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.
Sara Studebaker and Susan Dunklee qualified for Saturday's World Cup pursuit in Pokljuka, Slovenia - Studebaker because of her good shooting, and Dunklee despite losing a part of her rifle sight on trail. "I had very little chance of lining it up correctly to hit anything," Dunklee lamented after an incident that drew attention from international commentators.
The US Biathlon women came out with both a fire and a desire to enjoy themselves in their last race of the Sochi Olympics: the 4 x 6 k relay. It worked as Susan Dunklee, Hannah Dreissigacker, Sara Studebaker, and Annelies Cook captured seventh -- an Olympic record for their program.
As the first U.S. woman to ever earn a place in an Olympic mass start - which is limited to the top 30 competitors - Susan Dunklee made the most of her evening on Tuesday, skiing in the top 10 before ultimately running out of gas in the sprint finish and ending up 12th. It was still a new best mark for the American women's team.
Disappointed with her sprint result and frustrated to sit out the pursuit, Hannah Dreissigacker "made a plan" and executed to achieve the best finish of her career, by 30 places -- at the Olympics, no less. The first-time Olympian led all North Americans with a 23rd-place finish. Megan Imrie of Canada placed 30th.
Kikkan Randall was nominated to carry the U.S. flag at opening ceremonies, Susan Dunklee voted on the flagbearer, and Todd Lodwick was ultimately chosen. We checked in with Randall and Dunklee about the process, which is uniquely democratic - most national committees just pick someone without consulting athletes. But Dunklee questioned why the diverse U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association received only one vote.
Susan Dunklee was in fifth place in the 10 k biathlon pursuit the final time she skied onto the shooting range. She missed three shots and lost her chance at a medal, but with the fourth-fastest ski time of the day, she still ended up 18th. "“The cool thing is that I know I can be there on a solid day,” she said. "There are lots of races left."
After Susan Dunklee turned in the best-ever U.S. women's performance in an Olympic sprint, Sara Studebaker clocked in at 44th and Annelies Cook in 53rd, while Hannah Dreissigacker just missed the cutoff for Tuesday's pursuit in 65th. "So actually getting there, it’s a huge feeling for me," Cook said of her first Olympic finish.
A single errant bullet forced Dunklee into a penalty lap and pushed her down to 14th place on the day — tantalizingly close to the podium, but still good enough for the best-ever Olympic finish in a sprint race by an American woman,
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.
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Germany's Andrea Henkel skied with both calm and grit, shooting a perfect 20-for-20 and delving deep into the pain cave to hold off a charging Nadezhda Skardino of Belarus in the final kilometer of today's World Cup 10 k pursuit in Antholz, Italy. Susan Dunklee of the U.S. was in a top-five position for over half the race before being felled by shooting errors.
It was a day of firsts in the women’s 7.5 k sprint on the trails of Antholz, Italy. New faces found their way onto the podium, and American Susan Dunklee was just 0.6 seconds out, finishing a career-best fourth -- the best result by a U.S. female biathlete since 1994.
Tim Burke knew exactly what he did wrong to earn five penalties in Saturday's individual race: he took his time. "Actually for me usually the slower I shoot the worse I shoot," he said. Fixing that on Sunday, he shot 19-for-20 and was rewarded with a much-improved result.
Susan Dunklee had been here before: in Ruhpolding, in the 15 k, coming into the final shooting stage with a single penalty. Two years ago at World Championships, she cleaned the stage and placed fifth. Today she collected two more penalties, and wound up 41st. But that's okay - this practice for the Olympics, which she's already qualified for, was just as valuable as if she'd hit those shots.
Tim Burke would rather just forget about placing 61st in Friday's sprint; Annelies Cook was embarrassed to get lapped in the pursuit (to be fair, she had her work cut out for her starting last). Leif Nordgren called his results in the 40's "nothing special" and Lowell Bailey didn't even race because he had a cold. For the U.S., Susan Dunklee's finishes of 32nd and 25th were the bright spots.
Both Darya Domracheva of Belarus and Emil Hegle Svendsen of Norway - last year's runners-up in the World Cup overalls standings - finally picked up their first wins of the new biathlon season, suggesting that maybe the favorites will be in shape in time for the Olympics after all. Susan Dunklee (USA) placed 32nd and Macx Davies (CAN) 42nd to lead the North Americans.