Biathlon 13/14

As we have dedicated threads for other winter sports, here's one for biathlon events & comment. Worth mentioning here that there is a wealth of information at http://realbiathlon.blogspot.co.uk/ and a quite lively forum at http://realbiathlon.freeforums.org/index.php

One week to go until the first "real" race of the winter season - the mixed team race at Östersund on 24 Nov!

Also, an interesting update on the German team for this season at IBU Site

Well, time for the World Cup races to begin, and first off was the Mixed relay - 2 x 6Km for the women, then 2 x 7.5Km for the men; 2 shoots per leg, 1 prone, one standing and it was windy!!

Tora Berger (Nor) was away very fast on leg 1, but (amazing upset number 1 of today) used all her spare rounds in the prone and ended up doing a penalty loop; dropped from 1st to around 24th!  Brunet (Fra) shot cleanly and took the lead from Vitkova (Cze) and Palka (Pol). After the second shoot Brunet had retained the lead with 10/10, with Berger shooting much better in the standing session and up to 9th. By the handover she had rocketed back up to 4th - really amazing! On the second leg Dorin-Habert kept the French in front needing only 1 spare round; good leg for Gabriela Soukalova (Cze) too, but (2nd surprise) - Olga Zaitseva had a melt down in her standing shoot and ended up doing 2 penalty loops - Russians rather out of it; the coach won't be happy!

So as the men took over Simon Desthieux (Fra) had about  a 50 second lead - he's only 21 and with not a huge amount of experience so the coaches might have been a bit nervous? Vitek for the Czech Republic was holding in 2nd, ahead of Italy, Germany, Norway (back in it) and Ukraine. As it happened Simon D was steady and although he lost a little time to Vitek on the track he also cleared his targets with only 1 spare round needed - 30 targets down for the French with only 2 spares; great shooting! Simon handed over to World number 1 Martin Fourcade, who had almost a full minute in hand. Moravec (Cze) was in 2nd with Tarjei Bø (Nor) fighting for 3rd with Florian Graf (Ger). Sadly Graf shot really badly and dropped out of contention, so after S7 Fourcade still led (another spare needed) from Moravec, Bø and Ukraine (who had passed Germany on the range). One shooting stage to go, and it looked pretty settled but there were 2 final surprises to come - firstly Martin Fourcade had a total disaster on the final shoot and had to do 3 penalty loops! Moravec held his nerve and came out in the lead from Bø and Fourcade (after his 450 extra metres!). Good tussle between France and Norway, but neither could catch Moravec and the Czech Republic took a very well deserved (although probably unexpected) win - great effort! Bø held off Martin F for 2nd but (final shock) it seems Fourcade might have started his penalty loops with one spare round still remaining, so the French third position is subject to review - if they are penalised then Ukraine could get on the podium - really exciting stuff and the season has only just started!!

More at IBU site. Update, looks as though France got a 2 minute penalty, which drops them to 5th - Ukraine get the final podium place.

Just coming up to this race - 15 Km total skiing, plus 4 shoots in the order prone, standing, prone, standing; in this discipline there are no penalty laps, just a minute added directly to the competitor's race time for each miss, so it's quite an incentive not to have too many errors!!

Oh, round objects - it's raining hard in Ostersund and with the wind blowing very hard and in gusts, the race has been postponed until 1315 tomorrow (1215 UK time).

OK - Thursday and better weather although the track did look a bit bumpy and the pine needles must have been a real pain to shift!! A few surprises today, probably the most obvious being Tora Berger having a bad day on the range (misses - 1,1,2,1) but she does seem to spring back so let's see how the sprint goes? Some great performances today from, among others, Tang (Chn) who was clear until her final shoot, Kadri Lehtla (Est) who I think was the only one to hit all 20, Darya Domracheva (who showed amazing ski speed (0,0,2,2) and Teja Gregorin (0,0,0,3). In the end Gabriela Soukalova's tactic of taking it steady on the range (0,1,1,0) paid off and she won the race by 1.2 seconds from Kuzmina (0,2,0,0) with Brunet (0,0,0,1) taking the final place on the podium. Good work by Eckhoff (Nor: 2 misses) who was 5th behind Iourieva, the best of the Russians. The Germans had a fair day - not ideal but the did get 10th (Henkel, 3 misses), 13th (Hildebrand, 2 misses) and 14th (Dahlmeier, 1 miss). Evi S-S missed 5, but again her ski speed is good and she managed 25th. Men's race at 1615 UK time.

Well, normal service has been resumed, at least in some respects!  The tracks stayed as they were after the women's race but seemed to hold up well and may have got a little faster as the evening wore on. Overall a good day for Martin Fourcade (Fra), who not only skied extremely fast, but also managed to clear all 20 targets. Given the awful day he had in the Mixed Relay, that was a brilliant recovery showing that he not only has blinding speed and physical condition, but also amazing mental strength.  Quite variable wind conditions today - bit gusty at times which gave some athletes a few problems.

In the end Martin Fourcade's performance gave him the win by over 2 minutes - a really soul destroying margin if you're a competitor of his!  It was also a very good day for the Austrian team who took second place (Simon Eder - 0,0,0,1) and third place (Daniel Mesotitsch - 1,0,0,0) to fill the podium. Canada's Jean-Phillippe Leguellec (0,1,0,0) was very close in 4th with Daniel Böhm (0,0,0,1) the best of the Germans in 5th. So, good days for some; the Germans were not as strong as I hoped with Arnd Peiffer missing 5 targets and Florian Graf 6 (really awful shooting in both events so far!) but Böhm and Erik Lesser (10th - 0,1,1,0) must have provided some consolation. Erik - you're supposed to grow a moustache in Movember not turn up without one! Good day for Italy with Lukas Hofer (0,0,0,0,) 6th and Christian de Lorenzi (1,0,0,0) in 8th; Moravec skied well to finish 7th after 2 misses, and Canada must have liked 2nd and a 16th for Nathan Smith.

Disappointing day for the Russians, although they managed 3 in the top 20 (Ustyuov, Loginov and Volkov), and even more so for Norway whose best position was 17th (Christiansen) - Svendsen missed 4 but managed 18th, but only 2 in the top 20 can't have been what they expected? Interesting that one of the few to get close to Martin's ski speed was Simon Desthieux, although 4 misses kept him just out of the top 20.

Next race - women's sprint tomorrow; let's see how much losing the planned rest day might upset things!?

Here we go again - the ski jumping is delayed so no Eurosport coverage of the early stages of the biathlon, just shots of people sitting waiting for the wind to ease - thank heavens for the IBU video feed!

Well, a bit more normal today perhaps although apparently the bookies were offering 75:1 against the eventual winner?  Sorry to see Miri Gössner, who was the first away obviously not at her best - 2 misses in each of the 2 shoots and her ski speed didn't seem too special, like to see the final analysis. Some good shooting today, although several "names" managed to miss at least one! Ann Kristian Flatland was one of those who did shoot cleanly, and her ski speed looked very good too - again I haven't seen the ski times but she must have been up there with Berger and Domracheva? With that combination it was no real surprise that she took the win, from Olga Zaitseva - nice to see the noble sniperin back on form! Darya Domracheva shot cleanly in her prone, and her skiing looked beautiful and fast, but with a miss in the stand she looked as though a podium would be lucky - in the end she almost made it, only to be pipped by Torah Berger who missed one in the prone!

