Green Racing Project), A3 Team Maddie Phaneuf (Old Forge, N.Y./Polar Bear Ski Club), B Team
High Performance Team – Men
Sean Doherty (Center Conway, N.H.), A1 Team Leif Nordgren (Marine, Minn.), A3 Team Paul Schommer (Appleton, Wisc./Moose Nordic), B Team Alex Howe (Gilford, N.H./Craftsbury Green Racing Project), B Team
Development Team – Senior Women
Deedra Irwin (Pulaski, Wisc./Wisconsin Biathlon)
Development Team – Senior Men
Travis Cooper (Kenai, Alaska/National Guard Biathlon) Max Durtschi (Sun Valley, Idaho) Jake Brown (Houghton, Mich./Loppet Nordic Racing) Jakob Ellingson (Minnetonka, Minn./National Guard Biathlon)
Youth and Junior Development Group – Women
Helen Wilson (Eagle River, Alaska/Alaska Biathlon Club) – 20-for-20 interview Lexie Madigan (Truckee, Calif./Auburn Ski Club) – 20-for-20 interview Emma Stertz (Grand Rapids, Minn./Mt. Itasca Biathlon) – 20-for-20 interview Grace Gilliland (Eagle River, Alaska/Alaska Biathlon Club) – 2017 20-for-20 interview Sarah Beaulieu (Fort Fairfield, Maine/Outdoor Sports Institute) Arianna Woods (Bozeman, Mont./Bridger Biathlon Club)
Youth and Junior Development Group – Men
Vasek Cervenka (Grand Rapids, Minn./Mt. Itasca Biathlon) – 2017 20-for-20 interview Garrett Beckrich (Grand Rapids, Minn./Mt. Itasca Biathlon) – 20-for-20 interview Tim Cunningham (Springfield, N.H./Saint Lawrence University) – 20-for-20 interview Eli Nielsen (Stehekin, Wash./Methow Valley) – 20-for-20 interview Marcus Gore (Vail, Colo./Casper Mountain Biathlon Club)
Some of the top-six finishers in the junior women’s 10 k pursuit at the post-race flower ceremony at 2018 IBU Junior World Championships in Otepää, Estonia, including the Czech Republic’s Markéta Davidová (top) and American Chloe Levins (bottom), who finished first and sixth, respectively. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
(Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Leo Grandbois.)
The 2018 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth/Junior World Championships went out with a bang on Sunday, with four pursuit races in Otepää, Estonia.
Several North Americans had banner days, with American Chloe Levins racing up one spot to sixth place in the junior women’s 10-kilometer pursuit and Canada’s Megan Bankes and Nadia Moser placing eighth and 11th, respectively, in that same race.
In the youth men’s 10 k pursuit, Canada’s Leo Grandbois had his best result of the week, placing 15th (up from 33rd) at the start.
Starting with the junior women’s pursuit:
Levins started the race 1:32 minutes back in seventh, based on her sprint result on Saturday. She went on to clean three-consecutive shooting stages, working her way up to fourth after leaving the range for the third time, then missed two targets on the final standing to end the race in sixth. Levins finished 1:51.4 behind the winner, Markéta Davidová of the Czech Republic, who finished first in 32:52.6 with four penalties (1+0+2+1).
Chloe Levins racing to seventh in the junior women’s 7.5 k sprint on Saturday at IBU Junior World Championships in Otepää, Estonia. (Courtesy photo)
“In pursuit races in the past, I’ve come from behind,” Levins, who placed fourth in last year’s Youth Worlds pursuit, wrote in an email to FasterSkier on Sunday. “Today, it was a new learning experience for me to be in the mix for the duration of the race. My plan was simple from the start: enjoy being in the mix and trust your preparation.
“I found the zone today, which is what you dream about,” she continued. “I don’t remember much about the last stage. All I know for sure is that I went for it today…and I have no regrets.”
Asked what she’ll remember most about these championships, Levins explained that the U.S. team’s “happy and dedicated staff” made for a fun week.
“We are always joking and laughing in the wax room which helps keep the mood light during potentially stressful races,” she wrote. “It was really special and important for me to have this experience with my coach, Algis Shalna, behind the scope. We’ve worked together for a long time. I will cherish the competitions we get to share forever.”
While the championships didn’t turn out exactly as she’d hoped, Levins explained that she had a lot of positive takeaways for her final biathlon races of the season.
“Now, it’s time to go back to school and start preparing for golf season at Middlebury!” she wrote. “… I can’t wait to start training again.”
Megan Bankes racing to eighth in the junior women’s 10 k pursuit at IBU Junior World Championships on Sunday in Otepää, Estonia. (Photo: Bryan Dickson)
Bankes started ninth on Sunday and made up one place to finish eighth (+2:52.6) after placing ninth in three previous races at Junior Worlds. She had two penalties in both the first and the last shooting stages (2+0+0+2) and posted the ninth-fastest shooting time and ninth-fastest overall course time.
“Heading into today’s race, my goal was to try and shoot well and make up places. It was also my last international junior race so i wanted to try and have a good one!” Bankes, 20, wrote in an email. “To start, I knew that I could catch the Norwegian girl who started in front of me, and after I caught her, my goal was to make up time on everyone else in front of me.”
She described the wind on the range as “pretty strong” and variable.
“I was zeroed for a decent left to right wind, but when I came in for my first prone the wind had died and was blowing towards me for my first shot, and then it picked up again to be a little more than my zero wind, and I corrected back but didn’t correct enough for it,” Bankes wrote. “After cleaning the middle 2 bouts I really wanted to clean my last bout and there was definitely a little pressure going in with the Russian girl [Emma Timerbulatova, who was skiing just ahead of Bankes]. I actually thought that she had only missed one, so I was a little disappointed in myself when we went into the penalty loop, but when she didn’t leave after the first loop, I was determined to pass her and beat her to the finish.”
Like Bankes, Timerbulatova had two penalties in the last standing. She started the final loop just 0.1 seconds ahead of Bankes, and Bankes passed her to finish eighth.
“I’m overall super happy with my performance this week,” Bankes, a 2017 Youth Worlds gold medalist in the 10 k individual, concluded. “Definitely my most consistent European racing ever! I would have liked to have shot better overall this week though, I did give up some stupid shots, but I was super stoked with how I felt skiing. I’m also pleased that I was able to have consistently good races over the course of the week, which is something I definitely could not have done in the past.”
Nadia Moser racing to 11th in the junior women’s 10 k pursuit at IBU Junior World Championships on Sunday in Otepää, Estonia. (Photo: Bryan Dickson)
Moser picked off 10 places to finish 11th (+3:45.4). She started the pursuit in 21st and shot 18-for-20, cleaning the first two stages (0+0+1+1) and contending for the top 10 before finishing about 12 seconds out of 10th place. It was her second-best result of the week after placing eighth in the junior women’s 12.5 k individual.
“A top 10 finish was definitely the big goal for the pursuit, but I knew that was only possible if I shot really well and skiied well,” Moser wrote in an email. “Unfortunately, I missed my goal by one place.
“There were some pretty large time gaps in the starters today so it was a challenge to pick up places for me,” she continued. “For the most part I just tried to catch up with the people in front of me, or keep up with the people who passed me. I knew my best chance to move up was in the shooting range. … I was focused and trusting in my skills on the range today, and that is how I was able to hit most of my targets.”
She knew she was in 10th for her third shooting when she was shooting in lane 10.
“I was really happy that I had moved up as many places as I did, although slightly dissapointed that I was not able to reach the top ten,” Moser added. “I am satisfied with today’s pursuit. Moving up 10 positions is better than I’ve ever done before. Some things could have gone slightly better this week, but overall I am content with what I was able to achieve.”
Emily Dickson scored her first non-relay top 30 of the week in 26th (+5:31.6), up from 36th at the start, after missing just two targets (1+0+0+1). She had previously placed 36th in both the sprint and individual races, and ninth with Bankes and Moser in the 3 x 6 k relay.
After starting 26 seconds ahead of Davidová, Poland’s Kamila Żuk finished second in the pursuit, 28.1 seconds behind Davidová, after incurring six penalties (1+2+3+0). France’s Myrtille Begue placed third (+53.8) for the second-straight day after shooting 17-for-20 (0+1+1+1).
Onto the junior men’s 12.5 pursuit:
A day after placing third in the sprint, Norway’s Sverre Dahlen Aspenes shot clean in Sunday’s four-stage pursuit to take the win in 34:16.7. He finished 1:21.1 minutes ahead of France’s Martin Perrillat Bottonet, who placed second with one penalty (0+0+1+0). Norway’s Johannes Dale scored his first non-relay podium in third place (+1:46.4) with four misses (0+0+2+2).
Canada’s Adam Runnalls tallied his third individual top 30 of the week, placing 29th (+6:04.7) with six penalties (2+1+1+2). He had started the pursuit in 26th, based on his sprint result, and had previously finished 29th in the junior men’s 15 k individual.
His teammate Trevor Kiers started the pursuit in 16th and slipped to 34th (+6:44.4) with 10 penalties. Canada’s third man in the race, Teo Sanchez finished 57th (+10:32.5) with five misses (1+0+1+3) after starting 54th.
Cody Johnson was the lone U.S. skier in the junior men’s pursuit, racing to 48th (+7:40.0), after starting 37th, with five misses (2+0+2+1).
In the youth men’s 10 k pursuit:
Leo Grandbois racing to 15th in the youth men’s 10 k pursuit on Sunday at IBU Youth World Championships in Otepää, Estonia. (Photo: Terri Dickson)
Grandbois, a gold medalist at last year’s Youth Worlds in the 12.5 k individual, had his best race of the 2018 championships in 15th. After starting 33rd, he cleaned the first two stages to put himself in 16th halfway through the race, then missed two on each of the final two shooting bouts (0+0+2+2). But he didn’t lose much ground, leaving the range in 17th after the last shooting and passing two competitors to end up 15th (+3:37.2). Grandbois had previously raced to 24th in the 12.5 k individual this week and 16th with Canada’s youth men’s 3 x 7.5 k relay team.
“For the first bouts the wind was calm but for the second prone the wind picked up,” Grandbois explained in an email. “So I had to do some corrections that worked perfectly. I am really happy about it. First standing I came way too hard in the range and I could not manage to be precise. The last shooting was going well but the pressure to go faster made me miss again.
“I think that with a better standing shooting I could have done a top 10, but I was starting pretty far away so I am satisfied with my 15th,” he wrote.
“What I take back from those championships is that my ski speed is good but I will have to work hard next summer to keep it that way and to get it even better, for sure,” Grandbois added. “It wasn’t a good week for me in the range. I will have to work on my shooting speed and constancy. Those two things are my biggest weakness.”
Leading the U.S. men was Vasek Cervenka in 24th (+4:20.8). Cervenka had started the race in 24th and held his position despite six penalties (0+3+1+2) with the 19th-fastest course time. It was his third individual top 30 of the week after placing 27th in the 12.5 k (as well as ninth with his relay team).
Canada’s Rory Gilliland moved up 11 places to finish 41st (+6:12.2) with two penalties (0+0+1+1). His teammates Thomas Hulsman and Ryan Elden followed in 45th (+6:45.9) and 49th (+6:56.8) after starting 35th and 59th, respectively. Hulsman had six penalties while Elden had five (1+0+2+2).
For the U.S., Garrett Beckrich and Eli Nielsen finished 46th (+6:48.7) and 47th (+6:54.7), respectively. Beckrich had started 46th and incurred five penalties (1+1+1+2) while Nielsen slipped five places after starting 42nd and missing six targets.
After winning gold in the relay, Russia’s Andrei Viukhin notched his first individual podium and gold medal at his first Youth Worlds, winning the pursuit in 29:31.2. He had started seventh and missed four targets (1+1+1+1) yet led his teammates in a Russian podium sweep.
Viukhin handed his teammate Mikhail Pervushin his first loss of the week, as Pervushin settled for second, 16.8 seconds back, with four penalties as well (1+0+2+1). Aleksei Ogorelkov, who had not raced in Russia’s 3 x 7.5 k relay, finished third (+1:12.1) with two late penalties (0+0+0+2) for his first Youth Worlds podium.
