Youth World Championships Review 2016!

Erdal,Kalkenberg, Kryvonos

This year’s Youth and Junior World Championships was held in Cheile Gradistei in Romania. We got underway on Wednesday with the Youth’s Individual race for both men and women. The Youth category is open to anyone aged under 18.

The women went first in the morning and the race was a very close one. In fact it was won by only 2 seconds in the end by Germany’s Marina Sauter. She missed 2 targets as did Myrtille Begue of France, the younger sister of Aristide Begue, to win the race. Begue took second and in third was the Czech Republic’s Marketa Davidova.

The men were next and this race was dominated by Norway’s Harald Oeygard. He won by 40 seconds from compatriot Aleksander Fjeld Andersen. They both missed one target and in third place shooting clean was Italy’s Michael Durand.

The Sprint races came on Friday and the women started first with victory going to Norway’s Karoline Erdal who won by 25.5 seconds. The silver medal also went to Norway with Emilie Aagheim Kalkenberg beating Ukraine’s Anna Kryvonos for second place. All three of the podium finishers missed one target.

Oeygard,Andersen,Durand

The men’s race went to Russia with Igor Malinovskii claiming gold by 26.3 seconds. Norway were second with Endre Stroemsheim taking silver by just over a second from another Russian Viacheslav Maleev.

On Sunday we had all the Pursuit races for the Youths and Juniors. The Youth Women’s race was won by Arina Pantova of Kazakhstan by just 3.4 seconds from Anna Kryvonos who took silver. Third place went to Marina Sauter who made up 11 places coming from 14th to take the bronze medal.

In the men’s race Viacheslav Maleev moved up from 3rd to take gold ahead of countryman Mailinovskii who missed 7 shots but still managed to hold on to the silver medal. Bronze went to Harald Oeygard who came from 8th to grab 3rd place.

The final day of competition for the young biathletes was the Relays on Monday. The Women’s 3x6km Relay was won by Russia with a team of Iaroslava Pervakova, Valeriia Vasnetcova and Polina Shevnina. They used 8 spare rounds in total and finished almost 25 seconds ahead of the second placed team the Czech Republic. Their team of Natalie Jurcova, Marketa Davidova and Tereza Vinlarkova used only 6 spares to claim silver. The bronze medal went to the Norwegian team of Kristina Skjevdal, Emilie Kalkenberg and Karoline Erdal who had 1 penalty loop but made up for it with fast skiing.

The Men’s 3x 7.5km Relay was the last race of the Youth competition and the gold medal went to the Norwegian team of Endre Stroemsheim, Aleksander Andersen and Harald Oeygard. It wasn’t really a surprise as each member of the team had already won individual medals. The silver medal went to the Russian team of Egor Tutmin, Viacheslav Maleev and Igor Malinovskii. The bronze was won by Italy who have had a good men’s competition. Michael Durand, Peter Tumler and Daniele Cappellari needed only 6 spares to make the podium.

That concludes this seasons Youth World Championships and has given us a few names to look out for in the future. The Norwegians and Russians have strong teams as you would expect but Italy also did well and so did Kazakhstan. Harald Oeygard had an impressive competition winning 2 gold and 1 bronze medal. The Russian pair of Malinovskii and Maleev also took home a gold medal and 2 silvers each. Erdal and Kalkenberg did well for the women as did Alina Pantova and Marina Sauter. Keep an eye out for them going forward because as you can see the future of biathlon is in good hands!

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WC6: Antholz Review 2016!

The sun is shining, there is snow all around, we have beautiful scenery and the temperature is getting down to -20 degrees. It must be Antholz-Anterselva! That’s right we are back in the South Tyrol and it actually looks and feels like winter!

The first race in Italy was on Thursday and we began with the Women’s Sprint. We had a couple of firsts in this event as Olga Podchufarova won her first ever race and she is also the first Russian women to make the podium on the World Cup this season. As with buses, after waiting ages for 1 podium the Russians actually got 2 with Ekaterina Yurlova taking 3rd place. Both the Russians shot clean but second place went to home favourite Dorothea Wierer who made the podium despite missing 1 shot. There was another great performance in the shape of Linn Persson from Sweden who shot clean and finished in 17th which is her career best individual finish by a big margin.

On Friday we had the Men’s Sprint. In the 2 previous years it has been won by Simon Schempp so it wasn’t such a big surprise that he won it again! That made it 5 races unbeaten in Antholz as he also won the previous 2 Pursuits. I think it’s safe to say he enjoys racing in Antholz! In second place was Maxim Tsvetkov with his best ever finish and his first time on the podium. He is fast becoming a star of the Russian Team mainly thanks to his incredible shooting. It is now rare for him to miss more than one shot and he was clean again today. In third came “Mr Consistent” Tarjei Boe who has finished in the Top 10 more often than not this season and is climbing his way up the overall rankings.

The women had a day off on Friday but no such luck for the men who were back in action on Saturday. The Women’s Pursuit was first and yet again Russia took the win (remember what I said about buses). This time Ekaterina Yurlova was victorious coming from third to first. In second was a remarkable performance from Selina Gasparin, who is continuing her great form, making up 14 places from a start position of 16th. She out skied Dorothea Wierer on the final lap but the Italian still got her second podium at home in third.