Irina Starkyh (Rus) was 5th, so a much better day for Russia with Iourieva (back after a 2 year ban!) in 7th. Gabriela Soukalova was 6th after one miss, while Vitkova shot 9/10, so a good day for the Czechs. Not a good day for the Germans, with Henkel the best in 13th; I thought Preuß looked very good on her first shoot but she missed 2 in the stand and her ski speed isn't he strongest, but a good effort! Men go tomorrow.

I caught very little of the biathlon this week. What I did see seemed to be spoiled by the wind and lots of missed shots. I think I saw one athlete (can't remember who) miss four targets even with three spare rounds.

Penalty loops. That's gotta hurt.  

Hope to see more of it this week. Thank you for your detailed info. All good.

The Fourth Lion wrote:. I think I saw one athlete (can't remember who) miss four targets even with three spare rounds.

That sounds like Martin Fourcade on the last leg of the mixed relay - and a technical violation made it even worse! He seems to have recovered well though given his domination of the individual! Let's see how he does in the sprint this afternoon.

Bleausardv2 wrote:

The Fourth Lion wrote:. I think I saw one athlete (can't remember who) miss four targets even with three spare rounds.

That sounds like Martin Fourcade on the last leg of the mixed relay - and a technical violation made it even worse! He seems to have recovered well though given his domination of the individual! Let's see how he does in the sprint this afternoon.

I truly cannot remember who it was who had the awful shoot, but if it was Fourcade, then he sure as heck made up for it in the 20 km...!! Shooting a 20/20. Respect. Looking at the times, it looks very tight for the placings behind Fourcade. I wish I'd seen this event.

Ole Bjoerndalen has the number 3 bib in the 10 km sprint this afternoon. That should give everybody something to chase..!!

Another interesting race, with the wind getting up a little in the latter half of the event. Again, a disappointing day on the range for the Norwegians - I don't think any of them shot 10/10, with Tarjei Bø missing 3 in total. Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) shot his prone targets cleanly, and looked fast, but he spoilt his day by missing 2 in the standing shoot, as did Bjorndalen. Early leader was Simon Eder (AUT), who did manage a perfect score but was comparatively a bit slower on the skis - he was only 7.6 seconds faster than OEB at the finish, and 5.6 faster than EHS despite their penalty loops (and look at how close OEB was to Svendsen!). Daniel Böhm is looking good, but missed 1 in his standing shoot, while Florian Graf must be pleased with his 0,1 after his recent run of bad form!

Eventually Jean Guillaume Beatrix (FRA; where else?), who also shot clear, took over the lead from Eder, but out on the range Tim Burke (USA) was also clear and even faster - great race from him and he seems to be coming into form at the right time. On their heels was Martin Fourcade (FRA) whose ski speed seems in a class of its own at present. He was 5/5 coming into the standing shoot, where he dropped 1 target, although he was still fastest by some 10 seconds as he completed his penalty loop - by the finish he was over 30 seconds faster than Burke!! The only real threat to another French victory was Freddie Lindstrøm (SWE), who gave the home crowd a real thrill by shooting clear - some good news for them after a rather pedestrian start on home snow. He was about 6.7 seconds up on Fourcade's time as he left the range, but as that included Martin's penalty loop the thinking was that he wouldn't keep it - in fact by the next timing point he was still 6.6 to the good. At that stage it seems Lindstrøm must have had a small fall (?) as by the final timing point he was almost 9 seconds behind; he eventually went into 2nd place behind Fourcade; very sad to lose it that way!

So unofficially, Martin Fourcade from Lindstrøm and Burke with Beatrix 4th. Arnd Peiffer (0,1) was the best German in 5th, although Erik Lesser (0,0) came close to beating him and finished 7th. Ustyugov was best Russian in 6th (only one in the top 20), and Johannes Bø (1,1) was the best Norwegian, beating EHS (11th) and OEB (12th) - so despite the poor shooting the Norwegians are looking relatively strong. Germany had 5 in the top 20 (if you include 20th!!), and France 2 in the top 5, plus Jouty 13th and Desthieux 18th! For the Austrians, both Eder and Landertinger shot 10/10 and finished 8th & 10th respectively. Good US performance too, with Burke on the podium and Lowell Bailey 14th.  

Two pursuits tomorrow!!

Well, not a good day! The women's pursuit started in very windy conditions after some discussion about whether the race should go ahead. The prone shoots were a bit of a lottery although both Flatland and Domracheva seemed to do well despite some huge gusts. However the standing shoots were appallingly hard so the jury eventually decided to halt the race - shame for Darya and AKA F who were well away in the lead, although they didn't seem too upset about it! Not sure what will happen now - presumably this race is done with, but we'll have to see if there is any chance of the men's race taking place?

Update: I understand the women's race has officially been cancelled, and will not be rescheduled.

AND - it seems that the jury have also cancelled the men's race!    

For anyone who missed the conditions there is a short video on the IBU site about the decision to cancel: IBU on the cancellation

An exciting race for the women, in rather difficult conditions; snow and variable wind! Great effort by Selina Gasparin (SWI) to take the win, even after 1 penalty loop - wonder what odds you'd have got on that result? Nice to see Veronika Vitková (CZE) finish second (and great shooting), just ahead of Starykh (RUS) who also shot 10/10. Good recovery from 2 misses by Berger in 4th, but not a good day for the German team (who I usually cheer for) - only 2 in the top 20 (at the time of writing); Dahlmeier the best (14th) and Preuß next on 20th. Interesting that Weronika N-Z (POL) had 2 misses but still beat her team mate Palka, who shot clear! A few other surprises - Soukalova in 23rd, Flatland down in the 40s and Henkel in the 50s, behind Miri Gössner (5 misses!), who obviously is still not at her best - I gather that her coach is amazed that she can even compete after such an accident.

Loved the commentator's effort - referring to Kalina he mentioned that she was "anticipating in advance"!!

Missed the men's race live, but what an amazing result for Lars Berger (although admittedly the varying conditions must have helped) despite 2 misses - just think of the results if you had placed a bet on both Berger and Gasparin to win!! Martin Fourcade, going later on, could only manage 2nd place despite shooting clean and OEB (1 miss) was third - his first podium for a while? Simon Schempp was the best of the Germans in 8th, with Böhm, Peiffer and Graf (who shot clean today) taking 10, 11 & 12 respectively. I do like Erik Lesser but he missed 5 today and ended up 73rd, so no relay and no pursuit for him!

It's going to be an early start for Biathlon on Euro tomorrow (Saturday). 0735, but that is only a short snippet. The Nordic combined from Lillehammer starts at 0745.

Live Biathlon from Hochfilzen at 1015 with highlights at 1500 if you miss it. Looking down the Eurosport list, I have no intention of moving too far from the TV tomorrow.

Conditions are a lot more benign today. Wind speed of 5 kph should make shooting easier. Looking forward to a good race.

The Czechs are shooting well. 10 from 10 so far. It's a good close race, though.

Women: Laura Dahlmeier - you little beauty!!! Great result for Ukraine, and a well deserved win for them, but what a race for a relatively young German team - great leg from the very experienced Henkel and really well judged by Laura D to save a bit for the final lap - good shooting under pressure too, so a very welcome 2nd place. Amazed that Flatland did so badly today; two days on the trot. France missing Dorin-Habert I think, but surprised that Bescond lost that 2nd place to give France the final podium spot. Very sorry for Olga Zaitseva doing a penalty loop after her standing shoot - off to Siberia for her and the coach?? Bad day for Norway; Berger seems to be rather more erratic on the range this year, but even so a 5th place for them. Apparently Ukraine only needed 3 spare rounds between them, so very good shooting from them.