Last but not least, the youth women’s 7.5 k pursuit:
Canada had three women finish in the top 40 of this race, with Benita Peiffer leading them in 30th (+4:28.2). She had started 51st and skied the 21st-fastest course time to pick off 21 places. Peiffer shot 17-for-20 (1+0+1+1).
Her teammate, Pascale Paradis slipped from 15th to 35th (+5:05.8) with eight penalties, while Jenna Sherrington improved from 46th to 39th (+5:28.1) with four misses (2+0+2+0).
For the U.S., Emma Stertz finished 48th (+5:58.0), up from 52nd at the start, with four penalties (1+0+2+1), and Grace Gilliland placed 57th (+7:21.0), after starting 55th, with four misses as well (1+1+1+1).
Russia’s Anastasiia Goreeva won her first individual gold at Youth Worlds, racing up from fourth at the start to cross the finish line first in 24:24.0 with three penalties (0+0+1+2). Germany’s Franziska Pfnür placed second for her first Youth Worlds podium, 17.5 seconds behind Goreeva, with just one penalty (0+1+0+0). In her second Youth Worlds, Switzerland’s Amy Baserga achieved her first podium as well, placing third (+29.0) with two penalties (0+0+1+1).
The youth men’s 7.5 k sprint podium at IBU Youth World Championships in Otepää, Estonia, with Russia’s Mikhail Pervushin (c) continuing his undefeated streak at the championships in first, Italy’s Tommaso Giacomel (l) in second, and the Czech Republic’s Vítězslav Hornig (r) in third. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
IBU Youth World Championships (Otepää, Estonia): Youth women’s and men’s sprints
Sweden’s Karin Elvira Öberg raced to her third-straight win of the week at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth World Championships in Otepää, and Pascale Paradis led Canada in 15th in the youth women’s 6-kilometer sprint on Friday.
Paradis started 36th out of 92 women and shot 18-for-20, missing one on each stage (1+1), on a day when the top-two finishers had misses as well. With the ninth-fastest overall course time, Paradis, 15, finished 1:04.3 minutes off of Öberg’s winning time of 19:46.7.
Sweden’s Karin Elvira Öberg after winning her third-straight race at 2018 IBU Youth World Championships in Otepää, Estonia, with a win in the youth women’s 6 k sprint on Friday. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
Meanwhile, the 19-year-old Öberg started 65th and claimed the win with one penalty (0+1), continuing her undefeated streak at Youth Worlds after winning the 10 k individual and relay as well. She was joined on the podium by her teammate Amanda Lundström, who also raced to gold in the 3 x 6 k relay on Wednesday, and shot clean on Friday to finish 16.7 seconds back in third.
Between them, Finland’s Heidi Nikkinen placed second (+13.1), with one penalty (1+0).
In the first race of her first Youth World Championships, Paradis placed sixth to earn recognition at the post-race flower ceremony.
“After being shocked with the result I got for the individual it got me pretty excited,” Paradis recalled in an email on Friday. “But I knew that if I put too much pressure on myself I would get too nervous. But it really boosted my confidence to know that I had a chance to do well here!
“So I went into this race not expecting too much,” she continued. “This season I’ve been doing well in individuals so I was hoping for a good result but in sprints I haven’t been shooting great so I was super happy to see myself knock 8 targets down and I skied as fast as I possibly could, so overall I am super happy about my race!”
Pascale Paradis racing the first leg of Canada’s youth women’s 3 x 6 k relay team on Wednesday at IBU Youth World Championships in Otepää, Estonia. Her team finished 10th. (Photo: Bill Gilliland)
Paradis described the conditions as “perfect”, not too cold and with relatively calm winds.
“I was happy about my shooting just because it’s the best I’ve shot in a sprint race this year,” she wrote. “Skiing I felt really tired but my coach Andrew was on the hill cheering super loud and I dug deep and pushed myself to the max in this race and was extremely happy too see that I had skied one of my fastest races ever!”
In Sunday’s 7.5 k pursuit, the last day of the championships, she’ll start about 1 minute and 4 seconds back in 15th, just 2 or 3 seconds out of 12th place.
“I’m excited to be started really close to a few other girls right out of the gates for the pursuit,” Paradis wrote. “We don’t do many pursuits back home so this will be my second one ever and I’m super excited to see what it’s like on the international level. I really like doing pursuits even though they get me the most nervous, it’s just super fun to know where you are in the race the whole time and to just make up as many spots as you can during the course of the race.”
Two other Canadian women finished in the top 60 of the sprint to qualify for the pursuit, with Jenna Sherrington placing 46th (+2:25.3) with two penalties (1+1), and Benita Peiffer placing 51st (+2:40.4) with three misses (1+2). Shilo Rousseau missed the cutoff in 66th (+3:04.8) with four penalties (1+3).
Two American women qualified, with Emma Stertz in 52nd (+2:44.2) with two misses (1+1), and Grace Gilliland in 55th (+2:50.1) with one miss (0+1). Lexie Madigan finished 70th (+3:28.1) with four penalties (4+0) and Helen Wilson followed in 72nd (+3:28.9) with three misses (1+2).
In the youth men’s 7.5 k sprint on Friday afternoon, Russia’s Mikhail Pervushin won his third-straight race of the championships, shooting clean and finishing in 20:17.3. Italy’s Tommaso Giacomel also shot a perfect 10-for-10 to finish second (+21.9) for his first Youth Worlds medal. The Czech Republic’s Vítězslav Hornig rounded out the podium in third (+38.6) with one miss (0+1).
American Vasek Cervenka improved on his 27th place in the 12.5 k individual by finishing 24th on Friday (+1:59.2) with three penalties (1+2). He and two teammates qualified for Sunday’s 10 k pursuit, with Eli Nielsen placing 42nd (+2:51.2) with one miss (0+1), and Garrett Beckrich following in 46th (+3:01.3) with four penalties (1+3). Maxime Germain missed the top 60 in 74th (+4:33.9) with three misses (1+2).
Leo Grandbois led Canada in 33rd (+2:33.4) with three penalties (1+2). All four Canadian men qualified for the pursuit with Thomas Hulsman shooting clean for 35th (+2:35.3), Rory Gilliland finishing 52nd (+3:19.8) with one miss (0+1), and Ryan Elden placing 59th (+3:30.0) with one miss as well (1+0).
The junior women’s and men’s sprints are scheduled for Saturday, followed by the youth and junior pursuits on Sunday.
The youth men’s 3 x 7.5 k relay on Wednesday, with Norway leading, at the IBU Youth World Championships in Otepää, Estonia. (Photo: Bill Gilliland)
IBU Youth World Championships (Otepää, Estonia): Relays
Pascale Paradis racing the first leg of Canada’s youth women’s 3 x 6 k relay team on Wednesday at IBU Youth World Championships in Otepää, Estonia. (Photo: Bill Gilliland)
Tuesday and Wednesday were relay days at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth/Junior World Championships in Otepää, highlighted by two ninth-place results by the Canadian and American biathlon teams.
On Tuesday, the Canadian junior women (Emily Dickson, Nadia Moser and Megan Bankes) placed ninth in the 3 x 6-kilometer relay, 3:31.6 minutes out of first, with two penalties and 14 spares. The U.S. youth men (Vasek Cervenka, Camren Nielsen and Garrett Beckrich) finished ninth in the 3 x 7.5 k on Wednesday, +7:19.9 with three penalties and 15 spares.
Also on Wednesday, Canada finished 10th in the youth women’s 3 x 6 k with Pascale Paradis, Shilo Rousseau and Benita Peiffer (+3:35.3 with zero penalties and 11 spares). The U.S. youth women followed in 18th with Helen Wilson, Margaret Madigan and Emma Stertz (+8:24.6 with one penalty and 12 spares).
The Canadian youth men’s relay, with Rory Gilliland, Tom Hulsman and Leo Grandbois, on Wednesday at IBU Youth World Championships in Otepää, Estonia. (Photo: Bill Gilliland)
The Canadian youth men finished 16th with Rory Gilliland, Thomas Hulsman and Leo Grandbois (+9:45.5 with three penalties and 18 spares).
In the junior men’s 4 x 7.5 k relay on Tuesday, Canada finished 17th with Teo Sanchez, Angus Tweedie, Trevor Kiers, and Adam Runnalls (+10:48.7 with four penalties and 14 spares), and U.S. followed in 19th with Cody Johnson, Tim Cunningham, Camron Christiansen, and Jacob Pearson (+24:31.1 with eight penalties and 18 spares.
France won the junior women’s relay with Camille Bend, Myrtille Begue and Lou Jeanmonnot Laurent finishing in 1:02:52.1 hours with one spare and eight penalties. Norway placed second in that race, 17.5 seconds back, and Russia was third (+40.1).
Russia topped the junior men’s relay with Said Karimulla Khalili, Vasili Tomshin, Viacheslav Maleev, and Igor Malinovskii finishing in 1:25:21.2 with zero penalties and nine spares. Norway took silver(+57.1), and France earned bronze (+2:45.6).
Sweden won the youth women’s relay the following day with Amanda Lundström, Ella Halvarsson and Elvira Öberg in 1:03:19.8 with zero penalties and six spares. Öberg shot clean without any spares (0+0, 0+0) for her second gold medal in as many races after she won Monday’s 10 k individual.
She edged Finland’s Heidi Nikkinen in a photo finish, in which the two racers finished less than a tenth of a second apart, and Finland settled for silver after two penalties and 10 spares. Norway reached the podium in third (+37.0).
The Russian men prevailed again on Wednesday with Denis Tashtimerov, Andrei Viukhin, and Monday’s 12.5 k individual gold medalist, Mikhail Pervushin, winning the youth men’s relay in 1:04:51.1 with two penalties and eight spares. The Czech Republic claimed silver (+2:30.), and Norway continued its podium streak in third (+3:04.5).
Youth/Junior World Championships continue Thursday with the junior women’s 12.5 k and junior men’s 15 k individual races in Otepää.
The top-six finishers in the youth women’s 10 k individual at IBU Youth World Championships on Monday in Otepää, Estonia, with Sweden’s Karin Elvira Öberg (second from l) in first, Russia’s Anastasia Shevchenko (l) in second, Russia’s Anastasiia Goreeva (third from l) in third and Canada’s Pascale Paradis (far right) in sixth. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
(Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Canada’s Pascale Paradis and Canadian head coach Jacqueline Akerman.)
IBU Youth World Championships (Otepää, Estonia): Youth women’s and men’s individual
On Day 1 of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth/Junior World Championships in Otepää, Canada had two women finish in the top 11 of the youth women’s 10-kilometer individual race on Monday.
Canada’s Pascale Paradis racing to sixth in the youth women’s 10 k individual on Monday, the first day of 2018 IBU Youth World Championships in Otepää, Estonia. (Photo: Ian Sherrington)
Both are brand new to the Youth World Championships scene, with 15-year-old Pascale Paradis placing sixth, 1:09.2 minutes out of first, with one penalty (1+0+0+0). Also for Canada, 17-year-old Benita Peiffer shot an impressive 19-for-20 in the youth women’s longest race of the championships, missing one in prone and cleaning her remaining targets (1+0+0+0) to finish 1:43.1 out of first.
“I came to these championships with no expectations, with it being my first international race I figured I wouldn’t do great because there’s so many other great competitors in the world,” Paradis wrote in an email to FasterSkier on Monday night. “I just lined up for the start line and pretended that I was racing any normal race because if I didn’t think that I knew the nerves would get to me.”
She started in the middle of the field in bib 45 and found the conditions to be ideal: sunny, not too cold and with minimal wind.
“Right out of the start gates I had a good feeling about the day,” she recalled. “I had a restful sleep and was really nervous and excited at the same time. Though I had no idea I would do that well, I just felt good to me and that’s what made me happy. It just made me even happier to realize that I had come top ten and I was over the moon. I didn’t see that coming and I was incredibly grateful for all of those that had helped get to this stage.
