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IBU World Cup

Wright Sprints to World Cup Personal Best

Campbell Wright (Wanaka, NZL/U.S. Biathlon) raced to a World Cup personal best 12th place in the men’s 10km sprint in Ruhpolding, Germany, his second race of the weekend. With only one miss in standing, Wright crossed the finish line just 0.9 seconds behind Philipp Horn of Germany. “I’m feeling really good on the skis,” said Wright. “Great contrast from Oestersund when I was 100th ski time, so good progression. Just loving it.” Wright was +50.1 behind the...

Clean Shooting Propels Irwin to Eighth in Lenzerheide

Deedra Irwin (Pulaski, WI/Army World Class Athlete Program) raced to a World Cup-best eighth place in the women’s 7.5km sprint, kicking off the first-ever World Cup in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. She landed just one spot off her career-best seventh place from the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, an historic finish for U.S. Biathlon. “Emil and Armin really helped me put together a good ski plan for the race the past couple of days, and I really felt...

International Biathlon Union (IBU) Joins UN’s Race to Zero Climate Campaign

The sport’s governing body joins a UN campaign to fight climate change, and save Biathlon too. ***   Östersund, Sweden markets itself as Vinterstaden (The Winter City), a reputation it earned a century ago when the Nordic Games – the precursor to our modern Winter Olympics – were moved there from snowless Stockholm in 1905 and 1913. The International Biathlon Union (IBU) routinely puts Östersund at the very beginning of its world cup calendar, as...

How to Watch the 2021-22 FIS Cross Country and IBU Biathlon World Cups

The long-awaited “how to watch” article is here. I hear you — the season is a week away. What took so long? Simply put, negotiating contracts with the various agencies that film and produce World Cup coverage is a complicated process. Olympic Channel announcer Chad Salmela used the word “cumbersome” to explain the process through which NBC secures the rights to these broadcasts. Cumbersome is not ideal when it comes to small niche sports that...

Bronze for Dunklee/Doherty Caps Strong Mixed Relay Day (Press Release)

Press Release NOVE MESTO, Czech Republic (March 14, 2021) – Susan Dunklee (Barton, Vt.) and Sean Doherty (Center Conway, N.H.) combined to give the United States its first medal in the single mixed relay since 2017 as the BMW IBU World Cup wrapped up two weeks of competition in Nove Mesto on Sunday. Dunklee was part of the previous podium appearance as well when she teamed up with Lowell Bailey for a silver medal four years ago. Dunklee led the...

Dunklee In Reach of Olympic Qualification After Nove Mesto World Cup (Press Release)

Press Release NOVE MESTO, Czech Republic (March 13, 2021) – Susan Dunklee (Barton, Vt.) has become the second U.S. female biathlete to meet the standards set for early qualification to the 2022 U.S. Olympic team at the end of the season. Early qualification is available for up to two athletes who meet the standards of the U.S. Biathlon selection procedures, in this case, two top-12 finishes at an IBU World Cup race during the 2020-21 season. With her second eighth-place...

Susan Dunklee Places 8th with Season Best World Cup Result (USBA Press Release)

USBA Press Release NOVE MESTO, Czech Republic (March 12, 2021) — American Susan Dunklee(Barton, Vt.) was one of 14 competitors to shoot clean in the 103-woman field during Friday’s women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint at the BMW IBU World Cup in Nove Mesto. Her marksmanship earned Dunklee her first top-10 finish of the season in an individual race as she stopped the clock 37.2 seconds behind winner Tiril Eckhoff of Norway, who took the gold medal despite...

Steady as She Goes this Season: Clare Egan on the IBU World Cup

Clare Egan of the U.S. Biathlon team has wowed this season. Through December and most of January, Egan popped steady and consistent reults on the IBU World Cup. Currently, she is ranked 19th on the IBU World Cup, ceding two spots to the top-ranked North American, Canada’s Emma Lunder in 17th.  Highlights of her season thus far are a 10th in a Hochfilzen, Austria sprint, 13th in a Hochfilzen pursuit followed by a ninth place...

IBU Announces Plans for First Trimester of World Cup Season (Press Release)

The Executive Board (EB) of the International Biathlon Union today announced that four World Cup events will take place in the first trimester of the 2020/21 season as planned. However, in order to minimise travel and protect athlete and stakeholder safety they will be hosted in just two venues. The competition dates and disciplines remain unchanged. The EB also agreed that the 14th Ordinary IBU Congress will be held virtually and the adjusted IBU Cup...

Au Revoir Martin Fourcade by William Timmons

A year ago Martin Fourcade was coming off the worst showing of his career, a cataclysm of a season leaving everyone who follows the sport scratching their heads. While he had two victories and another podium by Christmas, something was apparently wrong; his results declined after New Year’s and he wasn’t on the podium again for the rest of the season. He skipped the North American leg of the World Cup, raced World Champs, where...

