Two Canadians notched career bests on Thursday in the first individual World Cup race of the season: Megan Heinicke in 12th and Rosanna Crawford with a best 15 k result of 16th. The best part for Biathlon Canada is, it's neither of their signature races.
Rosanna Crawford worked out her pre-World Cup nerves by leading the World Cup mixed relay halfway through leg one. The team's early advantage was negated by Zina Kocher's two penalty loops, but Crawford, Nathan Smith, and Marc-Andre Bedard can still call themselves the best three shooters in the race.
While two Americans won Friday's Frozen Thunder sprints, Canada had its revenge on Monday, taking four of six podium spots. In the men's 10.8 k skate race, Devon Kershaw bested Kris Freeman by five seconds to take the win. In the Women's 7.2 k race, biathlete Rosanna Crawford edged Liz Stephen for the win.
Lowell Bailey went 2 for 2 on the weekend in Jericho, and two different U.S. women edged Canada's Rosanna Crawford for victories at the North American Rollerski Championships at the Ethan Allen Firing Range.
For the first time, Canada qualified two women for a biathlon mass start: Zina Kocher, who skied in second and third place for the first half of the race, and Rosanna Crawford, who achieved a longstanding goal of making the top ten. Crawford was racing with injuries sustained in a collision with a Russian coach in yesterday's pursuit.
Rosanna Crawford was in 13th place in the World Cup pursuit when Russian head coach Vladimir Korolkevich, cheering for an athlete on another trail, stepped between her skis and sent her flying. Despite a time adjustment by the jury, she lost several places - as well as her hat and sunglasses.
Besides Susan Dunklee's podium, Rosanna Crawford finished a career-best 11th in the Oslo World Cup sprint and biathletes Lowell Bailey and Zina Kocher also made the top 20. Here's what the U.S. and Canadian teams had to say about their performances - and the horrible ski conditions in Oslo.
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.
Emma Lunder wanted to make the top 60 in her first biathlon World Cup - instead, she made the top 30. With Rosanna Crawford leading the way in 17th and all four women making the pursuit, the 7.5 k sprint in Pokljuka, Slovenia, simply went Canada's way.
Coming into the last prone stage of Friday's Olympic relay, the Canadian women were in second place - an unprecedented position. But five spare rounds and two penalty loops from Zina Kocher knocked them back into 8th. Even though It was still their best Olympic relay result ever, disappointment showed: "This is a relay we could have medaled in, flat out," said High Performance Director Chris Lindsay.
Canada's Rosanna Crawford and Megan Imrie notched their best performances at their second Olympics in 25th and 31st, respectively, on Sunday in the 7.5 k sprint. Things came together for Zina Kocher in 32nd, and Megan Heinicke squeaked in the top 60 to also qualify for Tuesday's pursuit.
Four racers proved they deserve a spot on Canada’s Olympic team this weekend in the freestyle sprints and 15/30 k skiathlons. Heidi Widmer (AWCA/NST) and Jesse Cockney (AWCANST) took home top honors in the freestyle sprint, while Graeme Killick (AWCA/NST) and Amanda Ammar (Team Ninja) won the skiathlon.
Canada’s Olympic Trials kicked off on Wednesday at the Canmore Nordic Centre with the first of two freestyle sprint races. With perhaps only two spots per gender on the Olympic team up for grabs, there is little room for errors for racers wanting to qualify for the Olympics.
In the final race before a three-week holiday break, Ukraine's Valj Semerenko finished the first IBU World Cup trimester with her first victory, picking her way back into contention after an early penalty. Rosanna Crawford led four Canadians in the 10 k pursuit by picking off seven places for 19th overall.
Coming off her first World Cup win a week ago, Switzerland's Selina Gasparin captured another sprint win in Annency, France, this time with clean shooting. Canada's four women also harnessed positive feelings from their historic relay on Thursday to qualify for Sunday's pursuit.
The Canadians notched a national first of fourth place in the IBU World Cup women's relay on Thursday in Annency, France, and the Americans tied their collective career bests of eighth for the second-straight week.
JP Le Guellec led the Canadians in 13th in Friday's 10 k sprint at the second World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria, and Rosanna Crawford took 17th in the women's 7.5 k on a day where conditions improved then worsened with heavily falling snow and changing winds.
Former Olympic kayaker Julia Rivard decided to use the Kickstarter model and her own tech smarts to make a fundraising website only for athletes. A year later 20 Canadians, including three biathletes, have started campaigns on the site and more than half surpassed their goals. Rosanna Crawford has raised $18,000 with partner Brendan Green: "It feels like a weight has been lifted."