Ruhpolding – Page 5 – FasterSkier

World Championships Sprint Roundup: Bergman’s Baby, Neuner Is Cold As Ice, and Much, Much More

Chelsea LittleMarch 4, 2012

RUHPOLDING, Germany – With more than 250 racers contesting yesterday’s World Championships 7.5 and 10 k sprints, there was plenty of news that didn’t make it into our race reports – both from international stars and from our own interviews with U.S. and Canadian athletes. Here are some of the notable bits that we couldn’t fit in: – Bronze medalist Carl Johan Bergman of Sweden wasn’t really expecting a medal yesterday, but he was expecting...

Biathlon

Kocher’s 18th Is Oh-So-Close to Funding Cutoff; Other Canadian, U.S. Women Disappointed With Sprint

Chelsea LittleMarch 3, 2012

RUHPOLDING, Germany – Canada’s Zina Kocher had a lot to think about during today’s 7.5 k sprint. But this her tenth World Championships, and Kocher says she’s learned a few things along the way. Today, she didn’t let all of the worries and problems get to her head. Instead, she stuck to business and finished 18th. “This is probably the most calm I’ve felt in a long time for a World Championship, so that’s crucial...

Biathlon

Initially Discouraged After Sprint Race, North American Men Put Three in Top Twenty at World Championships

Chelsea LittleMarch 3, 2012

RUHPOLDING, Germany – Not a single one of the North American men was pleased with their race in the World Championships 10 k sprint today – at least that’s what they said at the finish. One after another, the biathletes reported that they felt slow. Tim Burke. Jean Phillipe Le Guellec. Lowell Bailey. Russell Currier. Nathan Smith. Marc-Andre Bedard. Here’s a typical soundbite, this time from Le Guellec. “Skiing wasn’t really awesome, actually,” the Canadian...

Biathlon

Neuner is Perfect on the Range, Perfect on the Trails, and a Perfect Teammate As She Wins Sprint Title

Chelsea LittleMarch 3, 2012

RUHPOLDING, Germany – What Norway is to skiing, Germany is to biathlon. And the thousands of German fans filling the Chiemgau Arena today wanted only one thing: German gold. They’d been denied that pleasure in Thursday’s mixed relay, where a combination of shooting errors and a last-minute time reduction for the Norwegians bumped the German team from what seemed like a sure win down to third place. And in the men’s sprint earlier today, the...

Biathlon

Despite Two Errors Apiece, Fourcade Wins World Champs Sprint Over Rival Svendsen; Bergman a Close Third

Chelsea LittleMarch 3, 2012

RUHPOLDING, Germany – Martin Fourcade of France and Emil Hegle Svendsen of Norway have butted heads all season, passing the yellow World Cup leader’s bib back and forth; each has won three races so far and owns several more podiums. Svendsen started today’s World Championships sprint with bib No. 1 and wanted to end that way. Fourcade started with both the yellow bib and the red discipline leader’s bib, and he wanted to finish that...

Biathlon World Cup

Photo Gallery: World Championships Mixed Relay

Chelsea LittleMarch 2, 2012

With racing taking a break for the day in Ruhpolding, Germany, here’s a gallery from the kickoff race, yesterday’s mixed relay. Norway took the win followed by Slovenia and Germany. Click any photo to enlarge.

Biathlon World Cup

After Studebaker Leads Off with “Worst Relay”, U.S. Claws from 20th up to 12th at World Champs

Chelsea LittleMarch 1, 20122

RUHPOLDING, Germany – It’s never a good start to a relay when the leadoff skier tags off in tears. Unfortunately for the U.S., that’s exactly what happened today at World Championships. Scramble leg Sara Studebaker suffered a minor implosion (although it was nothing compared Race report

Biathlon

Canada Held Back By Slow Skiing, Disastrous Standing Stage by Kocher

Chelsea LittleMarch 1, 2012

RUHPOLDING, Germany – After placing sixth in a World Cup mixed relay earlier this season, the Canadian team came into today’s race at World Championships with high hopes. But they couldn’t handle the heat – literally, in this case, as temperatures neared 50 and the snow turned to slush. “Everything in the sun is pretty soft and mushy,” second-leg racer Zina Kocher told FasterSkier after the race. “It’s actually a pretty hard race, not just...

Biathlon

Slovenia Is First Across the Line, but Norway Takes the Win in World Championships Opener

Chelsea LittleMarch 1, 20127

RUHPOLDING, Germany – There were plenty of errors at the IBU World Championships mixed relay today, mistakes that were big enough to have a surprising and significant impact on the outcome of the race. France’s third-leg racer, Simon Fourcade, received the tag from Marie Dorin Habert in second place, just 11 seconds behind Norway. But he imploded in spectacular fashion, using all six of his spare rounds, hitting the penalty loop, and losing almost two...

Biathlon

Biathlon World Championships Kick off in Ruhpolding

Chelsea LittleMarch 1, 2012

RUHPOLDING, GERMANY – After a raucous opening ceremony in downtown Ruhpolding last night that featured speaches, music, and fireworks, biathlon World Championships will finally get underway in about an hour and a half here at the Chiemgau Arena in Germany. The opening event is a mixed relay, with women skiing six kilometers and men seven; each leg will feature one prone and one standing shooting stage. The French are the top seed, starting stars Marie...

Biathlon General World Cup

U.S. Biathletes Shine in European Training Camp; Women’s Team Attends for the First Time

Chelsea LittleAugust 31, 2011

Last year, the U.S. Biathlon Association (USBA) took eight men to Europe for a summer training camp, leaving the women’s team to train by themselves in Lake Placid. Since then, a dedicated women’s coach (Jonne Kahkonen) has been hired, so the women are in some ways more than ever their own team. But this summer three of them were invited to the camp in Germany and are training alongside the men. “For us, it’s definitely...

Biathlon General World Cup

Rupholding Courses, New for 2012 World Champs, Get Rave Reviews

Chelsea LittleJanuary 20, 20111

When the small town of Ruhpolding, Germany, bid to host biathlon’s 2012 World Championships, they knew they had their work cut out for them. “Preparations for the World Champs 2012 start now,” said Mayor Claus Pichler in August 2008 when Ruhpolding won the bid. “I got plenty of feedback from the delegates at the IBU Congress.” And they have been busy ever since, completely renovating and reconfiguring the area’s stadium as well as giving the...

Biathlon General Results World Cup

With World Cup Pursuit Victory, Tora Berger Gives Family Three Wins in Three Days

Chelsea LittleJanuary 17, 2011

Laura Spector led he U.S. women with a 41st-place finish, while Rosanna Crawford of Canada finished the first World Cup pursuit of her career.

Biathlon General Results World Cup

Ferry Is Golden Again in Ruhpolding Pursuit; Bailey Sneaks Into Top 30

Chelsea LittleJanuary 16, 2011

Ruhpolding, Germany, has been both kind and cruel to Olympic gold medalist Bjorn Ferry of Sweden. On one hand, the summer before his Olympic victory, he crashed while rollerskiing at the venue. The impact broke his collarbone and he had to have surgery and give up a period of training. But on the other, Ruhpolding is his second home. “I have trained here three times every year for the past ten years, so I have...

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