Day 1-2 IBU World Cup Rundown from Pokljuka: Egan 6th, Lunder 10th in 15 k Individual (Includes audio interview with Egan)

The traveling IBU World Cup roadshow stops in Pokljuka, Slovenia this week and began the individual races. The women’s 15 k individual ran on Friday. The individual race format places a heightened premium on clean shooting; each missed shot amounts to an automatic minute penalty. Tiril Eckhoff of Norway had been dominating the circuit recently. Yet, Friday, she fell in the standings to place an uncharacteristic 18th. In first place was former German cross-country skier...

Ruhpolding Day 1 Rundown: IBU World Cup

Mid-week, the IBU World Cup circus moved to Ruhpolding, Germany. The women raced a 7.5-kilometer sprint and saw Norway’s Tiril Eckhoff take the win and snag the yellow overall World Cup leader’s bib from Italy’s Dorothea Wierer. Eckhoff now leads Wierer by a scant three points in the overall standings. This was Eckhoff’s fifth individual win of the 2019-2020 season. Eckhoff won Wednesday’s sprint in 18:55.5, while shooting clean. Sweden’s Hanna Öberg was second (+29.7; 0+0),...

Post-Oberhof IBU World Cup Recap

With the weekend closed out in Oberhof, Germany and the start of the second IBU World Cup trimester underway it’s time for, thank you Seth Meyer, … a closer look. Norway’s male biathlon ringer, Johannes Thingnes Bø, was on the sideline for the weekend. Prior to the Oberhof stop, he had worn the yellow bib as the IBU World Cup overall leader. Post-Oberhof, it was time for a change. A small change really in the big...

IBU World Cup: France takes the win in Östersund’s 15 k Indivudual, Egan in 35th

The women contested the 15-kilometer individual race in Östersund, Sweden on Thursday. As the IBU World Cup gets into gear, the French are proving to be podium top-step magnets. (Martin Fourcade won the men’s 20 k individual race on Wednesday.) Justine Braisaz won in 42:35.1 minutes while missing two targets in her first shooting stage, otherwise she shot clean. Ukraine’s Yuliia Dzhima was second (+11.1; 0+0+0+0), and France’s Julia Simon third (+17.7; 0+0+0+2).  Clare Egan was...

News Roundup for 7/19/19

Bodensteiner Hired on with the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation Luke Bodensteiner left U.S. Ski & Snowboard as Chief of Sport on July 15, he was named the Soldier Hollow General Manager and Chief of Sport Development on July 17. Bodensteiner’s new positions are under the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation umbrella.  As part of his duties, Bodensteiner will oversee daily operations at the Soldier Hollow (SoHo) venue. According to the July 17 press release announcing the hire,...

Biathlete of the Year

Biathlete of the Year With the 2018/2019 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is running a series of articles highlighting some of the players and performances from the season. This honor goes to the outstanding North American biathlete on the international circuit. About ten seconds into the IBU TV interview with U.S. biathlete Clare Egan that follows, her first statement regarding her then career-best World Cup Result – a sixth place in Pokljuka, Slovenia’s  10-kilometer pursuit –...

Oslo IBU World Cup Rundown: Egan in Third

IBU World Cup Oslo, Norway 12.5 k Mass Start More on this later. Clare Egan of US Biathlon scored a third place in the holy grail of venues: Holmenkollen. This is Egan first podium on the IBU World Cup. erythromycin The event was the 12.5 k mass start, which involves the top-30 athletes from the Oslo series of races. Egan was 10.2 seconds out of first after shooting 0+0+0+1 on the range. Below is are...

IBU World Cup Rundown from Oslo: Canada’s Lunder 9th, Egan 12th for the U.S.

The IBU World Cup resides in Oslo this week. The women began the racing with the 7.5-kilometer sprint on Thursday. The podium rundown goes like this: Slovakia’s Kuzmina Anastasiya shot 1+0 to win in 19:56.2, Germany’s Franziska Preuss placed second (+21.2, 0+0), with Paulina Fialkova of Slovakia in third (+25.1, 0+0). This was Kuzmina’s fifth win at Holmenkollen and secured her the IBU sprint overall title. Canada’s Emma Lunder was the top North American in...

Thursday Race Rundown from the IBU World Cup at SoHo

IBU World Cup Soldier Hollow (Midway), Utah women’s 7.5 k Sprint The name itself carries with it a reputation for high heart rates. Nestled on the East slope of Utah’s Wasatch Mountains, Soldier Hollow (SoHo), the sight of this week’s IBU World Cup races, features tracks well above 5,000 feet in altitude. Junior and senior skiers understand that a hard effort at SoHo come with a mandatory lactic acid tax. Not since 2002 at the...

Bringing Change: Clare Egan and the Season She Hoped For

Having the season you hope for and actually having that season is the rarefied magic of sport. “I am having the season I hoped for but didn’t expect,” US Biathlon’s Clare Egan said in a telephone call on Jan. 30th. “I got the balance right for the first time since I started training full time. Since for eight years — three of which were devoted to cross-country and five of which were devoted to biathlon....