Canada’s Julia Ransom went from 46th to 19th to record her best ever finish on the World Cup. Other big moves in the Pursuit came from Tiril Echhoff 20th to 4t, Krystyna Guzik 26th to 5th, Daria Virolaynen 32nd to 12th, Susan Dunklee 37th to 17th, Karolin Horchler 50th to 24th and Anastasia Zagoruiko 59th to 33rd.

The Men’s Pursuit started later in the day and you will never guess – another Russian won! This time it was Anton Shipulin claiming his first victory of the season. It’s not so much of a surprise though as he loves Antholz and this blog knows him as ANT-holz Shipulin! Second place went to Simon Schemmp who continued his amazing run of results in Antholz too. Third went to Johannes Boe who did consider letting Fourcade pass him to keep his record of only being on the podium in first place but decided third wasn’t so bad after all!!!

Martin Fourcade came from 28th to get 4th after shaving his beard. He had a bet that he couldn’t shave it until he shot clean but he shaved it before the race and then shot clean! Which I believe is cheating! 😉

Elsewhere Anton Babikov went from 31st to 7th to record his career best result, Andi Birnbacher from 41st to 14th, Benjamin Weger from 34th to 16th and Brendan Green from 45th to 31st.

The final day in Antholz was reserved for the relays. The Women’s race was won by France with some great shooting from the whole team of Justine Braisaz, Anais Bescond, Anais Chevalier and Marie Dorin Habert. The Czech Republic were second with Gabriela Soukalova back in the team and in third were the Russians capping off a fantastic World Cup round for themselves.

The Men’s race went right down to the wire with a repeat of the Sochi race with Anton Shipulin and Simon Schempp battling for the victory. The outcome was the same as the Olympics with Russia winning and Germany in second. Norway, without Emil Hegle Svendsen and Tarjei Boe, were third.

It has been a great World Cup in Antholz especially for the Russians with 3 individual wins and a relay victory and podium. The Russian women will be sad to have a break as they have just hit good form but everyone else is looking forward to a well-earned rest. Next time we are off over the pond to North America with rounds in Canmore and Preque Isle to look forward too. I can’t wait for those!

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WC5 Ruhpolding Review: Part2!

Another round in Ruhpolding, another win for Martin Fourcade! Little had changed in the 2 days off between World Cups 4 and 5 except some strange white stuff falling from the sky which some reports claim is the elusive “snow” we have all been waiting for.

The Men’s Individual was on Wednesday and as already mention was the 42nd victory for Fourcade. He missed only one target but still managed to beat the likes of Ondrej Moravec and Maxim Tsvetkov who both shot clear. Depressingly for them their perfect shooting didn’t even earn them a podium. Those places went to Simon Eder in second and Anton Shipulin in third who both also missed one target. Seventh place went to Sweden’s Torstein Stenerson who produced his best ever result with a fantastic performance.

Luckily for shooting fans everywhere the Women’s Individual on Thursday was won by someone who shot clear! That honour went to Dorothea Wierer who has suddenly discovered that she is amazing at the Individual winning her second in a row after taking the first race back in Oestersund in round 1. Second went to Kaisa Makarainen with one miss and Gabriela Soukalova also missed one shot in third. Also shooting clean was Selina Gasparin who is looking back on good form after her season out to have a baby. Galina Vishnevskaya also impressed with her personal best in 15th.

On a snowy Friday we had the Men’s Relay. It was won comfortably in the end by Norway although they had some tough competition from the French in the early part of the race. By the final lap Emil Svendsen had a good lead thanks to some good work from Tarjei Boe on leg 3. Russia had another great race in second place using only 6 spare rounds in total and an impressive Austrian team were third despite completing a penalty loop. Simon Eder brought them back into contention with a fabulous leg and Dominik Landertinger was able to keep ahead of the French Team to secure the final podium place. Home team Germany were fifth after 3 penalty loops from the unfortunate Johannes Kuehn and the USA had a good relay finishing 6th using only 8 spare rounds.

On an even snowier Saturday we got the Mass Starts. The women went first and the conditions made it difficult on the shooting range and for skiing. Gabriela Soukalova won this one and is fast becoming a specialist at winning in tricky conditions. Her previous win this season came in windy Oestersund. Marie Dorin Habert was leading this race up until the final shoot when she missed 4 targets. Franziska Hildebrand missed one on her final shoot but Gabi took her time and hit 20/20 to win even though she looked really tired on her skis. Laura Dahlmeier took third to keep her excellent season on track. Kaisa Makarainen didn’t start the race.

Later in the day came the men’s race with similar weather to contend with. It was won surprisingly by Erik Lesser. He hasn’t had a great season so far and started in bib 30 as a reserve after other biathletes pulled out of the race. He shot the perfect 20/20 to beat Martin Fourcade into second. Third place went to Evgeniy Garanichev who has been showing some good form since the Christmas break. Lesser raced brilliantly doing his own race from the back and making sure he hit all his shots and didn’t get involved with anyone else. He seemed to save energy for the last loop too ensuring that Fourcade couldn’t catch him. Also impressive was Michal Krcmar who achieved his best ever finish on the World Cup coming home in 5th place after leaving the final shoot in 9th!