“On course I felt pretty strong, I definitely didn’t feel weak but I had no idea my skiing was within some of the faster times,” Paradis added. “On the range my goal was to focus on my own race and not getting bothered by other competitors, which I usually do, and on the range I felt confident when I came in to shoot. I achieved my goal by not getting flustered by the other girls and all the other distracting sounds.”
According to Canada’s head coach and trip leader Jacqueline Akerman, the team’s head wax technician, Andrew Chilsom, informed Paradis she was in first place after the last shooting.
“She gave a little laugh and immediately picked up her pace and passed a few more competitors in her last loop, good enough to hold for a spot in the flower ceremony,” Akerman wrote.
When Paradis crossed the finish line, she was initially in second place.
“When I finished I didn’t believe that I was one of the top competitors,” Paradis wrote. “I was so dazed and tired and there was so many people around that I just couldn’t really get it into my head. So I was just extremely happy to be up there with the other top biathletes in the world, I didn’t think my result would stay like that but I was just happy to be in that position at all. I was expecting a top 60 maybe when I came here let alone top 10.”
Peiffer started 88th out of 91 in the women’s race. After cleaning the last three shooting stages, she learned what place she was fighting for on her last loop.
“It was probably a good thing I wasn’t told how I was doing until the last lap otherwise I would have gotten too excited and blown up on my last shooting bouts,” Peiffer wrote. “When I found out that I would have a chance at 11th place while I was racing I instantly skied as fast as I could and left all my energy all out on the course. Once I crossed that finish line in 11th place I was filled with satisfaction knowing that I put it all out on the course and proved to myself that I can hit those targets!
“I think the key to my solid shooting today was staying completely focused and in my bubble while shooting,” Peiffer continued. “I found it quite challenging with the amount of people around but I just focused on what I had to do to hit those targets. I also found that not thinking about my shooting too early while skiing on the course helped. I usually get too excited about what could happen and then things go sideways! Positivity is another one! Believing that I could hit those targets is what gave me confidence going into the range.”
She described the Otepäa range approach as relatively easy, which she preferred. “I really like to calm down before I start shooting,” Peiffer explained. “The range here is also not affected by the wind much which I am very pleased with!”
Sweden’s Karin Elvira Öberg, the younger sister of Olympic 15 k individual champion Hanna Öberg, won the race with 19-for-20 shooting as well (1+0+0+0), posting the fastest time at the finish of 35:35.9 minutes. And she did so on her 19th birthday.
“I was so happy for Hanna when she won, and now I win,” Öberg told the IBU on Monday.
Russia occupied the second and third steps on the podium with Anastasia Shevchenko placing second, 35.6 seconds back, with two penalties — one of which came on the last shooting stage (1+0+0+1). Anastasiia Goreeva placed third (+53.8) with three penalties (1+2+0+0).
Four Canadian women competed in the event, with Shilo Rousseau finishing 36th (+4:06.4) with three penalties (0+1+0+2), and Jenna Sherrington following in 40th (+4:22.9) with one miss (1+0+0+0).
“It was wonderful to see the whole group of young youth women who are relatively inexperienced (on the international stage) put in solid performances today,” Akerman wrote. “All of them placing in the top forty along with great shooting results is something to be very proud of! … This is credited to the great and hard working staff and supportive team we have here, as well as thier coaches and others back home who have obviously done great prep work. We have 14 family members of athletes here cheering like crazy, cowbells and flags and heys with each hit, it sure adds to the support the athletes feel. During the flower ceremony Pascale got a much louder cheer than the first placed athlete!”
Emma Stertz led the U.S. in 60th (+6:01.9) with two penalties (0+2+0+0), Helen Wilson finished 74th (+8:00.9) with five penalties (2+2+1+0), and Margaret Madigan placed 83rd (+10:53.9) and Grace Gilliland 84th (+11:26.3) with nine penalties apiece.
Russia put three in the top six of the youth men’s 12.5 k individual on Monday at 2018 IBU Youth World Championships in Otepää, Estonia, with Mikhail Pervushin (32) placing first, Andrei Viukhin (70) fourth and Denis Tashtimerove (23) sixth. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
In the youth men’s 12.5 k individual, Russia’s Mikhail Pervushin claimed the win in 37:41.2 with perfect shooting except for a single miss on the last stage (0+0+0+1). Norway’s Filip Andersen took silver (+12.3) with one penalty as well (1+0+0+0), and France’s Martin Bourgeois République claimed bronze (+47.2) with two penalties (0+1+0+1).
“I was worried before the start, but I’m happy that things turned out as they did,” Pervushin told the IBU. “Today I was aiming for clean shooting, but I did not succeed, that upset me, but I had to fight for the win. I feel good on the track, I like it – overall I’m happy.”
The defending youth world champion in the event, Canada’s Leo Grandbois placed 24th (+4:15.6) on Monday after incurring five penalties (1+1+2+1). American Vasek Cervenka finished about another 10 seconds back in 27th (+4:25.5) with six penalties (0+3+2+1).
“Leo had a solid ski race today,” Ackerman wrote. “His shooting was not there today, but knowing him he will turn that around in a hurry.’
Also for Canada, Rory Gilliland finished 47th (+6:00.1) with three misses (1+0+1+1), Thomas Hulsman was 65th (+7:35.0) with four penalties (3+1+0+0), and Ryan Elden 81st (+10:47.3) with 10 penalties.
For the U.S., Garrett Beckrich placed 48th (+6:03.9) with seven misses, Camren Nieslen was 64th (+7:21.8) with four misses (0+3+1+0), and Maxime Germain 70th (+8:15.6) with seven penalties.
The junior women’s 3 x 6 relay and junior men’s 4 x 7.5 k relays will be held Tuesday and the youth relays will follow on Wednesday.
The Norwegian youth men’s 3 x 7.5 k relay team, with (from left to right) Jørgen Krogsæter, Vebjørn Sørum and Sivert Guttorm Bakken, after winning gold at IBU Youth World Championships on Monday in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: IBU)
IBU Youth/Junior World Championships (Osrblie, Slovakia): Youth relays
The Norwegian and Russian youth men’s and women’s youth relays teams took either first or second on Monday in their last race of International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia, with Russia winning the women’s 3 x 6-kilometer relay and Norway topping the men’s 3 x 7.5 k.
The Russian youth women’s 3 x 5 k relay team, with (from left to right) Ekaterina Sannikova, Anastasiia Goreeva and Kristina Egorova, after winning gold at IBU Youth World Championships on Monday in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: IBU)
While Norway’s men’s team of Jørgen Krogsæter, Vebjørn Sørum, and Sivert Guttorm Bakken skied away from the competition for a 54.2-second win in 55:05.4, after using six spare rounds and skiing no penalties, Russia’s women’s team of Ekaterina Sannikova, Anastasiia Goreeva and Kristina Egorova pulled of an 18.3-second win in 59:43.2 despite one penalty and seven spare rounds.
In the men’s race, Russia took silver with Aleksandr Miakonkii, Ilia Novopashin and Said Karimulla Khalili, with two penalties and nine spares. Belarus achieved bronze with Kiryl Tsiuryn, Ilya Auseyenka and Dmitry Lazouski finishing 1:41.6 out of first with no penalties and eight spares.
Canada finished 15th (+6:43.8) with Thomas Hulsman, Adam Runnalls and Leo Grandbois combining for three penalties and 12 spares. Grandbois skied them up to 15th after getting tagged in 17th at the final exchange.
The U.S. men’s team followed in 18th (+8:06.7) with Vasek Cervenka, Jake Pearson and Alex Kilby combining for one penalty and 12 spares. Vasek started them off, tagging in eighth at the first exchange, before the Americans dropped to 16th, then 18th.
In the youth women’s relay, Norway took second place with Marthe Kråkstad Johansen, Marit Ishol and Mari Wetterhus using a total of just four spares to clean and avoiding the penalty lap. Italy claimed third (+1:04.8) with Samuela Comola, Irene Lardschneider and Martina Vigna combining for one penalty and just four spares as well.
The U.S. women finished 13th (+4:56.8) with Chloe Levins, Amanda Kautzer and Grace Gilliland having a total of one penalty and 11 spares. After being tagged in 14th, Kautzer skied the team into eighth on the second leg before they slipped to 13th on the final leg.
Canada finished 17th (+9:39.0) with Frédérique Pérusse, Shilo Rousseau and Anna Sellers combining for three penalties and 11 spares. The team skied up from 20th after the first exchange to 17th by the second exchange, a position they held to the finish.
IBU Youth/Junior World Championships conclude with the men’s and women’s junior relays on Tuesday.
Heidi Weng and Maiken Caspersen Fall of Norway (center) bested Yulia Belorukova and Natalia Matveeva of Russia (left) for gold in the women’s team sprint at 2017 World Championships, with Sadie Bjornsen and Jessie Diggins of the U.S. (right) outsprinting Sweden for bronze. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Classic team sprints
Defending champions Norway repeated gold in the women’s team sprint, with Heidi Weng and Maiken Caspersen Falla crossing the finish line first in Lahti, Finland. On the second-to-last loop, it looked like Russia could have something to say about that. Yulia Belorukova put in a furious sprint up the course’s biggest climb, and then beat Weng to the exchange. But her teammate Natalia Matveeva could not match the pace when Falla put on her own sprint on the last uphill. Russia finished second for silver, +5.56.
The competition for bronze was closer, with Germany, Finland, Sweden, and the United States going out of the stadium for the last loop together in chase of the Norwegian and Russian leaders. The last climb was defining in the race for bronze, with Jessie Diggins of the United States staying closest to Sweden’s Stina Nilsson. Diggins caught Nilsson on the downhill and was able to stay just ahead of the Swede to the finish, claiming bronze (+18.38) along with teammate Sadie Bjornsen. It was a return to the team sprint podium for Diggins: after winning the team sprint at 2013 World Championships with Kikkan Randall, she teamed up with Sophie Caldwell in 2015 but the pair finished eighth.
Nilsson and Ida Ingemarsdotter settled for fourth (+18.57), and the Finnish team of Aino-Kaisa Saarinen and Kerttu Niskanen finished fifth (+23.02).
The Canadian team of Cendrine Browne and Dahria Beatty was seventh in their semifinal and landed 13th overall.
In the men’s team sprint, Norway set a high pace from the beginning, with phenom Johannes Høsflot Klæbo attacking on the steep uphill every time he skied. On his second and third loops, he tagged off to Emil Iversen with gaps of just over five seconds to the rest of the field. But Iversen had a hard time holding the lead, in part because of Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov, who had won the 30 k skiathlon the day before and put in a huge effort to catch Iversen on the fourth loop of the team sprint.
On the final loop, Finland’s Iivo Niskanen bridged the gap up to Iversen, mostly on the steep uphill and then also with ski speed on the downhill. But the time the pair entered the stadium, Niskanen had caught the Norwegian and was moving with higher speed. He decided to switch tracks to overtake Iversen, but Iversen decided to switch tracks just a second later, without checking one last time to make sure the track was clear. He fell, taking out Niskanen with him.
That allowed Ustiugov and Italy’s Federico Pellegrino to go sailing by to claim gold and silver (+2.14) with their teammates Nikita Kriukov and Dietmar Noeckler. It was the second gold for Russia in the event in three World Championships; Kriukov and Alexey Petukhov won in 2013, and also took silver in 2015.
Niskanen got up and claimed bronze (+8.64 with Sami Jauhojärvi), swearing as he crossed the finish line; with a broken pole, Iversen limped across the line in fourth (+18.42). He was called to a jury meeting but ultimately no teams were disqualified because of the crash.
Erik Bjornsen of the United States won a sprint finish for fifth (+23.58) with teammate Simi Hamilton), besting Lenny Valjas (+27.02 with teammate Alex Harvey) of Canada.
FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Nordic combined 4 x 5 k team event
Germany (Björn Kircheisen, Eric Frenzel, Fabian Rießle, and Johannes Rydzek) took gold in the nordic combined 4 x 5 k team event on Sunday at Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland, while Norway placed second and Austria third. (Photo: FIS Nordic Combined/Twitter)
[UPDATED] After sweeping the first individual nordic-combined competition of 2017 Nordic World Championships on Friday, Germany achieved gold as a team, with Björn Kircheisen, Eric Frenzel, Fabian Rießle, and Johannes Rydzek winning the 4 x 5-kilometer team event in 47:57.3.