Men: Not quite so close, but star of the day was probably OEB - how does he do that at 39?? Another good tussle between USA and Canada, although it was a shame that the good work by Bailey & Burke (sounds like a Victorian solicitors, or body snatchers?) didn't result in a higher end placing; in the women's race the USA took 8th to Canada's 11th - this time Canada got 9th and USA 11th - honours pretty much even and good to see them doing well.

Christiansen didn't do Norway any favours, but a stunning leg by Bjørndalen got them back to 1st and with Tarjei Bø and EHS taking the final 2 legs, and shooting well, the win was pretty much in the bag. Plenty of change behind them with both France (Beatrix) and Germany (Birnbacher; still not back to his best) doing 2 penalty loops each on leg 2 - no real way back from that despite the best efforts of the rest of the teams; Martin Fourcade lifted France to 5th, just ahead of Germany in 6th. Great battle for the rest of the podium, with Bergman (Swe) doing a Dahlmeier and saving just enough of his KERS to get him past Malyshko (Rus) for 2nd. Austria made a superb effort to get into 4th. Other nominees for a well done; probably the Swedes. Not so good - the Chinese handover between legs 2 & 3, when the 3rd athlete wasn't there!

Wow, what a finish. Well done Ukraine. A superb run on the anchor leg and good shooting too. Russia blew it for second place so it was Germany and France that had a good old fashioned win-or-bust race for 2nd and 3rd places.

I can only imagine that Zaitseva doesn't like the standing shoot. She didn't look especially as if her breathing was too ragged going into the final shoot. To miss three targets, and then miss with a spare, leading to a penalty loop, suggests something more fundamental than just the pressure of the situation.

If anything, I thought the Ukrainian girl (sorry, I can't properly spell her name) looked a bit stressed coming into the final shoot, but she shot a quick and clean 5 out of 5.

The little race-within-a-race between USA and Canada was also good to watch.

A good contest all round.

Bleausardv2 wrote:Wrong thread???

I'm commenting on the women's team relay from Hochfilzen.

The Fourth Lion wrote:

Bleausardv2 wrote:Wrong thread???

I'm commenting on the women's team relay from Hochfilzen.

Sorry - addled by the excitement - I was editing my error when you posted!!

Women's 10 Km: Sadly a late start by Eurosport (due to the x-country relay being slow due to all that snow!!) but not a lot really happened in the first shoot. The second prone however saw some misses, including 3 from Tora Berger, whose shooting seems very erratic this year - maybe she's just trying to get them all out of the way before Sochi, but that ruined her chances today and she ended up 18th. Other surprises on the range were Brunet and Pidrushna also missing 4, Kuzmina 5 and poor Miri Gössner missing 3,3,3,1, so 10 penalty loops - she always was a bit flaky but trying to come back from such a nasty accident isn't helping her. At least the final shoot was better!

Back at the front of the race Berger's team mate, Synnøve Solemdal was impressive; after a penalty loop on the first prone she seemed to gain confidence and shot all the rest clear and fast - the final 5 were particularly neat! That gave her a well deserved win from Juliya Dzhyma (UKR - 20/20) and Krystyna Palka (POL, also 20/20) - nice to see them on the podium; quite a variety of athletes getting there so far this year! Vitkova (Cze) was 4th, with Russians Starykh (getting very close to the yellow bib) and Shumilova in 5/6. Ukraine had a very good day with Valj & Vita Semerenko taking 7/8 respectively, and Soukalova held on to the yellow by finishing 9th. Darya Domracheva must have been one of the "best improvers" today coming from 36 to 11 despite 3 penalty loops and Franziska Preuss was the best German in 12th (from 20), also with 3 penalties. Not sure what happened to the ZDF live-ticker - very slow and some wrong info!!

Trying to listen to the commentary on the men's race on Eurosport but all I get is white noise blocking the audio - back to the IBU feed, which is, at least, advert free!

Men's 12.5 Km: Again, shoot 3 was again where it really began to change, after Martin Fourcade had closed down Lars Berger going in to the shoot, although both OEB and Tarjei Bø had made things a little difficult for themselves by missing 1 each in S1! Going in to S3 both Fourcade & Lars B had shot 10/10 but while Fourcade had one miss, Berger had to do 2 penalty laps (you can see why they leave him out of relays!). Meanwhile Simon Schempp went 15/15 and went into 2nd spot behind Fourcade, ahead of Sumann, Berger and Svendsen. On the next lap Martin F pulled out a little while Schempp showed that his ski speed isn't quite in the same class as the Norwegians as both Svendsen and Berger closed him down.

In the final shoot Fourcade went clear (although the first might have been a bit lucky!) and that pretty much sealed the win. Schempp missed one which let Svendsen through ahead of Sumann and Bø, and dropped him within reach of Bjørndalen despite the latter's 3 penalty loops (1,1,1,0). I thought the Germans dropped back a bit on the final lap, all losing out a bit although Schempp did manage to pass Sumann; in the end it was Fourcade (0,0,1,0) from E H-S (0,0,1,0), Bø (1,0,1,0), and the impressive Ustyugov (20/20 and went from 17th to 4th). OEB, despite his loops, was 5th (1,1,1,0), and Schempp 6th (0,0,0,1) - the best of the Germans, although all their starters did finish in the top 20 (Peiffer 11th [2,0,0,0]; Böhm 13th [20/20]; Birnbacher 15th [1,0,0,0] & Graf 20th [1,1,2,0]). Of those who really improved on their start position, Boeuf went from 28 to 8, and Ben Weger from 60 to 26! Most obvious loser in all this, Lars Berger from 1st to 14th.

Next one - Annency (LGB).

Wow, that's a serious analysis, old chap.

I must confess I'm not so intense on stats.... although I am aware that they do tell a great deal about events. I'm more of a "big picture" person myself.

Great detail though. Kudos. I hope you're enjoying the season so far as much as I am.

You should see the detail on the biathlon forum!!! Makes me look positively tongue tied.

Good season so far, especially as the podiums for the women's races are so difficult to predict; men's races a bit more by the form book (mostly!)

Women's Sprint: Missed this live (on Eurostar at the time) but caught the final two legs on the re-run when I got home. A brilliant effort by the German team who, apart from Andrea Henkel, are relatively new to World Cup races (albeit that they have a lot of Junior races and titles behind them). Laura Dahlmeier was in superb form on the final leg, shooting cleanly and holding off the still erratic Tora Berger! Some suggestion that the Germans had prepared their skis better, but that's all part of the game - they certainly seemed to have the legs to pull out time on the Norwegians! In the end the Germans took a very well earned win (just 3 spare rounds needed) from Ukraine (4 spares) who just managed to hold off the Norwegian team (10 spares!!); all credit to Pidrushna, although I do wonder if she even knew how close Berger was at the end! Very well done to the Canadian team who finished 4th, ahead of France!

