Olga Zaitseva – FasterSkier

CAS Ruling Removes Lifetime Ban for Three Russian Biathletes

FasterSkierSeptember 24, 2020

The Court for Arbitration in Sport (CAS) announced Thursday that three Russian biathletes implicated for doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics had their lifetime bans overturned. The biathletes in question, Olga Vilukhina, Yana Romanova, and Olga Zaitseva were first handed lifetime bans in 2017 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The McLaren Report included information tying the three athletes to doping. The IOC subsequently ruled the three Russians had committed an ADRV, or...

Biathlon Doping General News Olympics Racing

Rodchenkov Testimony in Zaitseva Case Includes Entire Biathlon Team: Doping Before and After Sochi

Chelsea LittleDecember 23, 2017

On Friday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) posted the reasoned decision from its Disciplinary Commission, in which Russian biathlete Olga Zaitseva was disqualified from the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Zaitseva’s disqualification had been announced previously, but this is the first full-length decision presenting the evidence for the disqualification of any biathlete. Olga Vilukhina and Yana Romanova have also been suspended, but the Oswald Commission’s full decisions for their cases have not yet been released....

Biathlon General News Olympics Racing

Swedish Coach Pichler Won’t Be Allowed at Olympics Due to Previous Work with Russian Biathlon

Chelsea LittleDecember 21, 2017

Wolfgang Pichler, the coach of the Swedish women’s biathlon team, will not be allowed to attend the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. The reason? He previously worked with Russian athletes who have now been convicted of doping violations. The German rose to prominence as a coach when he led the Swedish team during the time of Magdalena Forsberg, coaching Anna Carin Zidek and Helena Eckholm as well. But he then left the team and...

Doping News Olympics

Tchekaleva, Dotsenko, Zaitseva Banned from Olympics; Number of Cases Grows to 36

FasterSkierDecember 1, 2017

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has handed down three more lifetime Olympic bans to two Russian cross-country skiers and a biathlete, all of which are women, based on the Oswald Commission hearings concerning Russia’s systematic doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Cross-country skiers Yulia Tchekaleva and Anastasia Dotsenko and biathlete Olga Zaitseva have been sanctioned, according to an IOC press release on Friday. “More hearings concerning other athletes will be held over the next few...

Biathlon Doping News Olympics Racing

Four Biathletes’ Names Not Scrubbed from McLaren Report; 31 Still Unnamed

Chelsea LittleDecember 15, 2016

The International Biathlon Union (IBU) has received a list of 31 Russian athletes involved in doping, IBU President Anders Besseberg told Norway’s VG newspaper. The information came from Besseberg said. “I reckon that we on the board will make recommendations within a week… of those athletes who the Committee believes should be provisionally excluded.” Some information about the athletes, however, can already be gleaned from the McLaren report. For example, one document in the Evidence...

Biathlon Racing

Mäkäräinen Completes Kontiolahti Sweep; Dunklee 7th Despite Many Misses in Windy Finland

Chelsea LittleMarch 16, 2014

In incredibly gusty conditions, Kaisa Mäkäräinen won the 10 k biathlon pursuit by a minute over Darya Domracheva of Belarus. Susan Dunklee of the U.S. moved from eighth up to seventh despite a whopping seven penalties, thanks in part to the second-fastest ski time of the day - and other racers' struggles on the shooting range.

Biathlon Racing World Cup

Makarainen is Top Woman at Home in Kontiolahti; Dreissigacker Posts Best-Ever World Cup Finish

Seth AdamsMarch 13, 2014

Local girl Kaisa Makarainen took the top spot in today's World Cup sprints in Finland, while two Canadians, Rosanna Crawford and Megan Heinicke, got into the top 15.

Biathlon Racing World Cup

Norway’s Flatland Climbs to the Top in Women’s 7.5 k Biathlon

Seth AdamsNovember 29, 2013

A win in today's 7.5km women's biathlon for Norwegian Ann Kristin Flatland, a solid 16th place finish for American Susan Dunklee, and exciting 22nd place finish for Megan Imrie, which completes her Olympic qualification for Sochi.

Biathlon General News Racing

Biathlon Preview, Part I: The Big Four

Alex KochonNovember 20, 2013

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.

Biathlon Racing

Photo Gallery: IBU World Championships Women’s Pursuit

Chelsea LittleFebruary 11, 2013

Photos from the women's 10 k pursuit at biathlon World Championships, where Tora Berger of Norway took home gold.