The final day in Ruhpolding saw the Women’s Relay and what great race it was! Ukraine and Belarus were leading until the third leg when Valj Semerenko earned a penalty loop on the prone shoot missing 1 target with 4 bullets. Poor Nadzeya Pisareva from Belarus had some sort of physical problem and almost stopped before making it to her handover. The German Team had 2 penalty loops from Miriam Goessner on the second leg but brilliant work from Maren Hammerschmidt and Laura Dahlmeier brought them right back into the fight for first. On the final shoot Dahlmeier caught up to Ukraine’s Olena Pidrushna and looked favourite to win. However experience paid off this time with Olena shooting clear to Laura’s 1 miss and in the final finishing straight Olena took the best line and stopped Laura’s sprint finish to take the win for her country. Italy just held on to third with Dorothea Wierer holding off the Russains on the final lap.

After an eternity in Ruhpolding we finally get to move on and set off for Antholz-Anterselva which has no problems with snow. Martin and Gabi continue in yellow and there is a Sprint and Pursuit in Italy as well as 2 more relays to look forward too. We will see how the increasingly tired and sick biathletes deal with the altitude in the South Tyrol!

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WC4: Ruhpolding Review 2016: Part 1!

So we found ourselves in Ruhpolding for round 4 of the World Cup. As you know there is not much snow around so the organisers in Oberhof were forced to cancel the races there. All of which means we have 8 races in 10 days just like a biathlon version of the Tour de Ski!

Coincidentally just like the Tour de Ski we had an all Norwegian podium in the first race in the men’s sprint. Johannes Boe managed to beat his brother Tarjei into second and teammate Emil Hegle Svensen into third. All three shot clear but Johannes just had enough ski speed to defeat the other two. Some might suggest that it was karma as earlier in the week Johannes chose his big brother as his favourite biathlete while Tarjei went for Dorothea Wierer! Sven Grossegger finished 5th, his personal best result, leading an Austrian charge with Eder, Landertinger and Julian Eberhard all making the Top 20.

In the Women’s race Franziska Hildebrand became the first woman this season to win 2 Sprint events by winning her home race. It was a bit surprising as the Top 3 all shot clear but Hildebrand skied a little faster than Gabi Soukalova in second and Kaisa Makarainen in third. However Soukalova was unlucky dropping a ski pole which cost her the chance of victory as she only finished 0.3 of a second behind Hildebrand.

The Men’s Pursuit raced promised to be a great one with Boe,Boe, Svendsen and Fourcade all starting one after the other battling for the victory. So of course Simon Eder won! In a dazzling display of shooting he claimed the third victory of his career. Shooting hampered the others although Fourcade still finished second with 2 misses and Michal Slesingr shot clean to complete the podium.

New Dad Evgeniy Garanichev came from 40th to finish 9th! Simon Fourcade or should we call him Mr. Pursuit this season came from 29th to 13th, teammate Antonin Guigonnat went from 51st to 31st and Alexander Os came from 45th to finish 32nd.

The Women’s race also promised excitement and didn’t disappoint even with Makarainen and Hildebrand bowing out quickly with misses. That left a race long head to head between Soukalova and Dahlmeier. In the end Dahlmeier won by 7 seconds and Dorothea Wierer took her chance to get on the podium in third. Paulina Fialkova made up 9 places to finish a personal best 6th.

Tiril Eckhoff came from 17th to 4th, Lisa Hauser went from 27th to 12th, Karin Oberhofer from 35th to 16th, Valj Semerenko from 41st to 17th, Lucie Charvatova from 42nd to 20th, Olga Abramova from 44th to 25th and Yan Zhang from 51st to 32nd.

The final races of this round were the Mass Starts. In the men’s race Martin Fourcade took victory over Ondrej Moravec in a battle of the new fathers! Despite Moravec being the only biathlete to shoot clean Fourcade was just too quick on the skis. In third was Tarjei Boe with an impressive last lap to deny Simon Fourcade, Dmytro Pidruchnyi and Arnd Pfeiffer who all had a chance at claiming the final podium position. Svendsen was in a good position coming into the final shoot alongside Fourcade but had a nightmare missing 3 shots – very un-Svendsen-like!

The women’s race was dominated by Laura Dahmeier. She shot clean to see off the challenge of Marie Dorin Habert who missed 1 and finished 15 seconds down. The fight for third went right to the line- literally! In a photo finish Tiril Eckhoff beat Anais Bescond by a toe nail to get onto the podium. Japan’s Fuyuko Tachizaki (formerly Suzuki) shot clean in 10th to get her best ever result in an individual race.

So that’s it for Ruhpolding we now set off for…..Ruhpolding!! Round 5 involves a crazy schedule with the Men’s Individual on Wednesday and the Women’s on Thursday followed by the Men’s Relay on Friday, the 2 Mass Starts on Saturday and the Women’s Relay on Sunday!

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Biathlon at the Movies!

We all need something to fill in the time between Christmas and New Year when there is no biathlon. Last year I brought you an exclusive interview with biathlon rifle Reginald P.Rifle and this year I was hoping to talk to ski poles Marek and Justyna but they were too busy! So instead I bring you some reviews of “biathlon” related films so you can fill in the time before the next event in Ruhpolding! It’s biathlon so all ratings are in Crystal Globes not stars. Get your popcorn ready people!!!

Top Gun:

Martin Fourcade stars as Maverick who gets his chance in the top rifle school in California ‘Top Gun’. His main rival is Iceman played by Emil Hegle Svendsen. Unfortunately in target practice Martin accidentally kills a goose and loses his confidence. However after a slow motion game of volleyball he seems to recover and in the final scene manages to team up with Emil to shoot at baddies. They become best of friends and in fact go on a date together in a helicopter!