Men's 4 x 7.5 km sprint: What a finish!! Anyway, leg 1 saw Andrejs Rastorgujevs (Lat) and Lowell Bailey (USA) well up but a good leg from Erik Lesser (Ger) - good to see him going well today - saw Germany lead at the first handover from USA, Latvia & Norway (who had a few stars missing today - no OEB, EHS or Bø the elder). Andi Birnbacher shot well on leg 2 to keep Germany in the lead, but seemed slower than the chasing group and his lead from the standing shoot was halved by the next handover - now Germany from Rus/Aut/Nor. Arnd Peiffer also shot well, needing only 1 spare and his ski speed was good too - by the end of leg 3 Germany were over 20 seconds clear of Rus/Aut & Nor; all down to Simon Schempp who was up against Shipulin, Simon Eder and the younger Bø (with Martin Fourcade really having way too much to do to try and salvage something for the home team). Good, clear shooting by the leaders in the prone, but in the stand Schempp needed one spare round which let Shipulin past - they left the range only 0.6 seconds apart, and behind them there was the prospect of a good scrap between Eder, Bergmann & Bø. Near the finish Schempp took the lead back, but Shipulin's sprint finish reversed the places yet again - good win for Russia, with Germany oh so close to doing the double. In the end Eder held on well to take third from Bergmann and Bø.

Women's 7.5 Km Sprint: Another really exciting race, on a technical circuit which is still rather new for most of the athletes. Slightly different conditions so again a real test for the wax teams - interesting that the Russians (and USA?) opted to put their better athletes later on while France, Germany etc went earlier. Some good shooting today, especially by Preuss, Hildebrand and Dahlmeier who were all clear and were rewarded by top 10 placings - German team must be very pleased with the way they are developing, especially with Andrea Henkel also in top 20 despite 1 penalty loop. Star of the day has to be Selina Gasparin (Swi), whose confidence after her first win is obvious - great shooting and a very fast final lap gave her the win from Kaisa Mäkäräinen who was second despite 1 miss - great speed and her shooting seems more reliable this year; lovely to see her back on the podium. Valj Semerenko (Ukr) took the final podium place just ahead of Soukalova, who keeps the overall points lead with another good result. France must be very disappointed; first home WC race in 22 years but no wins yet - today no women in the top 20, but they may have more luck this afternoon in the men's race? Arguably shock of the day - Tora Berger with 3 misses in her standing shoot and thus not even in the top 40 (although as someone pointed out on another forum, Brunet also had 3 misses and was down in the late 50s)!

Men's 10 Km Sprint: Sadly I missed a lot of this, as it was an exciting race by all accounts (although it isn't quite over yet).  The French must really have been hoping that Martin Fourcade could get them their first home win of this meet, but he missed one in the stand, which must have cost him about 20-25 seconds on the penalty loop. He was beaten by Ondrej Moravec (Cze) who shot clean but was only 5 seconds or so faster overall (Czech Republic are having a great season so far), but the shock for the French must have been Johannes Thingnes Bø (JoBø??), the younger brother of Tarjei who hasn't been too much in the commentators spotlight this year (despite what they might now claim), who also shot clear but beat Martin F by a massive 37 seconds! Best of the Germans was Simon Schempp (0,0) in 5th, with Erik Lesser currently in 9th having also shot a perfect 10. Malyshko best Russian in 4th, again with 10/10; sad to see Peiffer (0,2)and Birnbacher (0,3) shooting "less well" and down the lists. The Eurosport commentators continue to amuse!!

Women's pursuit should be a cracker with some very small margins, but also interesting to see how Bø's 37 second lead over Martin F will hold up!

Women's 10 Km Pursuit: Well, it was certainly close and yet again we had a varied podium!  At the start the top 10 were only 27 seconds apart - big threat probably Kaisa Mäkäräinen who started second - with her blazing speed a good day at the range (2 prone, 2 standing this time) would make her a favourite, but that's a big variable for her! Selina Gasparin made a win difficult by missing her first target, while Kuzmina melted down and missed 3 in shoot 1; first out was Kaisa M, followed by Vilukhina, Soukalova, Gasparin and Henkel - Dahlmeier and Hildebrand also clear. Mäkäräinen also went clear on S2, but left the range behind Vilukhina and the fast skiing Soukalova. In the first standing shoot it all began to unravel for Kaisa M, with 3 misses dropping her well back - Gabriella Soukalova went clear to lead away from Pidhrushna and Valj Semerenko - all to play for at S4 as the margins were still quite tight, especially with the Russian Starykh closing in! Soukalova missed 1, which cost her about 20 seconds, but Starykh and Valj S were clear and away. The final lap was very close - Starykh seemed to be pulling away, but Valj Semerenko (UKR) tucked in and unleashed a "Malyshko sprint" on the final stages to take what I believe is her first World Cup win. Irina Starykh (RUS) was second (fm 12th) from Tiril Eckhoff (NOR), who passed the tiring Soukalova (CZE), whose 4th place was enough (I hope!) to keep her in the yellow bib. Fairly good day for the younger Germans - Dahlmeier shot 20/20 (matched only by Starykh, Zaitseva & Ponza) to finish 5th (fm 10th), with Preuss in 11th after a poor start (2 misses in S1) and Hildebrand (0,0,1,2) in 17th. A day to forget for Andrea Henkel who missed 5 targets and ended up 32nd, and for Tora Berger who started 44th and finished in the high 30s after missing 3. One of the best recoveries from Olga Zaitseva who shot 20/20 and went from 31st to 7th!

Men's 12.5 km Pursuit: Also a tight margin at the start, if you exclude JoBø's half minute or so on Moravec! From the start Bø was incredibly fast, opening up time on the pursuing group as he went into the range - the Jeremiah commentators were wittering about "going too fast , might get away with it, but the stand is where it will change" etc. In S1 Bø shot clear, as did Lukas Hofer and Simon Schempp (among others) and they left the range in that order - both Fourcade and Malyshko had one miss which did nothing to help their quest. Bø went into S2 with a lead of 46.7 at the previous split, but missed 1 allowing Mesotitch, Lesser and Shipulin to close the gap a little. By now we had 3 Jeremiahs in the commentary box, opining that Bø wouldn't have the discipline to shoot slowly in the stand and would therefore throw it away - they were partly right as he did indeed shoot fast, but he cleared all the final 10, which made his win a pretty foregone conclusion, given his ski speed - a great double for him. Behind him Erik Lesser had shot 20/20 and had a fair gap behind him - not the fastest German but his good shooting allowed him to ease back a bit and still take second place (from 9th); Shipulin (RUS) managed to pass Bergman (SWE) on the last lap to get the final podium place - Bergman, Weger (SWI) & Loginov (RUS) in 4/5/6. Good work by Nathan Smith (CAN) who went from 16 to 8; Christoph Stephan (GER, 22 to 7); Garanichev (RUS, 23 to 9) and Lowell Bailey (USA, 35 to 15). Most obvious loser - Martin Fourcade (FRA; 1,1,0,1 and 3 to 17), although poor Florian Graf went from 18 to 57 after 5 misses. Not a happy WC meet for the French with no wins; maybe too much home pressure?

Jura City Biathlon (Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 27 Dec): Very short report in Biathlon News saying that Christoph Sumann & Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle won this event (did they shift teams, because Sumann was listed as partnering Miri??). Apparently Miri Gössner had a cold and didn't start on doctor's orders. Nothing more that I can find at present - waiting for the Gelsenkirchen event on TV!!

Gelsenkirchen Team Challenge: Great start from Eurosport; on for 4 minutes of which 3 were about OEB (who isn't there) - then we saw a bit of shooting to determine the start grid and went to a commercial break before that was complete!!

