Canada's Nathan Smith improved 71 places since his last World Cup sprint for a career-best seventh with perfect shooting in the Saturday's IBU World Cup sprint in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. Three Canadian men qualified for Sunday's pursuit, with Brendan Green in 22nd and Macx Davies in 54th.
Canada's Nathan Smith wasn't the only North American who tallied a career best in the men's IBU World Cup sprint on Saturday; Leif Nordgren of the U.S. finished 16th with 9-for-10 shooting and all three American men qualified for Sunday's pursuit.
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.
He felt a little weird saying it, but Bernd Eisenbichler viewed Friday’s single mixed relay — a brand-new event which was first tested in Oslo last season — as a “good training opportunity” for US Biathlon's Annelies Cook and Tim Burke. The two teamed up for ninth on the first day of the IBU World Cup in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic.
Minnesota native Anna Kubek started off her week right with a sixth-place finish in the junior women's 12.5 k individual at Open European Championships for biathlon. Kubek was just 14 seconds off the podium. In the men's 15 k race, Christian Gow of Canada finished 15th.
No one likes to get hurt on their birthday, and while Kikkan Randall's minor back strain put a damper on her workout on Dec. 31, she had her physical therapist from Anchorage to help her recover (and win her first World Cup back) less than two weeks later.
It was a spectacular weekend for sprinting as the World Cup continued in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic with both a individual and team sprint. FasterSkier was also on site at the 2014 U.S. Cross Country Championships in Midway, Ut., which concluded with a classic sprint on Friday.
Twenty-five days before the Olympics open in Sochi, Russia, Nikita Kriukov couldn’t have timed Sunday’s 6 x 1.6-kilometer team-classic sprint victory much better. The 28-year-old Russian’s execution was right up there as well. Meanwhile, Simi Hamilton and Andy Newell teamed up for one of the best U.S. men's team-sprint finishes in recent memory.
The Canadian women missed out on advancing to the final by one place on Sunday, finishing seventh nearly 18 seconds behind sixth, while the top six teams made the World Cup 6 x 1.3 k classic team sprint final in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic.
For some "warm-up" races before hitting the OPA Cup, a group of Stratton and APU athletes competed in Slavic Cup competitions in Nove Mesto this weekend. They made a splash, with Kate Fitzgerald, Sophie Caldwell, and Rosie Brennan sweeping Sunday's 10 k pursuit. Paddy Caldwell also continued his success from Norwegian junior nationals the weekend before.
Miriam Gössner of Germany got lots of attention when the biathlete finished fourth in Tuesday's 10 k skate, just half a second from the podium - but she wasn't alone in making the jump between sports. Friends Kaisa Makarainen of Finland and Selina Gasparin of Switzerland also acquitted themselves well, and offered light-hearted insight on the difference between the sports.
The 2013 IBU World Championships represent one of the best ever performances by the Madshus team athletes. No less than nine medals – eight gold and one bronze – were secured on the new Madshus REDLINE skate skis and Super Nano Ski boots.
What does it feel like to have Tora Berger breathing down your neck? Ask Germany’s Andrea Henkel, Ukraine’s Olena Pidhrushna or Italy’s Karin Oberhofer, who started the final leg of the 4 x 6-kilometer women’s relay with a mere 40-second head start.
Tim Burke ended America's 26-year medal draught at World Championships on Thursday by claiming a silver medal in the 20 k individual. "I was crying in the woods," said his coach Per Nilsson. It was both a historic day for U.S. Biathlon and a momentous personal triumph for Burke in a season of up and down results.
Tim Burke’s silver medal-winning performance for the U.S. Biathlon team gave the Americans a big reason to celebrate on Thursday, but the team’s performance as a whole was worth noting, too. Three members finished in the top 30 — after Burke, Leif Nordgren took 22nd with two penalties and Lowell Bailey was 29th with three errors.
A year after placing fifth in the 15 k individual at World Championships, American Susan Dunklee finished a solid 15th on her birthday despite falling and busting her rifle stock on the last lap. Canadian Rosanna Crawford raced through the range for a career-best 17th at her first World Championships.
For Tora Berger, it just keeps getting better. Norway’s leading female biathlete took control at the IBU World Championships on Wednesday, cruising through the 15-kilometer individual race to not only defend her title by nearly a minute, but do so without error in Nové Město, Czech Republic.
Norway's Emil Hegle Svendsen is off to one heck of a start at Biathlon World Champs with three wins in as many races. Brian Gregg found similar success in two out of three races over the long weekend, and Sophie Caldwell made the Scando Cup podium in a skate sprint.
Nine American and Canadian athletes competed in the 10/12.5 k pursuits at IBU World Championships on Sunday. Here are some photos of the action.
Photos from the women's 10 k pursuit at biathlon World Championships, where Tora Berger of Norway took home gold.