Above: Norway’s Marit Bjørgen celebrates her 16th World Championships gold after winning Monday’s 10 k classic in Lahti, Finland. Below: The women’s 10 k classic podium at 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, with Bjørgen (c) in first, Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla (l) in second, and Norway’s Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)
FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Women’s 10 k classic
No contest. That was the takeaway of Marit Bjørgen’s performance in the women’s 10-kilometer classic individual start on Monday at 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland, after the Norwegian posted a 41-second victory in 25:24.9 minutes.
Bjørgen started 54th of 72 starters and clocked the fastest time over every intermediate timing point on the course. Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla had been the previous race leader after starting 34th before Bjørgen bumped her out of the leader’s chair by 41 seconds.
Norway had two on the podium with Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen in third, 55.5 seconds behind Bjørgen. Norway’s Heidi Weng missed the podium in fourth (+1:13.8), while Sweden’s Anna Haag — an early leader in bib 18 — finished fifth (+1:22.7). Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen took sixth (+1:23.7) and Krista Parmakoski was seventh (+1:31.4), while Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Østberg and Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk tied for eighth (+1:34.5). Germany’s Stefanie Böhler rounded out the top 10 in 10th (+1:35.8).
Sadie Bjornsen led the U.S. women in 23rd (+2:21.2), Kikkan Randall placed 26th (+2:31.7), Rosie Brennan was 32nd (+2:55.4), and Ida Sargent 43rd (+3:55.2).
Katherine Stewart-Jones led the Canadians with her best result at her first World Championships in 36th (+3:09.6), Emily Nishikawa followed in 37th (+3:14.9), and Dahria Beatty 39th (+3:24.9).
IBU Youth/Junior World Championships (Osrblie, Slovakia): Junior relays
(From left to right) Russia’s Nikita Lobastov, Igor Malinovskii, Nikita Porshnev, and Kirill Streltsov after winning the men’s 4 x 7.5 k relay on Tuesday at IBU Youth/Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: IBU)
[UPDATED] Russia, Norway, Germany. Or Norway, Germany, Russia. That’s how the podiums shook out for the junior men’s and women’s relays on Tuesday, the last day of the 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth/Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia.
Russia won the men’s 4 x 7.5-kilometer event by 53.9 seconds in 1:17:27.8 hours, with Nikita Lobastov, Igor Malinovskii, Nikita Porshnev, and Kirill Streltsov. After coming through the first exchange in fifth, 44.2 seconds out of first, Malinovskii skied his team into first and they held the lead to the finish. In total, Russia used seven spares to clean and had no penalties.
Norway claimed silver with Dag Sander Bjørndalen,Johannes Dale, Aleksander Fjeld Andersen, and Sindre Pettersen. After getting tagged in 14th, Dale moved the team up to sixth and Andersen improved to second, which Pettersen held. The team combined for one penalty and 12 spares.
Germany claimed bronze (+1:39.3) despite one penalty and 16 spares, with Justus Strelow, Danilo Riethmüller, Dominic Schmuck, and David Zobel. Fourth at the first exchange, Riethmüller picked moved them into third on the second leg, which Schmuck and Zobel held.
Canada finished 12th (+6:00.5) with Zachari Bolduc, Trevor Kiers, Jules Burnotte, and Pearce Hanna combining for three penalties and 13 spare rounds. Positioned in 10th for the first two legs, the team moved into eighth on Burnotte’s third leg. Hanna had to ski three penalty laps on the final leg and slipped to 12th.
The U.S. men finished 14th (+9:07.4) with Cody Johnson, Cameron Christiansen, Travis Cooper, and Peter Carroll combining for two penalties and 10 spare rounds. The team gradually moved up from 16th at the first exchange to 12th at the third and final exchange, before losing two places before the finish.
(From left to right) Norway’s Hilde Eide, Karoline Erdal and Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold after winning the junior women’s 3 x 6 k relay on Tuesday at IBU Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: IBU)
In the junior women’s 3 x 6 k relay, Norway rose to gold with Hilde Eide, Karoline Erdal and Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold (for Tandrevold’s third medal in the last three races, and first gold of the week) finishing in 56:18.4. The team, which had zero penalties and used eight spares, moved up from fourth at the first exchange to first on Erdal’s second leg and Tandrevold anchored them to the win.
Germany crossed the finish 16.5 seconds later for silver, with Vanessa Voigt, Sophia Schneider and Anna Weidel. In seventh after the first leg, Schneider moved them into third before Weidel anchored them to second. They had one penalty and used nine spares.
Russia rounded out the women’s podium in third (+26.1) with Kristina Reztsova, Ekaterina Moshkova and Valeriia Vasnetcova. After being tagged in ninth, Moshkova skied them up to fourth and Vasnetcova picked off one more place for bronze. They combined for one penalty and eight spares.
Canada’s junior women finished 14th (+4:17.7) with Megan Bankes, Emily Dickson and Nadia Moser combining for four penalties and nine spares. They had been as high as 11th after Bankes’s first leg.