My - that track's narrow, and with some very tight turns! Not easy to overtake there (and no snow off the line) Now, what has happened to Andi Birnbacher's shooting? At this stage the Czechs are also struggling.

At the end of the first event (mass start) a few upsets - it's Fanny WSH/EHS from Laura D/Graf and Gregorin/Fak. The Italians still in touch, Berger (and Birnbacher) still having some problems on the range, but the Czechs in last with 10 misses. Now a 20 minute (?) break before the pursuit. Seems quite a few athletes didn't quite know when the race ended; looked as though Svendsen was ready to stop before the final round!! Now for the pursuit section - very exciting and lots of change!! Thought Andi Birnbacher was shooting better at first, but it didn't quite last; Svendsen shot well at first but in the final couple laps it looked like the pressure got to Fanny WSH and then Svendsen missed a couple as well. In the end the team of Dahlmeier & Graf, despite 6 misses, were in striking distance of the Ukraine team (2 misses) - not an easy track to overtake on, but Graf managed it with a superb charge. So, a win for Laura D & Florian Graf, Ukraine 2nd and Gregorin/Fak in 3rd. Horn & EHS just pipped Berger & L'Abbe-Lund for 4/5. Good event!

I'm a little out of touch with other winter sports events at this time, as I have pretty much turned all my attention to the Four Hills, which started today.

I'm aware that you're not a fan so won't bore you with details, but please don't be offended if I don't pick up on other events for the duration of my annual ski-jumping gorge-fest.

Obertsdorf is looking good for tomorrow.

4L - if you do manage to tear yourself away, the Tour de Ski has just started (in a rather snowless Oberhof); Evi Sachebacher-Stehle, fresh from the Jura City biathlon has reverted to x-country for the event, but I doubt whether she, or anyone else, can match Marit Bjørgen's speed especially as I understand that Justyna Kowalczyk, Kikkan Randall and Charlotte Kalla are all missing the event! Hope it snows there before the biathlon WC goes in early 2014!!

Men's 10 Km Sprint: Really awful looking conditions - windy, very misty with visibility drifting in and out and the tracks (on imported snow) icy and cutting up. Great effort from Svendsen (NOR), who beat fellow countryman Bjørndalen by only 0.4 of a second (both having 2 misses). Martin Fourcade (FRA) shot relatively slowly in the prone and cleared but missed 3 in the stand to end up with the final podium place. Great work by Artem Pryma (UKR), Kauri Koiv (EST) and Alexey Volkov (RUS) who all shot the perfect 10/10 and were rewarded with 5/6/7 places respectively. Only 2 others shot clear (Kocevar and Simocko) but their ski speed wasn't enough to capitalise on that. I really wonder if the women's sprint will take place - the weather and track conditions aren't good! (British understatement).

Women's 7.5 Km Sprint: Impressive that they managed to run the women's event - apparently some spectators couldn't see either the range or, on occasion, the competitors! Brilliant run by Darya Domracheva (BLR) with just the one miss - her shooting seems to have settled and the ski speed is really good. Likewise I'm very glad to see Kaisa Mäkäräinen (FIN) back on form - her best this year? Pidhrushna (UKR) shot really well, but with no misses she was over 36 seconds back on Darya and still behind Kaisa. Amazing to see Berger 4th after 3 misses! For me, not the best day for Germany but nice to see Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle the best in the team in 7th, and Hildebrand in the top 20. Good run from Horchler, but not the best day for Henkel and poor Miri is still way off her best after that accident. Should be two good pursuits tomorrow!

Just checked - Kaisa M was also 2nd in the sprint at Annency LGB.

Men's Pursuit: Four shoots today and with Svendsen missing once in his first prone I thought Bjørndalen might just get his 94th win - however 2 misses in his last prone let Svendsen through for his second win in 2 days. Good race; great win by EHS, another second for Bjørndalen with Fourcade in third (thought he looked a bit off the pace today) and what a result for Andrejs Rastorgujevs coming from 28 to 4th! Of yesterdays "surprises" only Volkov could get into the top 20 with both Pryma and Koiv missing 6 in total. Sorry for Birnbacher - 0,0,2,1 but good results for Stephan and Peiffer.

Women's Pursuit: Well, that was exciting! I must confess I thought Domracheva might have blown it when she missed 2 at S2, but her 0,2,1,0 was enough to get a second win this weekend; Kaisa Mäkäräinen in 2nd and Synnøve Solemdal taking 3rd after starting 21st!! Berger stayed 4th but her standing shoot seems to be coming back to her old speed. I thought Valj Semerenko might have done well today, but her standing shoot let her down. Soukalova back from 26th to 12 and I was very impressed by Andrea Henkel moving up from 37 to 16 despite a fall - very strong to clear all 5 after that! Shame about Wierer's third shoot. Evi still the best German, in 7th. Sad to hear that Miri Gössner has apparently decided that she needs to give herself more time to recover from the mountain bike accident last year, and will therefore not be in the Olympics. (The commentator referred to "injuring 4 lumbar vertebrae in her back"!!)

Men's Mass Start: Quite a variety of leaders during the race! Impressed by Martin Fourcade's performance at the final standing shoot when he cleared all 5 at speed! Another win for him; good result from Volkov (who cleared all 20) and good speed from Tarjei Bø despite 2 misses. As a fan, I'm delighted to see Birnbacher getting back to form and coming in 4th, despite his 2 misses; I did think Tim Burke would do better but he seemed to go backwards on the final lap - even so a top 10 for him and a good result from Lukas Hofer who also shot 20/20. Felt sorry for Simon Eder - fall near the start and problems at S1!

Women's Mass Start: Third race in 3 days for the women too - looks as though Tora Berger is coming back into form (shame, because I'm not really one of her fans!!) - after a miss in S1 she cleared the rest and took her first win of this season. All credit to Solemdal (who shot 20/20) who only just held off a fast closing Darya Domracheva (0,0,1,1) - the glance over the shoulder almost blew it though! Delighted to see Andrea Henkel (1,0,0,0) in 4th, just ahead of Kaisa Mäkäräinen (1,0,0,2) - she's had a pretty good weekend too. Vilukhina shot well, 20/20 but was 9th 1.26 behind the winner. Some poor shooting from the normally reliable French; Bescond missed 8! Not quite sure what today's event does to the overall points - Valj Semerenko was in yellow today due to a better podium record than Soukalova who had the same points total, with Mäkäräinen close behind - today they were 15/13/4 respectively; Soukalova back in the lead?