Biathlon 23: “Top entertainment!” Rating: 5 Globes

Hot Shots:

A documentary about biathletes and their shooting skills. Highlights include biathletes shooting in the prone position and the standing position. They shoot at targets 50 metres away on what is known as “a range”. Sometimes they hit these targets and sometimes they miss. Watch out for some reloading action and cartridges falling onto the mats. There is also a great behind the scenes feature about cleaning a rifle, choosing a fancy design for the stock and placement of stickers.

Biathlon23: “Unmissable” Rating: 5 targets – sorry I mean Globes!

Hot Shots Part Deux:

You might think that this is the sequel to Hot Shots but it is in fact a remake. It turns out that the French biathlon team thought they were not featured enough in the original and decided to make their own version. A more avant-garde piece in black and white. In French with French subtitles. An Antonin Guigonnat production. Director: Quentin “Tarantino” Maillet.

Biathlon 23: “Magnifique!” Rating:Cinq Globes

The Man with the Golden Gun:

Simon Fourcade makes his second appearance as James Bond in this spy thriller. The villain is played by Johannes Thingnes Bø who with his golden rifle is terrorising the world of biathlon. His obsession with all things gold means he is out to steal all the gold medals from the biathletes. There is a car chase, a martini, a few ladies and some gadgets! What else do you want?!!! (Set in Season 2014/15 before “someone” changed their rifle from gold to shocking pink!!!)

Biathlon23: “Great action” Daniel Craig: “Better than Spectre!”
Rating: After 5 martinis 5 Globes

Mad Maxes: Fury Range

In a post nuclear holocaust future Maxim Braun, Maxim Tsvetkov, Maksim Ramanouski, Maksim Varabei, Maxim Savitsky, Maksym Ivko, Max Durtschi and Macx Davies have to find all the bullets left on Earth (well in the desert somewhere!). When they have found them all they must return to the shooting range and hit all the targets to save the world!

Biathlon23: “Max-imum fun!” Rating: 5 Globes

RamBø:

Norwegian veteran and drifter Tarjei Bø wanders into a small Washington town in search of an old friend Tora Berger, but is met with intolerance and brutality by the local sheriff. When he and his deputies restrain and shave RamBø, he flashes back to season 2011/12 when he suffered from Twar virus and unleashes his fury on the officers. He narrowly escapes the manhunt, but it will take his former commander Lars Berger to save the hunters from the hunted.

Biathlon23: “UnBølievable!” Rating: 5 Globes

Harry Potter and the Wax Cabin of Secrets:

Nathan Smith makes his debut in the first film about the boy who grows up to be a wizard at biathlon. Here he teams up with his uncle Sirius Fak to try and defeat the master of the dark arts Beatrix Lestrange. Beatrix has stolen the secret wax formula from Potter and threatens to use it to win all the biathlon races beginning with the Mass Start in Pokljuka. Will Potts be able to stop him?

Biathlon23: “It’s magic!” Rating: 5 Globes

There’s Something About Marie:

A biography of French star Marie Dorin Habert. From her childhood to the present dealing with biathlon, marriage, having a child, playing the piano, horse riding and cherries. Everything you need to know about Marie. And the one thing you really need to know…please never offer her any “hair gel”!!!

Biathlon23: “A-dor-able!” Rating: 5 Globes

No Cross Country for Old Men:

While out cross country skiing, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen finds the grisly aftermath of a drug deal. Though he knows better, he cannot resist the cash left behind and takes it with him possibly to buy an even bigger motor home with. The hunter becomes the hunted when a merciless killer picks up his trail. Also looking for Bjoerndalen is Sheriff Daniel Mesotitsch, an aging lawman who reflects on a changing world and a dark secret of his own, as he tries to find and protect Bjoerndalen.

Biathlon23: “Great but a bit “old” fashioned!” Rating: 5 Globes

The Shooter:

Tobias Arwidson reluctantly leaves a self-imposed exile from his isolated mountain home in Sweden at the request of the IBU, who appeal to him to help track down an assassin who is planning to shoot the IBU president. He is set up by the IBU (saw that coming!) and is chased around a bit before he takes his revenge and returns to Lima to fish and take some photographs.

Biathlon23:”Definitely a hit!” Rating: 5 Globes

Sister Act:

When 3 young sisters witness a mafia hit(by someone who looks suspiciously like Dominik Windisch!) they are sent to a convent where they are to be disguised as nuns. Starting Selina, Elisa and Aita Gasparin, the sisters fit in by teaching the nuns how to do biathlon. They take part in a competition at the end with all the nuns and so they can defend themselves from the mafia!

Biathlon23: “N-unmissable!” Rating: 5 Globes

The Usual Suspects:

“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world she wasn’t going to win the Crystal Globe.” The film starts with the retelling of the 2014/15 Women’s biathlon season. It stars Darya Domracheva, Valj Semerenko, Veronika Vitkova and Franziska Hildebrand. They each explain how they got caught up in the race for the Overall Title by a mysterious Kaisa Söze. No one knows who this Kaisa is but some say she had won the Crystal Globe in the past. None of them has met her before but everyone thinks she is going to win the Total Score! I don’t want to spoil the end but it turns out that it was Darya Domracheva the whole time!!!

