HomeTag

Lisa Vittozzi

France Tops 28 Nations in Single-Mixed Relay; USA Seventh

FasterSkier’s Coverage of the Biathlon World Championships is made possible through the generous support of the Craftsbury Outdoor Center: New England’s finest snowmaking, world class race venues and touring trails, healthy food in abundance, comfortable accommodations at Craftsbury:  Sports, Sustainability, Stewardship.   Twenty-eight nations started the Single-Mixed Relay on Thursday at Biathlon World Championships in Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic. After just over 35 minutes of fast and furious racing, France claimed the gold,...

Julia Simon and J.T. Boe Defend Pursuit Titles; Wright 12th for USA

FasterSkier’s Coverage of the Biathlon World Championships is made possible through the generous support of the Craftsbury Outdoor Center: New England’s finest snowmaking, world class race venues and touring trails, healthy food in abundance, comfortable accommodations at Craftsbury:  Sports, Sustainability, Stewardship.   On a rainy Sunday afternoon in Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic, 30,000 fans packed the Vysocina Arena for the women’s and men’s Pursuit competitions of the 2024 Biathlon World Championships. The weather...

Historic 1-4 Sweep for France in Women’s Biathlon Sprint

FasterSkier’s Coverage of the Biathlon World Championships is made possible through the generous support of the Craftsbury Outdoor Center: New England’s finest snowmaking, world class race venues and touring trails, healthy food in abundance, comfortable accommodations at Craftsbury:  Sports, Sustainability, Stewardship.   Ever since France upset Norway to win the opening Mixed Relay of the 2024 Biathlon World Championships, their magnificent esprit de corps has been on display. After that race, the entire team gathered...

Italian Women Make History in Exquisite World Championships Relay

  If there’s one competition to watch from the 2023 Biathlon World Championships, it’s the Women’s 4 x 6 k Relay. (Replay available here.) In a dazzling display of biathlon mastery, the Italian quartet knocked down 40 targets with 42 bullets, excelling one after another under pressure in difficult conditions to capture Italy’s first-ever Women’s Relay title. The “Blues” have been investing heavily in biathlon development with their sites set on the 2026 home Olympic...

Biathlon World Championships: Oeberg Claims Individual Title; Irwin and Lunder top-25

Ever since Hanna Oeberg burst onto the podium for the first time, winning Olympic gold in the 15km Individual at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, she has been a consistent force in the event. She defended her title at the 2019 World Championships, just missed the podium in fourth in 2020, and took silver in 2021. After faltering slightly in the 2022 Olympics in Beijing with a 16th place finish, Oeberg came back today to...

Biathlon World Championships: Dream Day for Germany, Lunder 11th

Biathlon fans anticipated that the women’s 7.5km Sprint would be one of the most tightly-contested races of the BMW IBU World Championships, and it did not disappoint. In the end, only 2.2 seconds separated the new World Champion, Denise Herrmann-Wick of Germany, from the silver medalist, Hanna Oeberg of Sweden. Oeberg’s teammate, Linn Persson, finished third. These athletes will start at the front of Sunday’s 60-person Pursuit and try to stave off the chasers for...

Biathlon World Championship Viewer’s Guide: Who, What, When, Where, How and Why to Watch

The 2023 BMW IBU Biathlon World Championships kick off on Wednesday, February 8th in Oberhof, Germany. Let’s start with reasons why to watch: Why Watch? Watch because it’s free and easy. This winter, all biathlon World Championship, World Cup, Junior World Championship, and even IBU Cup (World Cup feeder circuit) races and are free to stream live with English commentary on Eurovision’s website. Watch because on the men’s side, Johannes Thignes Boe’s domination so far...

Women Start Biathlon Season in Kontiolahti

Kontiolahti Kickoff Today marked the beginning of the World Cup Biathlon season for the women.  The women raced the 15-kilometer individual start format in Kontiolahti, Finland, skiing 5 laps on a 3-kilometer course. Missing from the start line were common pre-race favorites, Norwegian’s Marte Olsbu Roiseland and Tiril Eckoff, allowing other known stars to dominate the podium: Sweden’s Hanna Oeberg finished first, Norway’s Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold second, and Italy’s Lisa Vittozzi third. The U.S was...

Pokljuka IBU World Cup Rundown (Day 3-4): Gow and Lunder 4th in Single Mixed Relay

Let’s catch up with the IBU World Cup and the action from Saturday and Sunday in Pokljuka, Slovenia.  First up, the single mixed relay, in which teams of two are paired with each skier racing two legs and shooting two stages per leg. France took the win in 38:33.4 minutes shooting 0+5. The big news from the relay for North America, was Canada’s fourth place result. Christian Gow and Emma Lunder were 16 seconds back...

Day 1 Race Rundown at the IBU World Champs: Mixed Relay

Marte Olsbu Røiseland, Tiril Eckhoff, Johannes Thingnes Bø,  and Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen of Norway won the opening race, a mixed relay, of the IBU World Championships in Östersund, Sweden. The foursome won the race in 1:17:41.3 hours. The race format requires women to contest the first two legs, or 2 x 6-kilometers, whereas as the men ski the final two legs, or 2 x 7.5 k. On the way to the win, Norway used seven...