Note - IBU very quick updating the site - in the Women's overall standings Soukalova is back in front (306) from Valj Semerenko (304) and Mäkäräinen (301)

Relays: Sadly I missed the women's event, but all credit to Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle who got Germany back in the mix; good win for Russia with Zaitseva back in the team with the Germans second and Norway third. The men's race was a real cliffhanger; good first leg from Andrejs Rastorgujevs to have Latvia in the lead at the first handover but sadly they don't have the team strength; what on earth happened to Johannes Bø - 3 penalty loops from his prone shoot? Great leg by Andi Birnbacher to build on Stephan's first leg, and Erik Lesser kept them in touch despite needing 3 spares for his standing shoot. Simon Schempp had the final leg for Germany with Russia (Shipulin) and Austria (Landertinger) very much in touch and Sweden (Bergman) still a threat despite Lindstrøm's penalty loop.
In the final standing shoot Shipulin went clear and was away just ahead of Landertinger, who also shot clear - Schempp needed one spare which dropped him a few seconds back and let Bergman, who shot really well, close a little. At this stage I wondered if Simon Schempp could perhaps catch Landertinger, but worried about whether Bergman might close down both of them. In the event Bergman couldn't close, but both Simon Schempp and Dominik Landertinger passed Shipulin and sprinted for home - Schempp took the lead on a very nasty looking downhill section, but the Austrian re-passed as they went for the line. Great sprint which Landertinger won by 0.1 of a second. So, Austria win, from Germany (another 2nd place, so good relay results here) and Russia; Sweden 4th. A very exciting race!
Individuals: Again, missed the women's race and didn't see all of the men's event either - annoying! Once again, not a lot of snow at Ruhpolding and, certainly for the men's event, the tracks got slower as the day went on - looked quite wet and soft! Conditions apparently made waxing quite a challenge, and the Norwegians seem not to have got it quite right, especially for the women. So, in the women's race, Gabriela Soukalova won (0,1,0,0) with Darya Domracheva 2nd (0,0,0,2) - only 34 seconds between them, and as this event features no penalty loops, adding a 1 minute time penalty instead for each miss, Darya must be annoyed at the second standing shoot! Good day for the Czech Republic though as Veronika Vitkova finished 3rd with a perfect 20/20. Franziska Hildebrand was 4th despite 1 miss, ahead of an unusually slow Tora Berger (also 1 miss) - wax?? Poor Evi S-S must have left all her talent in the relay, as she had an awful day on the range - pity as she was going so well the race before. As there are only 2 Individual races this season, and Soukalova has won them both, she gets the first small crystal globe of the year - very odd to have so few races? In the men's event the Russians were obviously getting their form - nice timing with Sochi so close! Sadly for them, Svendsen is also on form and took the win (1,0,0,0), despite seeming to be slower than usual on the downhill sections. Alexey Volkov is looking very steady on the range at present (0,0,0,0) which got him 2nd place just ahead of Evgeny Ustyugov (0,1,0,0). In the absence of his younger brother, and with a beard trim, Simon Fourcade seems to have remembered what biathlon is about and finished 7th! Best German was Schempp, who shot a perfect 20/20 but lost time in a fall. Not a good day for the rest of the Germans, with poor Christoph Stephan having a day to forget!!

Pursuits: Women's race looked as though it would be exciting, and conditions also looked rather better. In the event no one could touch Gabriela Soukalova, who shot a perfect score and took another well deserved win. Tora Berger missed one in the first prone, but cleared all the rest to end up 2nd (from 5th at the start), and Franziska Hildebrand was clear until the final standing shoot when she missed 3 and blew a really good chance of a podium - great pity! Somehow Kaisa Mäkäräinen (2,0,0,1) still managed to get 3rd after starting 10th, on a track that some commentators thought wouldn't play to her strengths - she flew past Preuss (who was the best of the Germans, finishing 4th from 16) on the final lap. Vitkova was 5th, so another good day for the Czechs. Winners in the "recovery stakes" were Eckhoff (7th from 25), Brunet (10 from 21) and Bescond (11 from 29).
The "Curse of Winterton" on Eurosport continues - "no one has missed yet" he said as Darya D missed her first of the day, and later, of Vitkova, "well she's matching her team mate" at which point the jinx cut in and she missed!
The men's race was more a procession than a pursuit as far as Svendsen was concerned - 20/20 and fast too. So, a very strong race from Svendsen and another win - I wonder if Martin Fourcade regrets not coming to this venue? Still, makes the overall more of a race!! High points for me - Svendsen's shooting especially at S3 and Tarjei Bø's rise from 37th to 6th (he must have loved beating his little brother - who went from 8 to 18 after 6 misses). Lovely to see Fak do so well here, and Garanichev finish 3rd after a fall, with Simon Eder also shooting clear to get 4th. Good work by Sumann (27 to 8), Moravec (29 to 15) and Canada's Nathan Smith (40 to 16). After the "man walking across the piste" event that 4L mentioned, today we had the "drinks man" tripping up Slesingr!! Sadly still no podium for the Germans (Schempp best in 11th and no others in the top 20)

Thank you for that very comprehensive coverage of the events, Bleau. I've had a good ol' catch up now and will be looking back in over the weekend to see what's going on.

I did follow the tour de ski a little over the 9 days of competition. Saw some of the women's races but didn't get into it as much as I would have liked. I still have to work, which is an irritation during the winter sport season, but what can you do..? <laughing>

Women's Sprint:  Almost time for the sprint, except Eurosport aren't showing it live - I can understand that they show tennis (not on terrestrial) but to show snooker when the BBC is infested with it ... gimme my biathlon!! Oh well, over to the IBU feed.

Well, talk about keeping up the interest for the whole race - when Fanny Horn (last starter) left her standing shoot, having shot 10/10 there was a chance the podium might change, but sadly her speed wasn't up for a blistering final lap and she ended 11th. On the subject of ski speed, or lack of it, Boilly and Ponza both shot a perfect score but didn't reach the top 30!! So - a number of surprises today;  a great win for Anais Bescond (certainly her first podium this season, and she wasn't really in the betting for a win), with Andrea Henkel back as best German in 2nd and Darya Domracheva offsetting 2 misses with great speed to pinch 3rd from Susan Dunklee (great run from her; best result this season by miles!). Nice to see Romanova, Preuss, Skardino and Mäkäräinen in the top 10. Late note - World Cup points leader Soukalova was DQ'd for a range safety violation - she keeps the points lead but presumably can't join the pursuit?

Men's Sprint: Again, not live but that worked for me because I was out! Got back to catch the end of the race, although Eurosport didn't catch the final twist!! This was another race that kept us all guessing until the end; Martin Fourcade dropped 2 in the prone, which opened things up, especially with Svendsen away and OEB missed 3 in all and ended up 20th. At the point I joined, Arnd Peiffer was just about half way on his final lap, with a perfect score, and with good ski speed he duly took over the lead. The big threat to him looked like Lukas Hofer (0,1), who left the range a little behind but looked stronger despite his penalty lap - sure enough he closed down and by the final split he was in the lead - Hofer held it to the line (although some thought he was lucky not to blow it by celebrating a little early??) to beat Peiffer's time by just over 4 seconds. The Italian fans in Antholz (home ground) were delighted, but a little wary of Simon Schempp who was also having a good day and was clear as he left the range for the final time. Neck and neck on the final lap, but as Schempp crossed the line the time showed him 0.3 seconds faster than Hofer - advantage Germany. However, the officials in the timing hut decided that the  time shown was actually the time of a Czech athlete who crossed the line at almost the same time as the much faster German - after a review the times were adjusted to give a dead heat for first place (This was the bit Eurosport missed)! So, First - Lukas Hofer AND Simon Schempp, with Arnd Peiffer in 3rd; good day for the Germans and Lukas H! Dominik Landertinger was 4th and Martin Fourcade somehow managed to get 5th despite 2 penalties beating [in this order] Ferry (1,0), Beatrix (0,0) and Canada's Brendan Green (0,0). Few surprises - eg Simon Eder in 33rd, Andi Birnbacher in 43rd and Freddie Lindstrøm in 51st. Looking forward to 2 good pursuits!

