Ninth on Saturday, Nathan Smith placed 10th in Sunday's pursuit, the final race of the IBU World Cup in Östersund, Sweden, and another Canadian, Macx Davies finished in the top 30 in his first World Cup pursuit.
Ninth on Saturday, Nathan Smith placed 10th in Sunday's pursuit, the final race of the IBU World Cup in Östersund, Sweden, and another Canadian, Macx Davies finished in the top 30 in his first World Cup pursuit.
Nathan Smith did the expected and placed ninth in Saturday's IBU World Cup sprint, despite two misses. Meanwhile, another Canadian, Macx Davies, turned heads as the only man in the 100-plus field to shoot clean. He finished 10th for his career-best result by 30 places.
20-year-old Sean Doherty surprised himself by breaking into the World Cup points in a race he doesn't consider a favored format - yet there he was, attacking his way to 17th place. Lowell Bailey was close behind in 24th and Nathan Smith led Canada in 27th.
Regardless of when winter officially starts, it's here as far as the ski world is concerned, and there's a lot to be excited about in North American racing. Canadian biathletes Rosanna Crawford and Nathan Smith jumped out to a relay podium in the first IBU World Cup race, and Canadian cross-country skier Alex Harvey took second in the men's 10 k skate in Kuusamo, Finland, for his first early season podium.
Rosanna Crawford has been shooting for the World Cup podium for a long time now. And on the first day of the season, she got there, along with teammate Nathan Smith. "It feels amazing," she said. "I feel so lucky to share the podium with my teammate who I’ve trained with for so long."
It all started two years ago when Biathlon Canada’s head coach Matthias Ahrens struck up a conversation with a highland cow farmer. This month, Ahrens and Norwegian shooting coach Joar Himle led an international camp with athletes from Canada, Russia, Finland, Norway, and the U.S.
After four years as High Performance Director with Biathlon Canada, Chris Lindsay will be leaving the organization to take over as High Performance Advisor to summer sports at Own the Podium.
Nathan Smith, Rosanna Crawford, Brendan Green, and Megan Heinicke headline the "A" team, while eight athletes were picked for the "B" team.
Nathan Smith, 1st place, Khanty-Mansiysk World Cup pursuit Canadian biathlete Nathan Smith saved his best performance for last, earning the first win of his career in the penultimate race of the World Cup season. After placing fifth in the sprint in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, Smith executed a flawless race in the 12.5-kilomter pursuit to pick up a 24-second victory. Not only was it the first win for him, but the first for both Canada and North...
Nathan Smith made history for Canadian biathlon this year, becoming the first man to ever win a World Championships medal; he later won his first World Cup. Teammate Rosanna Crawford came oh-so-close to her own first podium.
We caught up with Canadian biathlon staff and athletes to chat about the significance of Nathan Smith's World Cup in on Saturday, just the second in history for a Canadian man. It's good for Smith and good for the program - but Own the Podium is unlikely to reward it with money, because the funding body only considers World Championships and Olympic medal performances.
Nathan Smith took the lead after the third shooting stage, and never gave it back - despite the best efforts of superstars like Martin Fourcade and Anton Shipulin. "It was kind of surreal," Smith said of entering the final loop with a 37-second lead and savoring the moments leading up to his first World Cup win. Meanwhile, Martin Fourcade clinched his fourth consecutive World Cup title, a feat that has never before been accomplished in biathlon.
Nathan Smith shot 9-for-10 and ended up fifth, 34 seconds behind winner Martin Fourcade, in Thursday's 10 k sprint in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, the final stop on the IBU World Cup tour. Leif Nordgren led the U.S. in 21st with 90-percent shooting as well, finishing 1:14 back despite feeling under the weather.
While Slovenia's Jakov Fak outlasted Ondrej Moravec of the Czech Republic and two Norwegians, Tarjei Bø and Ole Einar Bjørndalen, on the last lap to win the mass start at IBU World Championships, four North Americans put down races they were proud of: with Lowell Bailey in 13th, Tim Burke in 14th, Brendan Green in 21st, and Nathan Smith in 23rd.
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.
The podium-surprise streak at IBU World Championships ended on Thursday, with regulars Martin Fourcade, Emil Hegle Svendsen and Ondrej Moravec taking gold, silver and bronze in the men's 20 k individual, respectively. Canada's Brendan Green placed 21st to lead the North Americans, and three U.S. men placed in the top 33.
German biathlete Erik Lesser earned his first victory in Sunday's 12.5 k pursuit at the 2015 IBU World Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland. Canadian Nathan Smith was the top North American in 13th after placing second in Saturday's 10 k sprint.
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 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.
"Slushfest" was the word that best described the opening race of the 2015 IBU World Championships. Despite the challenging conditions, both the U.S. and Canadian mixed relays skied and shot their way to match their best World Championships results, with eighth- and 12th-place finishes, respectively.