Chelsea Little – Page 11

Big Wins, and Winds, Are the Thing In Ostersund As Domracheva Takes Minute-Plus Victory

Chelsea LittleDecember 1, 2011

Perhaps never before have the world’s best biathletes’ dreams of perfection been dashed so quickly at the beginning of a season. Over the last two days in Ostersund, Sweden, each one of the world’s top shooters has missed at least one shot. Usually, there’s just a few races like this in a season. This year, both the men’s and women’s World Cup openers have featured incredibly gusty, unpredictable winds. Even without shooting clean, a few...

Biathlon World Cup

Bailey Ninth, Hakkinen and Leguellec Top-Twenty in World Cup Biathlon Openers

Chelsea LittleNovember 30, 2011

One by one, last year’s heroes succumbed to errors over the course of the opening biathlon World Cup race in Ostersund, Sweden on Wednesday. Norwegians Tarjei Boe and Emil Hegle Svendsen, wearing the yellow and red bibs of as the previous overall and discipline leaders, only made it four kilometers before the mistakes began. Racing near the beginning of the field in the interval-start competition, each missed two shots in their first of four shooting...

Interviews Juniors Racing

Youth Olympic Games Presents: Heather Mooney

Chelsea LittleNovember 29, 20111

Heather Mooney has been turning heads for years, but in the last few she’s brought a whole new meaning to the word “fast”. In 2010, the Stratton Mountain School made the A-Final of the SuperTour Finals sprint as a J2. Last season, in her first year as a J1, she racked up top-20 finishes in each of the three senior races at U.S. Nationals, including eighth place in the classic sprint. Then she flew to...

Biathlon Continental Cup World Cup

U.S. Names World Cup Biathlon Team After IBU Cup Race in Ostersund

Chelsea LittleNovember 28, 2011

While U.S. and Canadian skiers have been competing at FIS and World Cup races for several weeks now, the American biathletes waited until Sunday to kick off their season in an IBU Cup sprint. The race in Ostersund, Sweden, was actually the second of the weekend, but the U.S. team sat out of Saturday’s race. While the men were lucky to have skipped the windy conditions that shook up the result sheet in the opener,...

World Cup

Led By Randall’s 12th-Place Finish, American Women Excel – And Gain More Fans

Chelsea LittleNovember 26, 2011

Editor’s Note: There has been significant confusion regarding results for today’s World Cup races. The FIS website lists overall standings for the three-race mini-tour. Kikkan Randall is 5th in those standings, and finished 12th in today’s 5km freestyle. There are, Kikkan Randall concedes, downsides to success. But they’re pretty miniscule. For one, the American skier’s expectations have been raised since notching her first-ever distance top ten in Sjusjøen, Norway last weekend, and then skiing to...

Biathlon

Despite Champions in Field, Unknown Biathletes Shine at IBU Cup Openers

Chelsea LittleNovember 26, 2011

men /

World Cup

Bjørgen Picks Up 50th Win as Women’s Podium Stays the Same

Chelsea LittleNovember 26, 2011

Nobody was surprised to see Marit Bjørgen atop the leaderboard after the second stage of the Ruka Triple in Kuusamo, Finland today. The Norwegian star was the last to start, thanks to her win in the classic sprint yesterday, and had all the information she needed to beat her competitors – not that she needed it. Over just five fast kilometers, Bjørgen racked up a sizeable lead and cruised across the finish. It was a...

Biathlon World Cup

More World Champions Join Sjusjøen Field – They’re Biathletes!?

Chelsea LittleNovember 18, 2011

It’s a question that seems to come up every year: how fast, exactly, are biathletes? Skiers imagine that their shooting cousins couldn’t possibly be as fast since they train differently, while biathletes maintain that they would do just fine on the cross country World Cup, thank you very much. Over the years, there have been plenty of opportunities to answer that question. Norwegian biathlete Lars Berger won three gold medals at cross country World Championships...

General Interviews World Cup

After Surprise Win in Muonio, Einarsson Switches Focus to World Cup – For Now

Chelsea LittleNovember 17, 20111

Many European skiers arrive in the U.S for college and are exhausted from year of trying to “make it” at the international level. While they find success in NCAA skiing, for some it is the last hurrah of a career that’s already lasted twenty years. Snorri Einarsson was not one of those skiers. For one thing, when the Norwegian arrived at the University of Utah, he was just 20 years old. For another, he...

Continental Cup General Regional / Local

One Week ‘Til West: Watch Out, the SuperTour Reshuffled Its Spandex

Chelsea LittleNovember 16, 20118

(Note: this preview doesn’t include college or junior skiers, although many will be competing in the opening SuperTours. College racing will have its own preview at a later date.) With one week until the opening SuperTour races in West Yellowstone, it’s time to start remembering what the domestic race circuit looks like. A number of top athletes retired after last season, but their spots have been filled by recent college graduates. Here’s what you need...