Biathlon23: “I didn’t understand it either!” Rating: 5 confusing Globes!

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WC3: Pokljuka Review 2015!

How did that happen? Three World Cup rounds have past already! The latest in Slovenia in lovely Pokljuka. The first race got underway on Thursday and was the Men’s Sprint.

It was a pretty lively affair too to kick off the weekend with Simon Schempp winning his second Sprint in a row and crucially out-shooting and out-skiing Martin Fourcade. Fourcade finished in 5th missing one shot. In second place was Ole Einar Bjoerndalen who at 41 shows no sign of slowing down. Another perfect shoot saw him finish 15 seconds off the lead. Third place went to Evgeniy Garanichev who was just 0.2 of a second faster than teammate Alexey Slepov who achieved his best ever result in 4th. In fact the Russians had 5 biathletes in the Top 12 places. The Canadian Team also did well getting all their biathletes into the Pursuit with Christian Gow getting a personal best of 37th.

On Friday it was the Women’s turn and they served up yet another treat for us in the Sprint. Marie Dorin Habert claimed her first ever World Cup victory (hard to believe, right!) beating Laura Dahmeier by just 1.1 seconds. In third was Franziska Hildebrand maintaining her great form from Hochfilzen. In fact all 6 German women finished in the TOP 15 which is quite remarkable. They were joined in the TOP 15 by 3 Czechs (Vitkova, Soukalova and Puskarcikova) and 3 Poles (Guzik, Hojnisz and Gwizdon). Susan Dunklee got in on the action too in 6th with her best finish of the season so far. Hilde Fenne of Norway also got a personal best result in 18th.

Saturday saw the Men’s and Women’s Pursuit races and both of them turned into a neighbourhood feud between France and Germany! For the men it was Simon Schempp versus Martin Fourcade. Schempp was so impressive in his calmness in the shooting range and didn’t let the huge pressure applied by Fourcade put him off. He won with a clean shoot and really proved his credentials as an Overall Title contender. Fourcade had to settle for second after 1 miss and Anton Shipulin valiantly tried to catch up but was too far behind and took third.

For the Women the fight was between Laura Dahlmeier and Marie Dorin Habert. They were inseparable up until the lap before the final shoot where unfortunately Dorin Habert fell and couldn’t recover enough to challenge right up to the finish. Dahlmeier took her second win of the season and Kaisa Makarainen got herself onto the podium in third for some much needed points. The Germans may have won the battle but the French are ahead in the war with Fourcade and Dorin Habert both ending the day in the yellow bibs.

They weren’t the only ones to do well in the Pursuits however. Simon Fourcade went from 33rd to 10th continuing his amazing Pursuit form! Freddie Lindstrom went from 30th to 14th, Jean Guillaume Beatrix from 32nd to 15th, Dmytro Pidruchnyi from 43rd to 19th, Brendan Green from 46th to 30th, Vladimir Iliev from 50th to 37th even with a fall in the home straight! For the ladies Olga Pudchufarova went from 37th to 14th, Teja Gregorin from 47th to 21st,Olga Abramova from 52nd to 28th, Marte Olsbu 48th to 29th and Natalya Burdyga from 55th to 37th.

The first Mass Starts of the season rounded off the events in Pokljuka. The men were first and Jean Guillaume Beatrix was the only man to shoot 20/20 and won the race by 0.3 of a second from Emil Hegle Svendsen in a sprint finish. It was Jean-Gui’s first ever win on the World Cup and extremely well deserved as he probably would have won this same race last season if he hadn’t been “Shipulined” up the final hill! Bjoerndalen continued his remarkable form coming home third just beating Schempp in a photo finish. Andi Birnbacher (5th), Simon Desthieux (6th) and Dominik Windisch (10th) all got their best results of the season so far.

The women’s race ended the action before the Christmas break and was won in style by Kaisa Makarainen who managed victory even with 1 miss. Gabriela Soukalova shot clear to take second as did Olga Podchufarova who was third giving the Russian women’s team a much needed boost.

So that’s it 3 World Cup rounds down already and we go into the Christmas and New Year break with Martin Fourcade and Gabriela Soukalova in the yellow bibs! Biathlon is back on the 7th of January in Oberhof and I hope you have all asked Santa for some snow this Christmas!

Biathlon23 hopes you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Look out for a special post over the holidays – it’s a cracker!! 🙂

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WC2: Hochfilzen 2015 Review!

The weekend in Hochfilzen started with some biathletes voicing their concerns over climate change and it was a timely reminder that once again there is no snow in December! The races were held on limited tracks surrounded by grass and sunshine!

Still the races went ahead and first off were the Women in the Sprint. The race was dominated by the Germans which probably didn’t please their Austrian hosts very much! Franziska Hildebrand was fantastic getting her first ever win on the World Cup with some cool shooting on the range. In second was newcomer to the World Cup Maren Hammerschmidt. With a start bib of 106 she managed to push teammate Miriam Goessner into third. It’s really good to see Goessner looking back to her old self again. In fact overall the 6 Germans in the race all finished in the TOP 21. The Czech Republic’s Lucie Charvatova came 5th to get her personal best finish since changing to biathlon from cross country.

