You may not recognize the name Chad Salmela, but if you live in the United States and watched any of the biathlon, nordic combined, or cross-country ski races at the 2010 Olympics, you’ve heard his voice. Along with play-by-play man Al Trautwig, Salmela spent the month of February the band A M Herculis. Now that the dust has settled, we caught up with Salmela to hear what it was like behind the scenes at the...
For the U.S. Biathlon Association (USBA), the winter of 2010 was one of ups and downs. High points included Tim Burke’s podium performances in the early season, which culminated with his donning of the yellow bib of World Cup overall leader after a race in Slovenia. The Olympics were less successful, with Jeremy Teela’s ninth-place leading the way—but the team’s dissatisfaction with a single top-ten is a testament to how far the program has come...
Performance of the Year This year we expanded the Performance of the Year Award to include three different categories – cross-country, biathlon, and nordic combined. XC Performance of the Year (men): This season featured a number of outstanding performances, and for the first time we breaking out the award into three categories – cross-country, nordic combined, and biathlon. The challenge, like in many of the other awards, is how to weigh Olympic results. The Olympics...
Biathlete of the Year In any normal year, this award would be as straightforward as they come. On the men’s side, Tim Burke (USA) is head and shoulders above the North American field. And despite inconsistent performances, Zina Kocher is the only woman who can threaten to crack the top-20. But this was an Olympic year, and Olympic results count more than World Cup or World Championship races – at least to the public. Neither...
Tim Burke wrapped up a banner season on the World Cup by finishing 16th in Saturday’s 15 k mass start event in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. He finished 1:14 behind the winner, Austria’s Dominik Landertinger. Arnd Peiffer (GER) and 40-year-old Halvard Hanevold (NOR) were second and third. Like in yesterday’s sprint, Burke was again one of the strongest on the course, finishing with the fifth-fastest ski time. But he couldn’t overcome four misses. “My skiing shape was...
KHANTY-MANSIYSK, Russia – In his second to last race of the season, Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, N.Y.) came back strong with an 11th place in the 10k Sprint competition in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. With one of the fastest times on skis today, Burke finished his race in 25:07.8 minutes, 43.5 seconds behind today’s winner Ivan Tcherezov (RUS) who cleaned both shooting stages. Following penalties in both prone and standing, Burke had to ski an extra 300m. “His...
KHANTY-MANSIYSK, Russia – The 2009/2010 IBU Biathlon World Cup comes to a close this weekend in the West Siberian city of Khanty-Mansiysk. Tim Burke (Lake Placid, NY) will be the sole athlete representing the U.S. in the World Cup final. Burke looks forward to ending his personal-best season on high note. “It’s the last races of the season so I am ready to go. The track here suits me and the training felt really great,”...
There’s one way to guarantee yourself a good result in a biathlon race: hit all the targets. In the men’s 15 k mass start World Cup in Oslo, Russia’s Ivan Tcherezov was the only one of 30 starters to do so, and he won, by 26 seconds, over Austria’s Christoph Sumann and Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen. From the first loop and first shooting stage, Tcherezov was in the hunt, ensconced in a big group and...
It doesn’t happen that often, but when Russell Currier gets hot on the range, there’s not a lot that can stop him. The Maine native is a notoriously fast skier—but also a notoriously inconsistent shooter. Sunday, at the North American Biathlon Championships, he wasn’t exactly on fire—more of a slow burn, perhaps—but the fifteen of twenty targets he hit was just enough to net him a satisfying win in the 15 k mass start race,...
Seven penalties would normally be enough to take a biathlete out of a race. Not Susan Dunklee. In the North American Biathlon Championships 12.5 k mass start, Dunklee overcame some sketchy shooting to win a sprint finish with Tracy Barnes-Colliander, who was deprived of her third straight victory. It was the first North American championship for Dunklee, and it looked impossible after she missed six of her first ten shots—three penalties in each of the...
Two athletes, two races, four wins. Saturday morning, Germany’s Simone Hauswald and France’s Martin Fourcade each took their second consecutive biathlon World Cup victory in Oslo, this time in the 10/12.5 k pursuit. Their results come after victories in Thursday’s sprint. In the pursuit races, athletes start in the order of their finish in the sprint, so to have repeat winners wasn’t unprecedented. In the women’s event, though, all three podium places were identical to...
