Rosanna Crawford was in 13th place in the World Cup pursuit when Russian head coach Vladimir Korolkevich, cheering for an athlete on another trail, stepped between her skis and sent her flying. Despite a time adjustment by the jury, she lost several places - as well as her hat and sunglasses.
Besides Susan Dunklee's podium, Rosanna Crawford finished a career-best 11th in the Oslo World Cup sprint and biathletes Lowell Bailey and Zina Kocher also made the top 20. Here's what the U.S. and Canadian teams had to say about their performances - and the horrible ski conditions in Oslo.
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.
Kaisa Mäkäräinen made winning at home a habit in the second-straight IBU World Cup sprint in Kontiolahti, Finland, edging Tora Berger and Gabriela Soukalova, who both cleaned. Susan Dunklee rose to eighth for her second-best sprint result of the season and her career. Two other Americans and three Canadian women made Sunday's pursuit.
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.
When Zina Kocher passed teammate Rosanna Crawford late in the game in today's World Cup pursuit, it spurred both Canadians to rev up their engines and go for season-best results. Meanwhile, Susan Dunklee of the U.S. put Thursday's rifle disaster behind her and rode the fourth-fastest ski time of the day to 20th place, and Sara Studebaker scored World Cup points again.
Emma Lunder wanted to make the top 60 in her first biathlon World Cup - instead, she made the top 30. With Rosanna Crawford leading the way in 17th and all four women making the pursuit, the 7.5 k sprint in Pokljuka, Slovenia, simply went Canada's way.
Coming into the last prone stage of Friday's Olympic relay, the Canadian women were in second place - an unprecedented position. But five spare rounds and two penalty loops from Zina Kocher knocked them back into 8th. Even though It was still their best Olympic relay result ever, disappointment showed: "This is a relay we could have medaled in, flat out," said High Performance Director Chris Lindsay.
Canada's Rosanna Crawford and Megan Imrie notched their best performances at their second Olympics in 25th and 31st, respectively, on Sunday in the 7.5 k sprint. Things came together for Zina Kocher in 32nd, and Megan Heinicke squeaked in the top 60 to also qualify for Tuesday's pursuit.
Canada's Rosanna Crawford says that some features of the Sochi course have stayed the same since the World Cup visited last year: the big climbs, the shooting range with an easy approach and huge retaining walls which cut the wind. But as Max Cobb explains, some changes have been made to the courses as well based in part on Organizing Committee layout errors.
The International Biathlon Union handed provisional sanctions to three athletes who tested positive for banned substances. Russian website Championat is alleging that two are Ekaterina Iourieva, a 2008 World Champion who has already served one doping ban for EPO; and Irina Starykh, currently the top-ranked Russian woman. Across the biathlon world, athletes expressed frustration and dismay.
In their first World Cup weekend back in Europe, Biathlon Canada had six of its seven athletes score World Cup points in Ruhpolding, highlighted by Nathan Smith's 16th-place finish in the men's pursuit today. He called it his best race of the season.
In the final race before a three-week holiday break, Ukraine's Valj Semerenko finished the first IBU World Cup trimester with her first victory, picking her way back into contention after an early penalty. Rosanna Crawford led four Canadians in the 10 k pursuit by picking off seven places for 19th overall.
Coming off her first World Cup win a week ago, Switzerland's Selina Gasparin captured another sprint win in Annency, France, this time with clean shooting. Canada's four women also harnessed positive feelings from their historic relay on Thursday to qualify for Sunday's pursuit.
The Canadians notched a national first of fourth place in the IBU World Cup women's relay on Thursday in Annency, France, and the Americans tied their collective career bests of eighth for the second-straight week.
The Canadian men were as high as fourth place and the women as high as sixth in today's World Cup relays, but each team accumulated penalty loops at unfortunate times which bumped them down a few places.
JP Le Guellec led the Canadians in 13th in Friday's 10 k sprint at the second World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria, and Rosanna Crawford took 17th in the women's 7.5 k on a day where conditions improved then worsened with heavily falling snow and changing winds.
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.
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.
Former Olympic kayaker Julia Rivard decided to use the Kickstarter model and her own tech smarts to make a fundraising website only for athletes. A year later 20 Canadians, including three biathletes, have started campaigns on the site and more than half surpassed their goals. Rosanna Crawford has raised $18,000 with partner Brendan Green: "It feels like a weight has been lifted."