On Thanksgiving, it’s worth celebrating a breakthrough moment. When wins and podiums become quotidian, perhaps the luster wears over time. Sports fans love the breakthrough — the moment it first comes together for an athlete. In biathlon, the moving parts are many. The fitness, the pacing, the skis, the steady mental state on the range, the breathing, the shooting, the wind flags, and the targets falling — they all must align. Kelsey Dickinson, 26, of...
Thursday in Canmore, Alberta day two of Biathlon Canada’s selection trials featured a sprint, with the men racing a total of 10-kilometers, the women 7.5 k. Nathan Smith of Canada’s Senior National team placed first for the men in a time of 24:02.7 minutes. Smith missed one shot prone and cleaned standing. Christian Gow, winner of the trial’s Tuesday sprint, placed a close second (+4.2). Gow missed a single shot shooting prone and shot clean...
Last week U.S. Biathlon’s Rollerski Team trials concluded at Soldier Hollow (SoHo) outside Midway, Utah. Along with the trials this summer in Jericho, Vermont, the SoHo results helped determine any remaining U.S. roster spots for the opening races on the IBU World Cup. On Monday, Nov. 5th, U.S. Biathlon announced it’s World Cup team for the first round of races in Pokljuka, Slovenia beginning Nov. 30th. For the women, Susan Dunklee, Clare Egan, and Joanne...
In an effort to showcase the North Americans competing at this week’s International Biathlon Union (IBU) 2018 Youth and Junior World Championships in Otepää, Estonia, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 19-year-old Chloe Levins, who is representing the United States at her first Junior World Championships. She previously represented the U.S. at Youth World Championships, including a
In an effort to showcase the North Americans competing at this week’s International Biathlon Union (IBU) 2018 Youth and Junior World Championships in Otepää, Estonia, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 20-year-old Nadia Moser, who is representing Canada at her second Junior World Championships. Moser started her season with four weekends worth of IBU Cup racing, and also got her first...
Three Canadians and one American competed at last week’s International Biathlon Union (IBU) Cup opener in in Sjusjøen, Norway, with Canada’s Emma Lunder posting an individual top 20 and her teammates Sarah Beaudry and Carsen Campbell teaming up to place fourth in the single mixed relay on Sunday, Nov. 26. In an email, Biathlon Canada High Performance Director Roddy Ward explained that Canada did not send its National “Z” Team, arrived in Europe on Nov....
The Russian rosters for January competition will include two names not seen in a while: Irina Starykh and Alexander Loginov. Both are returning to international competition after serving suspensions for using the blood-doping drug erythropoietin (EPO). Irina Starykh Makes a Fast Return Starykh Starykh failed an out-of-competition test in December 2013 month along with teammate Ekaterina Iourieva. 2013-2014 had been a breakout season for her so far. When asked how she had improved so much by a Russian...
The United States Biathlon Association (USBA) has announced its World Cup and IBU Cup rosters for the second period of racing. World Cup The women’s World Cup team will remain the same, with Susan Dunklee leading the way. Dunklee earned her first podium of the season on Friday in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. After several top finishes she is ranked 11th overall on the World Cup. She is joined by Clare Egan, who had a top finish of 30th...
Welcome to “17 Questions for 2017”, where we are catching up with American and Canadian national-team members before the beginning of the winter season. *** Last year Canadian biathlete Nadia Moser finished 19th in the sprint and 24th in the pursuit at Youth and Junior World Championships, earning her a nod for Biathlon Canada’s 2022 squad, a team of junior development athletes. But at just 19 years old, the Yukon native has already taken steps this season...
2016 was just his second year of biathlon, but Max Durtschi made his World Cup debut in Candmore. Balancing training with the national team and studying neuroscience at Dartmouth College takes a motivation: Durtschi relies on music from the spaghetti western "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly" to get him out of bed in the morning.
When Casey Smith went flying off the race course in Canmore, Alberta, he was knocked unconscious; he later found he had broken many ribs, a shoulder blade, and bones in his back, as well as puncturing a lung. The U.S. biathlete is recovering at home, a process which will be long but which he's approaching optimistically.
The U.S. Biathlon Association will reduce its World Cup team to just three men and three women in the beginning of January, ruling out relays in Oberhof, but it's only temporary - seven men and women will race on the IBU Cup and potentially earn promotions to the top circuit.
With their eyes on the prize of a holiday break (for biathletes and non-Tour de Ski participants, two weekends off of the World Cup), a number of North American skiers notched competitive results, and for some -- even career bests -- in the last week.
Julia Ransom topped her previous IBU Cup career best of 11th, which she set on Tuesday, with clean shooting for seventh on Wednesday in the 7.5 k sprint in Obertilliach. Also for Canada, Christian Gow placed eighth, Scott Gow was 11th and Macx Davies 15th in the 10 k sprint.
After the first race weekend of their European tour was canceled due to low snow, Canadian biathletes finally got started in Obertilliach, Austria, and started out hot: Emma Lunder and Julia Ransom placed 10th and 11th in the women's 15 k individual, and Christian Gow 18th in the men's race.
Up for voting at the IBU Congress in September will be proposals for how to deal with mid-race cancellations, whether to amend the penalty in youth individual races, and whether age limits are appropriate at Open European Championships - as well as the creation of an entirely new junior racing circuit.
The Canadian men's team continued its tear of the IBU Cup circuit, with Brendan Green - in his first season of racing since a debilitating back injury in 2012 which required two surgeries - placing second in the 20 k individual in Beitostolen. Lanny Barnes led the U.S. with an 18th-place finish in the women's race.
Nathan Smith claimed his first IBU Cup podium in two years by placing second to Russia's Timofey Lapshin in Idre today; Marc-Andre Bedard was seventh and Brendan Green ninth, while Megan Imrie and Megan Heinicke placed sixth and seventh in the women's race. One race into the season, Canada leads the IBU Cup standings - ahead of Norway, Russia, and Germany.
Note: This is the second of two pieces based on an interview with Biathlon Canada’s High Performance Director, Chris Lindsay, from earlier this spring.
Note: This is the second piece in a three-part series following several groups of biathletes as they negotiate the college question.