The U.S. finished 17th (+11:30) with Siena Ellingson, Helen Wilson and Nina Armstrong accumulating five penalties and 11 spares. They had skied as high as 15th after Ellingson’s first leg.
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).
The women’s 15 k skiathlon podium at 2017 Nordic World Championships, with Norway’s Marit Bjørgen (c) in first, Finland’s Krista Parmakoski (l) in second, and Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla (r) in third on Saturday in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)
FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): 15/30 k skiathlons
This one’s for you, kid.
Marit Bjørgen became the second relatively new mom to medal in the second race of 2017 Nordic World Championships on Saturday (after American Kikkan Randall earned bronze in Thursday’s freestyle sprint), racking up her 15th World Championships gold in women’s 15-kilometer skiathlon in Lahti, Finland. Bjørgen, a 36-year-old Norwegian team veteran, had her first child a little over a year ago.
In her first full season back, she led Saturday’s 7.5 k classic + 7.5 k freestyle race at the halfway point, where she clicked into her skate skis half a second ahead of Finland’s Krista Parmakoski in second. Parmakoski followed her across the finish for silver, finishing 4.8 seconds off Bjørgen’s winning time of 37:57.5 minutes. For Parmakoski, it was her first individual medal at World Championships after having previously earned four in team events.
Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla picked up her fourth-career World Championships medal in third place (+32.0), and Nathalie von Siebenthal placed fourth (+1:05) for the best result for a Swiss female cross-country skier since since Evi Kratzer earned bronze in 1987 in Oberstdorf, Germany.
Von Siebenthal edged Norway’s Heidi Weng in a photo finish, with Weng finishing another tenth of a second back in fifth (+1:05.1). Right behind them, Austria’s Teresa Stadlober notched sixth (+1:05.4), Russia’s Yulia Tchekaleva seventh (+1:05.7), Norway’s Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen eighth (+1:11.1), Russia’s Anastasia Sedova ninth (+1:15.3), and Japan’s Masako Ishida 10th (+1:21.8).
Two Americans finished in the top 20 with Randall leading them in 17th (+2:09.2) and Liz Stephen placing 20th (+2:12.4). Rosie Brennan cracked the top 30 in 28th (+3:03.2) and Jessie Diggins did not finish.
A World Championships rookie, Cendrine Browne led Canada in 35th (+4:15.5), followed by Emily Nishikawa in 38th (+4:29.3) and Katherine Stewart-Jones in 40th (+4:38.1).
Annika Taylor, a 23-year-old California native who races for Great Britain, finished 41st (+4:49.7). She previously placed 38th in the freestyle sprint qualifier for her best result at her first World Championships.
The men’s Nordic World Championships 30 k skiathlon podium, with Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov (c) in first, Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby (l) in second and Finn Hågen Krogh (r) in third on Saturday in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)
The men’s 30 k skiathlon that followed boiled down to a two-way battle for first between none other than Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov and Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby. The two traded off leading throughout much of the race and together gapped the field around the 20 k mark.
Over the next 10 k, Ustiugov continued to drive the pace. On a pivotal climb less than two minutes before the finish, Sundby attacked, jump skating and seeming to put the hurt on Ustiugov. But that moment was over before it started when Sundby broke his pole against his ski tip and had to stop for a replacement.
The 24-year-old Ustiugov skied away to the win, uncontested yet powering down the finishing stretch to claim his first World Championships gold in 1:09:16.7 hours. He had previously earned bronze with the Russian men’s relay in 2013.
Sundby finished 6.7 seconds later, dropping his arms and head toward the ground as he did so. Norway’s Finn Hågen Krogh came out on top of a five-way fight for third, finishing fourth (+33.1), 31.8 seconds behind Ustiugov and 1.3 seconds ahead of his teammate Sjur Røthe. Krogh put himself in front and proved to have the most finishing kick, ahead of Røthe, Canada’s Alex Harvey (fifth, +33.3), Norway’s Didrik Tønseth (sixth, +33.5), and Sweden’s Marcus Hellner (seventh, +33.7). Russia’s Andrey Larkov fell off the group’s pace and placed eighth (+36.1), Finland’s Lari Lehtonen was ninth (+37.2), and Italy’s 24-year-old World Championships rookie Giandomenico Salvadori broke through in 10th (+37.3).
Three Canadians started the race, with Graeme Killick finishing 47th (+6:23.5) and Knute Johnsgaard 55th (+8:40.2) out of 63.
Tad Elliott was the top American man in 48th (+7:11.2), Kyle Bratrud (+7:16.5) placed 49th and Noah Hoffman 57th (+9:33.6). Ben Lustgarten did not start.
