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‘More Than Perfect,’ Harvey Caps Season with Second Place in Pursuit, Third in Overall

Canada’s Alex Harvey has had one heck of a season. In January, he reached the top of a World Cup podium for the first time in three years. The following weekend, he helped Canada to its first-ever relay podium and two weeks before that, won the men’s team sprint in Toblach, Italy, with his teammate Len Valjas. A little more than a month later, he earned his first individual World Championships gold. The 28-year-old Harvey kept the ball rolling...

Bjørgen Completes Undefeated Streak in World Cup Finals 10 k Classic

When it comes to distance classic events, at least this season, Norway’s Marit Bjørgen is calling the shots. She completed her undefeated streak in 10-kilometer classic competitions (in both individual or mass starts), winning her fourth in a row on Saturday at World Cup Finals in Québec City. Starting in bib No. 7, Saturday’s eventual mass-start winner was skiing just outside of the top 10 for the first kilometer, following two U.S. skiers, Sadie Bjornsen in eighth...

Another Sprint Victory for Nilsson; Falla Defends Sprint Crystal Globe in Quebec

At the start of the season, Sweden’s Stina Nilsson had three individual World Cup wins to her name. Now, after taking Friday’s freestyle sprint title — and only two races left on this year’s World Cup calendar — Nilsson has quadrupled that number. The 23-year-old Swede raced to her ninth victory of the season on Friday in Québec City, crossing first in the women’s 1.5-kilometer freestyle sprint in a time of 3:01.87. The closest competitor...

Next World Championships Stop: Seefeld

Seefeld in Tirol, Austria will host the 2019 Nordic World Championships. The small town in northern Tyrol sits on a plateau nestled in the alps, about two hours by train south of Munich and about 30 minutes north of Innsbruck. Seefeld has a long history of hosting international nordic competitions, including the 1964 and 1976 Innsbruck Olympic Games, as well as the 1985 World Championships and 2012 Youth Olympic Games. Seefeld holds the historic distinction...

U.S. Historic Second in Kontiolahti Single Mixed Relay, ‘Dream Come True’

The single mixed relay is a relatively new format, and one that is not yet contested at World Championships or the Olympics. And so when a single mixed relay (two athletes) and a ‘normal’ mixed relay (four athletes) are held on the same day, the U.S. Biathlon World Cup team’s policy has always been clear: prioritize the mixed relay, and get the World Champs and Olympic team the most practice possible for their big days....

Sunday Rundown: Holmenkollen & Kontiolahti

IBU Biathlon World Cup (Kontiolahti, Finland): Single Mixed Relay In the last single mixed relay of the season, Susan Dunklee held the lead after two loops of skiing. She was looking for a top tag-off to American Lowell Bailey, but she crashed on a downhill. Nevertheless, she was able to focus on the shooting range and climb back into podium position. The leaders were gone, however: Simon Eder and Lisa Therese Hauser of Austria ran away with the...

An Air-Guitar Solo: Harvey Closes Out Championships with 50 k Win

LAHTI, Finland — Here’s the basics: fast and firm tracks, cloudless skies, and once again a stacked field for the final event of the 2017 Nordic World Championships: the men’s 50-kilometer freestyle mass start. Over the course of the 50 k, Canada’s Harvey had to think about one thing: be up front near the top three in order to shadow Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby’s inevitable gut punch in the last kilometer. What he didn’t have...

Canada, In It Through Three Legs, Eighth in PyeongChang Women’s Relay

To nobody’s surprise, Germany came out on top in the women’s World Cup relay in PyeongChang, South Korea, where biathletes are checking out next year’s Olympic venue. Nadine Horchler, Maren Hammerschmidt, Denise Herrman, and Franziska Hildebrand cruised to 22.8-second win over Norway in the 4 x 6 k event, completing a clean five-for-five sweep of all the relays this season despite resting top star Laura Dahlmeier and relay regular Vanessa Hinz. Sure, France made a...

Friday Rundown: Bailey 2nd in PyeongChang; Lahti Relay & NoCo Team Sprint (Updated)

IBU World Cup (PyeongChang, South Korea): Men’s 10 k sprint US Biathlon’s Lowell Bailey kept his clean-shooting streak alive with another one of his personal best results on Friday, racing to second in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup in PyeongChang, South Korea. Bailey started 81st and hit all 10 targets in the two-stage race to cross the finish line in first, 4.7 seconds ahead of France’s Martin Fourcade,...