In the Men’s Sprint another German won and this time it was Simon Schempp recovering from a horrific Sprint race in Oestersund to stand on top of the podium. Second place went to Martin Fourcade with one miss denying him another victory. In third was Tarjei Boe who also looks back to his old form.

The Pursuits were held on Saturday and unsurprisingly a German won the Women’s race but this time it was a different one! Laura Dahlmeier was great on the shooting range and her third shoot is really what made the difference on the day. Maren Hammerschmidt held on to second place and in third was yellow bib wearer Gabriela Soukalova. It was a disappointing weekend for Kaisa Makarainen who was 28th in the Sprint and 23rd in the Pursuit.

For the men Martin Fourcade was outstanding on his final shoot hitting five targets so quickly that the others didn’t stand a chance, even if he tried his best to finish the race after 3 shoots! Schempp hung on for second and Anton Shipulin made his first visit of the season to the podium in third.

Other impressive displays in the Pursuit races came from Tiril Eckhoff who went from 30th to 5th, Weronika Nowakowska 41st to 26th, Teja Gregorin 44th to 27th, Elisabeth Hoegberg 59th to 17th, Benjamin Weger 40th to 24th, and Erik Lesser 43rd to 25th.

The Relays came on Sunday and provided some great racing. Both the Men’s and Women’s races were much more competitive than the Mixed Relay in Oestersund and more entertaining to watch. The Women went first and history was created as the Italian Team of Karin Oberhofer, Federica Sanfilippo, Lisa Vittozzi and Dorothea Wierer won their first ever Relay. It was a close battle with the Germans in second but Wierer beat Franziska Preuss on the last leg by only 0.2 of a second. The Ukrainian Team were third with Olena Pidhrushna fighting off Poland, Belarus and France to take the last podium position.

The Men’s race was equally exciting as Russia took victory over Norway by 3.1 seconds. It all came down to the last lap were Anton Shipulin came from behind to beat Emil Hegle Svendsen. Martin Fourcade brought the French Team home in third. This meant that over the 2 Relays there were 6 different nationalities on the podiums which is great for the sport.

Now attention turns to Pokljuka for the final World Cup round before the Christmas break. Martin Fourcade and Gabriela Soukalova continue in the yellow bibs but there are more and more people determined to chase them down. A Sprint, Pursuit and the first Mass Start of the season await us in Slovenia!

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WC1: Oestersund 2015 Review!

AT LAST! Winter is here and the withdrawal symptoms have gone – biathlon is back! As usual we kicked off the season in Oestersund, Sweden and this year we started with the Single Mixed Relay.

This time around it was poor Simon who suffered from the “Oestersund Curse of the Fourcades” when he failed to fire all his bullets and missed a penalty loop which cost the French team a victory. Simon and Marie Dorin Habert were winning by a margin but after a 3 minute time penalty they ended up 21st. This left the way clear for Norway to win with a team of Kaia Nicolaisen and Lars Birkeland. In second and taking their first ever relay podium was the Canadian pair of Rosanna Crawford and Nathan Smith and third were the German team of Maren Hammerschmidt and Daniel Boehm.

Next came the Mixed Relay which Norway controlled and won by a margin big enough for Tarjei Boe to pose in front of a car advert pleasing the sponsors immensely. Second came Germany and in third was the Czech Republic. It wasn’t the most exciting relay apart from the first takeover where Franziska Hildebrand, Vanessa Hinz and Ekaterina Yurlova managed to play skittles with each other and Jean Guillaume Beatrix and Freddie Lindstrom treated us to a sprint finish for 4th place.

On Wednesday the first individual race of the season got underway and coincidentally it was the Men’s Individual 20km! It was won by Ole Einar Bjoerndalen who had a great race shooting 20/20 to win his 95th race. He profited slightly from calmer conditions on the shooting range but that doesn’t take anything away from his victory. In second was Overall Title contender Simon Schempp and third was Alexey Volkov who also shot clear. Windy and snowy conditions made it a difficult day on the range with Martin Fourcade missing 5 shots to finish in 21st, Tarjei Boe missing 4 in 22nd and Anton Shipulin missing 3 to finish 16th. Svendsen came joint 4th with Quentin Fillon Maillet who was France’s top finisher in the race.

In contrast to Bjoerndalen the winner of the Women’s race collected her first ever win on the World Cup. Italy’s Dorothea Wierer shot clear to stand on the top step of the podium for the first time. Marie Dorin Habert put in a great skiing performance to come second and Olena Pidhrushna was third after coming out of retirement. Overall title hopefuls Tiril Eckhoff and Gabriela Soukalova finished 4th and 5th. Also in the Top 10 was Lisa Hauser getting her best finish of 8th on the World Cup.

On Saturday came the Sprints and they were held in windy conditions which meant shooting was very difficult. Fortunately for winner Martin Fourcade he can miss some targets and still win. This time everyone missed targets except one.In second was Arnd Peiffer and third was Ole Einar Bjoerndalen. The wind threw some new names into the TOP 20 with Macx Davies of Canada finishing 10th shooting 10/10. Raman Yaliotnau from Belarus was 15th and Jesper Nelin of Sweden was 16th.

In the Women’s race Gabriela Soukalova hit 10/10 to take the win denying Italy’s Federica Sanfilippo her first World Cup victory. Second is still an amazing result for her finishing ahead of a resurgent Olena Pidhrushna who was third for the second race in succession.