IBU Youth/Junior World Championships (Osrblie, Slovakia): Junior sprints
[UPDATED] Canada’s Megan Bankes and American Siena Ellingson landed in the top 20 of the junior women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint on Saturday at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia. Coming off a victory in Thursday’s 12.5 k individual, Bankes placed 13th and Ellingson achieved her best non-relay result in 18th at her fourth Youth/Junior Worlds.
Italy’s Michela Carrara won the sprint in 20:57.8 minutes with clean shooting (0+0) and the second-fastest course time. Norway’s Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold skied the fastest but came up 15.2 seconds short of gold with one prone penalty (1+0), which put her in second place. France’s Myrtille Bègue reached the podium in third (+31.5) with perfect shooting (0+0), and Austria’s Simone Kupfner shot clean as well for fourth place (+40.8), 9.3 seconds out of third.
Bankes was one of the first out of the gate in bib 4 and missed one on each stage (1+1) and skied the 14th-ranked course time. She ultimately finished 13th (+1:25.3) for her second-best result at her fourth Youth/Junior World Championships.
Ellingson started 19th and cleaned prone before missing one in standing (0+1), to finish 18th (+1:38.7) with the 20th-ranked course time.
Canada’s Nadia Moser scored her first top 40 of these championships in 31st (+2:16.4) with two misses (1+1), her teammate Emily Dickson finished 47th (+3:15.8) with one prone miss (1+0), and the second American racing, Nina Armstrong finished 65th (+6:11.5) with five penalties (2+3).
Russia had two on the podium in Saturday’s junior men’s 10 k sprint at IBU Junior World Championships with Igor Malinovskii (c) in first and Kirill Streltsov (l) in second, sharing the podium with Kazakhstan’s Roman Yeremin (r) in third in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: IBU)
In the junior men’s 10 k sprint, Russia took the two top steps of the podium with Igor Malinovskii in first and Kirill Streltsov in second, after both cleaned the two-stage race.
Malinovskii started later in the field in bib 60 (out of 86) and bested his teammate’s time by 12.2 seconds, finishing in 24:32.2 minutes. Streltsov, who had started 51st and led until that point, took silver and Kazakhstan’s Roman Yeremin notched bronze (+24.9). Despite two misses on his first prone stage (2+0), Yeremin was an early race leader after starting 10th. He bested the time of Belarus’s Anton Smolski, who started fifth, by just 0.2 seconds for third. Smolski settled for fourth, ahead of Germany’s David Zobel (who previously took silver in Thursday’s 15 k individual) in fifth (+38.2).
Cody Johnson was the top American in 46th (+3:02.9), followed by Travis Cooper in 49th (+3:10.7), Cameron Christiansen in 80th (+5:32.4), and Peter Carroll in 82nd (+5:51.6).
Pearce Hanna led the Canadian men in 47th (+3:04.1), ahead of Trevor Kiers in 48th (+3:06.6), Zachari Bolduc in 54th (+3:25.4), and Jules Burnotte in 55th (+3:31.2).
Youth/Junior World Championships continue Sunday with the youth men’s and women’s pursuits.
Canada’s Megan Bankes flashes a smile and her gold medal after winning the junior women’s 12.5 k at IBU Junior World Championships on Thursday in Osrblie, Slovakia. individual podium on Thursday at IBU Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia. Joining her on the podium are Austria’s silver medalist Julia Schwaiger (l) and Germany’s bronze-medalist Anna Weidel (r). (Photo: Jacqueline Akerman)
(Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Megan Bankes.)
Just to review:
2004: Jean-Philippe “JP” Le Guellec becomes first Canadian to win an International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth World Championships title (in the youth men’s sprint).
2009: Kurtis Wenzel becomes second Canadian to win at IBU Youth Worlds, with a gold medal in the youth men’s sprint.
2012: Wenzel does it again as a junior, winning the 15-kilometer individual at IBU Junior Worlds.
One day later: Megan Bankes repeats the 20-for-20 shooting feat in the junior women’s 12.5 k individual in Osrblie and becomes Canada’s first woman to win at Youth/Junior World Championships.
And just like Grandbois, Bankes had never hit 20 consecutive targets without a miss in a race before. In fact, she had never cleaned a race of any length before. Doing so earned her a gold medal in her first race of her fourth Youth/Junior Worlds.
Megan Bankes racing to an unprecedented gold for a Canadian woman in the junior women’s 12.5 k individual on Thursday at 2017 IBU Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: Bryan Dickson)
“I watched Leo yesterday and gained a lot of inspiration from him,” Bankes said, according to a Biathlon Canada press release. “I saw how calm he was on the range and just felt if he can do it then I can, too. I just wanted to go out there – shoot clean and ski fast.”
As the 19th starter in a field of nearly 70 women, the 19-year-old Bankes, who trains with the Biathlon Alberta Training Centre (BATC) in Canmore, set down the performance to beat with clean shooting and a finishing time of 37:22.0 minutes. She bumped Germany’s Anna Weidel, the 13th starter, to second place with a time that was 1 minute and 20 seconds faster. Weidel had missed just one shot — still an impressive performance in a four-stage race — in the first standing stage (0+1+0+0). Each miss adds a minute penalty to a racer’s total time.