Canmore IBU World Cup Race Rundown: Warm Enough for Bø and Eckhoff

IBU World Cup Canmore, Canada 15 k/ 12.5 k Short Individual Races Sun, mountains, and what may have seemed like relatively warm temps allowed the IBU World Cup events to proceed on Thursday in Canmore, Canada. It’s been Polar Vortex cold in Canmore. Cold enough to thwart the original plans for traditional length 20-kilometer and 15 k individual races, for men and women respectively. With cold temperatures predicted all week, and a window of legal-limit...

As IBU Gears Up for North American Tour, Bø and Wierer Currently Top Standings

With six of the nine stops on the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup circuit complete, IBU athletes will take a brief hiatus from Europe this February and venture across the Atlantic for a race tour in North America. The first stop for biathletes, coaches and fans will be Canmore, Albert. Canada–the last World Cup races having taken place there in 2016. Following Canmore, the IBU will head for U.S. soil: The Soldier Hollow Nordic...

Saturday Race Rundown: U.S. U20 Men Win Relay, U20 Women 4th at World Juniors (Updated)

2019 U23 World Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland 4 x 3 k and 4x 5 k relay Full U20 Men’s Race Report In a historic first for the U.S., the U20 men’s team won the 4 x 5-kilometer relay today in Lahti, Finland at the 2019 World Junior Ski Championships. Luke Jager skied the first classic leg for the U.S., Ben Ogden skied the second classic, Johnny Hagenbuch skied the first initial skate leg and...

Thursday Race Rundown from Ruhpolding, Germany (Updated)

IBU World Cup Biathlon Ruhpolding, Germany 10 k / 7.5 k sprint Cutting to the chase: it has been dumping in certain regions of the alps. Ruhpolding, Germany, site of this week’s International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup’s has been no exception. The men’s 10-kilometer sprint that went off today under clear skies had been postponed, it was scheduled to run Wednesday. Men’s Sprint Results Anatasiya Kuzmina won the women’s 7.5 k sprint on Thursday...

Saturday Rundown: Beitostølen, Pokljuka (Biathlon), and Sovereign Lake (Updated 4 x)

FIS World Cup Beitostolen, Norway 15 k/30k Freestyle Individual Start  Women’s Race Report | Men’s Race Report  With snow falling and trees covered with fresh snow, Beitostølen, Norway’s wintery essence was on full display during the women’s 15-kilometer freestyle individual start on Saturday. Keeping her distance win-streak alive was Norway’s Therese Johaug who won her fourth World Cup distance race of the season making it four for four in 2018/2019. Johaug won in a time of...

France Tops Oslo Women’s Biathlon Relay, Canada 11th and U.S. 15th, Coming Back from the Brink

OSLO, Norway — In the last relay of French star Marie Dorin Habert’s career, she turned in a crucial performance to bring her team to the front. Anaïs Bescond extended the gap and France took the win in the women’s 4 x 6-kilometer relay here at Holmenkollen by 14.4 seconds over Germany. Was she nervous going into the last team event she will ever race? “I wasn’t really nervous,” Dorin Habert, 31, said in a...

Sunday Rundown: Holmenkollen 30 k; Kontiolahti Mass Starts

FIS Cross Country World Cup (Oslo, Norway): Women’s 30 k freestyle mass start last race of the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea (a 30 k classic mass start), Bjørgen came from behind to win Sunday’s Holmenkollen 30 k and wasn’t able to let off too much before finish. She didn’t take the lead until less than a kilometer to go and put just enough time into her competition to take the win in 1:18:12.4...

Saturday Rundown: NCAA Champs; Holmenkollen 50 k; Kontiolahti Relays

NCAA Skiing Championships (Steamboat Springs, Colorado): 15/20 k freestyle mass starts On the fourth and final day of NCAA Skiing Championships at Howelsen Hill in Steamboat Springs, Katharine Ogden skied to her second-straight national title, Ian Torchia became an NCAA champion and the University of Denver (DU) won its 24th NCAA National Championship. Ogden, a Dartmouth College freshman, raced to a 38.4-second victory in the women’s 15-kilometer mass start, finishing in 43:22.0 minutes for her...

Friday Rundown: Domracheva Tops Kontiolahti Sprint; Crawford 12, Egan 13th

IBU World Cup (Kontiolahti, Finland): Women’s 7.5 k sprint Darya Domracheva of Belarus raced to her third World Cup victory of the season on Friday, and American Clare Egan tallied a career best in 13th, just behind Canada’s Rosanna Crawford in 12th in the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup women’s 7.5 k sprint in Kontiolahti. Domracheva started 16th and shot a perfect 5-for-5 in prone, then missed one in her standing bout, but skied...

Belarus Nabs First Olympic Gold in Women’s Relay; Canada 10th, U.S. 13th

FasterSkier would like to thank Fischer Sport USA, Concept2, mixed relay team placed fifth two days ago).  Öberg passed Bescond to claim silver for Sweden, 10.7 seconds back, while Bescond anchored France to bronze (+17.6), ahead of Norway in fourth (+29.7), Slovakia in fifth (+38.4), Switzerland in sixth (+43.5), Poland in seventh (+43.6), Germany in eighth (+53.9), Italy in ninth (+1:04.1), and Canada in 10th (+1:33.4). The U.S. finished 13th (+2:01.9) of 18th teams. With...