The Germans combined for the best jumping score of 11 teams and started the relay in first, 44 seconds ahead of Japan in second. Norway started 1:07 minutes back in fifth but rose to second place (+41.7), with Magnus Moan, Mikko Kokslein, Magnus Krog, and Jørgen Graabak. Moan raced them into third at the first exchange, then Kokslein secured second, which they held onto for the remaining two legs.
“It was our goal to ski a controlled race,” Germany’s Frenzel told ZDF. “Not really look at how the gap was developing, but just make our own race. And put up a little more pressure towards the end of each leg. That worked well, that was a wickedly cool team performance today. And I am just happy that we could put a little golden crown on the whole event today.”
“I think today you could see again that we all worked together and enjoyed the competition,” Rydzek added. “We were all happy about each other’s performance, and just rewarded ourselves for hard hard work.”
Austria started fourth, 1:05 behind Norway, and clinched bronze (+1:03.7) with Bernhard Gruber, Mario Seidl, Philipp Orter, and Paul Gerstgraser. Gruber initially raced them into second at the first exchange, but they relinquished one spot and hung on for third, ahead of Japan in fourth (+1:06).
Japan (Hideaki Nagai, Takehiro Watanabe, Yoshito Watabe, and Akito Watabe) jumped to second, but found themselves in fourth at every exchange.
Finland took fifth, Italy sixth, France seventh, and the U.S. eighth (+3:27.2) with Bryan Fletcher, Taylor Fletcher, Ben Berend, and Ben Loomis. The Americans started the race in seventh and were in sixth after the first two exchanges, but slipped to eighth on the third leg.
IBU Youth/Junior World Championships (Osrblie, Slovakia): Youth & junior pursuits
Four seems to be Chloe Levins’s lucky number. After a career breakthrough of fourth place in the pursuit at last year’s Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Lillehammer, Norway, the 18-year-old Vermonter raced to fourth in the youth women’s 7.5-kilometer pursuit on Sunday at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth/Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia.
Italy’s Irene Lardschneider winning the youth women’s 7.5 k pursuit on Sunday for her second-straight gold at 2017 IBU Youth World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: IBU)
Levins started the race in 11th and worked her way up to fourth with clean shooting in three stages. She missed two in the first prone but rebounded and held off Ukraine’s Khrystyna Dmytrenko by seven seconds for fourth place. Levins finished 1:55.5 minutes behind the winner, Italy’s Irene Lardschneider, who started the race first and held on for her second-straight gold medal despite four penalties (0+0+2+2), finishing in 26:57.1. France’s Lou Jeanmonnot-Laurent rose from fourth to second place with 19-for-20 shooting (0+0+1+0), and Italy’s Samuela Comola took bronze (+1:08.5) for the second-straight race with two misses (1+0+1+0).
Three U.S. women qualified for the pursuit, with Amanda Kautzer finishing 42nd (+6:16.2) after starting 59th and shooting 80 percent (1+0+2+1), and Grace Gilliland finishing 55th (+8:32.1) with six penalties (2+3+1+0).
Canada’s Shilo Rousseau followed in 54th (+9:02.1) with eight misses (3+1+2+2).
In the junior women’s 10 k pursuit, Canada’s Megan Bankes raced to 16th for the best finish for a North American in that race. The gold medalist in last week’s 12.5 k individual, Bankes finished 13th in Saturday’s sprint and thus started in that position, 1:25 out of first. She ended up 16th with four penalties (0+1+2+1) and finished 2:15.8 behind the winner, Russia’s Valeriia Vasnetcova, who started 24th and worked her way all the way up to first with clean shooting.
Vasnetcova was the only one to clean the four-stage pursuit on Sunday, and in doing so, she achieved her first gold of the championships and second of her career at Youth/Junior Worlds after her team won last year’s youth relay in Romania.
Coming off a sprint win, Italy’s Michela Carrara started first and took second at the finish, 10 seconds behind Vasnetcova with three misses (1+1+1+0). Norway’s Ingrid Tandrevold scored her second-straight medal as well, after starting second and finishing third (+10.8), with two penalties (0+0+1+1).
Canada’s Nadia Moser had her best result of the championships in 30th (+3:43.5), moving up one place after starting 31st, with three penalties (0+1+0+2). Emily Dickson finished 47th for the second-straight day (+6:29.9) with four penalties (1+0+1+2).
Siena Ellingson was the lone American to start after placing 18th in Saturday’s sprint. She finished 41st (+5:24.7) with seven misses (1+2+1+3).
In the junior men’s 12.5 k pursuit, Canada’s Pearce Hanna rocketed to 23rd after starting 47th, shooting 17-for-20 after cleaning the first two stages (0+0+1+2) for his first top 30 of the championships. Hanna finished 3:12 behind the winner, Russia’s Igor Malinovskii who picked up his second-straight gold.
Malinovskii started first and finished in 32:39.8, 13 seconds ahead of second place, with four penalties (0+1+2+1). Norway’s Sindre Pettersen took the silver medal after starting in eighth and posting the fastest course time to overcome five misses (2+1+1+1). Belarus’s Anton Smolski moved up from fourth at the start to reach the podium in third (+27.4) with five misses as well (0+0+3+2).
All four Canadian junior men qualified for the pursuit. Trevor Kiers led them in 39th (+5:13.3), after starting 48th, for his best result of the championships. Jules Burnotte placed 43rd (+5:35.3), up from 55th, for his best result as well, and Zachari Bolduc finished 57th (+8:18.3). Kiers missed five targets (2+0+1+2), Burnotte had seven misses (3+1+1+2), and Bolduc missed eight (2+3+2+1).
For the U.S., Cody Johnson finished 55th (+7:19.5) with nine penalties (2+1+2+4) and Travis Cooper 59th (+8:46.2) with eight misses (5+0+1+2).
In the youth men’s 10 k pursuit, the first race of the day on Sunday, two Canadians finished in the top 30, with Leo Grandbois in 22nd and Adam Runnalls in 27th.
For Grandbois, it was his first time outside the top 15 of the championships after he had won the youth men’s 12.5 k individual last Wednesday and finished 14th in Friday’s 7.5 k sprint. He had to ski six penalty loops on Sunday (0+2+2+2), dropping outside the top 20 after the third shooting. Grandbois finished 3:21.8 behind the winner, France’s Emilien Claude, who won the sprint as well to start the pursuit first.
Claude, who had four penalties (1+1+0+2) and finished in 29:22.4, held off Italy’s hard-charging Cedric Christille by 16 seconds after Christille shot just two penalties (0+0+1+1) to move up from fourth to second for his first medal in his first Youth World Championships. Germany’s Danilo Riethmüller rose from sixth to third place (+30.7) despite four misses (1+0+1+2). For the German, it was his second bronze of these championships after placing third in the 12.5 k individual.
Canada’s Runnalls moved up from 32nd at the start to 27th at the finish (+3:47.5) for his first top 30 of the championships. He had five penalties (1+3+1+0), but cleaned the last stage to move into the top 30.
Vasek Cervenka was the lone American to qualify in the youth men’s pursuit, and he moved up from 49th at the start to 30th (+3:52) with five penalties (1+1+1+2).
American Chloe Levins racing to 11th in Friday’s youth women’s 6 k sprint in Osrblie, Slovakia, for her best result in her third IBU Youth/Junior World Championships. It was her second top 15 of the week in Osrblie. (Photo: Erik Lewish)
Rounding the sprint course in Osrblie, Slovakia, on Friday, American Chloe Levins didn’t let her mind wander to what could be. She had cleaned her first prone stage, which put her in contention for a top 10 among the field of 92 in the youth women’s 6-kilometer sprint, and another shooting stage without a miss could mean the race of her life in her second race at the 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth World Championships.
But again, she didn’t go there. Levins, an 18-year-old Middlebury College freshman from Rutland, Vt., had already captured a Youth Worlds career best in 14th in the 10 k individual two days earlier on Wednesday. After knocking down her first three standing targets, Levins missed her fourth shot before hitting the last one. She had to ski a penalty lap, yet heading out on the final loop, she was still in contention for a top 10.
“Attaining a career-best Jr. Worlds result never crossed my mind during the race,” Levins wrote in an email after. “Before heading out on the last loop, I was completely focussed on getting my toe across the finish line as fast as I possibly could.”
An early starter in bib 9, she initially finished second to Austria’s Anna Gandler, 33.2 seconds of Gandler’s time. While the Austrian would remain on the podium and ultimately place second, Levins dropped to 11th by the end of the race, 1:39.7 behind the winner (Italy’s Irene Lardschneider) for Levins’s second-straight top 15 of the week. More importantly, it was her new career best.
“There were a lot of strong athletes that started behind me, so I maintained no result-based expectations,” Levins wrote. “It stings to see the top six within five seconds of me, but I didn’t leave anything out there.”
She was less than nine seconds out of fourth place.
“In both races so far she has been within ‘striking distance’ of the podium, which means she in the mix with some of best girls of her age,” US Biathlon assistant coach Erik Lewish wrote in an email.
Conditions haven’t been easy in Osrblie with everything from wind to rain to slush, and on Friday, racers had to manage shooting in variable winds. Fortunately for Levins, the wind was relatively calm for both her shooting stages, she wrote.
“Every race is a learning experience, and Junior Worlds is no different,” she continued. “Despite being a little frustrated with a couple shots, I took a lot of positives from Wednesday’s [individual] race. Today, I really focused on working through transitions on the track I thought I could improve upon.”
She’ll start the youth women’s 7.5 k pursuit on Sunday in 11th, 1:40 behind Lardschneider in first and just two seconds out of 10th place.
“I think Sunday’s pursuit race will play to her strengths well,” Lewish wrote. “It is a short ski loop (only 1.5k for the youth) which puts extra emphasis on the shooting and she has been shooting extremely well at these world championships, despite some challenging wind conditions.”
Chloe Levins celebrates as she crosses the Youth Olympic Games finish line in fourth place in the 7.5 k pursuit. (Photo: Al Tielemans for YIS/IOC)
“She has also been skiing well despite two days of rain and deteriorating loops conditions,” Lewish wrote. “Two years ago in Minsk at the Junior World Champs she shot clean in the sprint and finished 18th, now with one miss (and the 20th fastest ski time) she is 11th here in Osrblie, so she has improved a lot since her first world champs.
“Despite being a full-time student at Middlebury College, she still finds time to get biathlon workouts in with Algis Shalna — who introduced her to biathlon,” he added. “I think these performances here show that she is ready to make the jump to the junior category next year.”
“Studying while abroad is not easy for anyone,” Levins explained in an email earlier in the week. “Two of my other teammates, Amanda [Kautzer] and Nina [Armstrong], are also student-athletes at the collegiate level, so we spend a lot of our free time studying together. Speaking for myself, I believe having something besides sport to do during the day is healthy for a person’s preparation and mindset before any competition.”
Asked about her goals for Sunday’s pursuit, she emphasized that she’d be focusing on Saturday first.
“Overall, I’m feeling confident and relaxed,” she wrote. “The focus right now is on tomorrow [Saturday], and tomorrow is all about recovery. It’s biathlon; everything is possible.”
After starting 17th, Lardschneider won the race by a resounding 1:06.5 minutes with 19-for-20 shooting (0+1), just like Levins. She knocked Gandler to second, where Gandler would remain after shooting one penalty as well (0+1). Italy’s second skier on the podium, Samuela Comola was one of two women to clean the two-stage race, and she finished 1:18.1 back in third. (Finland’s Maija Keränen also shot clean for 13th.)
Lardschneider will start the pursuit with 1:07 minute ahead of Gandler, and Comola will follow 11 seconds later. After that, the fourth starter, Slovenia’s Tais Vozel, will lead a group of eight women all starting within nine seconds of one another, 1:31 behind Lardschneider.
