Rocky Mountain Racer (RMR) skier Maya MacIsaac-Jones recaps her team's two-week, high-performance camp in Park City, Utah. "Because of RMR’s cross-country/biathlon mix, Soldier Hollow was the perfect place for training," she writes. "Coaches were able to coordinate shooting practices for the biathletes with simultaneous rollerskiing sessions for the cross-country side of the team."
Christian Gow and Stuart Harden continued solid Championships racing that was nonetheless not quite what they were hoping for, finishing 16th and 18th in the junior and youth pursuits. For America, Casey Smith turned in one of the more impressive pursuit performances of the day, missing a single shot and climbing 20 places to 23rd.
Sean Doherty achieved a personal best and made U.S. history on Friday, placing second in the 7.5 k sprint opener at the IBU Youth/Junior World Championships in Obertilliach, Austria. Just 3.6 seconds out of first, Doherty was still soaking up the result.
Canada will be sending a full team of 16 young athletes to the World Youth and Junior Championships, to be held in Obertilliach, Austria, starting January 25th.
As soon as biathlon World Youth and Junior Championships ended on Sunday in Kontiolahti, Finland, the Canadian team headed for home, making for a hectic afternoon. Because of the quick turnaround time FasterSkier was unable to touch base with the athletes directly after their races, but now that they’re back on home turf – along with the medals they earned – a few of the top competitors were willing to talk about the week. It...
On Friday, Julia Ransom came thisclose to picking up Canada’s second medal of the week at biathlon World Youth and Junior Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland. Thisclose, it turns out, means four and a half seconds over six kilometers and two shooting stages. That’s the margin that separated Ransom, who wound up fifth in the youth women’s sprint, from third-place Lisa Theresa Hauser of Austria. If she had any regrets about missing the podium, Ransom kept...
On Wednesday, Kontiolahti, Finland, became a venue that was hospitable for biathlon for the first time in perhaps several weeks. After the bitter cold of the World Cup races two weeks ago, a general lack of sunlight, and a persistent wind that has dogged even the best shots at World Youth and Junior Championships this week, today’s balmy sunshine was a welcome reprieve. “Today was an amazing bluebird day and there was almost no wind,”...
SEEFELD IN TIROL, Austria In his address to the competitors and spectators who packed the bleachers of the Bergisel stadium during the Opening Ceremonies of the inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, IOC President Jacques Rogge emphasized the importance of the Games with respect to the core Olympic values. “You have a chance to be true champions, not only by winning medals, but by conducting yourself like Olympians,” Rogge told the 1,078 Youth Olympians...
–SEEFELD IN TIROL, Austria It was a busy day for the double hitters today in Seefeld during the second day of competition at the Youth Olympic Games. Bluebird skies, calm winds, and perfect tracks delivered the type of conditions that race directors dream of. Nordic Combined Men’s Individual Competition Action kicked off Sunday morning with the Nordic Combined Men’s Individual competition. Competitors took part in one competitive round of jumping held on the HS...
Canada’s hopes for a biathlon medal at the Youth Olympic Games are probably riding on no single athlete more than Calgary’s Stuart Harden. Harden is one of those athletes who seems to be a junior forever, simply because they find success at such a young age. Last season, he competed in his first World Junior Championships – mostly because before then, he had been too young to qualify. As it was, the then-16-year-old was still...
After a World Junior Championships where it has already proven dominant in the medal counts, Russia sealed the deal by winning both the youth men’s and women’s relays in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic on Friday. And it wasn’t even close: both teams won by more than a minute, the men over Italy and the women over Ukraine. Elena Badanina, the leadoff skier for the Russian women’s team, doesn’t see herself as becoming a star, despite...
How poor was the shooting on the third day of biathlon World Junior Championships in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic? In two races on Tuesday – the youth men’s and women’s individual – only a single athlete, Pavel Hancharou of Belarus, shot clean for the four stages of the race. He was rewarded with a 48-second victory in the 12.5 k race and his first World Juniors gold medal. Second-place Steffen Bartscher of Germany was so...