The third starter, Martin Fourcade overcame a 29-second deficit and two penalties on a tricky shooting day to win the IBU World Cup pursuit in Presque Isle for his 44th World Cup win. Tim Burke tied his season best in seventh, and Germany's Arnd Peiffer crashed into a tree on his final loop and suffered a severe concussion.
Three American men finished within 16.5 seconds of one another in the top 20 of Thursday's sprint at the IBU World Cup in Presque Isle, Maine, setting themselves up well for Friday's pursuit. The youngest man in the field, Sean Doherty, 20 led them with a career-best 13th.
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.
Tim Burke couldn't quite excel on the shooting range enough to get that great race he was hoping for, but the American team has one more chance in Sunday's relay. Brendan Green led the Canadians in 31st.
The U.S. men had their best relay result in three years - despite, they say, not having their 100% best days ever. "I feel like this is absolutely where we belong, but we are capable of more than this," said Tim Burke. "I feel like there’s more to come for this group."
Canada's Nathan Smith overcame what he considered the worst conditions he's seen so far this season and posted the 13th-fastest course time and 19-of-20 shooting to place sixth in Saturday's IBU World Cup pursuit in Ruhpolding, Germany.
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.
As Norway raced to another relay win thanks to near-perfection by Johannes and Tarjei Bø, Canada and the United States finished ninth and tenth in the four-person mixed relay in Östersund, Sweden.
“Today was definitely a solid team performance,” Tim Burke said after the season-opening race in Norway. “Our entire men's team is at a very high level and we are all very excited to see what we can do in the relay.”
Simon Schempp and three teammates combined for Germany's second gold in the last two days of relays at 2015 IBU World Championships, topping Norway and France, respectively. The U.S. got off to a strong start with Lowell Bailey, but finished 14th with two penalties. The Canadians had two penalties as well and ended up 19th.
Nathan Smith had the confidence he needed for Saturday's sprint on the first day of individual racing at 2015 IBU World Championships, even if the soft-spoken Canadian didn't show it. "I knew if I had an average day ... that it could be really good," Smith said. What he didn't expect was silver, Canada's first-ever medal for a male at World Championships.
The Czech Republic handled the soft-and-slushy conditions on the first day of 2015 IBU World Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland, better than any other team in the mixed relay, winning gold by a comfortable margin ahead of France and defending Olympic champs Norway.
Germany's Arnd Peiffer started late and finished faster than anyone else to win the men's 10 k sprint on the second day of IBU World Cup racing at Holmenkollen, and Nathan Smith and Leif Nordgren hit 95 percent of their targets to finish in the top 30 on Saturday.
Since building his confidence back at Open European Championships last week, Leif Nordgren is still on the rise, using just one spare on Friday to bring his team up to fourth in the IBU World Cup mixed relay. The Americans finished seventh and just 0.2 seconds from sixth.
Simon Schempp lives and trains in Ruhpolding, Germany, and now he can say he has won a biathlon World Cup there too - by just 8 centimeters in a three-man photo finish and one of the most exciting races of the season. Brendan Green of Canada completed a perfect 40-shot weekend to snag his second top 20.
The Canadian men showed some more depth despite heavily falling snow on Saturday, with competitive finishes from Brendan Green and Scott Gow in the IBU World Cup 10 k sprint. In 16th, Green qualified for Sunday's mass start.
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.
Martin Fourcade was pretty pumped about his 12.5-kilometer pursuit win on Sunday on the last day of the Hochfilzen IBU World Cup in Austria. Like, eight exclamation points excited. “Yes!!!!!!!!” the two-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time world champion from France started seventh, 28 seconds behind seventh in the sprint with clean shooting. “I am happy that I gave 100 percent of myself today and shoot 20. I am very happy with that … My...
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.