Martin Fourcade easily won the 12.5 k World Championships pursuit, despite three penalties. More surprised was Ole Einar Bjørndalen, who repeated his silver medal performance from the sprint. Nathan Smith of Canada placed 15th and Tim Burke of the United States 17th.
Tim Burke, Hannah Dreissigacker, and Leif Nordgren joined Susan Dunklee in the top 20 in the World Championships sprints, while the entire U.S. and Canadian men's teams made the cuts for Sunday's pursuits.
Susan Dunklee was eighth in the first individual race of World Championships, despite a missed shot in standing - and the American wants more. "That Presque Isle podium really got me excited again- motivated, and confident, and very hungry," she said.
Chloe Levins was sick before IBU Youth/Junior World Championships and performed below her own expectations. But she has found redemption at the Youth Olympic Games, turning in the best individual performance ever by a U.S. biathlete and cleaning her first four-stage race in the process.
Sweden's Stina Nilsson retained her Sprint Cup lead despite getting reprimanded for obstruction in the final. And although none of the three American women advanced out of their quarterfinals, the U.S. team declared the day a success with all three skiing blazing qualifier times.
Martin Johnsrud Sundby double poled all 15 k of Sunday's classic race in Toblach, Italy, for his fifth win in as many World Cup distance races this season. Russia's Alexander Bessmertnykh rivaled him for most of the race, but finished 12.6 seconds back on kick wax. Canada's Alex Harvey placed 16th and Devon Kershaw was in the points in 28th.
The Norwegians may have won the race, but the Americans stole the show in the women's 4 x 5 k relay on Sunday in Lillehammer, Norway. For the U.S. women, placing third marked their first time back on the World Cup relay podium since December 2013. (Updated)
Is Norway taking advantage of a partnership get around new FIS rules limiting the number of team staff allowed on course? Or is Great Britain actually taking advantage of them, to get more expert wax testing? Either way, FIS says that a new partnership that rubs Sweden the wrong way is a-okay.
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.
Just as in this race last season, Italy's Dorothea Wierer shot perfectly to top Norway's Tiril Eckhoff - but this year it was closer, with Eckhoff just three seconds back. Susan Dunklee (USA), Megan Tandy (CAN), and Annelies Cook (USA) placed 21st, 23rd, and 25th, respectively.
Eirik Brandsdal was a pretty happy guy after beating Petter Northug by six-tenths of a second on Sunday. "I thought, 'Do not look back. Imagine that you have the devil at your heels,' " he recalled.
About a month and a half after the Norwegian ski federation said it was effectively done with Petter Northug Jr., both sides have come to agreement and, you guessed it, Northug is back on the national team.
Therese Johaug's summer of bad luck continues: after healing her left hand, which she broke earlier this summer, the Norwegian fell while trail running and broke her right hand. She has returned to Oslo for consultations about the extent of the injury and how she will need to adjust her training for recovery.
At the 2015 Blink Festival, Jørgen Grav, an incoming senior at UVM, wasn't one of the big names, but he was one of the 150 skiers selected to the high-profile event. He finished 45th in the opening hill climb, beating some of the top Norwegians. After graduating, he has his sights set on the Norwegian National Team.
The U.S. Ski Team is in Aure, Norway, for their second training camp of the summer, preparing for this week's Toppidrettsveka rollerski races. FasterSkier caught up with some of the coaches and athletes to see how they are preparing for the three-day series.
Fresh off of marrying his new wife Kristin Størmer Steira in northern Norway, Devon Kershaw drove to Oslo and then jetted off for a high-elevation dryland training camp in the Italian Alps with his Canadian teammates and buddies, Jesse Cockney and Alex Harvey.
Rosanna Crawford was aggressive on her final lap around a rain-soaked Norwegian city loop, taking top honors in the biathlon sprint. Four other North Americans also made the finale, while Barbro Kvåle and Calle Halfvarsson won the cross-country sprints. Plus, video of the whole festival.
Heidi Weng climbed away from the crowd in Lysebotn, Norway, today, to take the win in the opening race of the Blink Festival by more than 30 seconds over Finland's Kaisa Makarainen. Susan Dunklee finished 15th, the top North American.
Matti Heikkinen wasn't sure last fall if he still had what it took - but then his home country won the bid for 2017 World Championships, and decided to rebuild from the base up. Meanwhile, biathlete Tarjei Bø beat all of Norway's cross-country skiers to finish fourth: “It's obviously very fun... but I was supposed to have been on the podium!"
Therese Johaug fell while running and broke her hand. She'll have surgery to insert a few screws, and will try holding a ski pole again in 10 days. Until then, it's running, strength, and one-pole skiing for the 2015 double World Champion.