One man has won all five 10 k Sprint competitions so far this season, so even with 112 starters in today’s BMW IBU World Championship Sprint, there was no doubt about the favorite. Johannes Thignes Boe of Norway has been untouchable on skis since November, regularly out-skiing his nearest competitor by over 30 seconds. The 150m penalty loop in biathlon usually takes athletes about 23 seconds, so Boe can afford to miss once and still...
The 2023 BMW IBU Biathlon World Championships kick off on Wednesday, February 8th in Oberhof, Germany. Let’s start with reasons why to watch: Why Watch? Watch because it’s free and easy. This winter, all biathlon World Championship, World Cup, Junior World Championship, and even IBU Cup (World Cup feeder circuit) races and are free to stream live with English commentary on Eurovision’s website. Watch because on the men’s side, Johannes Thignes Boe’s domination so far...
BEIJING, China (Feb. 5, 2022) – The American quartet of Susan Dunklee Craftsbury, Vt./Craftsbury Green Racing Project & USBA), Clare Egan (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Craftsbury Green Racing Project & USBA), Sean Doherty (Center Conway, N.H./National Guard Biathlon & USBA) and Paul Schommer (Appleton, Wis./Team Crosscut & USABA) finished seventh in the mixed relay Saturday as the Beijing 2020 Winter Games biathlon competition got underway at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Center. The result tied the best-ever finish for Team USA in an Olympic mixed relay, equaling...
U.S. Biathlon Team and Team Crosscut athlete Paul Schommer (Appleton, WI) on Thursday added to his already stellar season with the first top-10 performance of his career. Schommer, who earlier this season qualified for his first Olympic Winter Games, placed ninth in the 20km Men’s Individual race in Antholz, Italy under gusting conditions and on one of the more challenging 20km courses on the IBU World Cup. “Today’s approach was the same as it’s been...
Sean Doherty (Center Conway, N.H./National Guard Biathlon & USBA) became the fifth biathlete to qualify for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. The discretionary selection was announced by the U.S. Biathlon International Competition Committee on Monday following Doherty’s dominating performance in the sprint and pursuit races at the U.S. Biathlon Olympic Trials held in Arber, Germany, Jan. 2-3. “Sean performed really well and kept his focus during two really challenging races,” said U.S. Biathlon Director of High Performance Lowell...
This press release, written by Bill Kellick, was originally posted at TeamUSA.org. Oct. 27, 2021, 8:47 a.m. (ET) (NEW GLOUCESTER, MAINE) – US Biathlon has announced the roster for the Pre-World Cup On-Snow Camp in Obertilliah, Austria, as well as the roster for the first two IBU Cup competitions of the 2021-22 season. The Pre-World Cup Camp will begin November 11 with athletes joining National Team Coaches Armin Auchentaller and Vegard Bitnes for on-snow training ahead of the first BMW IBU...
This post will be updated with men’s comments as available. The 2021 U.S. Biathlon National Rollerski Championships were held this past weekend in Jericho, VT, hosted by the Ethan Allen Biathlon Club. As the annual event was held in a virtual format in August 2020 due to COVID-19 safety restrictions, the weekend marks a welcome return to public national level biathlon competition. Participants from clubs throughout the U.S. made their way to Northern Vermont to...
Press Release NOVE MESTO, Czech Republic (March 14, 2021) – Susan Dunklee (Barton, Vt.) and Sean Doherty (Center Conway, N.H.) combined to give the United States its first medal in the single mixed relay since 2017 as the BMW IBU World Cup wrapped up two weeks of competition in Nove Mesto on Sunday. Dunklee was part of the previous podium appearance as well when she teamed up with Lowell Bailey for a silver medal four years ago. Dunklee led the...
Thanks to a clean shooting performance on the range and a tactical masterclass on the final lap, France’s Emilien Jacquelin, 24, was able to celebrate across the line in first place in a time of 31:15.2 minutes, after an exciting finish sprint against Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø just 0.4 seconds behind (with 2 penalties). In a bit of an upset, the title in the men’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit at the 2020 IBU Biathlon World Championships...
Let’s catch up with the IBU World Cup and the action from Saturday and Sunday in Pokljuka, Slovenia. First up, the single mixed relay, in which teams of two are paired with each skier racing two legs and shooting two stages per leg. France took the win in 38:33.4 minutes shooting 0+5. The big news from the relay for North America, was Canada’s fourth place result. Christian Gow and Emma Lunder were 16 seconds back...
