The Canadian men have a new relay team this year, but that isn't stopping them from achieving new heights: Christian Gow, Nathan Smith, Scott Gow, and Brendan Green finished fifth in Oslo today, a minute and a half behind the winning Russian team.
Germany's Arnd Peiffer started late and finished faster than anyone else to win the men's 10 k sprint on the second day of IBU World Cup racing at Holmenkollen, and Nathan Smith and Leif Nordgren hit 95 percent of their targets to finish in the top 30 on Saturday.
Canada's Nathan Smith made headlines for the second-straight day with his second-straight clean race, hitting all 20 targets to place fifth in Sunday's IBU World Cup pursuit. Leif Nordgren led the U.S. in 20th, and Slovenia's Jakov Fak remained untouchable in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic.
Canada's Nathan Smith improved 71 places since his last World Cup sprint for a career-best seventh with perfect shooting in the Saturday's IBU World Cup sprint in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. Three Canadian men qualified for Sunday's pursuit, with Brendan Green in 22nd and Macx Davies in 54th.
Since building his confidence back at Open European Championships last week, Leif Nordgren is still on the rise, using just one spare on Friday to bring his team up to fourth in the IBU World Cup mixed relay. The Americans finished seventh and just 0.2 seconds from sixth.
Simon Schempp of Germany picked up his third-straight individual win on the IBU Biathlon World Cup, besting three rivals in a tight sprint finish for the pursuit title in Antholz, Italy. After skiing in podium position early, Canada's Brendan Green slipped to 18th place.
Brendan Green couldn't say for sure what's brought him so much success lately -- could be the venues or the minor cues he's been working on -- but his coaches have a hunch. The Canadian biathlete became the first man on the circuit in the last two seasons to shoot 50-for-50 in four-straight IBU World Cup races.
Simon Schempp lives and trains in Ruhpolding, Germany, and now he can say he has won a biathlon World Cup there too - by just 8 centimeters in a three-man photo finish and one of the most exciting races of the season. Brendan Green of Canada completed a perfect 40-shot weekend to snag his second top 20.
The Canadian men showed some more depth despite heavily falling snow on Saturday, with competitive finishes from Brendan Green and Scott Gow in the IBU World Cup 10 k sprint. In 16th, Green qualified for Sunday's mass start.
Emil Hegle Svendsen and Lowell Bailey had a few things in common on Thursday. While Bailey started the four-leg race for the Americans and Svendsen anchored the Norwegians, both led to the finish and capitalized on one critical hill to do so.
Emil Hegle Svendsen won his second race of the season on Saturday, again with perfect shooting, in the 12.5 k pursuit in Pokljuka, Slovenia. Cleaning was easier said than done, especially for the North American men, all of which had at least three misses.
Martin Fourcade was pretty pumped about his 12.5-kilometer pursuit win on Sunday on the last day of the Hochfilzen IBU World Cup in Austria. Like, eight exclamation points excited. “Yes!!!!!!!!” the two-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time world champion from France started seventh, 28 seconds behind seventh in the sprint with clean shooting. “I am happy that I gave 100 percent of myself today and shoot 20. I am very happy with that … My...
With a goal of a top eight on Saturday, the Canadians did two places better to tie a team-best sixth in the IBU World Cup men's relay in Hochfilzen, Austria. Russia won it by 20 seconds over France, and Norway was another 7.7 seconds back in third.
Tim Burke put it all on the line and missed a single target -- his last one -- for 13th in Friday's 10 k sprint on the first day of the Hochfilzen IBU World Cup. Also for the U.S., Lowell Bailey shot clean for 17th.
It wasn't easy, but two Canadian biathletes overcame bumpy conditions to have strong races in the World Cup men's 10-kilometer and women's 7.5 k sprints, with Nathan Smith in ninth and Rosanna Crawford in 12th.
Tim Burke and Lowell Bailey led the U.S. in the men's 20-kilometer individual on Wednesday, the first individual World Cup of the season, in 11th and 20th, respectively. Most everyone struggled with the wind, and the Canadians were no exception with top finisher Brendan Green in 49th.
Canadian World Cup and IBU selection races wrapped up Friday at Frozen Thunder, with a second-straight sprint determining which eight men and eight women would start the season on the World Cup or IBU Cup. Four were prequalified.
Lowell Bailey went 2 for 2 on the weekend in Jericho, and two different U.S. women edged Canada's Rosanna Crawford for victories at the North American Rollerski Championships at the Ethan Allen Firing Range.
Besides Susan Dunklee's podium, Rosanna Crawford finished a career-best 11th in the Oslo World Cup sprint and biathletes Lowell Bailey and Zina Kocher also made the top 20. Here's what the U.S. and Canadian teams had to say about their performances - and the horrible ski conditions in Oslo.
American Lowell Bailey broke through with the race of his career, tallying his first IBU World Cup podium in third in Saturday's final sprint of the season. "I’ve been working towards this for ten years, twenty years," Bailey says. Canadian Nathan Smith notched a career-best sprint, and all of the North American men made Sunday's pursuit.