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Biathlon

Coverage of elite Biathlon racing and news – from the junior level to the World Cup.
Biathlon Canada Names One National Team, ‘On Equal Footing’, for 2017-2018

Biathlon Canada has named 11 athletes to its senior national team for 2017-2018. The group is headlined by three athletes who scored World Cup top-20’s last season: Scott Gow, Julia Ransom, and Rosanna Crawford. Also returning is 2015 World Championships silver medalist Nathan Smith, who sat out most of last season recovering from a virus. The senior team does not distinguish between ‘A’ and ‘B’ squads this year, instead functioning as one group. “We are...

Where Are They Now: Audrey Vaillancourt

Note: The following interview with retired biathlete Audrey Vaillancourt was conducted in French and translated to English. For French version, Unis pour le sport” (United for Sport). “This project is an effort to help athletes achieve specific goals regarding racing, training, technique in various sports, ranging from cross-country skiing and biathlon to obstacle-course racing and running,” she explained. “We already sense a strong demand for such services across the province.” Most recently, the website published an...

Olsson, Jauhojärvi, Bauer Retire, Among Others

Coming off the 2016/2017 season and less than a year out from the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, several international cross-country skiers and biathletes have announced their retirements. Among them are Sweden’s Johan Olsson, Finland’s Sami Jauhojärvi and the Czech Republic’s Lukáš Bauer, all of which earned medals at Olympics and/or World Championships. Sami Jauhojärvi Earlier this month, Jauhojärvi, 35, told InsideTheGames. “By training I could be pushing my limits for a few more...

FasterSkier’s 2017 Performances of the Year

This is it — the final award in our 2016/2017 awards series. Votes stemmed from the FS staff, scattered across the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and while not scientific, they’re intended to reflect a broader sense of the season in review. This honor goes to outstanding North American performances of the year across various nordic sports. Previous categories: Collegiate | U.S. Continental | Biathletes | U.S. Breakthroughs | International | won the 20-kilometer individual at 2017 IBU World Championships, it was by about a slim margin as he...

FasterSkier’s Coach of the Year: Bernd Eisenbichler

With the 2016/2017 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is excited to unveil its annual award winners for this past winter. Votes stem from the FS staff, scattered across the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and while not scientific, they are intended to reflect a broader sense of the season in review. This set of honors goes to a coach or team director who has particularly contributed to their team’s success. Previous categories: Collegiate Skiers of the...

FasterSkier’s U.S. Breakthroughs of the Year: Chelsea Holmes & Scott Patterson

With the 2016/2017 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is excited to unveil its annual award winners for this past winter. Votes stem from the FS staff, scattered across the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and while not scientific, they are intended to reflect a broader sense of the season in review. This set of honors goes to breakthrough U.S. skiers. Previous categories: Collegiate Skiers of the Year | U.S. Continental Skiers of the Year |...

U.S. Biathlon Names 11 to 2017/18 National Team, More on Development Squads

The U.S. Biathlon Association (USBA) has named five women and six men to its senior national team for the 2017/2018 season, and 14 more athletes to its several development teams. The nominations are headlined by Lowell Bailey and Susan Dunklee, both of whom won individual medals at 2017 World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria. They are joined on the “A” team by their World Championships teammates Clare Egan, Joanne Reid, Maddie Phaneuf, Tim Burke, Leif Nordgren,...

FasterSkier’s Biathletes of the Year: Lowell Bailey and Susan Dunklee

With the 2016/2017 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is excited to unveil its annual award winners for this past winter. Votes stem from the FS staff, scattered across the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and while not scientific, they are intended to reflect a broader sense of the season in review. This set of honors goes to outstanding female and male North American biathletes on the IBU World Cup circuit. Previous categories: Collegiate Skiers of...

Taschlers, Ferrari Sentenced in High-Profile Biathlon Doping Case

In the penultimate chapter of a doping story which began nearly two and a half years ago, Italian biathlon relay World Champion Gottlieb Taschler and his son Daniel, an IBU Cup-level competitor, CyclingNews.com reports. “Prosecutors believe they included instructions on how to take EPO and details of secret telephone numbers where Dr. Ferrari could be contacted. Taschler had pushed his son to work with Dr. Ferrari as a way to boost his athletic career.” The elder Taschler...