“I was incredibly stoked to clean my last standing, and then knew I just had to push super hard up the last 2 hills and ski smart all the way to the finish,” Bankes wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “When I crossed the finish line I was really excited, but I didn’t really think my result would hold up because there were a few girls who were skiing fast and had hit 15/15, but then when a bunch of them started missing, and I realized my position was going to hold, it was incredible.”
Her overall course time ranked 11th, comparable with the two women she ended up sharing the podium with. Weidel was ultimately pushed to third when Austria’s Julia Schwaiger in bib 26 finished 32.1 seconds faster for silver. With one costly miss in her final standing stage (0+0+0+1), Schwaiger’s finishing time was 47.9 seconds short of gold.
Canada’s Megan Bankes takes a bite out of her gold medal after winning the junior women’s 12.5 k individual at 2017 IBU Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia, and becoming the first Canadian woman to do so at Biathlon Youth/Junior Worlds. (Photo: Airat Aitniakov)
That medal went to Bankes, one of five women in the race to hit every target.
“I shot with a lot of confidence today. It came really easy,” Bankes told Biathlon Canada.
But, as there usually is, there was a backstory on Thursday.
“She had a what she said was a ‘horrific’ zero,” her coach Richard Boruta explained of her pre-race target practice, in an email co-written with Canada’s trip leader/head coach Jacqueline Akerman.
Boruta tried to calm Bankes down, assuring her that she had the self confidence to execute strong shooting.
“My coach Richard just told me to go out pretty hard and not lose too many seconds up the first couple hills, and then settle into my race,” Bankes recalled in the email. “The range entry is pretty easy, because you’ve got a bit of downhill into it, so you can push pretty much as hard as you want (or can).”
“Megan had been focused the whole day on the race and she new what she needed to do and was able to pull it through,” the two coaches wrote. “The trail conditions and weather have been challenging with all the rain and slush, but Megan managed to ski very tactically along the flats and paced herself well on the two major climbs in the course.”
According to them, one of Bankes’s longtime goals had been a top eight at these championships. That changed after she broke through on the IBU Junior Cup earlier this month, placing second in the 10 k pursuit at IBU Junior European Championships in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. After that, she visualized herself in the top five, maybe top three, in her first year as a junior at world championships. Bankes had previously notched 18th in the pursuit and 19th in the individual at last year’s Youth World Championships in Romania.
“Junior OECH was a pretty big confidence boost, but coming into the race, I didn’t totally know what to expect,” Bankes wrote. “I knew that if I had a really good day on the range and on the course, then I could do well, and maybe podium, but I didn’t really imagine that I would hit 20/20, and win!”
Individual-format races require solid shooting and fast skiing, just like any biathlon race, but the one-minute penalties as opposed to penalty laps put an emphasis on shooting accuracy.
“I can’t say they have ever been my strong suit!” Bankes wrote of individual-format races. “So for me the goal was to start pretty fast on skis, stay calm in the range, and then see what happened.”
“After I got the silver [in Nove Mesto], I knew if I shot and skied well, I could get a medal here,” she told Biathlon Canada. “It takes a long time to get to this point. I think having been here [at Youth/Junior Worlds] four times now I have the experience to do this. I have everything around me here that I need to be successful.
“It is pretty exciting,” she added. “This is the first time I’ve shot 20 for 20. It never crossed my mind, but to be the first Canadian [woman] to win is very cool.”
According Akerman and Boruta, they had anticipated that Grandbois and Bankes would have “a respectable chance” at a medal, along with other team members as well. But two gold medals in two days?
“We have had good results and medals in the past, but it has been up and down with a few top athletes hitting the top 10 or reaching the podium,” they wrote. “Now we see the group as a whole rising together.”
Megan Bankes (second from l) with her Canadian support crew, including her former coach Tyson Smith (c), wax techs Andrew Chisholm (l) and Andrzej Lesnik (second from r) and Canada’s trip leader/head coach Jacqueline Akerman (r), after Bankes won the junior women’s 12.5 k individual for Canada’s second gold medal of 2017 IBU Youth/Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: Airat Aitniakov)
They credited “consistent and qualified coaching support in yearly developmental stages”, and explained that Bankes started the sport with coach Iaroslav Khomiak at Foothills Nordic in Calgary. She was later coached by Tyson Smith (Nathan Smith’s brother, who is assisting the team at Youth/Junior Worlds) before joining the BATC group in Canmore in 2015.
Last summer, Biathlon Canada launched a funded “Shooting Stars” camp, which brought national-team staff and coaches together with athletes and their coaches in Canmore. The team also added IBU Junior Cup tours to the schedule to give young athletes opportunities to experience international competition in Europe and “get to know each other before WYJCHs.”