Women's Pursuit: Going into this race the Pursuit points were Soukalova 164, Valj Semerenko 162 & Mäkäräinen 155; Valj isn't here and Gabi was DQ'd from he sprint, so ...? Anyway Fanny Horn spoilt her day by missing 3 at S1; Berger also missed 1 there but Henkel, Skardino, Bescond etc went clear; looked like the standing shoots would be the decider! Sure enough Darya Domracheva missed 2 at S3, but so did Berger; the closing Eckhoff missed 1 setting her back a little, and Gregorin dropped 3; big changes but Henkel, Mäkäräinen, and Skardino still clear. Going into the final shoot I thought Darya might still do it, but another 2 misses were too much, even for her, and Mäkäräinen also had a bad time, missing 3. Leaving the range Henkel was leading from Skardino, with Eckhoff closing but Berger somehow still in the mix (not entirely sure she's human) just behind Darya. Skardino closed down Henkel, but couldn't quite catch her - great win for Andrea, and a very good podium for Nadezhda Skardino. Behind them Berger overhauled both Darya and then Tiril Eckhoff to get third, which I think gives her the OVERALL points lead (yes; TB 461, DD 455, KM 444),  Eckhoff 4th, Darya 5 and Gregorin, despite those 3 misses, in 6. Big winners Eckhoff (14 to 4), Dahlmeier (21 to 7, reversing positions with Preuss!) and Song (China, 30 to 10).
As regards the pursuit points, Mäkäräinen is now leading that on 187, from Berger on 171 with Eckhoff also on 171.

Men's Pursuit: Another one that Eurosport aren't covering live, preferring to cover the snooker that is already infesting the BBC schedules today; over to the IBU! This race started with the tied pair from yesterday, Hofer & Schempp, leading off the pack - sadly Lukas Hofer blew it big time by missing 6 targets (2,2,2,0 so at least the last shoot is a positive). Some great shooting set up another really exciting race - for me today has been one of the best days biathlon this season. Pre S4 there was a Frenchman in the lead, but it wasn't Martin Fourcade who missed one every shoot and was struggling - step forward Jean Guillaume Beatrix who was 0,0,0 at that stage. At the last shoot things got shaken up again and Simon Schempp (1,0,1,0) led away from the range, just ahead of Krasimir Anev (0,0,0,0) Bjørndalen (0,0,1,0), Beatrix (0,0,0,1), L'Abee-Lund (0,0,2,0) & Simon Fourcade (0,0,0,1). I thought at one point that Lapshin would be in this mix, but 2 misses at S3 dropped him back a bit. To my surprise Beatrix powered past the Norwegians, but couldn't quite catch Schempp who made it a really good day for the Germans by winning outright today - that's both pursuits to them! Beatrix was the best of the French in 2nd with L'Abee-Lund passing OEB for the final podium place. Arnd Peiffer took 5th despite 3 misses ahead of Ferry and Anev, who with his great shooting possibly deserved better; needs a bit more speed. Martin Fourcade was 9th, one place ahead of brother Simon. Improvers included L'A-L who went from 10 to 3; OEB (20 to 4), Lowell Bailey (19 - 12), Maillet (32 - 14), Iliev (28 - 15) and Birnbacher (43 - 27). Biggest loser Lukas Hofer (Joint 1st to 20). Very exciting stuff!

Relays: Well - the women were on in the morning; good first leg from Romanova, with Ringen, Hildebrand and Selina Gasparin in touch. On leg 2 Henkel was going well, as was Shumilova but poor Fanny Horn had another problem with feeding spare rounds and lost a lot of time - she was probably one of the few athletes to welcome the thick mist that swept in just before the leg 2 standing shoot; with visibility down to about 25 metres the jury had no real option but to cancel the race. Pity! I missed the men's race, which was delayed and then ran with heavy snow at times. Lots of spares and penalty loops here, but eventually France won from Sweden and Germany, whose third place gave them the relay cup.

I love Winter Sports!

FootballLight wrote:I love Winter Sports!

Welcome to the chat, FL.   Glad you've come to join in.

You'll find that myself  (usually abbreviated to 4L, so we don't get confused) and Bleausardv2 are the regular winter sports addicts on this site.

He's the biathlon fan and I'm the ski jumping nut so those are our special interests.  What's yours..?

Mixed emotions here - there is good news and bad. The bad news (let's get it over with) is that apparently 3 biathletes tested positive for drugs in out of competition testing over the Christmas period; I don't have a link or more facts except that the countries involved are Russia and Lithuania. Lots of speculation as to the identities, but the IBU will apparently not confirm anything until the B sample is tested. All very sad and rather embarrassing. The Russians seem very annoyed that this news has leaked before the process is complete, with some commentators there seeming to suggest a Norwegian plot, and making some allegations of their own.

Better news however is that according to the BBC a new sponsor has been found to support GB biathlon, who were under serious threat from lack of funding - link to BBC site

Finally, although it really should be on the ski page, a mogul skier from Sussex (originally), Ben Cavet, has been selected for the French team in Sochi!! He moved to France aged 10, but is reported as only taking French nationality in 2012 as UK Sport wouldn't fund him - our loss!

On the doping story, it looks as though Irina Starykh ( who featured a lot in various speculation about the story) is one of those who tested positive, although she may well be fighting the accusation?  The Russian Biathlon Union have made a statement - Here. I do feel it's so sad when this happens in a sport I like so much; makes you wonder who's clean?

On a separate note - I'm getting withdrawal symptoms due to a lack of winter sport (especially biathlon, although the European Open Championships are running at Novo Mesto and Rastorgujevs has just won!) - roll on the weekend when at least there will be Alpine!

Has anyone been watching the European Championships from Nove Mesto? They have been pretty good and entertaining.  I never thought I would be cheering on a Spainish biathlete to double silver in the sprint and pursuit. I never heard of her before, Victoria Padial Hernandez, but I was impressed with the way she dug in on the final loop to guarantee herself a medal. Gold went to Sweden in the form of Mona Brorsson, sadly the Swedes are sending no woman to Sochi.

On the whole the championship confirms the strenght in depth of Norway and Russia.  Belarus seem to have one or two youngsters coming through, I think their latest senior lady (Kallina) is a former Russian who had some success for them as a junior.

It's very disappointing news with the doping cases, at least they have been caught, I wonder what Pichler makes of it? I read on another website that there was an issue in Norway where an ex officer of their drug testing people threw some accusations at their Xcountry team.

Looking forward to Sochi, even if I have no Eurosport coverage. It's been a very topsy turvy season, no one has been really consistent, but I expect that everyone will be on top form in Sochi. On the mens side I expect a battle between Fourcade and Svendsen, but would love to OEB get a medal or two.  On the ladies side, Soukalova has had a great season but I think that Berger and Domracheva will be the ladies to beat. I really would love to see Olga Zaitseva deliver a gold.  There will be a lot of pressure on the Russians to deliver, if they get of to a poor start it could become very difficult for them.

Irishrunner wrote:Has anyone been watching the European Championships from Nove Mesto? They have been pretty good and entertaining.  I never thought I would be cheering on a Spainish biathlete to double silver in the sprint and pursuit. I never heard of her before, Victoria Padial Hernandez, but I was impressed with the way she dug in on the final loop to guarantee herself a medal. Gold went to Sweden in the form of Mona Brorsson, sadly the Swedes are sending no woman to Sochi.

On the whole the championship confirms the strenght in depth of Norway and Russia.  Belarus seem to have one or two youngsters coming through, I think their latest senior lady (Kallina) is a former Russian who had some success for them as a junior.