Also qualifying for the 60-woman pursuit, Canada’s Shilo Rousseau placed 45th (+4:08.0) in the sprint with three penalties (0+3). Three Americans qualified as well, with Grace Gilliland finishing 55th (+4:35.2) with four misses (1+3) and Amanda Kautzer 59th (+4:42.7) with six penalties (3+3) on Friday.
The fourth U.S. woman, Helen Wilson missed the top-60 requirement in 67th (+5:10.0) with four misses (2+2).
Canada’s Frédérique Pérusse finished 73rd (+5:48.2) with four misses (1+3), Anna Sellers was 82nd (+6:47.2) with six penalties (4+2), and Élise Sauvé was 86th (+7:41.7) with six misses (3+3) as well.
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Canada’s Leo Grandbois racing to 14th in the youth men’s 7.5 k sprint on Friday in Osrblie, Slovakia, for his second-best result at his first IBU Youth World Championships after winning the 12.5 k individual two days earlier. (Photo: Jacqueline Akerman)
In the youth men’s 7.5 k sprint on Friday, Leo Grandbois — Canada’s gold medalist in the 12.5 k individual two days earlier — finished 14th, 1:52.9 out of first with three penalties (1+2). With the 10th-fastest overall course time, he was able to recover from skiing around 30th with two loops to go. Despite two misses in standing, he left the range with the 14th-ranked split and held that position to the finish.
“Because I won the last race, I felt the obligation to repeat this performance,” Grandbois, 17, wrote in an email afterward. “Otherwise I would not be as happy, even if I would have done a top 5.”
He didn’t feel as good as he had in Wednesday’s individual and recalled “suffering” on the last loop. Considering he wasn’t at his best, Grandbois noted that 14th place was “quite good.”
“I think it just says that I am quite strong even [during] a bad race,” he added. “For the pursuit, I am looking forward to earning positions. I am starting 1 min 53 sec back, and 1 min [8] sec back from the podium. It is long way there but I don’t want to make the mistakes I did last race.”
Leading the youth men out in Sunday’s 10 k pursuit will be France’s Emilien Claude, who won the sprint in 20:18.3. He started 25th and bumped Ukraine’s Serhiy Telen, the 10th starter, out of first by 25.2 seconds. Claude shot two misses (1+1) but overcame them with the fastest course time. Telen held onto silver after one standing miss (0+1) after Norway’s Sivert Guttorm Bakken in bib 39 finished third, 19.4 seconds off his time and 44.6 seconds behind Claude, with two penalties (1+1). For the second-straight race, Italy’s Cedric Christille narrowly missed a medal in fourth place (+52.0) after two standing penalties (0+2).
In the pursuit, Claude will start 25 seconds before Telen and 45 seconds ahead of Bakken. Grandbois will start with Russia’s Said Karimulla Khalili, who placed 13th in the sprint (and second in the individual), and just 3 seconds behind Switzerland’s Niklas Hartweg in 12th. Ahead of them, it’s another eight seconds to 11th place.
Also qualifying for the pursuit are Canada’s Adam Runnalls, who placed 32nd (+2:46.8) in the sprint despite five misses (3+2), and American Vasek Cervenka, who finished 49th (+3:37.1) with six penalties (4+2).
As for the other three U.S. starters, Alex Kilby was 69th (+4:47.4) with three misses (1+2), Jacob Pearson 76th (+5:07.1) with five penalties (2+3), and Camren Nielsen 82nd (+5:18.8) with five misses as well (3+2).
Canada’s Robert Kreitz finished 84th (+5:37.2) with five penalties (1+4) and Thomas Hulsman was 87th (+5:58.6) with six misses (3+3).
Germany’s Johannes Rydzek celebrates his win in the first nordic-combined competition of 2017 Nordic World Championships on Friday in Lahti, Finland. He won the individual normal hill/10 k by 14.9 seconds over his teammate Eric Frenzel. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Nordic Combined individual normal hill/10 k
Germany, Germany, Germany, Germany. That’s how the results read after the first nordic combined competition of the 2017 Nordic World Championships on Friday in Lahti, Finland, with Germany not only sweeping the podium but the top four of the men’s individual normal hill/10-kilometer Gundersen start.
Germany swept the podium in the first nordic-combined competition of 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland, with Johannes Rydzek (c) taking gold, Eric Frenzel (1) silver, and Björn Kircheisen (8) bronze in the individual normal hill/10 k Gundersen on Friday. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Johannes Rydzek notched his second individual gold medal in the last two championships (after winning the normal hill/10 k in 2015 in Falun, Sweden), with a 14.9-second victory over his teammate and four-time defending overall World Cup champion Eric Frenzel. Björn Kircheisen completed the all-German podium in third (+30.0), holding off teammate Fabian Rießle by 2.2 seconds for bronze.
The 25-year-old Rydzek, who’s already won eight individual World Cup competitions this season, jumped to second on Friday and started the 10 k race 14 seconds behind Frenzel, the leader after the jump.
Rydzek overtook Frenzel for the win and 33-year-old Kircheisen moved up from eighth after the jump to third at the finish. Rießle held off Japan’s Akito Watabe by 0.1 seconds in a photo finish for fourth.
“Incredible. An incredibly beautiful day,” Rydzek told German broadcaster ZDF after. “Thanks to everyone who supported me so much throughout the last years so that this became possible now. Thanks also to my teammates, who I think all did a cool job today. All three guys and the whole surrounding team. And as for the race, I felt strong, I knew the slow-and-difficult course suits me well. And that I was able to conduct the race from in front … incredible. Just craziness.”
“I noticed that Johannes was just strong on the course today,” Frenzel, 28, told ZDF. “Actually we already noticed that at the World Cup in January here, that he is really moving well here. I, for my part, gave everything I had, and can only congratulate him for the strong competition he made today. He won deservedly. And I am also satisfied with my race.”
American Bryan Fletcher leading Japan’s Yoshito Watabe early in the men’s 10 k Gundersen start in the first nordic-combined competition of 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland. Fletcher went on to place 14th and Yoshito Watabe 44th. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Bryan Fletcher led the Americans in 14th (+47.4) after crashing out of contention in the final 200 meters of the race. He had been in contention for a medal, skiing in a pack with Kircheisen, Rießle and Watabe, among others, all fighting for bronze. Fletcher fell on the final corner to ultimately miss the podium by 17.4 seconds. He jumped to 16th and started the ski race 56 seconds out of first.
“I knew it was going to be a hard cross-country race because it was so tight and pack racing is always so difficult,” Fletcher said, according to a U.S. Ski Team press release. “You’re not only fighting for position, but anything can happen. That’s exactly what happened to me today. I did really well in the pack and when I thought I had it locked up, I let my guard down and slipped out on a corner.”
His younger brother Taylor Fletcher posted the third-fastest cross-country time to race from 47th after the jump to 21st at the finish (+1:38.4). Adam Loomis placed 33rd (+2:23.6) after jumping to 39th, and Ben Berend finished 41st (+3:10.8) after posting the 22nd-best jump out of 55.
Canada’s Nathaniel Mah, of the Altius Nordic Ski Club in Calgary, jumped to 41st but did not finish the 10 k race.
The next nordic-combined event at Lahti Worlds, the 4 x 5 k team event, will be contested Sunday.
American Bryan Fletcher (16) after finishing 14th in the normal hill/10 k Gundersen on Friday, the first nordic-combined competition of 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland. He had been in the hunt for a medal but crashed on the final corner coming into the stadium. Behind him, Austria’s David Pommer finished 16th. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
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IBU Youth/Junior World Championships (Osrblie, Slovakia): Youth men’s and women’s sprints
Italy had two on the podium of the youth women’s 6 k sprint on Friday at IBU Youth World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia, with Irene Lardschneider (c) in first, Samuela Comola (r) in third, and Austria’s Anna Gandler (l) taking second place. (Photo: IBU)
[UPDATED] Italy’s Irene Lardschneider dominated the youth women’s 6-kilometer sprint competition on Friday at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia, finishing 1:06.5 minutes faster than anyone else in 19:48.3 with 9-for-10 shooting. Lardschneider started 17th and led from start to finish despite one miss in her standing stage (0+1). She posted the fastest course time of 92 finishers for gold — her first medal in her first Youth World Championships. She previously raced at last year’s Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Lillehammer, Norway, where she earned a bronze medal with the mixed relay and placed 14th in the pursuit.
Also in the 2016 YOG pursuit, American Chloe Levins placed fourth for her best international finish. Racing at her third Youth Worlds on Friday, Levins finished 11th in the sprint to lead the North Americans. Like Lardschneider, Levins cleaned prone and missed one in standing (0+1) to finish 1:39.7 back from the win. For Levins, it was her second top 15 in as many races at these championships, after placing 14th in the youth women’s 10 k individual on Wednesday.
Sharing the podium with Lardschneider, Austria’s Anna Gandler placed second (+1:06.5) with one penalty (0+1), and Italy had two on the podium with Samuela Comola in third (+1:18.1). Comola was one of two women to clean the two-stage race; the other being Finland’s Maija Keränen in 13th (+1:40.9).
Shilo Rousseau led Canada in 45th (+4:08.0) with three penalties (0+3). Frédérique Pérusse finished 73rd (+5:48.2) with four misses (1+3), Anna Sellers was 82nd (+6:47.2) with six penalties (4+2), and Elise Sauve was 86th (+7:41.7) with six misses (3+3) as well.
For the U.S., Grace Gilliland placed 55th (+4:35.2) with four misses (1+3), Amanda Kautzer was 59th (+4:42.7) with six penalties (3+3) and Helen Wilson 67th (+5:10.0) with four misses (2+2).
The youth men’s 7.5 k sprint at 2017 IBU Youth World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia, with France’s Emilien Claude (c) in first, Ukraine’s Serhiy Telen (l) in second, and Norway’s Sivert Guttorm Bakken (r) in third. (Photo: IBU)
In the youth men’s 7.5 k sprint, France’s Emilien Claude put down the fastest course time to over two penalties for the win, besting Ukraine’s Serhiy Telen who started ahead of him, by 25.2 seconds.
Claude missed one shot in each stage (1+1) and finished in 20:18.3, bumping Telen to second where he would remain after shooting one penalty (0+1). Norway’s Sivert Guttorm Bakken reached the podium in third (+44.6) despite two misses (1+1) and for the second-straight race, Italy’s Cedric Christille narrowly missed a medal in fourth (+52.0) after two standing penalties (0+2).
Coming off a gold medal in the youth men’s 12.5 k individual, Canada’s Leo Grandbois finished 14th (+1:52.9) on Friday to lead the North Americans. He had to ski three penalty loops (1+2) and posted the 10th-fastest course time of 99 finishers.
Also for Canada, Adam Runnalls placed 32nd (+2:46.8) despite five misses (3+2), Robert Kreitz was 84th (+5:37.2) with five penalties (1+4) as well, and Thomas Hulsman 87th (+5:58.6) with six misses (3+3).
For the U.S., Vasek Cervenka finished 49th (+3:37.1) with six penalties (4+2), Alex Kilby was 69th (+4:47.4) with three misses (1+2), Jacob Pearson 76th (+5:07.1) with five penalties (2+3), and Camren Nielsen 82nd (+5:18.8) with five misses as well (3+2).
Youth/Junior World Championships continue Saturday with the junior men’s and women’s sprints.
Canada’s Leo Grandbois (Biathlon Estrie) racing to gold in his first IBU Youth World Championships race on Wednesday, the 12.5 k individual, in Brezno-Osrblie, Slovakia. He hit all of his targets for the first time in a race to win by nearly a minute and 15 seconds. In doing so, he became the third Canadian biathlete to win gold at Youth World Championships. (Photo: IBU)
It was raining hard on Wednesday at the biathlon stadium in Brezno-Osrblie, Slovakia. Like, cats and dogs, “des grenouilles” (frogs, in French), or “junge Hunde” (puppies, in German).
But that didn’t stop Leo Grandbois, a German-born Canadian biathlete racing at his first International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth World Championships, from having the race of his life.