Let’s catch up on some overdue biathlon action from Ruhpolding, Germany. Day 2: Men’s 10 k sprint Starting off, the men’s 10 k sprint that ran last Thursday. Allez! Allez! It was a squeaker of a win for IBU World Cup overall leader Martin Fourcade of France. He won in a time of 22:41.5 minutes while shooting clean. His teammate, Quentin Fillon Maillet clocked in 3.1 seconds back for second while missing no targets. Germany’s...
Oberhof, Germany the site where the IBU World Cup snaps into its second trimester of racing after the holiday break, began a series of races. Yesterday, the women began the Oberhof stop with a 7.5-kilometer sprint. Norway’s Marte Olsbu Roeiseland won in 22:04.9 minutes while shooting clean in both her shooting bouts. Denise Herrmann of Germany was second (+33.1; 0+1), and France’s Julia Simon third (+47.4;1+0). Two North Americans had standout performances. Emma Lunder of...
Thursday’s on the IBU World Cup featured the men’s 10-kilometer sprint in Annecy-Le Grand Bornand, France. Germany’s Benedikt Doll won in 23:22.1. It was Doll’s second World Cup win – he won the sprint at the 2017 IBU World Championships. On his way to the win, Doll shot clean. Second place went to Tarjei Bø of Norway. He also shot clean to finish 9.4 seconds back. France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet was third (+11.3; 0+0). For...
Over the weekend in Östersund, Sweden the IBU World Cup held its traditional 4 x 7 .5-kilometer for the men, and 4 x 5 k relays for the women. Saturday, Norway’s team of Johannes Dale, Erlend Øvereng Bjøntegaard, Tarjei Bø, and Johannes Thingnes Bø won the men’s race in 1:10:30.4 hours. In total, the team used nine spares with no penalty laps. France, with Emilien Jacquelin, Quentin Fillon Maillet, Simon Desthieux, and Martin Fourcade placed...
In Östersund, Sweden on Wednesday, the IBU World Cup picked up again with the men racing the 20-kilometer individual. The depth of the French team was evident as they swept the top-for spots. Martin Fourcade won in a time of 53:11.9 minutes — and shooting clean until his final bout, when he missed a single target. Simon Desthieux was second (+12.7; 0+1+0+0), and Quentin Fillon Maillet third (+1:50.8; 2+0+0+1). Scott Gow of Canada was the...
The IBU World Cup season opened Saturday, November 30th on a windy day in Ӧstersund, Sweden with a pair of mixed relays: a single mixed relay, and a 4 x 6-kilometer mixed relay. The following day, athletes competed in a sprint, 10 k for the men and 7.5 k for the women. In the single mixed relay, the U.S. team of Susan Dunklee and Sean Doherty tagged off twice each, Dunklee skiing a total of...
Press Release by Bill Kellick/USBA: (Oct. 28, 2019) — Following the completion of the U.S. Biathlon Fall Festival and IBU Cup Trials held over the weekend in Soldier Hollow, Utah, 15 athletes have been nominated to the U.S. Biathlon teams competing at the opening events of the 2019-20 season. “We had an impressively competitive trials this season, with several lead changes throughout the competitions,” said U.S. Biathlon Director of High Performance Lowell Bailey. “I feel really good about...
On Thursday, a three race series to help determine international race starts for U.S. biathletes began with a sprint at Soldier Hollow (SoHo) outside Midway, Utah. For the IBU World Cup, five U.S. athletes have pre-qualified with a top-25 result on the World Cup or World Championships last season. Pre-qualified athletes include Joanne Reid, Clare Egan, Susan Dunklee, Sean Doherty, and Leif Nordgren. According to the USBA selection criteria, the remaining World Cup Period 1 spots...
Career arcs have a beginning, an apogee, and an eventual end. So far, US Biathlon’s Sean Doherty has been on an ascendant path. He’s the most decorated career IBU Youth/Junior Worlds medalist with 10 total. With two Olympics to his name, and a 25th overall ranking on the World Cup last season, year by year Doherty’s training has yielded race improvements. Why shake it up? At 24-years-old, and two full winters before the 2022 Olympics,...
For years under the leadership of Bernd Eisenbichler and Per Nilsson, US Biathlon was a polyglot enterprise. It’s often claimed the high performance staff at USBA had a decidedly United Nations vibe. As a sport firmly entrenched in Europe, siphoning some of that expertise into the U.S. program paid dividends over the past two decades. IBU World Cup podiums and World Championship medals were the payback. Lowell Bailey, at thirty-seven years old, is a hybrid...