Despite four penalties, Italy’s Dominik Windisch overcame difficult conditions on the course and shooting range for his first IBU World Cup victory and podium on Saturday. Meanwhile, Tim Burke skied around a sick competitor on the last loop and rose above three penalties for a season-best seventh.
Martin Fourcade and the rest of the top three agree, something about racing in Canmore is hard. "None of us felt they were skiing really fast," Germany's third-place finisher Simon Schempp said. He finished more than 18 seconds behind Fourcade and 3 seconds out of second, which went to Russia's Anton Shipulin.
A day after besting Germany's Simon Schempp on the last loop, Anton Shipulin of Russia did so again -- this time beating the German by a second for the men's relay victory. Schempp partially blamed a lapped skier. The U.S. men ended up sixth, tying their season best from a week earlier, while Canada placed 11th with strong shooting.
Johannes Thingnes Bø led a Norwegian sweep of the top three in Friday's sprint in Ruhpolding, Germany, the first IBU World Cup race of the new year. He bested his brother, Tarjei, who also shot clean and Emil Hegle Svendsen for the win. Nathan Smith placed 15th, Tim Burke was 18th and Christian Gow 34th.
The Canadian men posted their second-best result in a World Cup relay in sixth on Sunday in Hochfilzen, Austria. They did so thanks to near-perfect shooting from the Gow brothers and fast ski times from all four team members.
Martin Fourcade was behind some race drama on Saturday in the IBU World Cup men's pursuit, which the man who finished second behind him -- Simon Schempp -- called a "psycho race." American Lowell Bailey was in the hunt for a top 10 and placed 13th with a single penalty.
Nathan Smith had never finished a mass start before Sunday, but he knew if all went according to plan, he could be in a competitive position. The Canadian found himself in sixth at one point, and with two penalties, secured his second-best World Cup result in ninth.
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.
Not only was Russia's Anton Shipulin 100-percent on-target in the men's IBU World Cup sprint on Friday, he was also the fastest, leading him to a nearly 12 second win over Austria's Dominik Landertinger. All but one man (Martin Fourcade) in the top nine cleaned, and Lowell Bailey shot flawlessly as well for 16th.
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.
Martin Fourcade took flight coming into the stadium with yet another win, then stuck a perfect telemark landing; Dominik Landertinger was second and Jakov Fak third in the 15 k mass start. American Tim Burke was ninth, but disappointed after losing several spots on the final loop.
Norwegian Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, 40, won the 10 k sprint at the 2014 Olympics on Saturday — earning his seventh career gold and 12th Olympic medal, besting competitors half his age over 10 kilometers of skiing and two rounds of shooting.
Once a powerhouse of men’s biathlon, Austria fell on tough fortunes the last few years. But their team of wily veterans is back to their old tricks: Dominik Landertinger outsprinted Germany’s Simon Schempp at the finish of the World Cup relay.
After blunders in Saturday's pursuit, Martin Fourcade of France was back to his winning ways in the mass start, and has become the first man since Raphael Poiree to sweep all of the crystal globes. American Tim Burke was in the pack fighting for second, but despite pushing Emil Hegle Svendsen to his absolute limit had to settle for fourth by just 0.3 seconds.
"Sometimes you go down in order to go higher.” That’s what Martin Fourcade said Saturday after finishing 48th in a cross-country World Cup race before resuming his winning ways in the biathlon World Cup opener 20 k individual race Wednesday.
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...