FasterSkier’s Juniors of the Year: Katharine Ogden and Léo Grandbois

With the 2016/2017 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is excited to unveil its annual award winners for this past winter. Votes stem from the FS staff, scattered across the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and while not scientific, they are intended to reflect a broader sense of the season in review. This set of honors goes to outstanding North American junior athletes across all nordic disciplines.  *** Katharine Ogden, Stratton Mountain School/U.S. Ski Team Yes, Stratton’s...

U.S. Biathlon Association Talent ID Camp and Coaching Internship

The United States Biathlon Association is seeking a coaching intern (applications due April 24) and seeking participants for its annual talent identification camp, for which no prior biathlon experience is necessary. US Biathlon Talent Identification Camp The talent ID camp will run from June 18th through 22nd at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York. Camp Activities: US Biathlon is looking for talented endurance athletes who are interested in becoming world-class competitors. The...

Fourcade Wins Despite Ammo Flub; ‘Squirrel Drama’ in Women’s Mass Start in Oslo

Between breaking historic biathlon records and waiting for the imminent birth of his second child, France’s IBU World Cup dominator Martin Fourcade forgot one crucial detail of Biathlon 101 before Sunday’s final race of the season in the men’s 15-kilometer mass start: loading his ammunition clips. Fourcade only realized he had started with four empty clips when he crouched down on the shooting mat for the first prone shooting, then signaled for help. His coach...

Saturday Rundown: Quebec City, Oslo and Lillehammer (Updated x4)

FIS Cross-Country World Cup Finals (Quebec City): 10/15 k classic mass starts During Saturday’s 15-kilometer classic mass start at World Cup Finals, Canada’s Alex Harvey was in it until the end. But so were Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and Niklas Dyrhaug, and Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh, to name a few. Sitting in second with a few hundred meters to go, Harvey was primed to make his move on Dyrhaug, who was leading at the time. But then...

Laukkanen Gets Her First Win in Oslo; Dunklee 7th; U.S. Men Secure 5th Quota Spot

For races and ski jumpings at the famous Holmenkollen arena on a hillside above Oslo, a frequent visitor in the audience is the King Harald V of Norway, a passionate and knowledgeable fan of all nordic sports. And usually the winners of the competition get the honor of being invited up to the royal suite overlooking the arena. On Friday in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint at the Interntional Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup final in...

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...

World Cup Titles for Dahlmeier, Fourcade; Dunklee and Doherty Top 20 for U.S.

Martin Fourcade and Laura Dahlmeier: each secured some sort of crystal globe today, in recognition of their season-long consistency on the biathlon World Cup. But in the 12.5 kilometer and 10 kilometer pursuits in Kontiolahti, Finland, their approaches to those globes were very different. Fourcade, the French athlete who had already secured the season-long Total Score title, was looking to also pick up the ‘small crystal globe’ for pursuit competitions. He has won many season...

Saturday Rundown: Holmenkollen, Kontiolahti, Jackson, and Lake Placid (Updated x4)

NCAA Skiing Championships (Jackson, N.H.): 15/20 k freestyle mass starts On the final day of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Skiing Championships in northern New Hampshire, the University of Utah pulled out a 16.5-point victory over the University of Colorado-Boulder (and finished 17.5 points ahead of the University of Denver) in the team standings, and the Petra Hyncicova, achieved their second-straight titles in as many nordic races this week. On a frigid Saturday morning in Jackson,...

Dunklee Repeats in 5th; Eckhoff Gets First Win of Season in Kontiolahti Sprint

Over the last month, US Biathlon’s Susan Dunklee has become a familiar face for competitors and spectators at World Cup medal and flower ceremonies, highlighted by her silver medal in the mass start at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria. On Friday in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint at the IBU World Cup in Kontiolahti, Finland, Dunklee once again returned to the flower ceremony after finishing fifth, which, coincidentally, was her third time in...