The biathlon World Cup season was over before the final races on Sunday began. Strong winds and an overturned light post led organizers to cancel the season-ending mass starts in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. Awards and Crystal Globes will be handed out Sunday night.
Finland's Kaisa Mäkäräinen rolled to another victory in the final IBU World Cup in Russia, beating France's Marie Dorin Habert -- the big winner at World Championships -- by 1.5 seconds in the women's pursuit on Saturday. Susan Dunklee placed 22nd despite four penalties and Canada's Julia Ransom shot clean to rise 20 places to 34th.
Finland's Kaisa Mäkäräinen capitalized on her past success in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, and won the final sprint of the season on Thursday after winning the sprint there last year. Susan Dunklee placed 25th to lead the North Americans and ranks an unprecedented 13th overall in the IBU World Cup.
Martin Fourcade versus Simon Schempp: Two perennial rivals duking it out on the final loop of Thursday's mixed relay. It was a fitting end to the first race of the 2016 IBU World Championships in Oslo, Norway. While Fourcade anchored France to gold and Germany took second, the U.S. placed 10th and Canada 11th.
With darkness quickly setting in on Presque Isle's World Cup trails early Saturday evening, the Czech Republic won the women's relay by 25 seconds over Ukraine and Germany, respectively, while the U.S. women combined for their best result of the season in 10th.
Friday was all about focus for Susan Dunklee. Coming off a historic second-place finish in the IBU World Cup sprint the day before, the U.S. biathlete was looking for more success in the pursuit, starting 18 seconds behind the race leader. On a challenging and cold afternoon, she finished fifth for her best result in a pursuit, while the U.S. women had a banner day with three in the top 25.
Susan Dunklee had been looking forward to racing at a home World Cup for the better part of the last five years, and then some. She found her "happy" place on Thursday to achieve a historic career-best: second place in the women's IBU World Cup sprint. "In order to have my best performances in biathlon or anything in life … I really have to find what I love about it,” she said.
One early miss didn't bog Dorothea Wierer down. Coming off a podium in Friday's sprint, the Italian raced to her third-career IBU World Cup victory in Saturday's mass start, by 20 seconds over France's Marie Dorin Habert. The lone North American in the women's mass start, Susan Dunklee missed 10 targets to place 30th.
The 43rd starter, Ukraine’s Olena Pidhrushna picked off the places to achieve her first World Cup win in four seasons after "retiring" from racing last year. "I realized how much I miss biathlon and how I need it," she said.
The IBU World Cup women's relay podium saw three new teams on Sunday after France won the team event by 17.2 seconds over the Czech Republic, and Russia finished 21.1 seconds back in third. The Canadians ended up 13th and the U.S. settled for 17th after being lapped.
Gabriela Soukalova picked up the tenth win of her career in a snowy mass start in Ruhpolding, Germany: "Just before the start of the season, I was talking with a friend about whether I would ever this tenth World Cup. I put ten as a goal before the finish [of the season]. So that now I'll have to increase that a little.”
Italy's Dorothea Wierer tried not to overthink Thursday's 15 k individual race at the IBU World Cup in Ruhpolding and ended up cleaning the four-stage race for her second-career win. Rosanna Crawford returned to the circuit and placed 18th, and Susan Dunklee missed five to finish 50th.
Germany's Laura Dahlmeier came from fourth place to take the top spot in Saturday's 10-kilometer pursuit at the biathlon World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germany. In the final push to the finish, Susan Dunklee drew inspiration from the recent U.S. team's Tour de Ski successes to outlunge Italy's Oberhofer for 15th.
Rambunctious German crowds used to make Franziska Hildebrand nervous, but she excelled under pressure in the first IBU World Cup of 2016, winning Friday's sprint. American Susan Dunklee shot 9-for-10 en route to 11th, while Julia Ransom led Canada in 49th.
Imagine the most outrageous, over-the-top spectacle for a biathlon race -- complete with a world championships snowball fight -- and you'll have Biathlon auf Schalke, a.k.a. the annual World Team Challenge, which took place in a soccer stadium earlier this week in front of nearly 41,000 fans.
Finland's Kaisa Mäkäräinen overcame an early penalty with three clean stages thereafter and the fastest skiing of the day to win Sunday's 12.5 k mass start the IBU World Cup in Pokljuka, Slovenia. She bested the new overall World Cup leader, Gabriela Soukalová, by 11.8 seconds.
One day after missing out on a sprint victory by 1.1 seconds, Germany's Laura Dahlmeier picked up the pace late to top France's Marie Dorin Habert in Saturday's pursuit. Susan Dunklee placed 10th for the U.S. with 18-for-20 shooting.
For Susan Dunklee, it felt really good to smell the roses again at the IBU World Cup in Pokljuka, Slovenia. She placed sixth for her best sprint result in two seasons, and three Canadian women, led by Rosanna Crawford in 23rd, qualified for the pursuit as well.
Two-time World Championships gold medalist, France's Marin Dorin Habert notched the third World Cup win of her career on Friday at the IBU World Cup in Pokljuka, Slovenia. She won the sprint by 1.1 seconds, ahead of Germany's Laura Dahlmeier and Franziska Hildebrand.
Germany's Laura Dahlmeier rose from sixth to first in the women's pursuit at the IBU World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria, for her first pursuit victory. Meanwhile, up-and-comer Maren Hammerschmidt notched her second-straight podium for Germany.