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US Biathlon

Nordic Nation: Max Cobb, US Biathlon’s Straight Shooter

nearly three decades, Cobb has been part of US Biathlon — first as an organizer of the domestic racing series and eventually as the executive director in March of 2006. Just over a year ago, he was elected like 2017 IBU World Championships medalists Lowell Bailey and Susan Dunklee. Cobb’s budget is the mighty mouse of the biathlon world, and on many days, the high-performance team (both coaches and athletes) can slay the Goliaths of...

North American Biathletes Test Speed at German Nationals

Dozens of German biathletes from all parts of the country descended on the small town of Langdorf (Arber) in the Bavarian Forest mountain range last weekend for their national championships. Since guests are allowed to compete in the races (a sprint and a pursuit), a number of international biathletes — including a handful of North Americans — made use of this opportunity during a training block in Europe for a performance test against some tough...

Dunklee Doubles Up at USBA Rollerski Champs; Bailey and Smith Win (Updated)

Special thanks to John Lazenby for providing photos from 2017 US Biathlon Rollerski Championships in Jericho. For a Ethan Allen Firing Range inside a National Guard military base. Just as it has in the past, the format included men’s and women’s sprints on Saturday followed by mass starts on Sunday, and this year, the races drew nearly 100 competitors from across the U.S. and even some from Canada. A Complete results: Mass Start

The Inside Scoop on US Biathlon’s Olympic Criteria with Bernd Eisenbichler

The US Biathlon Association (USBA) has already qualified two World Championships medalists for their 2018 Olympic team, but four more men and four more women will still be selected – and those spots could go to almost anyone. USBA has a multi-stage athlete selection process. One or two more athletes of each gender will be selected based on the first period of World Cup results. For both men and women, part of that World Cup...

Nordic Nation: US Biathlon’s Joanne Reid Makes Her Mark

Joanne Reid was at the proverbial fork in the road: pursue academics after graduating with an Applied Mathematics degree from the University of Colorado-Boulder (CU) or compete as an elite-level nordic skier? Reid was coming off a collegiate season where she won the 15-kilometer freestyle and helped the CU Buffs win outright at NCAA Skiing Championships. It turns out, Reid, who turns 25 on Wednesday, is near completion for a master’s in engineering. And as it turns out, she...

Another Sport for Geraghty-Moats: Women’s NoCo Hits Continental Cup

For Tara Geraghty-Moats, nothing compares to the sense of weightlessness she feels and the way spectators appear to sink into the ground when she soars off a ski jump — except maybe the feeling of pushing her physical limits during a cross-country ski race. The two sports have been a part of the 24-year-old New England native’s life since her grammar-school days — she picked up both at the age of 9 and in both, she excelled. By the time she...

Bend: Where You Should Be Right Now

You should be in Bend. Bend, Oregon. Right now. For all of my “shallow readers” in the audience, those unable to focus on any piece of written work longer than 140 characters (you know who you are), you can stop here. You’ve both learned everything you need to know and also everything your SnapChat-addled brain can handle, so you’re done. For those of you with attention spans longer than those of fruit flies, dig in,...

Start of a New Season (as Seen on Social Media)

Happy May! With the start of a new training year, FasterSkier scanned social media for a sense of how nordic skiers kicked off Day 1 (and the days before) of the 2017/2018 season. Kikkan Randall of the U.S. Ski Team (USST) and Alaska Pacific University (APU) “sneaking in some secret Mom training” while pushing her son Breck on April 30: View this post on Instagram Excited to kick off a new training season tomorrow! (Sneaking in some secret Mom training...

FasterSkier’s Coach of the Year: Bernd Eisenbichler

With the 2016/2017 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is excited to unveil its annual award winners for this past winter. Votes stem from the FS staff, scattered across the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and while not scientific, they are intended to reflect a broader sense of the season in review. This set of honors goes to a coach or team director who has particularly contributed to their team’s success. Previous categories: Collegiate Skiers of the...

Fourcade Wins Despite Ammo Flub; ‘Squirrel Drama’ in Women’s Mass Start in Oslo

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...

Dunklee Repeats in 5th; Eckhoff Gets First Win of Season in Kontiolahti Sprint

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...

Notes & Quotes: PyeongChang Biathlon World Cups

The North Americans kept the momentum rolling two weeks after the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Championships, with US Biathlon’s Lowell Bailey busting out a second place and Susan Dunklee placing fifth in back-to-back races over the last four days in PyeongChang, South Korea. On Sunday, the Canadians showed they’re rounding back into top form in team events, with its men’s team placing seventh and women’s team taking eighth for season bests in the relays. Here are the...

Friday Rundown: Bailey 2nd in PyeongChang; Lahti Relay & NoCo Team Sprint (Updated)

IBU World Cup (PyeongChang, South Korea): Men’s 10 k sprint US Biathlon’s Lowell Bailey kept his clean-shooting streak alive with another one of his personal best results on Friday, racing to second in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup in PyeongChang, South Korea. Bailey started 81st and hit all 10 targets in the two-stage race to cross the finish line in first, 4.7 seconds ahead of France’s Martin Fourcade,...

Koukalová Nabs First World Title; Egan 20th in World Champs Sprint

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...

Germany Ekes Out Win in Antholz Relay Photo Finish; U.S. Men Sixth

For Germany and Norway, it was a two-way battle for first following the final exchange of the men’s 4 x 7.5-kilometer relay on Saturday at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup in Antholz, Italy. There, thanks to third-leg Johannes Thingnes Bø, Norway had taken the lead by 17.7 seconds over Germany and built a 38-second gap to Russia in third. Ukraine was another nine seconds back in fourth, skiing just ahead of France and...

Saturday Rundown: Ulricehamn, Antholz, Chaux-Neuve, Zuoz, Whistler, & Truckee (Updated x6)

U.S. SuperTour (Truckee, Calif.): Classic sprints [UPDATED] Less than a week after being men’s 30 k classic mass start champion at this year’s U.S. nationals — won Saturday’s SuperTour classic sprint as well. Lustgarten, of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project, raced to a 1.58-second victory in the men’s A-final at the Auburn Ski Club in Soda Springs, Calif., finishing in 3:03.4. Ben Saxton, of the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) Elite Team, placed second, and Reese...

Bailey in 10th Leads U.S. Team Breakthrough; Canada’s Scott Gow Career-Best 17th in Antholz

(Note: This article has been updated to include comments from U.S. biathlete Paul Schommer.) What’s the old saying? It doesn’t really matter what happens in December, as long as it all comes together three weeks before World Championships? The tale of the US Biathlon men’s team goes something like that, with what started out as a skeleton crew of ninth in the 12.5 k pursuit in December in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. On the phone on...

An Open Letter About Depression in Competition

If you follow U.S. skiing closely, you’ve probably heard of Paul Everett. After three years on US Biathlon’s development team, Everett, 20, is currently a Montana State University sophomore and member of the Bridger Ski Foundation in Bozeman, Mont. He is studying exercise science and psychology, and wrote the following letter for an assignment. It’s about depression and anxiety in athletes, “more specifically ski racing about what it is like for those competing with these disorders and...

Fourcade Makes It Three in a Row in Nove Mesto; Bailey 21st in Mass Start

“The soft the supple step and sturdy pace, that in the smallest of all circles turns, moves like a dance of strength around a core in which a mighty will is standing stunned.” – The Panther, second verse, by Rainer Maria Rilke. English translation by Stanley Appelbaum At the turn of the 19th century, the Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist Rilke frequently visited the town of Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, on holidays with his family. Later...