“My observations of this current group; they are pretty grounded, are very motivated, focused and are they are both pushing and supporting each other in all aspects of their performance,” Akerman and Boruta wrote.
So what does two gold-medal performances mean for Canada?
“There is now a great opportunity for an greater amount of exposure for our athletes and our sport,” the coaches wrote. “… More solid results ahead for us this week, there are other realistic opportunities within the group. The whole team, including staff are motivated and focused for that. … Of course Leo and Megan have both shown what they are capable of, and will be eager for more. Right behind those two in our Jr Women and Youth Men categories are others skilled enough to be right up there with them. Our youth women are a younger crew, but are learning and applying new skills daily, so I am excited to see some PB’s from them tomorrow. The relays also present us with exciting and realistic chances of podiums, it will continue to be an exciting week and championships!”
Canada’s Emily Dickson (66) racing to 28th for her first top 30 at IBU Junior World Championships in the women’s 12.5 k individual in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: Jacqueline Akerman)
In the junior women’s race, Canada had two in the points (top 40) and one just outside with Emily Dickson in 28th (+4:21.3) with one miss (0+1+0+0). Nadia Moser finished 41st (+5:55.8) with four penalties (2+0+0+2). Charlotte Hamel did not finish.
For the U.S., Siena Ellingson placed 50th (+7:11.5) with four penalties (0+1+2+1) and Nina Armstrong 65th (+14:15.3) with eight misses (4+1+2+1).
Earlier in the day, the junior men raced a 15 k individual, which Norway’s Sindre Pettersen won in 40:17.2 minutes. He started 68th and cleaned three-straight stages before missing two on his last standing (0+0+0+2), but managed a 51.2-second win over Germany’s David Zobel. An early leader in bib 26, Zobel had three penalties (0+2+1+0) yet his time held up for silver despite a challenge from Russia’s late starter Nikita Lobastov (bib 84). Lobastov shot 19-for-20 (0+1+0+0) and finished just four seconds short of Zobel for third place (+55.2).
Only one athlete in the junior men’s race cleaned: Latvia’s Ingus Deksnis in fifth.
In his first year as a junior, Canada’s Zachari Bolduc led the North Americans in 34th (+3:44.7) with two penalties (1+0+0+1). He later told FasterSkier his goal had been a top 30, and he was 8.4 seconds short of it on Thursday.
“I’m happy with this shooting but I was very very slow on my skis,” Bolduc wrote in an email. “The course was a mix of soft snow, ice and slush so it was not easy conditions! I hope I will have better feelings on my skis for the sprint. But, I’m happy with my race today!”
He was followed by Canadian teammates Trevor Kiers and Jules Brunette in 54th (+5:21.6) and 55th (+5:27.4), respectively, after each shot five penalties. Pearce Hanna finished 65th (+6:38) with seven misses (1+2+2+2).
The top American on Thursday was Cody Johnson in 50th (+5:08.3) with two penalties, both in the last stage (0+0+0+2). Cameron Christiansen followed in 72nd (+8:10.6) with six penalties (1+1+2+2), and Peter Carroll was 79th (+10:36.4) with four misses (0+3+0+1). Travis Cooper did not start.
The youth men’s and women’s sprints are scheduled for Friday in Osrblie.
Megan Bankes racing to gold in the junior women’s 12.5 k individual on Thursday at 2017 IBU Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: Bryan Dickson)
Megan Bankes racing to gold in the junior women’s 12.5 k individual on Thursday at 2017 IBU Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: Bryan Dickson)
Canada’s Megan Bankes after winning her first race of 2017 IBU Junior World Championships: the women’s 12.5 k individual in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: Bryan Dickson)
The junior women’s 12.5 k individual podium on Thursday at IBU Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia, with Canada’s gold medalist Megan Bankes (c), Austria’s Julia Schwaiger (l) in second and Germany’s Anna Weidel (r) in third. (Photo: Airat Aitniakov)
Kikkan Randall (l) and Jessie Diggins celebrate their bronze and silver medals, respectively, in the women’s individual freestyle sprint on Thursday, the first day of 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Freestyle sprints
[UPDATED] Two medals for the U.S. on Day 1. That’s exactly what happened Thursday in the first medals race of 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland, where American Jessie Diggins raced to second and her U.S. teammate Kikkan Randall third in the women’s 1.4-kilometer freestyle sprint final, right behind Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla, who took gold.
Two Americans reached the podium in the women’s freestyle sprint on the first day of 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland, with Jessie Diggins (l) placing second and Kikkan Randall (r) third, behind Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla (c) in first. (Photo: FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)
While Falla crossed the finish line first in in 3:02.34 minutes, Diggins finished 1.66 seconds back in second and Randall 3.76 seconds behind in third. Three U.S. Ski Team members reached the six-woman final, with Sophie Caldwell placing sixth (+5.37), behind Sweden’s Hanna Falk (fourth) and Ida Ingemarsdotter (fifth).
