For three quarters of Sunday’s 12.5 k pursuit in Presque Isle, Arnd Peiffer had the biathlon race locked up. The German started the day in bib one, with a 16-second advantage over France’s Martin Fourcade, and grew his lead to more than a minute in the first half of the race—thanks to strong skiing and just one penalty over three shooting stages. To his competitors, Peiffer seemed untouchable—each time they entered the range, he was...
It’s not the Super Bowl yet, but there was no lack of enthusiasm from fans greeting World Cup biathlon’s return to northern Maine. Hundreds of spectators turned out to the Nordic Heritage Center on Friday morning to watch Germany’s Arnd Peiffer win the men’s 10 k sprint in Presque Isle, the first elite-level international race on American soil in seven years. Peiffer, a burly 23-year-old, shot clean to top France’s Martin Fourcade and Russia’s Ivan...
So far this season, three Norwegian men have dominated the World Cup biathlon circuit, taking wins when it suits them and not always playing nicely together. 22-year-old Tarjei Boe currently sits atop the overall World Cup rankings, followed closely by teammate Emil Hegle Svendsen. Veteran Ole Einar Bjorndalen, who has won 92 World Cups in his career but only one this year, is third, giving the Norwegians a clean sweep of the standings halfway through...
As Alexis Boeuf of France told IBU News on Friday, “You know, in biathlon one day you can be on the podium and the next day be last.” That wasn’t quite true on Saturday, although Sergui Sednev of the Ukraine, who finished second in Friday’s sprint, dropped to 29th in the next day’s pursuit. No, what is more noticeable is that the stars of last weekend’s World Cup openers in Ostersund, Sweden, haven’t shone as...
Two athletes, two races, four wins. Saturday morning, Germany’s Simone Hauswald and France’s Martin Fourcade each took their second consecutive biathlon World Cup victory in Oslo, this time in the 10/12.5 k pursuit. Their results come after victories in Thursday’s sprint. In the pursuit races, athletes start in the order of their finish in the sprint, so to have repeat winners wasn’t unprecedented. In the women’s event, though, all three podium places were identical to...