A German transplant, Megan Heinicke went into Friday's IBU World Cup sprint seeking a top 30, like always, but more specifically to maintain her focus. She did just that, finishing a career-best 11th as a result, 52.3 seconds behind a new Norwegian winner: Fanny Welle-Strand Horn.
Darya Domracheva faced an 18-second deficit when she left the range for the last time in Saturday's mass start, but she made that up and more, winning her third competition of the season. Veronika Vitkova capped the "best week of my career" with a second-place finish; Canada's Rosanna Crawford was 20th and the United States' Susan Dunklee 27th.
It was a warm one in Oberhof, Germany, on Wednesday, but the Czech Republic women remained consistent, both with their skiing and shooting, in the 4 x 6 k relay to win by nearly 9 seconds over France. Belarus rebounded from 10th to third, and the Canadians were lapped on the final loop.
Darya Domracheva was the big winner on Saturday in the IBU World Cup 10 k pursuit, but there were some personal victories Canadians Rosanna Crawford and Megan Heinicke achieved throughout the race as well. For one, Crawford clawed her way back into seventh after two early misses, and Heinicke went from 41st to 14th as one of two women to clean.
Rosanna Crawford had been thinking about this kind of performance for a long time, and even on Friday, after placing 34th in the Hochfilzen sprint, she predicted it was coming. She just didn't think it would come on Sunday in the 10 k pursuit.
For three out of the four legs in the IBU World Cup women’s 4 x 6-kilometer relay on Saturday in Hochfilzen, Austria, it could’ve been anyone’s game, especially Russia’s, Germany’s, Poland’s and the Czech Republic’s. All four were within 40 seconds of one another behind Russia in first at the final exchange — and while it might have seemed like Russia with a 19-second lead was untouchable — any biathlete will tell you nothing in...
The last time Kaisa Mäkäräinen opened the season with a win in Sweden, she also won the overall World Cup title. Is she going to do it again? Canada's Rosanna Crawford finished 14th, and is also excited to see what comes next: "I know there is so much potential."
When Tiril Eckhoff missed a shot in standing, she assumed she'd have maybe a top ten in today's World Cup sprint. Instead, she charged to the top of the results sheet, and stayed there despite several clean-shooting challengers. She joined her brother (and coach) Stian on the list of Norwegians who have won in Ostersund, and called out Norwegian journalists for doubting her.
Susan Dunklee came within 3.1 seconds of a top 20 in 21st, which she was pleased with while wanting more. "Today certainly wasn’t our strongest team showing," she explained, citing their lack of on-snow time compared to other teams. "The season is long, and we still have time to tune up. We will get there."
In the first individual women's IBU World Cup race of the season, Darya Domracheva showed she's still the same ol' fast-and-cheery competitor, beating Finland's Kaisa Mäkäräinen by 28 seconds and Ukraine's Valj Semerenko, one of three to shoot clean, by 38 seconds.
Retirements were expected after an Olympic season - but the women's biathlon field will be shaken up even more, as several top competitors are taking the season off for babies or injuries. Plus, Darya Domracheva has switched her coach and Ukraine stars face a funding crisis. All the updates inside - the World Cup is on in less than two months!
Anastasiya Kuzmina shot better than any of the other favorites and skated off to a win while they were stuck in the penalty loop. But the biggest drama might have been that when Tora Berger finished second and Kaisa Makarainen fourth, Makarainen's lead in the World Cup overall shrank to ten points. The title will be decided in a mass start tomorrow.
All the news that's fit to print from the last World Cup sprints of the season, where Darya Domracheva of Belarus and Jakov Fak of Slovenia took home wins.
In incredibly gusty conditions, Kaisa Mäkäräinen won the 10 k biathlon pursuit by a minute over Darya Domracheva of Belarus. Susan Dunklee of the U.S. moved from eighth up to seventh despite a whopping seven penalties, thanks in part to the second-fastest ski time of the day - and other racers' struggles on the shooting range.
By winning the women's mass start in dominant fashion, Darya Domracheva became not only a three-time gold medalist and the most successful female biathlete in Olympic history, but also a Hero of Belarus - the president made her just the 11th person to achieve such honor. Gabriela Soukalova of Czech was second and Tiril Eckhoff of Norway third - after waking up feeling sick and then eating a burger for lunch.
Dasha Domracheva relied on super-fast skiing and the confidence of a gold medal already in the bag to earn her second of these Olympics -- a first for Belarus in any Winter Games. Selina Gasparin shot clean for the first time in her career to take home Switzerland's first biathlon medal with silver, and Belarus had an unprecedented two on the podium with Nadezhda Skardino in third.
After blowing away the field in Tuesday’s pursuit race, biathlete Darya Domracheva got to carry Belarus’s red and green colors after all, as she cruised down the homestretch far ahead of her competition.
Germany's Andrea Henkel skied with both calm and grit, shooting a perfect 20-for-20 and delving deep into the pain cave to hold off a charging Nadezhda Skardino of Belarus in the final kilometer of today's World Cup 10 k pursuit in Antholz, Italy. Susan Dunklee of the U.S. was in a top-five position for over half the race before being felled by shooting errors.
It was a day of firsts in the women’s 7.5 k sprint on the trails of Antholz, Italy. New faces found their way onto the podium, and American Susan Dunklee was just 0.6 seconds out, finishing a career-best fourth -- the best result by a U.S. female biathlete since 1994.
Czech biathlete Gabriela Soukalova never guessed she'd be so good this year: after winning the 15 k individual today, this season she's worn the yellow overall leader's bib more often than not, and has won both races in this format. With no more left on the schedule except at the Olympics, that has given her a discipline title already in January.