The Sprint result meant that Martin Fourcade would start the Pursuit 52 seconds before Peiffer and it would be very difficult to beat him, and so it proved as he won comfortably. Peiffer maintained his second place and Quentin Fillon Maillet finally got on the podium in third after two 4th place finishes.

You might have noticed I haven’t mentioned Kaisa Makarainen yet. She got off to an inauspicious start by her standards with a 24th and 10th place finish. She showed her class in the Pursuit though with a stunning final shoot and last lap to claim victory. Second was Dorothea Wierer and third was Franziska Hildebrand who couldn’t hold off Kaisa and her amazing skiing.

Others who did well in the Pursuits were Tarjei Boe who went from 29th to 4th, Dmitry Malyshko 34th to 7th, Evgeniy Garanichev 27th to 8th, Simon Fourcade 49th to 14th and Lars Birkeland 58th to 25th. For the women Marte Olsbu went from 26th to 7th, Eva Tofalvi from 60th to 19th, Megan Tandy from 46th to 25th and Nadezhda Skardino from 26th to 7th.

All in all it was a great start to the new season and we now head to Austria and Hochfilzen for round 2 with Martin Fourcade in the yellow bib for the men and Gabriela Soukalova for the women. It promises to be a great World Cup round!

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Scott Dixon: The Interview 2!!!

Back by popular demand -well he is popular so I demanded it – it’s Scott Dixon! The 21-year-old Brit has made a few changes over the summer in his residence and his coaches and is looking forward to the new season. He kindly took some time before the season gets under way to tell us all about his training and his goals for the World Cup.

You can follow Scott’s progress on his Facebook page: Scott Dixon Biathlete.

First and most importantly you turned 21 over the summer. Did you get any good presents? Did you celebrate with a wild party?

Well, I have never been much of a crazy party animal, but I was lucky enough to move to a beautiful location in France (Aix-Les-Bains) with my girlfriend. We are both able to train in the area as Katie competes in Figure Skating and there are good facilities in Annecy. I am able to train in La Féclaz which is a relatively new development and the set up there is of a very high standard.

You have 3 new coaches in France one of whom is Alexis Boeuf. What are they like as coaches and what have you learned from them?

I really like all of my coaches. They are all very helpful and have a lot of knowledge to share. It has been interesting for me to see how differently two great Biathlon nations operate and learn how two different approaches to training can be so effective.

You went to Corsica for the French Summer Roller Ski Championships. How did that go? I believe you were caught up in an accident there also – what happened?

I was training on the beautiful island of Corsica with my team and unfortunately, I was caught up in an accident. I was there to compete at the French National Summer Roller Ski championships. The Island is criss-crossed with great roads to explore on roller skis, and about 40 minutes into a 55km loop, a group of over 8 of us came quickly upon a very hard corner at 45kmph. The man who cycled the course the previous day had forgotten that the corner was that soon in the skate. There was no time to react and about six of us piled into the debris at the side of the road, including rocks. I lost a lot of skin! Two athletes were taken to hospital by ambulance and I was taken back to our accommodation to be bandaged up. I didn’t sleep much that night and racing was a nightmare two days later with a lot less skin left on my left leg!

Last year you had the very uncommon compartmental syndrome in the abdominal muscles and this summer a double pole machine fell on your head! Why do these things happen to you?!

Well the list of unfortunate things doesn’t stop at compartmental syndrome and hostile gym machines.

My list is disturbingly long. It has come to a point in my process as an athlete when I have to ask myself if these incidents have come around due to my own stupidity or lack of restraint in certain situations. I think there is an element of that, I must admit, but I also think I have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time a few times. On the other hand a lot of luck has come my way, and I tend to forget that in the face of all my bad luck. It’s generally how I confuse ‘sod’s law’ for just life as it comes in general.

You were also competing in Arcon against all the French Biathletes recently. How was that experience?

Arcon was interesting. I shot 80% which was slightly disappointing and I skied very slowly compared to my expectations. It was very soon after my injury so I was told not to see it as a negative and more as an experience. However, I couldn’t help feeling I had let myself down somehow. Any athlete can relate to this I am sure.

What are your goals for this season?

I am now hoping to maintain my World Cup qualifier by competing well on World cup instead of having to re-qualify on the IBU cup. I know I am capable of this as I did so twice at last year’s World Championships. The qualification points are harder to achieve with the new IBU points system, but I am hoping that with good improvement from last year I will be ready to achieve this goal.

What are your strengths as a biathlete and what are your weaknesses? Do you have anything that you specifically want to improve before next season?

My main strength is my shooting. Last year I finished the season with an overall hit rate of 85% and managed to clear 20/20 and the next day 10/10 which is a clear personal best for me. My ski speed however is a big weakness. With so many setbacks, my progress is not where I hoped to see it at this point. If everything goes to plan in the coming months, I will see improvements in my ski speed. I will be working extremely hard to improve this aspect of my performance.

British Biathlon is looking for new sponsorship again. How will it affect you if it doesn’t get the funds it needs? Will you be able to go to the North American rounds for example?

I try to keep the issue out of my mind because there is very little I can do to affect it. I will not attend the races in North America due to this funding issue which is a shame, but it may also mean more time to get in good shape for the World Championships. So despite the clear negative there is a very clear positive I can take from it. I also believe with the passionate team that is the BBU that sponsorship will be found soon.