Race favorite Stina Nilsson of Sweden ended the day in 12th overall after being relegated to last in her semifinal.
Diggins won her quarterfinal and semifinal before finishing second for her second individual World Championships silver medal (she previously earned silver in the 10 k freestyle at the 2015 World Championships in Falun, Sweden, and before that, gold in the freestyle team sprint with Randall at 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy).
It’s the second-straight championships that the U.S. has had individual medalists in the same race. Caitlin Gregg captured bronze in the 10 k freestyle, just behind Diggins. Four U.S. women qualified for the heats, with Ida Sargent finishing fifth in her quarterfinal for 24th overall.
U.S. Ski Team head coach Chris Grover was universal in his praise when asked about the personal significance of Thursday’s two-medal night. “I am just really proud of the athletes — all of the athletes that were competing today,” Grover said after the women’s final. “All the athletes in the US program that were not competing today that were cheering in front of the television I’m sure this evening and are getting ready for races coming up. I am really proud of the team that we have collected here in terms of service team, and coaching team, and medical and support team … And everybody that is surrounding the event for the U.S.A. It’s just been a team over the last few World Championships that yes there has been a few people that have come off and come on, but there has really been a core group that provide this kind of stability on which we can have these kind of results.”
In the men’s 1.6 k freestyle sprint final, Italy’s Federico Pellegrino outlasted three others within 0.7 seconds of the win, crossing the finish line first in 3:13.76.
Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov missed out on the gold by 0.15 seconds and Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo took bronze (+0.44). Three Norwegians reached the final, with Finn Hågen Krogh placing fourth (+0.67), Petter Northug fifth (+12.13), ahead of Finland’s Ristomatti Hakola in sixth (+12.28).
Canada’s Alex Harvey was the lone North American to reach the semifinals, where he was relegated to last in his heat for 12th overall.
For the U.S., Andy Newell placed 21st on the day after finishing fifth in his quarterfinal and Simi Hamilton was 28th after taking sixth in his quarterfinal.
All four of the U.S. women’s starters qualified for the heats to start the day, with Randall leading them in 10th, followed by Caldwell in 13th, Diggins in 19th, and Sargent in 27th.
Norway’s Falla put down the fastest time in the women’s sprint qualifier in 3:03.14, Finland’s Mari Laukkanen was 2.37 seconds back in second, and Slovenia’s Katja Visnar 2.42 behind in third.
Randall’s time was 4.45 seconds off Falla’s mark, Caldwell +5.66, Diggins +7.97, and Sargent +9.37.
Canada’s Dahria Beatty missed the top 30 necessary to qualify by 3.67 seconds in 37th, 13.66 seconds behind Falla. Canada started three women with Cendrine Browne finishing 48th (+20.42) and Katherine Stewart-Jones 58th (+26.29) out of 107 women.
In the men’s 1.6 k freestyle sprint qualifier that followed,Hamilton qualified 11th andNewell 20th for the U.S., and Canada’sHarvey qualified 13th.
Russia’sUstiugov topped the men’s qualifier in 3:11.72, while Norway qualified second and third with Norway’sKrogh (+2.71) and Sindre Bjørnestad Skar (+3.39), respectively.
Hamilton clocked in 7.6 seconds back in 11th, Harvey +7.85, and Newell +8.9.
Also for the U.S., Erik Bjornsen missed qualifying by 2.22 seconds in 36th (+12.59), and Cole Morgan, in his first World Championships race, placed 54th (+18.41).
Canada’s three other men entered in the sprint, Jess Cockney, Len Valjas and Knute Johnsgaard finished 47th (+16.82), 48th (+17.16) and 53rd (+18.39), respectively, to miss advancing to the heats.
The junior women’s 12.5 k individual podium on Thursday at IBU Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia, with Canada’s gold medalist Megan Bankes (c), Austria’s Julia Schwaiger (l) in second and Germany’s Anna Weidel (r) in third. (Photo: IBU Junior Cup/Twitter)
IBU Youth/Junior World Championships (Osrblie, Slovakia): Junior individual races
[UPDATED] To say Canada is on a roll at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth/Junior World Championships would be a massive understatement. On Thursday in Osrblie, Slovakia, Megan Bankes raced to a world title in the junior women’s 12.5-kilometer individual, hitting all 20 targets and finishing first in 37:22.0 minutes. After starting 19th, her time held up through 67 finishers, with Austria’s Julia Schwaiger coming closest for second place, 47.9 seconds back.
Bankes was one of five women to clean the four-stage race on Thursday. Her teammate Leo Grandbois did the same in the youth men’s 12.5 k individual race the day before and won by nearly a minute and 15 seconds to become the third Canadian to win at Youth/Junior Worlds. Bankes is the fourth (second at Junior Worlds).
Joining Bankes and Schwaiger on the podium was Germany’s Anna Weidel in third (+1:20.0). Like Schwaiger, Weidel shot 19-for-20. Schwaiger’s miss came in the last standing stage; Weidel’s in the first standing.
