Emil Hegle Svendsen knew exactly how Tuesday’s 15-kilometer mass start was going to play out — or so he said. The Norwegian timed his sprint showdown with France's Martin Fourcade to a T, nearly losing gold at the finish. But if you ask him, he had it in the bag.
Fog has already delayed the men's mass start biathlon competition several times, throwing athletes, coaches, and fans for a loop. It is currently scheduled for 3:30 p.m. local time, although conditions at the venue have not improved at all over the course of the morning. While athletes and journalists can joke about the delays and fog, the decision-making process is no laughing matter for race officials.
Martin Fourcade used his blazing ski speed to win his second biathlon gold of the Games. But silver medalist Erik Lesser did something more personal: he repaid his grandfather Axel, a cross-country skier, who was in second place in the 1976 Olympics before colliding with a spectator and withdrawing from the race. Evgeniy Garanichev of Russia, meanwhile, became the first athlete to win a medal on their birthday when he took bronze.
After athlete complaints at last year's World Cup, Sochi organizers removed a particularly dangerous downhill from the biathlon course. But with warm conditions and deep, rutted snow, the rest of the course became treacherous today, with at least four major crashes between the 59 racers. Freezing nights are not predicted until next week, suggesting that the cross country ski courses, too, may be in for some ugly conditions.
Martin Fourcade described the final loop of Monday’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit as “one of the worst” in his whole life. That's ironic because he won by 14 seconds to definitively capture his first Olympic gold, but it didn't come easy and there was plenty that could've gone wrong.
Sitting in fourth place at each of the first three handoffs, the Canadian men were in the game for the entirety of today's World Cup biathlon relay in Antholz, Italy. They eventually finished sixth - the first time any of them could remember going to the flower ceremony as a team. France won the race, anchored by Martin Fourcade.
No longer able to beat Martin Fourcade on his skis alone, Emil Hegle Svendsen has worked hard in the off-season on improving two other skills: shooting and focus. It's paying big dividends as he shot a gutsy race to win his 34th World Cup today, setting up for a golden time at the Olympics. Your move, Fourcade.
In no-snow Oberhof, there were a lot of "ski stopper" rocks on the trails - and U.S. biathlete Tim Burke hit one at the worst possible time, right as he was accelerating towards a top-5 finish on the last few climbs of the race. He regrouped for ninth place overall, behind race winner Martin Fourcade of France.
Both Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) and Darya Domracheva (BLR) hung on to their sprint wins from Friday and turned them into pursuit victories on Saturday, but not without a little bit of trouble from Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) and Kaisa Makarainen (FIN).
Young gun Johannes Thingnes Bø of Norway was the fastest in a field of clean shooters on Saturday in the IBU World Cup men's 10 k sprint in Annency, France. Nathan Smith led the way for Canada with a career-best 16th.
With five penalties, Lars Berger didn't stand a chance of defending his sprint win from Friday. Instead, the last three World Cup Total Score winners crowded the podium. Martin Fourcade of France timed his strike to come out as the clear winner, with Emil Hegle Svendsen and Tarjei Bø of Norway finishing second and third.
Aided by an early bib and a mid-race snowstorm, Lars Berger - who was left off the Norwegian national team this year - earned his sixth win but the first in three years. He beat Martin Fourcade of France, who had two fewer penalties but was stuck in slow snow conditions. Ole Einar Bjorndalen of Norway was third.
Martin Fourcade (France) wins the men's World Cup Biathlon 10 k sprint after 2nd place Fredrik Lindstroem (Sweden) crashes. American Tim Burke finishes in third.
In windy conditions in Ostersund, Martin Fourcade of France skied to a 2-minute win in the men's 20 k individual while Gabriela Soukalova of Czech Republic eked out a victory over Anastasiya Kuzmina of Slovakia. JP Le Guellec of Canada led the North Americans in fourth place.
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.
Andrea Henkel of Germany vanquished Norway's Tora Berger for a second straight win at the "season start" biathlon races in Norway. But the home team had its revenge in the men's race, where Ole Einar Bjørndalen led a 1-4 sweep and Norway placed nine men in the top 12.
On Nov. 4, at the Rossignol Headquarters in Saint-Jean-de-Moirans, France, defending IBU World Cup champion Martin Fourcade introduced his “wall of trophies” in the presence of many journalists and employees of the factory. The double overall World Cup winner and five time World Champion wished to display all his trophies in Rossignol’s factory, the brand of skis and ski boots he used since his childhood: “It was natural for me that my globes and my medals...
After blunders in Saturday's pursuit, Martin Fourcade of France was back to his winning ways in the mass start, and has become the first man since Raphael Poiree to sweep all of the crystal globes. American Tim Burke was in the pack fighting for second, but despite pushing Emil Hegle Svendsen to his absolute limit had to settle for fourth by just 0.3 seconds.
Christoph Sumann was having a bad run of things. Just two weeks ago, you could find the 37-year-old former Olympic medalist dabbling in ski races - classic ski races - at home in Austria. But in today's pursuit in Russia, the biathlete was back at the top of his game, shooting a perfect 20-for-20 while Martin Fourcade seemed a shell of his former self, accumulating five penalties.