Biathlon Racing

Berger Golden Thanks to Clean Last Stage; Competitors’ Crash Hands Palka First Medal for Poland

Chelsea LittleFebruary 10, 20133

Tora Berger didn't have her best day, but after a quick and clean last standing stage, she was headed for gold. The other leaders weren't so lucky: after a disastrous crash, Ann Kristin Flatland broke a binding and Olga Zaitseva lost valuable time. In their places, Krystyna Palka of Poland earned silver and Olena Pidhrushna of Ukraine bronze.

Biathlon Racing

Strong Skiing and Solid Shooting lead German Women to Biathlon Relay Victory, Americans Season-Best 10th

Topher SabotJanuary 20, 2013

The German women skied away form Russia at the end of the women's 4x6km biathlon relay for the win with France taking third. The U.S. team placed 10th and Canada 11th.

Biathlon Racing

After Early Leaders’ Blunders on Range, Strong and Steady Zaitseva Takes Reins in Oberhof

Chelsea LittleJanuary 6, 2013

Miriam Gossner was unable to repeat yesterday's victory, missing all five targets on her first of four shooting stages and ten of twenty in total. Instead Olga Zaitseva of Russia rose to the top, after starting in fifth position and accumulating three penalties in the middle of the race.

Biathlon

After a Night Out at the Club, Makarainen and Ferry Team Up for Mixed Relay Win in Moscow

Chelsea LittleApril 8, 2012

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...

Biathlon World Cup

In Nove Mesto’s Blizzard of Deteriorating Conditions, Zaitseva Keeps Clean and Russia Places 3 in Top 6

Chelsea LittleJanuary 13, 20122

This year’s World Cup biathlon schedule has presented a confusing dichotomy: it seems like races are either characterized by a lack or snow, or too much of it – sometimes at the same venue, just days apart. While panning television shots of athletes racing along thin white ribbons in the woods has become all too common, so too have the fuzzy, gray screens where cameras struggle to pick skiers out through heavy snowfall. “We’ve had...

Biathlon World Cup

Un-Retired Zaitseva Picks Up First Win of Season; Imrie Notches Personal-Best 25th in Hochfilzen Sprint

Chelsea LittleDecember 16, 2011

Remember all those Russian shenanigans about returned to biathlon, because recently she’s been on a tear. The 33-year-old Moscow native picked up her first win of the season on Friday in a 10 k sprint in Hochfilzen, Austria, to go along with two podium finishes from last weekend. She’s now finished on the podium four times in seven starts, and that’s the way she likes it. “I would like to be on the podium in...

Biathlon General Olympics World Cup

Zaitseva Returns to the Fold

Chelsea LittleMay 28, 2011

At the end of the women’s relay at 2011 World Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, star biathlete Olga Zaitseva abruptly announced her retirement, sending the biathlon world and the Russian team into a tailspin. As FasterSkier wrote at the time, Zaitseva was fed up with the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU), the politics, and the pressure associated with representing her country. Since then, there has been much speculation about her possible return. Zaitseva initially stuck to...

Biathlon General News Olympics World Cup

An Unlikely Pairing: Pichler Heads to Russia In Search of a New Challenge

Chelsea LittleMay 13, 2011

When FasterSkier in an interview last week. “Pichler, because he’s had big success in Sweden and many years… maybe it was time for him to move.” Past Animosity with Russia While the challenge of coaching a supremely talented yet frustratingly inconsistent group of women may be appealing to Pichler, the move to Russia is puzzling given his past relationship with the RBU. For several years, Pichler – who is outspoken on many issues – very...

Biathlon General Olympics World Cup

Mid-Relay Firing Leads To Major Shakeup in Russian Biathlon Team

Chelsea LittleApril 3, 20113

On March 11th, Olga Zaitseva’s future in biathlon appeared, to all outsiders, to be bright. After competing in four events at World Championships, only the mass start and relay remained, both events in which Zaitseva had won gold in the past. She had also been elected to the International Biathlon Union’s Athlete’s Committee by her peers. With only two men and two women on the committee, it was an honor. As the weekend progressed, things...

Biathlon General Results World Cup

Only The Strong Survive In Rainy Rupholding Shooter’s Duel – Updated

Chelsea LittleJanuary 14, 20112

To say that it was raining in Rupholding, Germany, on Thursday would be an understatement. “It was pouring rain, perhaps the worst rain I’ve ever skied in, winter or summer,” said U.S. biathlete Sara Studebaker. “It was tough out there… today was all about fighting through the conditions.” For most of the women’s World Cup field, it was a tough fight as the tracks slowed to a cement-like consistency and the downhills became rutted and...