Grandbois, 17, who was born in Munich and lived there for a year before moving to Lennoxville, Quebec, was one of four youth men named to Biathlon Canada’s Youth/Junior World Championships team. Wednesday marked his first 12.5-kilometer individual race in the youth division, and he explained after that his success derived from his focus — and his skis.
“The range had a bit of wind and the tracks were really wet, but I had really good skis,” Grandbois wrote in an email after.
The ninth starter out of more than 100 in the youth men’s race, Grandbois was the only one to knock down all 20 of his targets. He had never cleaned a race before, and he did it in a four-stage race. Without any one-minute penalties added to his total time (there are no penalty loops in individual races, just time penalties for each miss), he clocked the fastest time at the finish in 32:56.6 minutes. That time stood while nearly 90 others finished after him, with nobody coming within a minute of his time.
The youth men’s 12.5 k individual podium after the first race of 2017 IBU Youth/Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia, with Canada’s Léo Grandbois in first (c), Russia’s Said Karimulla Khalili (l) in second, and Germany’s Danilo Riethmüller (r) in third. (Photo: Airat Aitniakov)
Russia’s Said Karimulla Khalili started in bib 2 and enjoyed a brief moment as race leader, before Grandbois bested his time by 1:14.9 minutes. Khalili took the silver medal despite three penalties (1+0+1+1), and Germany’s Danilo Riethmüller captured bronze (+1:21.5) with three penalties as well (2+1+0+0). Besides Grandbois, who shot 100 percent, only one racer shot 95 percent: Italy’s Cedric Christille in fourth place (+1:44.5; 1+0+0+0).
“I always go for the win when I race,” Grandbois wrote. “But I was aiming a top 10.”
With the victory, Grandbois became the third Canadian to win a gold medal at Biathlon Youth World Championships, according to a Biathlon Canada press release. Kurtis Wenzel, of Calgary, is a two-time world champion: first in the 2009 youth sprint and later in the 2012 junior individual. Jean-Philippe “JP” Le Guellec, who previously coached Grandbois, started the trend by winning the 2004 Youth Worlds sprint.
“Before I came here I looked at JP’s results on the internet, and read in the newspaper about his win in 2004,” Grandbois told Biathlon Canada. “It has always been my goal to be like him so to follow that path and do what he did is an amazing feeling.
“The nicest message I received today was from JP,” he continued. “He told me how proud he was of me and to keep working hard. I have been smiling since I received that message.”
And it wasn’t just the shooting that went exceptionally well for Grandbois on Wednesday; he posted the third-fastest ski time. In an email to FasterSkier, he explained that the hilly course in Osrblie suits him. “My kind of course,” he wrote.
“Everything was perfect for me today, I was focused on the range and tried to do like at training,” he explained. “I had some great legs, too!”
He told Biathlon Canada that he had worked on improving his shooting over the last three weeks.
“When I went to bed last night and woke up today, I just had a good feeling I could do something great today,” he said. “I had complete focus and concentration on the range. The hard work over the last few weeks in training really worked today.”
Leo Grandbois (9) with his support crew, including wax techs Andrew Chisholm (l) and Andrzej Lesnik (second from r) and Canada’s head coach Jacqueline Akerman (r), after Grandbois won gold in the 12.5 k individual on the first race of his first IBU Youth World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: Airat Aitniakov)
In a post-race interview with Junior IBU Cup media, he thanked his supporters: “I want to thank first my coaches at home, my parents who always supported me and all the team who did a great job for the race, the skis, thank you.”
When FasterSkier asked what this gold medal means to him, he explained it came down to all the passion and training he had put in.
“I am probably the most happy man on earth today!” he wrote.
Last year at Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Lillehammer, Norway, Grandbois finished 22nd in the sprint, 25th in the pursuit and 16th in the mixed relay, a team event. At his first Youth World Championships, he said the field was bigger in comparison.
According to Biathlon Canada High Performance Director Eric de Nys, Grandbois has been on the national team’s radar for a few years. Biathlon Canada started a Shooting Stars program this season and Grandbois was one of 16 athletes invited to “train, test and develop” with the national team.
“Trajectory wise it identifies both a good skier and fantastic shooter under pressure,” de Nys observed of Grandbois’s performance on Wednesday. “This was Leo’s first time shooting clean and to do it a Worlds…..awesome. Extremely happy for Leo and his support in QC.”
Cervenka, Levins Land Top 20
Leading the U.S. men on Wednesday was Vasek Cervenka, who has spent the better part of the last two seasons training in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. The Boulder, Colo., native (who lives in Grand Rapids, Minn.) raced to 16th (+4:19.5) with five penalties (0+2+2+1).
In his second Youth Worlds, his goals coming into the opening individual race had been to hit all of his targets and ski technically well. Placement-wise, he wanted a top 10.
“The conditions were good in the morning, but a light rain started one and a half hours before the race and has continued the rest of the day,” Cervenka explained. “This made the course tricker over time as it was slowing down the skiing quite a bit. The rain also interfered with the shooting on the range.
“I am a little disappointed today in my shooting knowing I can do better, also knowing a clean shooting would have brought me up to 2nd place,” he continued. “I felt good skiing but bonked on my last two loops.”
After he cleaned the first prone stage, Cervenka’s time ranked third. One loop later, with two misses in the first standing stage, his split ranked 10th, which dropped to 23rd after the third stage. He recovered to 18th by the start of his last loop, and ultimately finished 16th for his best non-relay result at his second Youth Worlds. Last year at YOG, Cervenka had a previous best result of 20th in the pursuit.
“As happy as I am with my improvements from last year to post this top 20, it still stings for me to miss a few shots too many, knowing where I could have placed if they went down,” he wrote.
Also for the U.S., Jacob Pearson finished 49th (+7:45.3) with four misses (0+2+0+2), Alex Kilby was 75th (+9:51.1) with five penalties (1+0+1+3), and Camren Nielsen 91st (+14:36.9) with 11 misses (3+4+2+2).
Canada’s Adam Runnalls finished 41st (+7:04.8) with eight penalties (1+2+4+1) and Thomas Hulsman was 57th (+8:19.0) with five misses (2+0+2+1). Robert Kreitz did not finish.
Also on Wednesday, the youth women opened the championships with the 10 k individual, where American Chloe Levins raced 14th with three penalties (1+1+1+0). France’s Lou Jeanmonnot-Laurent shot 19-for-20 (0+1+0+0) to win the race in 34:00.9, and Levins finished 3:05.6 minutes off her winning time. None of the 90 women who finished the race shot clean.
For Levins, a Middlebury student-athlete who plays collegiate golf in the fall and the spring, 14th was her best non-relay result at her third Youth Worlds.
“Everything is possible, especially in an individual race,” she wrote in an email after. “The range is windy here in Osrblie, so good shooting is rewarded. … There’s no funny business on the track in Osrblie. It’s straight up, straight down, and flat into the range. The course demands power and strength, which I think is an advantage for me.
“Today, it was important not to let the weather get in your way,” she added. “Sometimes it’s difficult to feel excited and fresh when it’s pouring rain, as it was today; those who shut it out of their mind are usually better off. Despite the conditions, our wax technicians prepared very good skis that moved really quickly through the saturated snow.”
“It is difficult to judge from one race, but the level of competition at this year’s Youth World Championships compared to last year’s Youth Olympic Games seems very similar,” she observed. “There are many familiar faces, and today there were even some repeating champions. I’m comfortable with the level of competition.”
Moving forward to three more races in Osrblie (the sprint, pursuit and relay), Levins explained she took a lot of positives from Wednesday.
“It’s not my best biathlon competition ever, but it’s certainly not my worst,” she wrote. “It’s a short way from the bottom to the top in this game, so I’m happy to have stayed above ground today. The result is fine, but I’m more happy to be able to say I did good work today.”
Asked what she’s studying at Middlebury, Levins explained that she’s started pursuing neuroscience and economics “with a little bit of German for fun. My German professor loves that I have the opportunity to converse with native German speakers on a daily basis,” she wrote.
(When Grandbois was asked if he speaks German, he replied, “Yes … but not perfect.”)
Sharing the podium with Jeanmonnot-Laurent was Russia’s Kristina Egorova in second (+52.4) with one standing miss as well (0+1+0+0). Sweden’s Elvira Karin Öberg notched bronze (+1:16.1) with two penalties (0+0+1+1).
Also for the U.S., Grace Gilliland finished 46th (+6:28.9) with four penalties (1+1+1+1), Amanda Kautzer was 53rd (+7:14.3) with eight misses (2+1+4+1), and Helen Wilson was 62nd (+9:00.5) with six penalties (1+2+2+1).
Canada’s Shilo Luca Rousseau finished 54th (+7:29.9) with five misses (2+0+1+2), Frédérique Pérusse was 77th (+11:54.6) with nine penalties (1+4+1+3), and Elise Sauve 78th (+12:07.1) with seven misses (2+2+2+1).
IBU Youth/Junior World Championships continue Thursday with the opening junior competitions: the women’s 12.5 k and men’s 15 k individual.
The Canadian flag flying high above the biathlon stadium in Osrblie, Slovakia, after Leo Grandbois won the youth men’s 12.5 k individual, the first race of 2017 IBU Youth/Junior World Championships. Russia took second and Germany third. (Photo: Terri Dickson)
The youth men’s 12.5 k individual podium after the first race of 2017 IBU Youth/Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia, with Canada’s Léo Grandbois in first (c), Russia’s Said Karimulla Khalili (l) in second, and Germany’s Danilo Riethmüller (r) in third. (Photo: IBU Junior Cup/Twitter)
IBU Youth/Junior World Championships (Osrblie, Slovakia): Youth individual races
In his first race of his first International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth World Championships, Canada’s 17-year-old Léo Grandbois became a world champion.
Grandbois started ninth and raced to first in the youth men’s 12.5-kilometer individual on Wednesday, finishing in 32:56.6 minutes, a time that stood up as nearly a minute and 15 seconds faster than anyone else.
Out of 98 finishers, Grandbois was the only racer to hit all 20 targets in the four-stage race at the biathlon venue at Brezno-Osrblie, Slovakia. He had never cleaned a race before, and he did it in the longest-format race on the youth circuit.
He shared the podium with Russian silver medalist Said Karimulla Khalili, who finished 1:14.9 back with three penalties (1+0+1+1), and Germany’s Danilo Riethmüller in third (+1:21.5) with three penalties as well (2+1+0+0).
For Grandbois, who was born in Germany and raised in Quebec, his previous best international (non-relay) result was 22nd in the sprint at 2016 Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. There, he also placed 25th in the pursuit and 16th with the mixed relay.
In a email to FasterSkier late last week, he explained that he had been targeting the sprint.
“I want to thank first my coaches at home, my parents who always supported me and all the team who did a great job for the race, the skis, thank you,” he told the IBU Junior Cup media.
Also on Wednesday, American Vasek Cervenka, who trains with the Nove Mesto biathlon team, raced to 16th (+4:19.5) with five penalties (0+2+2+1). Also for the U.S., Jacob Pearson finished 49th (+7:45.3) with four misses (0+2+0+2), Alex Kilby 75th (+9:51.1) with five penalties (1+0+1+3), and Camren Nielsen 91st (+14:36.9) with 11 misses (3+4+2+2).
Canada’s Adam Runnalls finished 41st (+7:04.8) with eight penalties (1+2+4+1) and Thomas Hulsman was 57th (+8:19.0) with five misses (2+0+2+1).
[UPDATED] In the youth women’s 10 k individual that followed, American Chloe Levins recorded her best non-relay result at her third Youth Worlds, placing 14th with three penalties (1+1+1+0). She finished 3:05.6 minutes behind the winner, France’s Lou Jeanmonnot-Laurent, who shot 19-for-20 (0+1+0+0) and finished with the fastest time of 34:00.9.
Russia’s Kristina Egorova placed second, 52.4 seconds off the win, with identical shooting (0+1+0+0), and Sweden’s Elvira Karin Öberg notched bronze (+1:16.1) with two penalties (0+0+1+1).