Also for Canada, Emily Dickson placed 28th (+4:21.3) with one miss (0+1+0+0), and Nadia Moser was just outside the points (top 40) in 41st (+5:55.8) with four penalties (2+0+0+2). Charlotte Hamel did not finish.
Americans Siena Ellingson placed 50th (+7:11.5) with four penalties (0+1+2+1) and Nina Armstrong 65th (+14:15.3) with eight misses (4+1+2+1).
In the junior men’s 15 k individual earlier in the day, Norway’s Sindre Pettersen won by 51.2 seconds, after cleaning the first three stages then missing two on his final standing stage (0+0+0+2). After starting 68th, he finished in 40:17.2 minutes, knocking Germany’s David Zobel out of the lead. Zobel had started 26th and shot three penalties (0+2+1+0) but held the fastest time until Pettersen crossed the line. Zobel’s time held up for silver despite a challenge from Russia’s late starter Nikita Lobastov (bib 84), who shot 19-for-20 (0+1+0+0) and finished just four seconds short of Zobel for third place (+55.2).
Canada’s Zachari Bolduc led the North Americans in 34th (+3:44.7) with two penalties (1+0+0+1).
Cody Johnson finished 50th for the U.S. (+5:08.3) with two misses, both of which came in the last stage (0+0+0+2).
Canada’s Trevor Kiers and Jules Brunette placed 54th (+5:21.6) and 55th (+5:27.4), respectively, each with five penalties. The fourth Canadian, Pearce Hanna finished 65th (+6:38) with seven misses.
For the U.S., Cameron Christiansen placed 72nd (+8:10.6) with six penalties, and Peter Carroll was 79th (+10:36.4) with four misses. Travis Cooper did not start.
Canada’s Zachari Bolduc racing at the first IBU Junior Cup earlier this season in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. (Photo: Bryan Dickson)
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 19-year-old Zachari Bolduc, of Team Quebec, who will be representing Canada at his second Youth/Junior Worlds in his first year as a junior. On Thursday, Bolduc led the North Americans in 34th in the junior men’s 15 k individual.
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“My full name is Zachari Bolduc, but you can call me Zac. I was born in Laval, Quebec, raised in Sainte-Sophie, Quebec, and one thing you should know about my hometown is that I’m the only biathlete from there and even from all my region.
Zachari Bolduc (Team Quebec) racing at last month’s Canadian trials for 2017 IBU Youth/Junior World Championships in Valcartier, Quebec. (Courtesy photo)
I started cross-country skiing when I was 9 and started biathlon when I was 12, thanks to Lise Le Guellec for introducing me to biathlon. I currently train in Quebec City with Team Quebec.
If I’m not skiing, you might find me hunting or fishing.
One of the things I’m most excited about for Youth/Junior World Championships in Brezno-Osrblie is that I will have the chance to race against all the best biathletes in the world.
This will be my second Youth/Junior World Championships, and this year, I’m competing as a junior.
One race I’m especially targeting there is the sprint.
The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing or racing was train as you race to race as you train.
One of the best race memories I have is our 5th place at the relay from last year’s World Championships.
If I could meet one World Cup skier, it would be Ole Einar Bjørndalen.
If I don’t end up being a professional skier, I’ll probably be a physical education teacher or a bussiness owner.
I’m missing 14 days of school to be here, and my teachers/professors are probably thinking, ‘This guy is going to fail my class.’ But they are wrong, I do this for five years now 😉.
Switzerland’s Sandro Bovisi (foreground) and Canada’s Zachari Bolduc get ready to shoot on the anchor leg of the youth men’s 3 x 7.5 k relay at World Youth and Junior Championships. (Photo: IBU YJWCH Cheile Gradistei 2016/Facebook)
(Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Canadian youth men’s anchor Zachari Bolduc.)
With all but one day of racing completed at World Youth and Junior Championships in Cheile Gradistei, Romania, the youth men’s relay is sure to be a high point for the Canadian biathlon team.
Teo Sanchez (Biathlon Quebec), Adam Runnalls (Calgary Biathlon Racers), and Zachari Bolduc (Biathlon Quebec) were in fourth place until late in the 3 x 7.5 kilometer relay, before Bolduc was ultimate passed by a blazing-fast Sandro Bovisi of Switzerland.
Fifth place, though, was still a solid finish for three first-time World Youth Championships racers. The squad ended the day +3:44.5 behind the wining team from Norway, and their use of just five spare rounds tied them with Russia for the best shooting of the day.
“After last shooting, it was safe to say that they will have a good race,” trip leader and Biathlon Alberta Training Center coach Richard Boruta wrote in an email. “After solid individual performances of Teo and Adam throughout the week, it has been a possibility that they can do well if they hold their shooting together.”
The team did just that. Sanchez, who has been in the top 20 in every individual race so far at the Championships, used one spare in each of his two shooting stages and tagged off in seventh, 56.9 seconds behind the team from Ukraine, which was leading at that point.