Thursday Rundown: Lahti Women’s Relay & PyeongChang IBU World Cup (Updated)

FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Women’s 4 x 5 k relay The Norwegian women’s team got a much-needed lift from Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen, the third leg of its 4 x 5-kilometer relay, on Thursday, who tagged her teammate Marit Bjørgen nearly a minute ahead of anyone else. From there, Bjørgen anchored the Norwegians to a 1:01.6-minute victory for her third gold of 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland. Meanwhile, Sweden and Finland battled for...

20-for-20 with Eli Nielsen

In this 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes before they competed at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia. Here’s 17-year-old Eli Nielsen, of Methow Valley Nordic (MVNT), who represented the U.S. at his first Youth Worlds. In two individual races, Nielsen finished 82nd in the youth men’s 7.5 k sprint and 91st in the 12.5 k individual. *** “My full name is Camren...

20-for-20 with Élise Sauvé

In this 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes before they competed at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia. Here’s 16-year-old Élise Sauvé , of Foothills Nordic, who represented Canada at her first Youth Worlds. In two individual races, she finished 78th in the youth women’s 10 k individual and 86th in the 6 k sprint. *** “My full name is Élise Sauvé, but...

Wednesday Rundown: Lahti 15 k Classic & NoCo

FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Men’s 15 k classic After narrowly missing the victory in Results *** FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Nordic Combined large hill/10 k Germany’s Johannes Rydzek racked up win #3 in as many nordic-combined competitions at the 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland, winning the individual large hill/10-kilometer Gundersen start on Wednesday. The last individual competition of the championships began with Austria’s Mario Seidl jumping the farthest at 132.0 meters and earning 137.3 points....

Sweet Sixteen: Bjørgen Wins Lahti 10 k Classic for 16th World Title

LAHTI, Finland — Moments before the women’s 10-kilometer classic individual start at the 2017 Nordic World Championships on Tuesday, temperatures read 35 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity hovered around 97 percent — the air nearly saturated. Earlier in the day, a near-ground fog lapped the tops of the three iconic ski jumps looming above the ski stadium. In contrast to earlier classic events at these championships — a 15 k skiathlon, and classic team sprint — the...

20-for-20 with Jules Burnotte

In another 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes before they competed at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia. Here’s 20-year-old Jules Burnotte, of Biathlon Estrie, who represented Canada at his second Youth/Junior Worlds. Burnotte competed in all four junior men’s races over the past week, finishing 43rd in the pursuit, 55th in both the sprint and individual races, and 12th with his...

20-for-20 with Charlotte Hamel

In another 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes before they competed at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia. Here’s 20-year-old Charlotte Hamel, of Biathlon Estrie, who represented Canada at her third Youth/Junior Worlds. Hamel started the 12.5 k individual but did not finish due to illness. *** “My full name is Charlotte Hamel, and I don’t have a nickname so...

Tuesday Rundown: Lahti and Osrblie (Updated)

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...

After The Medals: Team-Sprint Bronze Medalist Sadie Bjornsen

LAHTI, Finland — While Monday marked a rest day for skiers competing in the 2017 Nordic World Championships, FasterSkier took the opportunity to sit down and chat with Sadie Bjornsen of the U.S. Ski Team, one day after she earned bronze with teammate Jessie Diggins in the women’s 1.3-kilometer classic team sprint. Not only was it Bjornsen’s first-career World Championships medal, it was the first for the U.S. women’s program in a World Championships classic race....

20-for-20 with Thomas Hulsman

In another 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes that competed at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia. Here’s 17-year-old Thomas Hulsman, of the Foothills Nordic Ski Club, who represented Canada at his first Youth Worlds. He finished 57th in the youth men’s 12.5 k individual, 87th in the 7.5 k sprint, and on Monday, 15th with his team in the

20-for-20 with Helen Wilson

In another 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes that competed at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia. Here’s 15-year-old Helen Wilson, of Alaska Nordic Racing and Anchorage Biathlon Club, who represented the U.S at her first Youth Worlds. In two individual races at the championships, she placed 62nd in the youth women’s 10 k individual and 67th in the 6 k sprint....