The Norwegian men aren't psyched about traveling to North America for World Cups next season, saying that World Championships afterwards are more important. Max Cobb, the head of the IBU's Technical Committee, points out that there are two and a half weeks of free training time before World Champs. For the Norwegians, that might not be enough.
Frassinoro, Italy, is a town of just 700 people, but it pulls international biathletes in every June for a unique festival: shooting range on the soccer field, rollerskiing through town. Canada's Megan Heinicke, coming off her best World Cup season ever, raved about the experience.
Biathlon Canada is seeking a High Performance Director to supervise the national team. The position will be based in Canmore and applications close July 12th.
After four years as High Performance Director with Biathlon Canada, Chris Lindsay will be leaving the organization to take over as High Performance Advisor to summer sports at Own the Podium.
Zina Kocher did not make Biathlon Canada's national team criteria this season, but successfully appealed under an injury/illness provision to regain her Athlete Assistance Program funding through Sport Canada. She believes a national team nomination should follow. Her federation does not.
Nathan Smith, Rosanna Crawford, Brendan Green, and Megan Heinicke headline the "A" team, while eight athletes were picked for the "B" team.
Nathan Smith, 1st place, Khanty-Mansiysk World Cup pursuit Canadian biathlete Nathan Smith saved his best performance for last, earning the first win of his career in the penultimate race of the World Cup season. After placing fifth in the sprint in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, Smith executed a flawless race in the 12.5-kilomter pursuit to pick up a 24-second victory. Not only was it the first win for him, but the first for both Canada and North...
Nathan Smith made history for Canadian biathlon this year, becoming the first man to ever win a World Championships medal; he later won his first World Cup. Teammate Rosanna Crawford came oh-so-close to her own first podium.
Brendan Green and Rosanna Crawford have been on the move since returning home from Europe in late March. In search of more snow to ski on, they headed west to Sovereign Lake in early April, then south for some R&R in Mexico, and finally north to speak to school children in the Northwest Territories.
After just one year in the sport, Patrick Johnson and Max Durtschi saw enough success that they were named to the biathlon's national "X" team to help their further development. "A goal for next year is definitely to have some success on the IBU Cup," said Johnson, who won two national titles.
With the 2014/2015 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is excited to unveil its annual award winners for this past winter. We're kicking off the series by honoring the youngest skiers of the bunch with Junior of the Year, awarded to one outstanding male and one female in the U.S. and/or Canada.
Although he got away with it the first time, Ukraine's Sergui Sednev did not try to fight the IBU when it re-tested a sample almost two years old and found that it contained EPO. The biathlete was banned for two years, and his results since January 2013 will be scrubbed.
Russell Currier, Kelsey Dickinson, and Brian Halligan admit that they didn't have great results this season - so they understand why they weren't re-named to U.S. Biathlon Association training groups. But along with Casey Smith, who was also cut from the 'B' team, they have few options to improve their results and get back now that Maine Winter Sports Center is defunding travel and competition for senior athletes.
After last year's tryout camp netted a national champion (Patrick Johnson), an IBU Cup competitor (Max Durtschi), and some World Youth and Juniors competitors, US Biathlon is doing it again, looking for fast skiers who want to try the sport of biathlon.
Clare Egan and Sean Doherty have earned upgrades to USBA's "A" team, while Chloe Levins, Siena Ellingson, and Paul Everett snagged first-time nominations to the National Development Group. 14 athletes in all were nominated to USBA's various teams.
In the last year since she retired from biathlon, Germany's Andrea Burke (formerly Henkel) has been in a period of transition, taking classes and preparing for her big move to the U.S. while fitting in quality strength sessions whenever possible. “I really like to do [these] kind of programs for staying in shape and get some heart rate between studying,” she explains.
The intern will work with the US Biathlon National Team athletes on a daily basis and live at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, NY where meals and lodging are provided at no cost. The internship begins in early June and continues through early November.
Over a weekend of racing in sunny Truckee, California, Patrick Johnson (Auburn Ski Club) and Clare Egan (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) each became double national champions in biathlon. The event also introduced a mixed relay format for the first time.
We caught up with Canadian biathlon staff and athletes to chat about the significance of Nathan Smith's World Cup in on Saturday, just the second in history for a Canadian man. It's good for Smith and good for the program - but Own the Podium is unlikely to reward it with money, because the funding body only considers World Championships and Olympic medal performances.
Nathan Smith took the lead after the third shooting stage, and never gave it back - despite the best efforts of superstars like Martin Fourcade and Anton Shipulin. "It was kind of surreal," Smith said of entering the final loop with a 37-second lead and savoring the moments leading up to his first World Cup win. Meanwhile, Martin Fourcade clinched his fourth consecutive World Cup title, a feat that has never before been accomplished in biathlon.