“The race was pretty smooth through the start,” Sanchez wrote in an email. “Mass starts are often a mess but this one was clean. I just went for it and ended up right with the top pack coming into the range for the first prone. Everything in this race went pretty well. I think I managed to ski quite well and my shooting was consistent. I only needed to use two spare rounds total.”
Runnalls also used two spares, one in each stage. While he lost time on the leaders – the Norwegians moved into first and built up a huge time cushion they never relinquished – Runnalls was able to move into fourth by the exchange. The gap to third place and the podium was just 30 seconds.
“Teo tagged in 8th position and my focus for the first loop was to post a decent ski time and hold my place,” Runnalls wrote in an email. “My first lap is always slower than the rest and I had a few guys skiing right on my tail. I managed to keep them behind me and come into the range with a good lap time.”
Cody Johnson helping the U.S. youth men’s team to 15th place in the 3 x 7.5 k relay. (Photo: IBU YJWCH Cheile Gradistei 2016/Facebook)
It was just to Bolduc to close things out. He did one better than his two teammates and used a single spare round, in prone, but the team slipped to fifth.
“I just used strategy, the guy from Switzerland was faster than me on the second so I let him go beacuse I wanted to be able to do a good standing shooting,” Bolduc wrote in an email. “I pefered to let him go and to clean because in the other case I know that I had had a bad standing shooting. During all my race I just tried to say calm even [when] I was in 4th place.”
He left the range in fourth for the last time and lost one spot to Switzerland on his final lap. But it was enough to let them leave Romania happy with what they’d done there.
“I keep my focus and shot clean with no spare!” Bolduc said of his last stage. “I was back in 4th but [Switzerland’s] Bovisi was faster than me and he got on this last lap… I had really wanted to [get] him but I just didin’t have to energy … Anyway 5th is a strong performance at youth world junior even more if we consider that it was a fisrt international competiton for all of our team!”
“The team felt really really good about the fifth place,” Runnals wrote. “It definitely exceed our expectations. We held our own against the international field and showed that not only are we strong as individuals but we are even stronger as a team. I will take a lot away from this experience, things from race tatics to the way I see home. I had never been to Europe before and also never raced at an international level. I think that both of these new experiences have taught me tons and I will never forget them.”
That’s what Boruta was hoping for, because the trio will have more shots at Championships racing at the youth or junior level in coming years.
“I’m pleased with the consistent Youth Men performance, there is some good base there and a hope for the future,” Boruta explained. “Often times, you can tell even in this age whether or not those athletes can make it far when they become older. I have been working with Teo this spring and summer and I think he is confirming here what he is capable of. I know Adam has been quite a fast skier even last year and if he can control his shooting (as he did today in relay), there could be a bright future for him as well.”
Megan Bankes anchoring the Canadian women’s relay. (Photo: IBU YJWCH Cheile Gradistei 2016/Facebook)
The Norwegians ultimately won by 39.1 seconds over Russia, with the Italian team finishing third, +2:06.9.
The American team of Cody Johnson (Maine Winter Sports Center), Vaclav Cervenka (Mount Itasca), and Peter Carroll (Auburn Ski Club) finished 15th, undone by trouble on the range. The trio combined for eleven spare rounds and four penalty loops, all skied by Carroll, and finished 7:59.1 behind Norway.
In the youth women’s 3 x 6 k relay, Poland was leading until the final leg, where Joanna Jakiela used two spares in prone and then skied two penalty loops in standing, dropping her team off the podium.
Instead it was Russia who charged from third place to gold on the final leg, with the Czech Republic taking second and Norway third.
The Canadian team of Emily Dickson, Nadia Moser, and Megan Bankes (all from the Biathlon Alberta Training Center) finished tenth, +3:51.2, with 14 spare rounds and two penalty loops (both by Bankes).
“I have been also positively surprised with Nadia Moser, who is completely new to this environment, but adjusting quickly,” Boruta wrote. “I am pretty sure we will here more about these girls in next few years. Megan has been skiing here very well. Unfortunately, she is reverting on the shooting range to some of her old habits and not able to perform at the level where she was this fall. It is often the case with young athletes, I would like to think that next year she will come back much stronger.”
The United States team of Chloe Levins (Mountain Top Nordic), Amanda Kautzer (Loppet Nordic Racing), and Ariana Woods (Bridger Biathlon) was a few minutes behind in 16th, +8:27.3, with eleven spare rounds and five penalty loops.
Racing concludes on Tuesday with junior men’s and women’s relays.
“The team was overall working very well together, we didn’t have any real issues with anybody,” wrote Boruta. “I think we did have some of the best skis here for the whole week, special recognition should go to our service team Andy Lesnik, Andrew Chisholm and Martyna Galewicz. Also Rachel Koroscil has done very good job and was helping to keep things running smoothly.”
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