Although he said he wasn't thinking about last year, when Martin Fourcade of France bested him in race after race and took home three World Championships titles, Emil Hegle Svendsen of Norway certainly seemed like he was on a mission, notching the fastest ski time to earn his second gold in Nove Mesto.
In the timespan of just two seasons, Nove Mesto has transformed itself from a ho-hum IBU Cup venue to an exhilarating superstadium for biathlon - one where, as several athletes claim, the fans are even louder and more enthusiastic than those at the traditional capitals of Ruhpolding and Oberhof in Germany.
Rosanna Crawford started her very first World Championships race; Jean Philippe Le Guellec had his first healthy one in several years. He called the team's 15th-place finish "okay, but nothing phenomenal."
Susan Dunklee's single spare round and third-fastest ski time combined to be the best race by any woman skiing the second leg of the mixed relay. But while it may have been a highlight of the U.S. team performance, each member skied a strong race, culminating in a historic eighth-place finish, their best ever at a World Championships.
While Norway had seldom a worry en route to another mixed relay title, France and the Czech Republic capitalized on a late-stage meltdown by Russia's Dmitry Malyshko to earn their spots on the podium. The Czech medal was especially exciting to the home crowd, and the racers struggled to express how special the moment was.
Skiers and jumpers tested out the Sochi trails - quite successfully for the U.S. and Canada; biathletes finished up World Youth and Junior Championships with another medal for Sean Doherty and two Canadian top-tens; Americans turned to longer marathon racing at the Boulder Mountain Tour and Craftsbury Marathon; Canadians mini-toured through Eastern Championships.
Casey Smith capped off his four career appearances at World Youth and Junior Championships with a 37th-place showing in the individual in Obertilliach Austria. While he's hoping to make the cut for U26 Championships, Jake Dalberg, who placed 52nd despite rifle problems, is headed next to Italian Military Championships.
Canada's Macx Davies realized midway through the 15 k individual race that in order to have a good result, he needed to knock down all of his remaining targets. So he did, and skied to a career-best eighth-place finish. Rose-Marie Côté led the junior women with 22nd place and Canada was strong across the board.
Once again, early penalties seemed to put Sean Doherty's medal in jeopardy. But clean, fast shooting and quick skiing in the later stages of the youth men's 12.5 k individual put the American back on the podium for a record third time, and he earned his second silver medal of this year's World Youth Championships to go with gold from the pursuit.
After graduating from high school and joining the Biathlon Alberta Training Centre for her first season of full-time training, Sarah Beaudry wanted more from her third Youth World Championships appearance than a couple more finishes in the 20's and 30's. On Tuesday, she got it - a fifth-place result that was just 20 seconds from the podium.
Sixteen youth, junior, and U23 World Championship races, SuperTour Tours, NorAms that served as the last selection races for Canada's World Champs team, nordic combined in Germany, two college series - it was another busy weekend in the nordic world. Here's everything you need to know.
While Julia Ransom collected her second top-20 result in as many days, four other Canadian women improved in the youth and junior pursuits in Obertilliach, Austria. The lone American woman to make the pursuits, Anna Kubek moved up to 25th in the youth women's race.
Christian Gow and Stuart Harden continued solid Championships racing that was nonetheless not quite what they were hoping for, finishing 16th and 18th in the junior and youth pursuits. For America, Casey Smith turned in one of the more impressive pursuit performances of the day, missing a single shot and climbing 20 places to 23rd.
After dropping from second to fourth with two penalties in the very first stage, Sean Doherty calmly did as he had trained, knocked down his targets, and skied to a 30-second victory that left him enough time to celebrate his first World Championship by carrying an American flag across the line.
Laura Dahlmeier of Germany and Alexandr Loginov of Russia picked up their first World Championships titles, while Christian Gow and Julia Ransom of Canada made the jump from youth to junior racing by placing 14th and 16th in the 7.5/10 k sprints. Casey Smith was the top American, placing 43rd.
Sean Doherty achieved a personal best and made U.S. history on Friday, placing second in the 7.5 k sprint opener at the IBU Youth/Junior World Championships in Obertilliach, Austria. Just 3.6 seconds out of first, Doherty was still soaking up the result.
US Biathlon's International Competition Committee has named four men and four women to the 2013 World Championship team. World Championships will be held in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, starting February 7th.
Martin Fourcade led team France to victory, besting Russian Dmitry Malyshko in the final leg of the men's 4x7.5km relay. Austria placed third, and the U.S. 12th.
The German women skied away form Russia at the end of the women's 4x6km biathlon relay for the win with France taking third. The U.S. team placed 10th and Canada 11th.
Tim Burke skied the third-fastest course time in the 12.5 k pursuit in Antholz, Italy, today, and placed 14th to lead the U.S.; Lowell Bailey was close behind in 16th. Comments from Burke and USBA High Performance Director Bernd Eisenbichler, plus Sara Studebaker (39th place) explains why the Antholz range is tough and JP Le Guellec (38th) checks in before World Championships.