On the final day of IBU Youth/Junior World Championships in Cheile Gradistei, Romania, the Norwegian women and Russian men bested the field in the junior relays, while the U.S. women placed 12th and Canadian men finished 14th.
It was a stretch to reach the podium, but the Canadian team of Teo Sanchez, Adam Runnalls, and Zachari Bolduc were in contention until late in the youth men's 3 x 7.5 k relay at World Championships, ultimately finishing fifth. The American men placed 15th. The Canadian women were 10th in the 3 x 6 k relay and the American women 16th.
Sean Doherty's just like any 20 year old, except that he has 10 biathlon world junior titles to his name and won the last race of his junior career in Romania on Sunday. "I get nervous just like any other human,” he explained. “There’s a lot of pressure for these races I just did, and I’m really happy with how I performed with it all, but it’s something that’s not that easy to deal with.”
Sean Doherty locked up silver in Saturday's junior sprint to become the most decorated athlete ever at IBU Youth/Junior World Championships, and another American, Maddie Phaneuf landed her second-straight top seven of the week.
The Canadian biathletes are on a roll at IBU Youth World Championships with three athletes in the top 21 on Friday in the youth men's and women's sprints. Teo Sanchez led the team in 17th, Nadia Moser broke through in 19th, Adam Runnalls was 21st, and Megan Bankes 26th for Canada.
Sean Doherty reached the podium in his first race of 2016 IBU Junior World Championships, placing third in the 15 k individual. Earlier on Thursday, another U.S. biathlete Maddie Phaneuf finished fifth in the women's 12.5 k individual. "It’s a prefect day," stated US Biathlon's Chief of Sport Bernd Eisenbichler.
Two Canadian men, Teo Sanchez and Adam Runnalls, and one woman, Megan Bankes, notched career-best top 20's on the first day of IBU Youth World Championships in Cheile Gradistei, Romania.
A day after besting Germany's Simon Schempp on the last loop, Anton Shipulin of Russia did so again -- this time beating the German by a second for the men's relay victory. Schempp partially blamed a lapped skier. The U.S. men ended up sixth, tying their season best from a week earlier, while Canada placed 11th with strong shooting.
The IBU World Cup women's relay podium saw three new teams on Sunday after France won the team event by 17.2 seconds over the Czech Republic, and Russia finished 21.1 seconds back in third. The Canadians ended up 13th and the U.S. settled for 17th after being lapped.
Tim Burke couldn't quite excel on the shooting range enough to get that great race he was hoping for, but the American team has one more chance in Sunday's relay. Brendan Green led the Canadians in 31st.
22-year-old Canadian biathlete Julia Ransom just wanted to score some World Cup points this year - top 40's - to feel like she was on track. She blew that goal out of the water in the Antholz, Italy, on Saturday, shooting a perfect 20-for-20 and skiing to 19th place.
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.
For Germany's Simon Schempp, it's three years in Antholz and three sprint wins. Can he also triple up on the pursuit on Saturday? Meanwhile, Tim Burke led North American starters with a 17th place finish. "This was one of my best performances in a sprint race, although the result does not reflect that."
Two Russians cleaned Thursday's sprint at the IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy, and both landed on the podium. Olga Podchufarova captured her first World Cup win, finishing 8 seconds faster than Italian runner-up Dorothea Wierer, and Russia's Ekaterina Yurlova hit every target for third. Meanwhile, three North Americans qualified for the pursuit: Rosanna Crawford in 33rd, Susan Dunklee in 37th and Julia Ransom in 46th.
After leading into the final loop of the women’s 4 x 6 k relay on Sunday, Ukraine successfully held off Germany at the finish, to the audible dismay of the packed stadium in Ruhpolding, Germany. The Ukrainian women took the win by 1.2 seconds, Germany finished second and Italy edged Russia in a sprint for third.
In "danger" of not qualifying for 2016 World Championships, Germany’s Erik Lesser stuck it to those who questioned his chances, winning Saturday's mass start at the IBU World Cup in Ruhpolding in front of a local crowd. "I don’t want to hear about that again after giving you what you wanted," he told reporters.
Gabriela Soukalova picked up the tenth win of her career in a snowy mass start in Ruhpolding, Germany: "Just before the start of the season, I was talking with a friend about whether I would ever this tenth World Cup. I put ten as a goal before the finish [of the season]. So that now I'll have to increase that a little.”
The U.S. men had their best relay result in three years - despite, they say, not having their 100% best days ever. "I feel like this is absolutely where we belong, but we are capable of more than this," said Tim Burke. "I feel like there’s more to come for this group."
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.
Martin Fourcade won big in Ruhpolding, in a snowstorm and despite one penalty. Lowell Bailey, meanwhile, got some redemption after missing two shots in the last stage of Sunday's mass start: in the 20 k individual, he nailed all five targets in his final stage and raced to 14th place.