Lee Jackson and Kevin Kane have both retired. What affect will that have on the team and on you personally?

I was sad to see them both retire. Kevin was somewhat of a mentor for me in my first few years, keeping me under control and trying to pare down some of my typical teenage bad habits. So now at 21 I feel a bit old for my age, when new guys are selected for the team and I find myself pointing out things that I was guilty of not so long ago (mainly Biathlon related as I am still an ”admin case” around the house). Jackson is now working closely with the IBU cup team and is still very much in the system. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him race again. That applies for both of them in fact, as we don’t have enough people qualified for a relay without them.

Will we see you and Amanda Lightfoot in the Single Mixed Relay this season? They are on the same day as the Mixed Relays again but you two could do really well in it I think.

Sadly not this season, unless attending North America becomes an option, as that is the only remaining Single mixed relay this season. However, I believe that this is the event of the future for Amanda and me. Is a podium possible in the future? I don’t see why not!

We know you are a bit of a biathlon geek! Do you have any predictions for who you think will do well this season and maybe a younger biathlete we should be keeping our eye on?

Of course I am, like everyone I know who started watching casually and fell in love with the sport. I have a strong suspicion that Simon Schempp will be the Overall World Cup winner this year. I believe that Jean-Guillaume Beatrix will win a pursuit or mass start competition this season, and hopefully more than one. Andrejs Rastorgujevs will be one of the fastest on the track over the whole season with a podium finish and Tarjei Bø will be top three in the Overall World Cup rankings at the end of the season. Keep an eye on Fabien Claude, he is extremely fast, just a bit older than me and more consistent in his shooting. He will be one of the top names on World Cup in the coming years. Look out for Justine Braisaz (also French) for the women. With several World Cup starts already she has a big future ahead of her I think.

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Aiming for the Top: Season Preview Women 2015/16

After the news that last season’s champion Darya Domracheva has decided to take the season off to recover from mononucleosis we have been denied the chance to see her go head to head again with Kaisa Makarainen. Bad news for us but good news for Kaisa as she is the now the clear favourite to regain the Overall Title. It will be difficult for the other female biathletes to challenge her due to her superior ski speed but that doesn’t mean that they won’t be trying their best to beat her.

The main competition to Kaisa will come from the Ukraine, Germany, The Czech Republic, Italy, France and hopefully Norway. Last season’s third place biathlete in the Total Score was Valj Semerenko. It was her best season to date and it seems she did better without her twin sister Vita who might miss another season due to injury.

The biggest challenge to Kaisa could come from Germany and not just from 1 biathlete but possibly from 3. Franziska Hildebrand was 5th in the Total Score last season, Laura Dahlmeier was 8th and Franziska Preuss was 9th. They are all young, hungry biathletes and if they can produce their form from last season and put some more consistent points scoring races together they will be a real threat. Dahlmeier looks the most dangerous as she has shown she is capable of winning races but her inexperience may count against her.

Veronika Vitkova and Gabriela Soukalova were 4th and 6th respectively last season and both have the talent to improve their positions. If Soukalova has a better start to the season we could see her on the podium much more often and hopefully she has concentrated more on her summer training this year than her commercial deals. Vitkova will be looking for more wins and more podiums and could end up on the Overall podium at the end of the year although I’m not sure it will be on the top step.

Dorothea Wierer, 7th last season, and Karin Oberhofer,10th, constitute the danger from Italy. Both had fantastic seasons and with a few more good results they could both move up the rankings. They can challenge Makarainen in individual races but I am not sure if they can sustain it over an entire season.

Someone with possibly the best chance of stealing the crystal globe from the clutches of Makarainen is France’s Marie Dorin Habert. She finished 15th in the Total Score but didn’t compete in all the races after having her first child. However when she did turn up she was on the best form of her life. Strangely she won her first race just last season so it may be a bit premature to call her a title contender but she has what it takes to outscore Kaisa if she maintains last season’s form and can consistently be on and around the podium.

Another first time mum is making her way back into biathlon and Selina Gasparin will be hoping to copy the success of Habert. You may also note that the Russian biathletes are completely absent from the Top 10 with Ekaterina Glazyrina their best biathlete in 13th. I can’t really see any of the Russian women in the hunt for the crystal globe this season either.

Tiril Eckhoff is Norway’s big hope in the Total Score. She was 11th last year and she will be under pressure to perform this season. She has the talent to win races and be very competitive but seems to lack the consistency required to compete for the Overall Title. She may also be focussing her season on her home World Championships.

It will also be a big year for the North American ladies. They get to race at home this season with World Cups in Canmore and Presque Isle. The likes of Rosanna Crawford, Megan Tandy, Susan Dunklee and Hannah Dreissigacker will be desperate to do well in front of their home crowd.

Away from the Overall winner there is some young talent to keep an eye on. Ukraine’s Iryna Varvynets looks like a good prospect along with the French pair Enora Latuilliere and Justine Braisaz. Germany’s Luise Kummer and Austria’s Lisa Theresa Hauser were impressive last season and Elisa Gasparin will be looking to build on her good form as will Italy’s Lisa Vittozzi.

It’s hard to see past Makarainen for the Overall Title but it is biathlon and anything can happen. It should be an exciting season in the women’s races with lots of new young talent coming through who will be trying to get a podium or break into the Top 10 or Top 20. We can look forward to a lot of fantastic women Aiming for the Top!

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