Emil Hegle Svendsen, the third-winningest man in World Cup history, said earlier this year that he was losing motivation for biathlon. Well, with perfect 20/20 shooting and a monster win in Östersund, Sweden, he's remembering exactly what he loves about the sport: winning.
Before the first stop on the IBU World Cup circuit continues in Östersund on Wednesday, we bring you a synopsis of last weekend's racing action and links to full reports.
Rosanna Crawford worked out her pre-World Cup nerves by leading the World Cup mixed relay halfway through leg one. The team's early advantage was negated by Zina Kocher's two penalty loops, but Crawford, Nathan Smith, and Marc-Andre Bedard can still call themselves the best three shooters in the race.
The United States biathlon team started the season off on the right foot, finishing the World Cup mixed relay in seventh place and being within a shot of the leaders for the entire race. "Today we were in it all the way until the end- It gives us good confidence going forward," said Tim Burke.
Martin Fourcade shook off the ghost of Östersund blunders past, and sprinted his way to victory for France in the final meters of today's World Cup mixed relay. Norway was second, Germany third, and plenty of teams showed that they should be in contention all season long.
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.
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.
Jean Philippe Le Guellec of Canada placed fourth in today's 20 k individual, the first non-relay of the World Cup season - despite the fact that he went in unsure about his current level of performance. Teammate Nathan Smith had a career-best 16th-place finish of his own and started checking off the Olympic qualification criteria.
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.
USBA picked 11 athletes to send to Europe this fall, based on trials races this summer in Jericho and last week at Soldier Hollow. Some of them will be picked for Sochi - but who? We clarify the qualification process, as well as getting some comments from High Performance Director Bernd Eisenbichler about the performances he saw in Utah last week.
JP Le Guellec's coach Jean Paquet told him to stop putting so much pressure on himself - so Le Guellec did, focused on skiing relaxed and knocking down targets, and saw his (and Canada's) first World Cup victory.
ÖSTERSUND, Sweden – To beat Tora Berger these days, you have to defeat her not only on the trails, but also on the range. And that has proved more or less impossible here in Östersund. In three races, the Norwegian has taken 50 shots and missed just two of them. That feat was matched by only four women: Andrea Henkel of Germany, Marie Laure Brunet of France, Nadezhda Skardino of Belarus, and Eva Tofalvi of...
ÖSTERSUND, Sweden – After placing a disappointing tenth in yesterday’s 10 k sprint, Martin Fourcade of France was seeking redemption – and to stay in the overall World Cup leaders bib that he had earned after winning Wednesday’s individual race. Last year’s overall champion missed only a single one of his twenty shots in today’s 12.5 k pursuit, which put him on a trajectory towards the front. The penalty came in the second standing stage,...
ÖSTERSUND, Sweden – After watching teammate Jean Philippe Le Guellec win Canada’s first World Cup earlier in the afternoon, Zina Kocher had her work cut out for her to stay on task for her own 7.5 k sprint. “It was so exciting,” she told FasterSkier. “It took me actually a long time before my race to just calm down, because we were so excited. We watched the flower ceremony, and I was so pumped up...
ÖSTERSUND, Sweden – It took perfect shooting for Canada’s Jean Philippe Le Guellec to ski to an 18-second win earlier this afternoon in the men’s 10 k sprint. Tora Berger in the women’s 7.5 k edition? Not so much. The Norwegian powerhouse missed a shot in standing, but still cruised to a 16.9-second victory over Olena Pidhrushna of Ukraine, with Olga Vilukhina of Russia placing third another two and a half seconds behind. In fact,...
ÖSTERSUND, Sweden – The way some people look at it, today definitely didn’t present ideal conditions for biathlon. With gusty, raging wind that flapped at the international collection of flags here in the stadium and chilled athletes and spectators alike, shooting was a challenge. Emil Hegle Svendsen of Norway and Martin Fourcade of France, who dueled through last season in pursuit of the overall World Cup crown, each missed three shots. Lowell Bailey of the...
Tora Berger set out to achieve a couple of goals Thursday in the first biathlon World Cup of the season. For one, she wanted to make every target. Check. Then, she wanted to work toward an overall World Cup title, and did so beating Darya Domracheva (BLR) by more than a minute.
"Sometimes you go down in order to go higher.” That’s what Martin Fourcade said Saturday after finishing 48th in a cross-country World Cup race before resuming his winning ways in the biathlon World Cup opener 20 k individual race Wednesday.
When the IBU World Cup kicks off in Östersund, Sweden, on Sunday, it will feel much the same like any other year – after all, the northern city has hosted several of the last biathlon openers. But that first race will feel decidedly different as well. For the first time, Östersund is hosting not only three individual races for both men and women, but also a mixed relay, which will be held a week earlier...