Over the weekend in Östersund, Sweden the IBU World Cup held its traditional 4 x 7 .5-kilometer for the men, and 4 x 5 k relays for the women. Saturday, Norway’s team of Johannes Dale, Erlend Øvereng Bjøntegaard, Tarjei Bø, and Johannes Thingnes Bø won the men’s race in 1:10:30.4 hours. In total, the team used nine spares with no penalty laps. France, with Emilien Jacquelin, Quentin Fillon Maillet, Simon Desthieux, and Martin Fourcade placed...
Susan Dunklee’s start to another International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup season hadn’t played out as she’d hoped, specifically in terms of results. Coming off a banner winter, with a silver at 2017 World Championships (in the women’s mass start), Dunklee 31, had so far placed 53rd, 79th and 97th, respectively, in non-relay races over the last two weeks. She had yet to race a mass start, but also had yet to qualify for a...
Last year’s defending overall World Cup champion Gabriela Koukalová of the Czech Republic also had started out fairly well into the new season during the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup opening week in Östersund, Sweden. But a victory was still missing. She corrected that on Sunday, moving up from the third starting position, told Swiss broadcaster SRF. “All the top stars congratulated me … I can only remember half of it. It’s like a movie...
Two names on the Antholz pursuit podium were familiar, but also notable: a World Champ who had never won a World Cup, and a new mom who is returning from a year off. Susan Dunklee of the U.S. finished 17th, flying on the tracks with the fourth-fastest ski time of the field.
Italy's Dorothea Wierer tried not to overthink Thursday's 15 k individual race at the IBU World Cup in Ruhpolding and ended up cleaning the four-stage race for her second-career win. Rosanna Crawford returned to the circuit and placed 18th, and Susan Dunklee missed five to finish 50th.
Caitlin Gregg finished third in her first Engadin Skimarathon in Switzerland on Sunday for another bronze to add to her collection following World Championships. Holly Brooks was the second American woman in the top five and reclaimed the FIS Marathon Cup lead in fifth.
Retirements were expected after an Olympic season - but the women's biathlon field will be shaken up even more, as several top competitors are taking the season off for babies or injuries. Plus, Darya Domracheva has switched her coach and Ukraine stars face a funding crisis. All the updates inside - the World Cup is on in less than two months!
Dasha Domracheva relied on super-fast skiing and the confidence of a gold medal already in the bag to earn her second of these Olympics -- a first for Belarus in any Winter Games. Selina Gasparin shot clean for the first time in her career to take home Switzerland's first biathlon medal with silver, and Belarus had an unprecedented two on the podium with Nadezhda Skardino in third.
In the final race before a three-week holiday break, Ukraine's Valj Semerenko finished the first IBU World Cup trimester with her first victory, picking her way back into contention after an early penalty. Rosanna Crawford led four Canadians in the 10 k pursuit by picking off seven places for 19th overall.
Coming off her first World Cup win a week ago, Switzerland's Selina Gasparin captured another sprint win in Annency, France, this time with clean shooting. Canada's four women also harnessed positive feelings from their historic relay on Thursday to qualify for Sunday's pursuit.
When the leaders from Friday's sprint faltered, Norway's Synnøve Solemdal was there to step in. Clean shooting over the last three bouts gave her an 11-second victory, her first since she picked up her very first win here in Hochfilzen last season.
JP Le Guellec led the Canadians in 13th in Friday's 10 k sprint at the second World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria, and Rosanna Crawford took 17th in the women's 7.5 k on a day where conditions improved then worsened with heavily falling snow and changing winds.
Switzerland has never won a biathlon World Cup race - and it was especially surprising that the first victory would come from its small women's team. But Selina Gasparin has been close to the podium before and today she sealed the deal in the 7.5 k sprint, eking out a 1-second victory over Veronika Vitkova of the Czech Republic.
Miriam Gössner of Germany got lots of attention when the biathlete finished fourth in Tuesday's 10 k skate, just half a second from the podium - but she wasn't alone in making the jump between sports. Friends Kaisa Makarainen of Finland and Selina Gasparin of Switzerland also acquitted themselves well, and offered light-hearted insight on the difference between the sports.