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

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...

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

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BiathlonWorld Cup

Canada’s Lone Ranger, Zina Kocher, Nets Season-Best 12th in Kontiolahti Sprint; Studebaker 15th for U.S.

Chelsea LittleFebruary 12, 20121

Kontiolahti, Finland, didn’t seem like a logical place for either Canada’s Zina Kocher or U.S. biathlete Sara Studebaker to excel on Saturday. Kocher is traveling on her own, without the support of the Canadian team staff, while Studebaker raced in Friday’s mixed relay, unlike most of the top female competitors. And in fact, on Saturday morning, it almost seemed like none of the women would get a chance to do their best. “There was so...

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North American Women Unable to Capitalize on Sprint Results; Studebaker Leads Way With 25th in Biathlon Pursuit
BiathlonWorld Cup

North American Women Unable to Capitalize on Sprint Results; Studebaker Leads Way With 25th in Biathlon Pursuit

Chelsea LittleFebruary 5, 20121

After what was perhaps the best day ever for North American women on biathlon’s World Cup circuit, U.S. racer Sara Studebaker was offered a unique way to approach the coming pursuit. “There’s a bunch of you all hungry for more,” Studebaker’s brother Luke told her. Then he delved into new territory. “[You are] like a pack of North American grey wolves, once endangered to the point of extinction but now flourishing under revamped federal policies....

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U.S., Canadian Women “Show Europe That North America Can Mix It Up” In Oslo Sprint
BiathlonWorld Cup

U.S., Canadian Women “Show Europe That North America Can Mix It Up” In Oslo Sprint

Chelsea LittleFebruary 3, 2012

After a gray winter that seemed to always be either snowless or stormy, the world’s best biathletes were thrilled to head to Antholz, Italy two weeks ago, where the sun finally shone in the Alps. The North Americans, it seems, are even happier to be in Oslo, Norway, where the World Cup kicked back into action with a pair of sprint races on Thursday. “There is a good vibe here in Oslo,” U.S. biathlete Annelies...

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Domracheva Makes Up for Early Error With Surprise Ascent to Victory; Dunklee 27th in First World Cup Mass Start
BiathlonWorld Cup

Domracheva Makes Up for Early Error With Surprise Ascent to Victory; Dunklee 27th in First World Cup Mass Start

Chelsea LittleJanuary 23, 2012

Mistakes can be a powerful motivator. In Sunday’s 12.5 k mass start in Antholz, Italy, the two biathletes with the fastest course times were the ones who really, desperately wanted to make up for errors in the very first shooting stage of the day. In that prone stage, both and Darya Domracheva of Belarus and Kaisa Makarainen of Finland – currently ranked second and third in the world, respectively – missed two shots. In a...

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France’s Dorin Holds Off Charging Domracheva for Relay Win; Canada Finishes 9th, Tying for Best in Years
BiathlonWorld Cup

France’s Dorin Holds Off Charging Domracheva for Relay Win; Canada Finishes 9th, Tying for Best in Years

Chelsea LittleJanuary 21, 2012

It’s a testament to Darya Domracheva’s speed that even with a 30-second lead with two kilometers to go, French relay anchor Marie Dorin Habert – the 11th-ranked biathlete on the World Cup and no slouch herself – was terrified of being caught. “I was very worried!” Dorin exclaimed in a post-race press conference. “Darya is better than me at skiing.” Luckily for France, Dorin is a better shot than the Belorussian star. After three legs...

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Dunklee Breaks Through With 17th in Antholz Sprint, Qualifies for 30-Woman Mass Start
BiathlonWorld Cup

Dunklee Breaks Through With 17th in Antholz Sprint, Qualifies for 30-Woman Mass Start

Chelsea LittleJanuary 19, 20122

After last week’s performances in by the men’s team, highlighted by Russell Currier’s sixth-place finish in the 10 k sprint during just his second World Cup start of the season, the U.S. women’s biathlon team needed a feel-good story of their own to stay in the spotlight. In Thursday’s 7.5 k sprint in Antholz-Anterselva, Italy, they did just that as World Cup rookie Susan Dunklee raced to her first top-20 result. The 17th-place finish was...

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In Nove Mesto’s Blizzard of Deteriorating Conditions, Zaitseva Keeps Clean and Russia Places 3 in Top 6
BiathlonWorld Cup

In Nove Mesto’s Blizzard of Deteriorating Conditions, Zaitseva Keeps Clean and Russia Places 3 in Top 6

Chelsea LittleJanuary 13, 20122

This year’s World Cup biathlon schedule has presented a confusing dichotomy: it seems like races are either characterized by a lack or snow, or too much of it – sometimes at the same venue, just days apart. While panning television shots of athletes racing along thin white ribbons in the woods has become all too common, so too have the fuzzy, gray screens where cameras struggle to pick skiers out through heavy snowfall. “We’ve had...

