It would be easy to relax now that the Olympics are over - but the U.S. men's biathlon team is doing anything but. Lowell Bailey placed 10th and Tim Burke 13th in today's pursuit, while Leif Nordgren scored his first World Cup points of the season. "They still give the same amount of World Cup points for a win, and the prize money is still the same," Burke laughed.
When Zina Kocher passed teammate Rosanna Crawford late in the game in today's World Cup pursuit, it spurred both Canadians to rev up their engines and go for season-best results. Meanwhile, Susan Dunklee of the U.S. put Thursday's rifle disaster behind her and rode the fourth-fastest ski time of the day to 20th place, and Sara Studebaker scored World Cup points again.
Race highlights, the effects of a major crash, top results, and interesting facts about some of the winners in Friday's freestyle mass starts -- the last individual races of U.S. Junior Nationals.
Sara Studebaker and Susan Dunklee qualified for Saturday's World Cup pursuit in Pokljuka, Slovenia - Studebaker because of her good shooting, and Dunklee despite losing a part of her rifle sight on trail. "I had very little chance of lining it up correctly to hit anything," Dunklee lamented after an incident that drew attention from international commentators.
The 2014 Winter Paralympics officially kick off Friday with the Opening Ceremony in Sochi, Russia, and the Canadian Para-Nordic team is raring to be one of the most dominant teams at the Games, shooting for third in the overall medal count.
The age-group winners of the Junior Nationals classic sprints chat on camera about their races and how they topped the competition on Wednesday in Stowe, Vt.
Emma Lunder wanted to make the top 60 in her first biathlon World Cup - instead, she made the top 30. With Rosanna Crawford leading the way in 17th and all four women making the pursuit, the 7.5 k sprint in Pokljuka, Slovenia, simply went Canada's way.
Bjorn Ferry had a disappointing Olympics - he couldn't come even close to repeating his 2010 gold medal in the pursuit - but came back to win the first World Cup since Sochi. For the United States, Lowell Bailey placed 12th and Tim Burke 16th, while Brendan Green led Canada in 21st. "I'm psyched to start of the last trimester with a top 15," Bailey said.
Fifty-four heats and nine hours after the 1.4-kilometer classic sprint qualifier kicked off on Day 2 of U.S. Junior Nationals, six national champions were crowned throughout Wednesday afternoon. Here's who also made All-American status.
Christian Gow placed sixth in the men's individual and Sarah Beaudry and Julia Ransom sixth and seventh in the women's race at World Youth and Junior Championships on Wednesday. "We have 4 provinces represented in the top 6 results [this week] with British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec... it's an exciting future," coach Roddy Ward said.
It was shaping up to be another battle between the newest star of the Gross family, biathlon royalty from Germany, and upstart Sean Doherty from the United States. But a Russian swept in to take gold in the youth men's individual race. Nevertheless, two Canadians also made the flower ceremony and two American women were top ten in their own individual competition.
Giving a little recognition where it’s due, here’s a look at the top-10 skiers in each of Monday’s classic individual starts on Day 1 of U.S. Junior Nationals. Classic sprints kick off today with qualifiers at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time; heats start at 1 p.m.
At the 2014 Winter Paralympics from March 7 to 16 in Sochi, Russia, nordic skiing and biathlon will account for more that half of the available medals. How will the United States fare in the medal chase? The team's high-performance director, John Farra weighs in.
I might be a nobody who struggled my way through Sweden's 90 k Vasaloppet with next to no preparation, but I also saw what it takes to win the Vasa: through the generosity of a friend, I accidentally embedded myself with Team Robin Bryntesson. Here's the next installment of our first-person staff accounts of famous races.
The Weekend Roundup is back! Just because the Olympics are over doesn't mean the season is finished. Catch up with the renewed World Cup action in Lahti, Finland, the IBU Youth World Championships, and the Vasaloppet.
American Sean Doherty captured his second-straight gold medal in as many races at the IBU Youth/Junior World Championships on Sunday in Presque Isle, Maine, and Canadian Sarah Beaudry rose from 29th to a bronze medal in the junior women's pursuit. Another Canadian, Julia Ransom followed in fourth.
Marit Bjørgen had what she considered a perfect day in Sunday's 10-kilometer freestyle individual start in Lahti, Finland. After a strong start, the Norwegian paced herself to an even faster tempo as she ticked off the kilometers, beating the likes of Charlotte Kalla and Therese Johaug for the World Cup victory.
The first thing U.S. women's coach Matt Whitcomb tweeted after Saturday's freestyle sprint, the first World Cup since the Olympics: "We are back!" Randall had won another skate sprint to rise to the top of the World Cup sprint standings, and Sophie Caldwell joined her on the podium -- the first time two U.S. women have shared an individual World Cup podium.
Two Northeastern U.S. biathletes are already off to outstanding starts in the first day of the IBU Youth/Junior World Championships in Presque Isle, Maine, where Sean Doherty racked up gold and Maddie Grace Phaneuf placed fourth as the only racer to clean all day.
For Canada, the 30-kilometer freestyle mass start was less about results and more about the emergence of a unified women's team, which finished within places of one another and stuck together even after the race. While one is continuing on the World Cup, national-team veterans Dasha Gaiazova and Chandra Crawford will not be racing this weekend in Lahti, Finland.