Sometimes, pretty good is good enough, and in Saturday’s races at the North American Biathlon Championships, that was the case. Despite a smattering of misses by each of them, Tracy Barnes-Colliander and Wynn Roberts skied to convincing wins in the 12.5/10 k pursuit. Walt Shepard and Marc-Andre Bedard took second and third in the men’s race, while Claude Godbout and Annelies Cook rounded out the women’s podium. “I was a little disappointed with my shooting...
Oslo, Norway – Martin Fourcade (FRA) and Simone Hauswald (GER) won the World Cup Biathlon Sprint in Oslo, Norway. Fourcade finished 7.1 seconds ahead of Maxim Tchoudov (RUS). Christoph Sumann (AUT) was 3rd, 9.4 seconds back. The top seven men all shot clean. Fourcade had the fastest ski time of that group, and the 6th best on the day. Dominik Landertinger (AUT) posted the best ski time, but three misses and slow range times left...
Neither Tracy Barnes-Colliander nor Casey Simons got what they really wanted this winter, which was a trip to Vancouver to compete in the 2010 Olympics. But after today’s 10/7.5k sprint in Fort Kent, those two have pretty good consolation prizes: a North American biathlon title. Pushing through mushy trails, Barnes-Colliander and Simons were the winners of the first event of the three-race championships here, overcoming fields that included Olympic competitors in both genders. While Barnes-Colliander...
You can always count on snow in northern Maine. Throw in skis and guns, and you’ve got a recipe for a pretty good week. Three days of racing kick off this morning at the North American Biathlon Championships in the biathlon-crazed town of Fort Kent, Maine. The fields are small, but competitive at the top, with four biathletes racing fresh off the 2010 Olympic Games: Americans Haley Johnson, Laura Spector, and Wynn Roberts, and Canada’s...
Kontiolahti, Finland – Russian Ivan Tcherezov, who missed out an an individual medal at the Olympics, settling for a bronze in the relay, got a measure of revenge, winning the men’s 10km sprint in Finland. Darya Domracheva (BLR) the bronze medalist in the individual competition in Whistler won the omen’s 7.5km event, shooting clean on her way to an 8.4 second victory over Olga Zaitseva (RUS). Tcherezov had a perfect day on the range, one...
Kontiolahti, Finland – It is a rare occurrence in the Nordic sports when men and women compete together, but the International Biathlon Union usually holds one such race each season. The mixed relay combines two women and two men in the standard biathlon relay format. The women each ski 6 kilometers, while the men are confronted with a 7.5km course. With races on both Saturday and Sunday, many teams chose not to race their best...
Whistler, British Columbia – Olympic biathlon racing comes to a close today with the final event of the 2010 Olympic Games, the men’s 4×7.5km relay. More so than any other event, good shooting is critical to success in the relay, and strong performances are needed form all four athletes. In the biathlon relay, each skier gets three extra shots per shooting stage. This means a biathlete has eight bullets to hit five targets. The catch,...
Whistler, British Columbia – Magdalena Neuner (GER) claimed her second gold of the Olympics, overcoming two penalties to stage a come-from-behind win over Olga Zaitseva (RUS) and teammate Simone Hauswald. Neuner, with a miss on each the first prone stage and the first standing stage, cleaned during the last shooting round, shooting quickly, and left the range just 7 seconds behind Zaitseva. After three shooting stages, Russia controlled the race, with Olga Medvedtseva joining Zaitseva...
Whistler, British Columbia – Evgeny Ustyugov (RUS) won the first biathlon Olympic men’s gold for Russia in 16 years, skiing away from bronze medalist Paval Hurajt (SVK) in the final lap. Martin Fourcade (FRA) overcame three misses, including two in the first prone stage to take the silver. Emil Svendsen (NOR) and Simon Eder (AUT) set the pace early, leading the pack that still numbered 16 strong after the first shooting stage. Fourcade was not...