Also for the U.S., Grace Gilliland finished 46th (+6:28.9) with four penalties (1+1+1+1), Amanda Kautzer was 53rd (+7:14.3) with eight misses (2+1+4+1), and Helen Wilson was 62nd (+9:00.5) with six penalties (1+2+2+1).
Canada’s Shilo Luca Rousseau finished 54th (+7:29.9) with five misses (2+0+1+2), Frédérique Pérusse was 77th (+11:54.6) with nine penalties (1+4+1+3), and Elise Sauve 78th (+12:07.1) with seven misses (2+2+2+1).
American Vasek Cervenka (front right) racing at 2016 Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. (Courtesy photo)
In another 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes that will be competing at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia.
Here’s 18-year-old Vasek Cervenka, of Grand Rapids, Minn., who will be representing the U.S. at his second Youth Worlds. Last year, Cervenka spent the winter of 2015/2016 training in the Czech Republic, and he’s been there since January of this year (with plans to stay until mid-April).
“My full name is Vaclav Cervenka but you can call me Vasek (VAH-SHEK). I was born in Boulder, Colo., and raised in Grand Rapids, Minn. I started cross-country skiing when I was able to walk, parents say 9 months old, and started biathlon when I was 13, thanks to my parents.
I currently train in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, and Grand Rapids, Minn., with the Nove Mesto biathlon team or with Jakob Ellingson and Vladimir Cervenka.
U.S. teammates Vasek Cervenka (l) and Cam Christiansen at the Junior IBU Cup #3 in Pokljuka, Slovenia. (Courtesy photo)
If I’m not skiing, you might find me drinking tea watching ‘Rick and Morty’ or ‘Game of Thrones’.
If I had to pick a favorite book, it would be ‘The Adventures of Captain Underpants’ by Dave Pilkey.
One of the things I’m most excited about for Youth/Junior World Championships in Brezno-Osrblie is meeting pretty foreign girls 🙂 (SC – vashiggy_21)
This will be my second Youth/Junior World Championships, and this year, I’m competing as a youth. One race I’m especially targeting there is the 12.5 k individual.
The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing or racing was ‘Don’t give a s**t about anyone else racing, focus on yourself.’
One of the best race memories I have is the 2016 Youth Olympic games 10 k pursuit.
If I could meet one World Cup biathlete, it would be Martin Fourcade.
If I don’t end up being a professional skier, I’ll probably be colonizing Mars (sponsor me Elon Musk).
I’m missing zero days of school to be here, and my teachers/professors are probably thinking, ‘Good call doing online school.’
The youth men’s sprint podium on Dec. 28 in Jericho was (l to r) Jake Pearson, Vasek Cervenka and Eli Nielsen. Cervenka topped every race at Youth and Junior Biathlon Trials. (Photo: USBA)
The United States Biathlon Association (USBA) held three days of youth and junior biathlon trials racing in Jericho, Vermont, January 28-30. At the end of the series, USBA named this year’s team to Youth and Junior World Championships.
The competitions are slated for February. But the location is pending. The Championships were scheduled to be held in Ostrov, Russia, but the event was stripped from Russia due to allegations of state-sponsored doping and manipulation of anti-doping samples at other competitions previously held in the country.
Vasek Cervenka of Mount Itasca was the most successful athlete of the week. Cervenka, a youth competitor (under 19), nevertheless topped all men — including the junior racers (under 21). Cameron Christiansen of Nisswa NW finished 20 seconds back, besting the junior men’s field.
Cervenka then extended his lead in the next day’s pursuit. Cody Johnson of the Outdoor Sports Institute passed Christiansen to finish 31.1 seconds behind Johnson and take the junior win.
On day three it was back to sprint racing with Cervenka taking another vicotry, this time a 10.9-second win over Travis Cooper of National Guard Biathlon.
In the opening women’s sprint, Amanda Kautzer of Loppet Nordic Racing took the win. Like Cervenka, Kautzer is a youth but also topped the junior field. Hannah Streinz of the Outdoor Sports Institute placed second (+42.2) and the top junior.
But in the pursuit fellow youth Chloe Levins of Mountain Top Nordic raced to the front with only two penalties, besting Lexie Madigan of the Auburn Ski Club – who also had just two penalties – by 1:35.4. Nina Armstrong of Harvard College, the top junior, finished +4:54.2 with 11 penalties.
Then in the last day’s sprint, Madigan topped Levins by 15.5 seconds, with Armstrong again the top junior, +1:24.9.
USBA also named the athletes for the IBU Junior Cup (January 26-29 in Pokljuka, Slovenia) and the IBU Junior European Championships (February 1-5 in Nove Mesto Na Morave, Czech Republic). The women’s team will be Ellingson, Levins, and Kautzer, and Cervenka, Christiansen, Cooper, and Johnson will comprise the men’s team.
Youth and Junior World Championships team nominations
Youth Women
Chloe Levins (Rutland, Vt./Mountain Top Nordic Ski Club)
Amanda Kautzer (Plymouth, Minn./Loppet Nordic Racing/Michigan)
Lexie Madigan* (Truckee, Calif./Auburn Ski Club)
Grace Gilliland (Eagle River, Alaska/Alaska Biathlon)
Helen Wilson** (Eagle River, Alaska/Anchorage Biathlon Club)
*Lexie Madigan is below the age described in the IBU Rules and is awaiting confirmation for her participation.
**Helen Wilson is named as First Alternate to the team in the event that any member is not able to participate.
Youth Men
Vasek Cervenka (Grand Rapids, Minn./Mt. Itasca)
Jake Pearson (Casper, Wyo./Casper Mountain Biathlon Club)
Alex Kilby (Anchorage, Alaska/Alaska Winter Stars)
Eli Nielsen (Stehekin, Wash./Methow Valley Biathlon)
Junior Women
Siena Ellingson (Minnetonka, Minn./Loppet Nordic Racing)
Hannah Streinz (Hersey, Maine/Outdoor Sports Institute)
Nina Armstrong (Lake Placid, N.Y./Harvard College)
Junior Men
Cameron Christiansen (Pequot Lake, Minn./NNW)
Travis Cooper (Kenai, Alaska/National Guard Biathlon)
Cody Johnson (Fort Kent, Maine/Outdoor Sports Institute)
Peter Carroll (Truckee, Calif./Auburn Ski Club Biathlon Team)
The start of Wednesday’s single mixed relay at the Birkebeineren Biathlon Stadium during the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer Norway, with Chloe Levins of the U.S. at the far left. (Photo: Arnt Folvik for YIS/IOC)
Out of 27 teams, the U.S. found itself in second at the final exchange of the first-ever biathlon single mixed relay held at the Youth Olympic Games on Wednesday in Lillehammer, Norway. That was quite the rush for two 17-year-old Americans.
“Getting tagged off in 2nd just behind a couple seconds behind Norway was surreal,” U.S. anchor Vasek Cervenka described in an email.
In the biathlon pursuit two days earlier, Cervenka, a Czech Republic native who lives in Boulder, Colo., raced to 20th with 19-for-20 shooting. His teammate in the single mixed relay on Wednesday, Chloe Levins cleaned the four-stage pursuit and placed fourth.
“Biathlon is similar to golf in that the main goal is to try to be in contention coming into the last stage (or round),” Levins, who skied the first and third legs for the U.S., wrote in an email. “During that last stage (or round), however, whatever happens is only partially in your control. Autopilot comes on, time takes over, and whatever happens is very difficult to control.”
In the single mixed relay, each competitor rounded the 1.5-kilometer course six times — three times on each leg. They stopped to shoot twice during each leg (first prone, then standing). Misses could be remedied by using up to three spare rounds, but beyond those spares, an athlete had to ski 75-meter penalty loops for the number of targets they failed to clean.
U.S. biathlete Chloe Levins racing in the single mixed relay at the 2016 Youth Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. With teammate Vasek Cervenka (not shown), the duo went on to place sixth. (Photo: Arnt Folvik for YIS/IOC)
Levins tagged Cervenka for the fourth-and-last leg, 2.2 seconds behind Norway and 1 second ahead of France in third. She had used a total of four spares throughout her four shooting stages and avoided the penalty lap (0+1, 0+0; 0+1, 0+2).
“The start of the relay was very crowded,” Levins recalled. “Nevertheless, extremely fast skis and the use of just one extra round helped me navigate through some of the other competitors.”
At the first exchange, she tagged Cervenka in seventh, 24 seconds behind China in first. Cervenka then cleaned his prone and used one spare in standing to tag Levins in fourth, 12.5 seconds behind Finland — which had moved into the lead. Meanwhile, China dropped to 10th with two penalty loops in the standing stage of that leg.
“Vasek’s excellent shooting in his first leg put us in fourth, and set me up for a very exciting second round,” Levins explained. “During my second leg, I had more room to ski my own pace on the course. After using one extra round in the prone stage, I left the range with the leader in sight. I am a little frustrated that it took me two extra rounds to hit my miss in the last standing stage, but some mistakes by some of the more competitive nations opened the door for us to move into second position after my second leg.”
On the last two legs, China hit all of its targets to recover from 10th into fourth, and then finally first at the finish. Fanqi Meng and Zhenyu Zhu claimed gold in 41:35.4, just two-tenths of a second ahead of Norway in second and 14.9 seconds ahead of Russia in third.
The anchor legs for Norway, France, Russia, Germany, and the U.S. (Cervenka), used three spares apiece in their final standing stages. France also had a penalty, Germany had two penalties, and Cervenka had to ski a penalty loop as well after the last stage. That put the U.S. in sixth at the finish, 53.8 seconds behind the winners, with a total of one penalty and eight spares (0+0, 0+1; 0+0, 1+3 for Cerkenva).
Ukraine’s Serhiy Telen (l) leads Vasek Cervenka of the U.S. (c) and Finland’s Tuomas Harjula (r) around a turn in the single mixed relay at the 2016 Youth Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. (Photo: Jed Leicester for YIS/IOC)
“It is too bad that I couldn’t clean my last standing shooting,” wrote Cervenka, who turned 17 earlier this month. “We would of had a really great shot at a medal. I was pretty satisfied with our results in the end. All the guys in the top 6 had a solid half a foot in height on me and were overall stronger skiers. I am so proud of Chloe for her performance today, she is awesome.”
Just 0.2 seconds from gold, Norway took silver with Marthe Johansen and Fredrik Qvist Bucher-Johannessen, with a total of one penalty and 12 spares. Russia earned bronze with Ekaterina Ponedelko and Egor Tutmin, with three penalties and 13 spares. France was fourth (+30.2) with Lou Jeanmonnot-Laurent and Emilien Claude combining for three penalties and eight spares, and Germany (Juliane Frühwirt/Danilo Riethmüller) finished fifth (+53.8), about five seconds ahead of there U.S., with one penalty and eight spares.
“Today’s race was a great learning experience for Vasek and myself,” Levins wrote. “We are satisfied and thankful for all of the work and encouragement our coaches do and give to us during every race. We may not have made the podium, but I think we had the most fun today!”
“I was pretty satisfied with our results in the end,” Cervenka wrote. “Thanks to my parents, coaches, teammates, and wax techs for tons of support and wicked fast skis.”
Canada finished 13th (+3:23.0) with Tekarra Banser and Ben Churchill combining for two penalties and 10 spares. The anchor, Churchill cleaned three of four stages, using just one spare in his second prone stage (0+0, 0+0; 0+1, 0+0).
“This was an excellent opportunity for us to try and do some damage among the field in a new event,” Churchill said in a Biathlon Canada press release. “It was a lot of fun to try and pace myself well through both legs, stay warm in the interim, and keep my cool mentally no matter how Tekarra was doing.”
In Monday’s 10 k pursuit, Churchill shot 18-for-20 and achieved a career-best 10th. He had previously placed 17th in the 7.5 k sprint.
“I went into the pursuit feeling hungry and aiming to improve on my sprint result,” Churchill said. “Taking some lessons from the sprint, I attacked the course more intelligently, pushing harder up the hill each time. Execution in the pursuit was much more put-together, and I was thrilled to notch my first top-10 result in an international competition. Big thanks goes out to our wax technicians and the invaluable behind-the-scenes support from our coach, Luke McGurk, and the rest of the Team Canada Mission Staff!”
