The world's best biathletes battled blowing snow and variable conditions in the women's 7.5 k sprint at the 2015 IBU World Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland. In the end it was France's Marie Dorin Habert who walked away with the victory while Canada's Megan Heinicke was the first North American in 23rd.
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.
Belarusian Darya Domracheva took the overall IBU World Cup leader's bib from Finland's Kaisa Mäkäräinen with a 14.3-second win in Saturday's sprint, and Rosanna Crawford finished 1.6 seconds out of 10th in 13th for Canada. American Hannah Dreissigacker had her best result of the season in 16th with perfect shooting.
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.
Susan Dunklee had her best shooting of the year to move from eighth up to sixth in the World Cup pursuit in Antholz, Italy, on Saturday, the best U.S. result of the year. Canada put two women in the top 30, and American Hannah Dreissigacker moved from 60th up to 42nd - beating former star Miriam Goessner on her final loop.
It was a warm one in Oberhof, Germany, on Wednesday, but the Czech Republic women remained consistent, both with their skiing and shooting, in the 4 x 6 k relay to win by nearly 9 seconds over France. Belarus rebounded from 10th to third, and the Canadians were lapped on the final loop.
After winning bronze in the pursuit at the 2010 Olympics, Marie Laure Brunet was tapped as the next big thing in French biathlon. At age 25 and after two World Championships medals followed by a few tough seasons, she's hanging up her rifle for good.
Anastasiya Kuzmina couldn't have been more surprised to find herself in the lead at the end of the 12.5 k mass start, but she made the most of it and finished the season happy. Meanwhile, Kaisa Makarainen took home the World Cup trophy after both she and rival Tora Berger had subpar races - but a slightly less subpar one for Makarainen than for the retiring Norwegian superstar.
The French biathlon team seemed to have mastered the blustery conditions in Ostersund - that is, until four-time World Champion Martin Fourcade took over. Instead, it was the Czech Republic who had the most to celebrate as they took the win, their first in the history of the discipline.
Norway, Russia, Germany, France: it's hard to see a biathlon race where these guys aren't on the podium. Here's what you need to know about the biggest teams going into the 2013-2014 season - injury updates, shooting problems, psychological battles, promising juniors, team-naming squabbles. Read on.
Sjusjøen, Norway, is hosting "Sesongstartskiskyting": opening races for the international biathlon season. Most European national teams were in attendance, and Norway's Emil Hegle Svendsen and Germany's Andrea Henkel took home the wins in Saturday's sprints.
Even Gabriela Soukalova's mother, an Olympic silver medalist, was impressed with the dominant performances the 23-year-old from the Czech Republic has put on in Khanty Mansiysk this weekend. Marie Dorin Habert of France and Kaisa Makarainen of Finland rounded out the podium in the 12.5 k mass start.
In the gustiest race of the year, not even four penalties could keep Tora Berger from winning her tenth race of the season - the rest of the field had many more. Darya Domracheva of Belarus, arguably her biggest rival, racked up nine, but still managed to place fifth. Instead, it was Marie Dorin Habert of France who limited her damage to two penalties and claimed runner-up honors.
A willingness to be cold and wet were requirements for success in Oberhof today; ability to see targets through the fog and also to stay fuzzy-side-up on the course's steep and slushy downhills were encouraged, but not required, to be on the podium. Valj Semerenko noted that she'd prefer if it were minus five and sunny, but Ukraine won the women's relay anyway.
50,000 fans in a soccer stadium. Bulletproof glass protecting them from a shooting range. 20 of the world's best biathletes. Magdalena Neuner suspended on a trapeze. This is what you'll find at the World Team Challenge, a which happened in Germany today. Susan Dunklee shared her experience after placing tenth with Tim Burke.
Both Kaisa Makarainen of Finland and Björn Ferry of Sweden have won plenty of races before – including World Championships and Olympic gold, respectively. But their win in the team competition of the Champion’s Race in Moscow on Saturday was almost certainly their most unusual. For one thing, the pair teamed up despite their different nationalities, which is obviously not possible on the World Cup where they spend most of their time. Only at less...
With racing taking a break for the day in Ruhpolding, Germany, here’s a gallery from the kickoff race, yesterday’s mixed relay. Norway took the win followed by Slovenia and Germany. Click any photo to enlarge.
It’s a testament to Darya Domracheva’s speed that even with a 30-second lead with two kilometers to go, French relay anchor Marie Dorin Habert – the 11th-ranked biathlete on the World Cup and no slouch herself – was terrified of being caught. “I was very worried!” Dorin exclaimed in a post-race press conference. “Darya is better than me at skiing.” Luckily for France, Dorin is a better shot than the Belorussian star. After three legs...