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Vertigo or No, Imrie Lands Career-Best 20th in Nove Mesto World Cup; Teammate Kocher 15th
BiathlonWorld Cup

Vertigo or No, Imrie Lands Career-Best 20th in Nove Mesto World Cup; Teammate Kocher 15th

Chelsea LittleJanuary 11, 2012

A couple of days ago, Canadian biathlete Megan Imrie couldn’t tell which way was up. Luckily, she’s feeling better – and up was where she landed on Wednesday, near the top of the results sheet in a World Cup individual race in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. Despite a case of vertigo, Imrie finished a career-best 20th place. Athletes have to deal with a lot of variables when they’re preparing for competitions, but vertigo – a...

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Neuner Bounces Back to Win Oberhof Sprint; U.S. Women Struggle In First Race Back from Break
BiathlonWorld Cup

Neuner Bounces Back to Win Oberhof Sprint; U.S. Women Struggle In First Race Back from Break

Chelsea LittleJanuary 6, 2012

After an extreme and unexpected implosion in Wednesday’s relay, Magdalena Neuner of Germany scooted out of the stadium without talking to the press. On Friday, she was able to hold her head high after hitting all of her targets and skiing to a 37-second win over Darya Domracheva of Belarus in the 7.5 k World Cup sprint in Oberhof, Germany. “It was important for me to delete that last race,” she said in the post-race...

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Berger Jets to Pursuit Victory, Leaving a Fading Neuner Fighting for the Podium
BiathlonWorld Cup

Berger Jets to Pursuit Victory, Leaving a Fading Neuner Fighting for the Podium

Chelsea LittleDecember 4, 2011

Sunday’s 10 k pursuit in Ostersund, Sweden was set up to be a barnburner from the moment the previous day’s sprint ended. With Olympic and World Champions Tora Berger and Magdalena Neuner separated by just 0.2 seconds and last year’s overall World Cup winner Kaisa Makarainen lurking 15 seconds behind, there was no doubt that things would get exciting. Germany’s Neuner and Norway’s Berger skied the first lap together, a study in contrasting styles. Berger’s...

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Neuner Edges Berger By 0.2 Seconds in Ostersund Sprint, Setting Up Exciting Pursuit
BiathlonWorld Cup

Neuner Edges Berger By 0.2 Seconds in Ostersund Sprint, Setting Up Exciting Pursuit

Chelsea LittleDecember 3, 2011

Today in Ostersund, Sweden, two women returned to the spots they’re used to occupying on the World Cup biathlon results sheet. For Germany’s Magdalena Neuner, that spot was at the top. The 24-year-old won her 25th World Cup after placing third in a wind-dominated individual race earlier this week. For any other champion, an occasional bad day is standard. But Neuner is so good that seeing her finish over a minute and a half behind...

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Big Wins, and Winds, Are the Thing In Ostersund As Domracheva Takes Minute-Plus Victory
BiathlonWorld Cup

Big Wins, and Winds, Are the Thing In Ostersund As Domracheva Takes Minute-Plus Victory

Chelsea LittleDecember 1, 2011

Perhaps never before have the world’s best biathletes’ dreams of perfection been dashed so quickly at the beginning of a season. Over the last two days in Ostersund, Sweden, each one of the world’s top shooters has missed at least one shot. Usually, there’s just a few races like this in a season. This year, both the men’s and women’s World Cup openers have featured incredibly gusty, unpredictable winds. Even without shooting clean, a few...

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BiathlonContinental CupWorld Cup

U.S. Names World Cup Biathlon Team After IBU Cup Race in Ostersund

Chelsea LittleNovember 28, 2011

While U.S. and Canadian skiers have been competing at FIS and World Cup races for several weeks now, the American biathletes waited until Sunday to kick off their season in an IBU Cup sprint. The race in Ostersund, Sweden, was actually the second of the weekend, but the U.S. team sat out of Saturday’s race. While the men were lucky to have skipped the windy conditions that shook up the result sheet in the opener,...

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U.S. Biathletes: Home on the Range at Soldier Hollow Camp (with Photo Gallery)
BiathlonDrylandGeneralJuniorsWorld Cup

U.S. Biathletes: Home on the Range at Soldier Hollow Camp (with Photo Gallery)

Chelsea LittleOctober 18, 2011

The U.S. biathlon community may be small, but one benefit of its size is that almost everyone can gather each year in October for a training camp at Soldier Hollow. This year, the senior national team is joined in Utah by the junior national team as well as biathletes from the Maine Winter Sports Center, Durango and as far as Canada. Inviting everyone brings training quality up, said national team women’s coach Jonne Kahkonen, who...

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