Biathlon Continental Cup General World Cup

Canadian Biathletes Wrap Up World Cup Trials – Photo Gallery

Chelsea LittleNovember 16, 2011

Team Canada wrapped up its World Cup selection trials in Canmore on Tuesday with a pair of mass start races, which were won by Megan Imrie and Nathan Smith. With barely any snow in Scandinavia, the team was lucky to be at home in Canmore, where there has been skiing thanks to “Frozen Thunder,” a snow-saving operation. The team was racing to select two women and one man to join prequalified racers Imrie, LP Leguellec,...

Biathlon Interviews Olympics World Cup

Interview: Bjørndalen Says “Nordic Skiing Is Terribly Boring, It Can’t Even Compare With Biathlon”

Chelsea LittleNovember 15, 2011

This interview originally appeared in

Biathlon Interviews Juniors

Youth Olympic Games Presents: Aidan Millar

Chelsea LittleNovember 14, 2011

Canmore’s Aidan Millar might be the only Canadian biathlete headed to the Youth Olympic Games who doesn’t have international racing experience, but that doesn’t mean that he’s unprepared for the world stage. For one thing, training in Canmore has meant that he can keep an eye on the competition: Canadian teammates Danielle Vrielink and Stuart Harden are also members of different clubs based out of the 1988 Olympic venue. The plethora of talented youngsters makes...

General World Cup

Team 8: France

Chelsea LittleNovember 11, 2011

Vittoz Vittoz said au revoir to life as an athlete. The great French hope had his worst season since 2002, finishing (for him) a measly 23rd in the overall World Cup rankings. Vittoz had some good races – he finished fourth in the final climb in the Tour de Ski and third in the 20 k pursuit in Lahti – but he wasn’t his old medal-winning self. While the most famous Frenchman might have had...

Continental Cup General Regional / Local

Marathons Are Front and Center for New All-Female Stella Racing Team

Chelsea LittleNovember 11, 20115

When the parade of brightly-colored spandex suits heats up the domestic circuit this year, competitors and spectators will see a new squad: Stella Racing. And while America’s first elite women-only team in more than a decade might be small, it will definitely be fast. Morgan Smyth, Evelyn Dong, and Zoe Roy decided to start a team based out of Salt Lake City, Utah, and have spent the spring and summer making it happen. Their rationale...

General Interviews Olympics Tour de Ski World Cup

“Not Successful” in Oslo, Bauer Refocuses on Tour de Ski, Overall World Cup for 2012

Chelsea LittleNovember 8, 2011

At the age of 34, Lukas Bauer of has already done pretty much everything a skier can hope for. At the 2006 Olympics in Torino, he won silver in the 15 k classic. In Vancouver four years later, Bauer took home bronze in both the 15 k skate and the relay. He owns a silver medal from 2009 World Championships in the 15 k classic, and he has twice won the Tour de Ski; in...

General Interviews Juniors

Youth Olympic Games Presents: Paddy Caldwell

Chelsea LittleNovember 7, 2011

(Note: This is the fourth in a series of interviews with athletes who will be competing at the first-ever winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria this winter. The second with Anna Kubek, the third with Aleksandra Zakrzewska, all U.S. biathletes. The last was with John competed in the 1952 Games, and his father Tim competed in four more. When Caldwell was selected as America’s sole male nordic skier for the Youth Olympic Games in...

Other News

Early Snow Opportunity in Northern Maine

Chelsea LittleNovember 4, 2011

Maine Winter Sports Center and Big Rock Ski Area are pleased to announce an opportunity for early season skiing during Thanksgiving week. The exact opening day will depend on weather but will occur as early in the week as possible. Big Rock will be making snow all around the base of their mountain, thus allowing cross-country skiers access to at least 1 kilometer of groomed trail. In addition, Maine Winter Sports Center coaching staff will...

Biathlon General Juniors Regional / Local World Cup

Anchorage’s New World-Class Biathlon Range Is a Game-Changer

Chelsea LittleNovember 3, 2011

Anchorage has long been home to many of the country’s best nordic skiers. With elite teams like APU, Alaska Winter Stars, the University of Alaska Anchorage, several strong high school programs, and a thriving recreational and masters race scene, skiers couldn’t ask for a more supportive community. But biathletes? That was another story. “I started biathlon in 2003, back when the Kincaid [shooting] range was at its old location,” 2011 World Junior Championships team member...

Biathlon General Juniors

Youth Olympic Games Presents: Danielle Vrielink

Chelsea LittleOctober 31, 2011

(Note: This is the fourth in a series of interviews with athletes who will be competing at the first-ever winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria this winter. The second with Anna Kubek, the third with Aleksandra Zakrzewska, all U.S. biathletes.) 2011 was a big year for Canadian biathlete Danielle Vrielink. Perhaps the most obvious accomplishment for the Calgary native was a trip to the World Youth Championships in the Czech Republic, her first international...

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