In the relay, Banser accounted for both penalties and nine spares (0+2, 0+3; 2+3, 0+1). At the first exchange, the Canadians were in 21st, 1:47 back from the leaders, then improved to 14th (+1:27) at the second handoff, before Banser tagged Churchill for the last time in 16th, 2:16 back. He brought them to 13th at the finish.
“Competing in the single mixed relay was exhilarating to say the least. Starting in a mass start format with 26 other countries made it tougher to focus, but I was able to get into my zone,” Banser said. “Fighting to stay with the pack on the first lap was challenging. The corners were tight and the other athletes were just as aggressive as I was. I ran into a few obstacles throughout my portion of the race, although I kept fighting to the last second and left nothing in the tank.”
“My experience at YOG has been spectacular so far,” Levins wrote. “Because the Norwegian culture is rooted in cross-country skiing and biathlon, fans have flooded the stadium for every one of our competitions! It feels great to be a part of an atmosphere that cares so much about the sport Vasek and I dedicate so much of our time to. The organizers have done an excellent job of maintaining near-perfect snow conditions on the track as well.”
“So far the YOG experience has been incredible,” Cervenka wrote. “So much time has been put into this event I am glad it is going so well.”
(Above: Complete race video of inaugural Cross-Country Cross event at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games. To view on YouTube, click here.)
Bumps? Jumps? An uphill and downhill slalom? While racing through an obstacle course on skis is challenging enough on its own, competitors at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Lillehammer, Norway,maneuvered around obstructions and other racers as well last Saturday, Feb. 13, for the opening event: the Cross-Country Cross (XCX) 1.4-kilometer freestyle sprint.
Beyond ‘bumps,’ the YOG’s first-race event competition also differed in sprint brackets. After racing a qualifier, the top-30 athletes advanced to one of three semifinals.
The top two finishers in each semifinal then automatically advanced to the sprint final. The sprint final totaled 10 skiers: the two winners from each semi-final, as well as two lucky losers from the two fastest semifinals.
The Cross-Country Cross (XCX) course at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games
Once on course, four 1.5-meter high ‘bumps’ greeted the athletes a little over 100-meters from the start. Competitors then cruised into a sharp lefthand turn, followed by a sharp righthand turn through a part of the course called ‘The Snake.’
After The Snake, skiers tackled the course’s first major climb. In the following descent, racers spent some hang time while passing over a 1-meter high drop.
With increased speed, competitors soared into the second major incline on course, as well as another series of three 1.5-meter high rollers and a 0.5-meter high drop.
The next course challenge tested athlete’s coordination and balance during an alternating ‘bumps’ section. The section prompted many skiers to take on a classic striding arm and leg swing movement.
After a tight hairpin turn, athletes then worked their climbing strength and stamina in an uphill slalom. Immediately upon cresting the top of the incline, competitors descended into a downhill slalom.
With no major climbs left, racers worked their way over another jump and one final set of 0.4-meter high rollers before the flat 100-meter sprint to the finish.
Sweden’s Moa Lundgren proved most adept on course. She remained unchallenged by any competitor all day, winning the qualifier in 3:27.59, as well as her semifinal and eventually the final in a time of 3:26.36.
Finishing 1.7 seconds behind Lundgren was Swedish teammate, Johanna Hagstrøm.
Rounding out the women’s top three was French skier Laura Chamiot-Maitral who crossed 3.21 seconds after Lundgrun.
Hannah Halvorsen (Far West/Sugar Bowl Academy) qualified 10th in the first-ever Cross-Country Cross event at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. (Photo: Far West/Facebook)
Two North Americans competed in Saturday’s XCX event for the first time, American Hannah Halvorsen and Canada’s Annika Richardson.
Halvorsen qualified in 10th, 16.45 seconds back from Lundgren. She then advanced to semifinal 3, where she raced in third behind Chamiot-Maitral and Germany’s Anna-Maria Dietze until the uphill slalom.
Losing steam during the climb, Halvorsen moved into fourth, while China’sChi Chunxue cranked her way into third. Hot on Halvorsen’s heels through the slalom gates was Russia’s Yuliya Petrova.
As the women came through the final bumps, Halvorsen moved to the outside right and Petrova gained momentum in the middle lane.
Halvorsen finished the heat in fifth, 1.7 seconds off of earning a lucky loser spot and advancing to the final, and 3.7 seconds off the heat winner Maitral-Chamiot (3:36.20).
After qualifying in 25th (+26.3), Richardson advanced to the first semifinal where she finished in ninth, 19.7 seconds back from her heat’s winner, Lundgrun.
Canadian wax technicians Mike Mappin (l) and Camille Cheskey (r) hard at work during the during the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games on Feb. 10 in Lillehammer Norway. (Photo: Jon Buckle for YIS/IOC)
“Definitely a lot of stuff I can work on with the technical aspects of the course, but I felt really strong in the last half of my heat going up the hill. I’m just really grateful to be here and be experiencing all the Olympic spirit,” she added.
In the men’s event, Korea’s Magnus Kim topped the results. He won the qualifier in a time of 3:01.45, his semifinal and eventually the final in 2:59.56.
In second place, 1.17 seconds off of Kim was Norwegian skier Thomas Helland Larson.
Rounding out the men’s top three was Lauri Mannila of Finland, finishing 2.28 seconds behind Kim.
Canadian skier Levi Nadlersmith and American Hunter Wonders nabbed the last two qualifying spots in 29th and 30th, respectively.
Wonders advanced to the first semifinal, where he finished ninth, 8.8 seconds behind the heat’s winner, Kim.
In his first international race ever, Nadlersmith also finished in ninth (+16.51) in the second semifinal.
“Going down into the last corner I had a weird line and I guess someone stumbled in front of me, so I had to do a quick maneuver to go around them. Then kind of after that I felt good, but lost a bit of my steam going over the last hill. I think for the most part I felt really good,” he added.
While some were shooting cupid’s arrows on Sunday, Feb. 14, biathlon competitors at the YOG shot targets. The second day of events included the men’s 7.5 k and women’s 6 k biathlon sprints at the Birkeneineren Biathlon Stadium.
On the men’s side, Emilien Claude of France won the event in a time of 19:01.5 after shooting clean during both the prone and standing stages.
“In lap three, in my head it was ‘maybe I win, maybe second’,” Claude said, according to an Inside the Games press release. “But when I finished and saw that I was first, I thought, ‘Wow.’ ”
Taking the second place silver medal, 7.1 seconds back, was Norway’s Sivert Guttorm Bakken, who missed one shot prone and one standing.
Third place and the bronze medal went to Russian racer Egor Tutmin. Tutmin skied the first of the three 2.5 k laps the fastest and shot clean during the prone stage. However, after two penalties standing, he finished 18.0 seconds back from the race winner’s time.
Two Canadians competed in Sunday’s event, including Ben Churchill and Leo Grandbois.
Churchill finished in 17th overall (+1:35.5) with one penalty (1+0). Grandbois placed 22nd (+1:58.6) after missing two shots during the standing stage.
The American men also had two competitors in Sunday’s 7.5 k sprint, Vasek Cervenka and Eli Nielsen.
Cervenka was the first American across the line in 36th place (+2:50.7) after skiing four penalties (1+3). Nielsen finished one minute and 7.4 seconds after Cervenka in 46th, (+3:58.1) after a total of six penalties (2+4).
Canada’s Gillian Gowling receives a pole during the women’s 6 k sprint at the Youth Olympic Games on Sunday in Lillehammer, Norway. (Photo: Lillehammer 2016 Olympic Games/Facebook)
With perfect shooting on Sunday, Germany’s Juliane Fruehwirt won the women’s 6 k sprint event, covering the 3 x 2 k course in a time of 18:23.5.
Norwegian skier Marthe Krakstad Johansen was the next closest contender for the gold medal. After missing one shot standing, Johansen finished in second place, 5.6 seconds behind Fruehwirt’s time.
Rounding out the women’s podium finishers on Sunday was bronze medalist Arina Pantova of Kazakhstan. After two penalties (1+1), Pantova completed the course 17.1 seconds behind Fruehwirt.
American Amanda Kautzer cracked the top 10 on Sunday and finished in 10th overall (+58.9) after skiing two penalties (1+1). U.S. skier Chloe Levins missed the top 20 by 1.7 seconds, and finished in 22nd overall with a clean round of prone shooting, but two standing penalties.
After cleaning both the prone and standing stages, Canada’s Gillian Gowling finished 30th (+2:27.8). Her Canadian teammate, Tekarra Banser finished 14.4 seconds later in 35th (2:42.2) after two penalties (0+2).
Chloe Levins shoots clean and races to a historic fourth place for the U.S. in the women’s 7.5 k pursuit at the Youth Olympic Games on Monday in Lillehammer, Norway. (Photo: US Biathlon/Twitter)
Day 3: Levins Just Outside of the Medals, Fourth in Pursuit
Monday marked the third day of the YOG and the second set of biathlon races with the 7.5 /10 k pursuits.
The women’s 7.5 k pursuit event saw Ukraine’s Khrystyna Dmytrenko at the top of Monday’s podium.
Starting 26 seconds back from Sunday’s race winner, Dmytrenko missed two shots during her first stage of prone shooting and then cleaned the rest of her shots to finish the 5 x 1.5 k course in a time of 25:12.9.
In a photo finish, Norway’s Johansen bested France’s Lou Jeanmonnot Laurent by one tenth of a second. Johansen finished 7.5 seconds behind Dmytreno after skiing four penalties (2+0+1+1). Jeanmonnot Laurent finished 7.6 seconds off of Dymtrenko’s time after missing two shots standing (0+0+1+1).
With perfect shooting, American Chloe Levins finished in fourth overall (+34.7), just outside of medal contention.
“The pursuit in Lillehammer today was a dream,” Levins said according to a US Biathlon press release. “As Susan [Dunklee] said earlier in the season, every race is a team effort. We had great skis and excellent conditions for today’s race. My race was made on the shooting range. Of course, it is bittersweet to be close to the podium in 4th position, but I shot clean and skied well, so it is an incredibly satisfying result.”
American Amanda Kautzer finished in 27th (+4:04.2) with a total of eight penalties (3+2+1+2). Canada’sBanser finished in 35th (+ 5:43.6) after missing five shots (1+0+2+2) and her teammate Gowling placed 45th (+9:45.30) after missing six shots ( 1+1+2+2).
After winning Sunday’s sprint, France’s Claude was the first skier on the Birkebeineren Biathlon Stadium’s 5 x 2 k course.
Norway’s Sivert Guttorm Bakken after winning the men’s 10 k biathlon pursuit at the Youth Olympic Games on Monday in Lillehammer, Norway. (Photo: Lillehammer 2016 Olympic Games/Facebook)
Starting 7.0 seconds later was Monday’s eventual race winner and Sunday’s silver medalist, Bakken of Norway. Bakken missed four shots (1+1+1+1), but ultimately came away with the 10 k pursuit win in a time of 28:10.7.
Moving up to second place after Sunday’s event was Russia’s Tutmin. With an extra penalty (0+1+3+1), Tutman completed the course one minute and 10.7 seconds behind Bakken’s time.
Taking the event’s bronze medal was Said Karimulla Khalili of Russia. Khalili shot the same as Bakken and finished 1:17.7 behind the race winner.
With two penalties (0+0+1+1), Canada’s Churchill crept into the top 10, finishing in 10th overall (+2:49.1). Cervanka of the U.S. improved his result from Sunday to 20th overall (+3:54.2) after missing just one standing shot.
“Vasek also made a great comeback with 95 percent shooting score and a good skiing performance,” U.S. coach Jean Paquet said in a US Biathlon press release.
“He looked more at ease on the skis and liked the fight on the course. He gained 16 positions by shooting well on the shooting range.”
The next North American was Canada’sGrandbois, who placed 25th (+4:40.7)after skiing five penalties (1+0+1+3).
In 46th was Nielsen of the U.S. (+8:13.4) with six penalties (0+2+2+2).
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