FIS Cross Country World Cup (Dresden, Germany): Freestyle sprints Men’s report For her second-straight World Cup sprint, Sophie Caldwell of the U.S. Ski Team reached the podium in the women’s 1.2-kilometer freestyle sprint on Saturday in Dresden, Germany. Caldwell placed third in the final behind Sweden’s Hanna Falk, who won it in 2:11.02 minutes, and Maja Dahlqvist, also of Sweden, who placed second (+0.23). Caldwell and Dahlqvist both lunged in a photo finish for second,...
Even the most renowned athletes and national teams in the mixed relay on Sunday afternoon admitted they had not yet found their perfect groove in Östersund, Sweden, on the opening day of the 2017/2018 International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup season. Nevertheless it still made for an exciting race, with four teams vying for the podium on the last lap. And in the finishing stretch, anchored by veteran Emil Hegle Svendsen, the same country prevailed...
Between breaking historic biathlon records and waiting for the imminent birth of his second child, France’s IBU World Cup dominator Martin Fourcade forgot one crucial detail of Biathlon 101 before Sunday’s final race of the season in the men’s 15-kilometer mass start: loading his ammunition clips. Fourcade only realized he had started with four empty clips when he crouched down on the shooting mat for the first prone shooting, then signaled for help. His coach...
Over the last month, US Biathlon’s Susan Dunklee has become a familiar face for competitors and spectators at World Cup medal and flower ceremonies, highlighted by her silver medal in the mass start at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria. On Friday in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint at the IBU World Cup in Kontiolahti, Finland, Dunklee once again returned to the flower ceremony after finishing fifth, which, coincidentally, was her third time in...
FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Men’s 50 k freestyle mass start After a week of missing out on the medals at 2017 Nordic World Championships, Canada’s Alex Harvey, a four-time World Championships medalist from 2011, 2013 and 2015, achieved his first individual gold medal in the final race of this year’s World Championships in Lahti, Finland. Harvey, 28, won the men’s 50-kilometer freestyle mass start in a drag race to the finish. Entering the...
In Saturday’s 10-kilometer pursuit in PyeongChang, South Korea, Laura Dahlmeier achieved a level of perfection that made biathlon almost seem unexciting. The German biathlon star started in bib number one after winning Thursday’s 10 k sprint on the 2018 Olympic course, then shot a perfect 20-for-20 and skied away from the field to a 1:12.6 victory. As she hit the last target with more than a minute of time in hand over her competitors, Dahlmeier raised...
FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Women’s 30 k freestyle mass start Marit Bjørgen made it a four-peat on Saturday with her fourth gold and third individual win over the last week at 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland. (She previously won the 15-kilometer skiathlon, 10 k classic, and 4 x 5 k relay.) The 36-year-old Norwegian closed out the championships with a 1.9-second victory in the women’s 30-kilometer freestyle mass start, finishing in 1:08:36.8...
For a while in Thursday’s 7.5-kilometer sprint, the first International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup race since IBU World Championships two weeks earlier, it looked like Susan Dunklee was on track for another podium. Dunklee, 31, of US Biathlon, had last raced to Results | World Cup standings
FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Women’s 4 x 5 k relay The Norwegian women’s team got a much-needed lift from Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen, the third leg of its 4 x 5-kilometer relay, on Thursday, who tagged her teammate Marit Bjørgen nearly a minute ahead of anyone else. From there, Bjørgen anchored the Norwegians to a 1:01.6-minute victory for her third gold of 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland. Meanwhile, Sweden and Finland battled for...
It was a day of redemption. Both for a biathlon superstar and for the best North American in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint at the 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria. A year ago, Czech Republic’s Gabriela Koukalová (back then starting under her maiden name Soukalová) was disappointed when she failed to win any medal at the Oslo World Championships, twice placing fourth, once fifth, and twice sixth with her team. She...
U.S. Cross Country Championships (Soldier Hollow): Freestyle-sprint prologue [UPDATED] One and done. That was the case Thursday for the U.S. Cross Country Championship’s freestyle sprint at Soldier Hollow (SoHo) where only a qualifier was held to determine the final standings — no heats were contested. With just-under-freezing temps and a light snow falling, the men set off at 15-second intervals. The men’s podium was an all-Canadian affair as they swept the top-three positions. Jess Cockney of the Canadian...
For a good portion of Friday’s race, Susan Dunklee found herself in first place. Not fourth, not third, not even second. First. The ninth starter out of the gate in the women’s 7.5-kilometer International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup sprint in Pokljuka, Slovenia, Dunklee cleaned the first of two shooting stages — prone — to put herself in second behind Norway’s Tiril Eckhoff, who was leading at the time by a mere 0.9 seconds. Eckhoff started...
France's Martin Fourcade and Justine Braisaz stole the show in Sjusjøen, locking the Norwegians out of victories on home turf in biathlon's season-opening sprints.
After hosting IBU World Championships last season and thinking ahead to the 2018 Olympics, the Norwegian biathlon team is in sort of an "in-between season" as Norwegian Biathlon Association President Erlend Slokvik described. Still, its men's and women's teams are aiming for the top-two overall come next March.
Feeling better than she had all week, Rosanna Crawford led Canada to the front of the World Championships women's relay during the second leg, and Sarah Beaudry got a whole lap leading the field. The team eventually finished 15th as the Norwegian women got a hard-earned and unexpected team gold.
Susan Dunklee was eighth in the first individual race of World Championships, despite a missed shot in standing - and the American wants more. "That Presque Isle podium really got me excited again- motivated, and confident, and very hungry," she said.
Martin Fourcade versus Simon Schempp: Two perennial rivals duking it out on the final loop of Thursday's mixed relay. It was a fitting end to the first race of the 2016 IBU World Championships in Oslo, Norway. While Fourcade anchored France to gold and Germany took second, the U.S. placed 10th and Canada 11th.
American Susan Dunklee reached the flower ceremony again on Sunday. She cleaned the first two shooting stages of the IBU World Cup mass start to ski up into second around the halfway point, then missed one shot in the third stage and ended up sixth to tie her season best.
Germany's Laura Dahlmeier came from fourth place to take the top spot in Saturday's 10-kilometer pursuit at the biathlon World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germany. In the final push to the finish, Susan Dunklee drew inspiration from the recent U.S. team's Tour de Ski successes to outlunge Italy's Oberhofer for 15th.
As Norway raced to another relay win thanks to near-perfection by Johannes and Tarjei Bø, Canada and the United States finished ninth and tenth in the four-person mixed relay in Östersund, Sweden.