Action was exciting in the World Cup biathlon relays on Saturday, with plenty of lead changes, untimely penalties, and aggressive skiing. The scenery was also pretty nice, with the field snaking up long climbs and through open meadows. You're sure to find some pictures of your favorite biathletes in our photo set - and get a hankering to hit the trails yourself.
Photos from this weekend's World Cup biathlon sprints in Hochfilzen, Austria.
Nathan Smith notched another top-30, inching him closer to completing Olympic qualification, but other than that it was a tough day for the North American men. "I would have thought that with two penalties I would have been in the top 15 for sure," said Tim Burke, who finished 21st.
With five penalties, Lars Berger didn't stand a chance of defending his sprint win from Friday. Instead, the last three World Cup Total Score winners crowded the podium. Martin Fourcade of France timed his strike to come out as the clear winner, with Emil Hegle Svendsen and Tarjei Bø of Norway finishing second and third.
When the leaders from Friday's sprint faltered, Norway's Synnøve Solemdal was there to step in. Clean shooting over the last three bouts gave her an 11-second victory, her first since she picked up her very first win here in Hochfilzen last season.
The U.S. men went for it today, and the team was in podium position for much of the first half of Saturday's 4 x 7.5 k relay competition. They ended up 11th with Lowell Bailey, Tim Burke, Jeremy Teela, and Leif Nordgren, just 25 seconds out of sixth.
The U.S. team of Susan Dunklee, Sara Studebaker, Hannah Dreissigacker, and Lanny Barnes finished eighth in the World Cup relay in Hochfilzen - the best result of any of their careers. And they did it without Annelies Cook, the team's usual number two racer. "We're on our way up," Barnes said.
The Canadian men were as high as fourth place and the women as high as sixth in today's World Cup relays, but each team accumulated penalty loops at unfortunate times which bumped them down a few places.
JP Le Guellec led the Canadians in 13th in Friday's 10 k sprint at the second World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria, and Rosanna Crawford took 17th in the women's 7.5 k on a day where conditions improved then worsened with heavily falling snow and changing winds.
Aided by an early bib and a mid-race snowstorm, Lars Berger - who was left off the Norwegian national team this year - earned his sixth win but the first in three years. He beat Martin Fourcade of France, who had two fewer penalties but was stuck in slow snow conditions. Ole Einar Bjorndalen of Norway was third.
Despite a mid-race snowstorm that put later starters at a serious disadvantage, Lowell Bailey finished 16th and Tim Burke 24th in the 10 k sprint in Hochfilzen. They were the only two Americans, men or women, to qualify for the pursuit races on Sunday. "We can't control the weather," shooting coach Armin Auchentaller said.
Switzerland has never won a biathlon World Cup race - and it was especially surprising that the first victory would come from its small women's team. But Selina Gasparin has been close to the podium before and today she sealed the deal in the 7.5 k sprint, eking out a 1-second victory over Veronika Vitkova of the Czech Republic.
The official beginning to the 2014 racing season didn't disappoint with tons of exciting nordic action taking place across the globe. FasterSkier was on-site in West Yellowstone to cover the SuperTour opener, Kikkan Randall opened with her best classic-sprint finish of second in Kuusamo, Noah Hoffman notched the fastest men's time in Sunday's 15 k pursuit to end the Kuusamo Ruka Triple, and Tim Burke had his first podium of the biathlon season.
Martin Fourcade (France) wins the men's World Cup Biathlon 10 k sprint after 2nd place Fredrik Lindstroem (Sweden) crashes. American Tim Burke finishes in third.
A win in today's 7.5km women's biathlon for Norwegian Ann Kristin Flatland, a solid 16th place finish for American Susan Dunklee, and exciting 22nd place finish for Megan Imrie, which completes her Olympic qualification for Sochi.
Jean Philippe Le Guellec of Canada placed fourth in today's 20 k individual, the first non-relay of the World Cup season - despite the fact that he went in unsure about his current level of performance. Teammate Nathan Smith had a career-best 16th-place finish of his own and started checking off the Olympic qualification criteria.
In windy conditions in Ostersund, Martin Fourcade of France skied to a 2-minute win in the men's 20 k individual while Gabriela Soukalova of Czech Republic eked out a victory over Anastasiya Kuzmina of Slovakia. JP Le Guellec of Canada led the North Americans in fourth place.
Four years ago, Tim Burke faced a lot of pressure to become the first American to win an Olympic medal in biathlon. He's in the same situation now, but he says he much better prepared to handle it going into the 2014 World Cup season. We talked to Burke and Susan Dunklee, the top-ranked woman on the U.S. team, about expectations.
Anastasiya Kuzmina has pretty happy memories of Canada: the Slovakian biathlete won gold and silver there at the 2010 Olympics. But she's making plenty more memories with a yearly training camp at Frozen Thunder in Canmore, thanks to Ivan Babikov and Biathlon Canada. “I hope to be back here more," she said.
The French biathlon team seemed to have mastered the blustery conditions in Ostersund - that is, until four-time World Champion Martin Fourcade took over. Instead, it was the Czech Republic who had the most to celebrate as they took the win, their first in the history of the discipline.