It's very disappointing news with the doping cases, at least they have been caught, I wonder what Pichler makes of it? I read on another website that there was an issue in Norway where an ex officer of their drug testing people threw some accusations at their Xcountry team.

Looking forward to Sochi, even if I have no Eurosport coverage. It's been a very topsy turvy season, no one has been really consistent, but I expect that everyone will be on top form in Sochi. On the mens side I expect a battle between Fourcade and Svendsen, but would love to OEB get a medal or two.  On the ladies side, Soukalova has had a great season but I think that Berger and Domracheva will be the ladies to beat. I really would love to see Olga Zaitseva deliver a gold.  There will be a lot of pressure on the Russians to deliver, if they get of to a poor start it could become very difficult for them.

Welcome to the wintersport chat, Runner. Nice to see another new face on here.

Eurosport isn't covering the Winter Olympics. They are suspending their wintersport coverage until the World Cup restarts post Sochi.

Your bio doesn't say where you live, but if you are in Ireland and can pick up BBC, you'll find their coverage of the Winter Olympics will probably be very good. If not, aren't RTE covering it..?

Thanks 4L, I live in Dublin so I have access to both RTE and BBC. I don't ever remember RTE showing some any wintersports. There live sports coverage is basically GAA, Rugby and Soccer, even their coverage of athletics has declined in recent years.

I expect the BEEB to have excellent coverage on the red button but maybe not as good on their main channels and sadly my cable provider doesn't offer the red button option. I will track down some of the online channels. I really feel the IOC made a mistake in the way they sold their rights, I would have thought that Eurosport has been a great Olympic partner for them.

I understand that the nominal squad list for every team is now on the official site of the Winter Olympic Games - WO site. Interestingly the Swedes do list some women biathletes, although those listed might not necessarily compete; there is still the rather odd attitude of the Swedish authorities towards qualification standards - will they take up their slots after all? Some biathletes look as though they are also listed in cross country events, although possibly only as reserves? Lots to ponder!!

Slight gap in the World Cup schedule to allow everyone to recover, but in the interim the Youth and Junior World starts in Presque Isle on 28 Feb; I understand there might be some video coverage on the IBU site?

From the IBU site: "Viewers from around the world will be able to see some of the upcoming competitions on Biathlonworld TV. The Junior competitions including the sprints on Saturday, pursuits on Sunday, the individuals on Wednesday and the relays on Friday will all be live-streamed, with commentary. Biathlonworld TV will also produce competition highlight videos of these Junior as well as the Youth competitions.

The schedule for this weekend is below, with start times in CET:

Friday 28 February 16:00 Youth Women Sprint
18:30 Youth Men Sprint


Saturday 1 March 16:00 Junior Women Sprint
18:30 Junior Men Sprint


Sunday 2 March 16:00 Youth Women Pursuit
17:00 Junior Women Pursuit
19:30 Youth Men Pursuit
20:30 Junior Men Pursuit
"

Presque Isle: The youth women's sprint is complete - the winner was Lisa Vittozzi (ITA; 0.1) from Anna Weidel (GER; 1.0) with Julia Simon (FRA; 0.1) in bronze. Only one 10/10 that I can see, from Madeleine Grace Phaneuf (USA), in 4th, just over 59 seconds off the winner's time. French got 2 in the top 5, as Estelle Mougel took 5th place. Looks like Weidel was the only German today.

Junior Women's sprint: Seem to have a glitch on my biathlonworld TV - nothing at all on the desktop and only a very short loop on the tablet - very frustrating!! (Not the only one, seems they had technical problems). Junior women's sprint race over, with Evgeniya Pavlova (Rus; 0.0) just pipping Galina Vishnevskaya (Kaz; 0.1) by 0.3 seconds; she lost a lot on the final lap but just managed to hold on. Annika Knoll (Ger; 1.0) in third, 38.7 back. From what I can gather the conditions improved for the later starters, the track got faster and the range a bit easier. I'll try again for the men's juniors later and see if I have more luck!

No luck with the Men's race either, trying to follow on the datacenter tracker (useful information, but of course no video); judging from the comments on the FB page and the IBU site I'm not alone!! I do appreciate the IBU trying to stream this, but it is very frustrating not to be able to see the races. Looks like a good day for the Russians with Alexander Povarnitsyn (0.1) taking the win 13.4 seconds clear of Tore Leren (Nor), who shot clean! Latypov (Rus; 1.1) still managed third despite his 2 penalties, and the Russians also took 5th (Eliseev; 2.1) and 8th (Alekhin; 1.1). Best of the French was Fabian Claude in 4th (0.1) and best German was Matthias Dorfer (0.1) in 6th, just beating his countryman Nawrath (0.1), although he was almost 20 seconds slower than Latypov despite 1 fewer penalty. I would have liked to see this!!

Presque Isle 2: Missed the women's youth pursuit, which was won by Vittozzi (0.2.2.3) from Anna Weidel (1.1.3.1) with Estelle Mougel (1.1.0.1) in bronze. For the Junior women's pursuit the video stream worked really well - not sure about some of the commentary though - I could read those numbers on the little picture (rest of the screen covered by datacenter stuff - I discovered some even better displays than the one I usually use - that really is some facility!), which the commentators apparently couldn't (eg getting Beaudry and Ransom mixed up at the finish)! Anyway, a masterclass from Galina Vishnevskaya (Kaz; 0.1.0.1) who won nearly a minute ahead of Germany's Luise Kummer (0.0.0.0); good battle for bronze between two Canadians with Sarah Beaudry (who started 29th, 2:37 behind Pavlova - 0.1.0.0) just beating Julia Ransom (0.0.2.0). Germans also took 6 & 7 (Heinrich & Knoll) with the Sprint winner, Pavlova in 8th (3.0.3.1). Looks like Kummer was the only 20/20 today.  

Well, there's a thing - Ole Einar Bjørndalen has apparently decided that this will not be his last season after all, and that he now aims to continue until the Worlds in 2016! I do hope that's wise - one of the true greats of the sport, but I'd hate to see his performances slowly fade away. Anyway, you can read more on his FB page: OEB Facebook
Hint - I laboriously translated his comments from German, only to scroll down a little and find he's already posted it in English!!  

Presque Isle: Women's Junior Individual. For some odd reason I could get a (sometimes rather pixellated) picture on the tablet, but nothing at all on the desktop? Once again Luise Kummer (Ger) was the only one to shoot a perfect 20/20, which this time got her a gold medal - I thought that Deigentesch (Ger) and Hoffmann (Aut) might have also gone clear but both of them missed 2 targets in the final standing shoot, ending up 15th and 10th respectively. Lisa Theresa Hauser (Aut; 0.1.0.0) was second with Uliana Kaisheva the best of the Russians in 3rd; Slivko (Rus) 4th and Chevalier (Fra) 5th. Odd commentary again; for example as Sarah Beaudry (Can) left S4 about 3:09 off Kummer's time, the commentators were wittering about how she might yet get bronze; at that stage held by Kaisheva who left S4 only 1:07 behind - how fast did they expect poor Beaudry to ski on the last lap?? In the end she was 6th, again just ahead of Julia Ransom (Can), who had one miss less. Four Germans in the top 20 (1, 12, 15, 17); 4 Austrians (2, 9, 10, 11); and 3 Russians (3, 4, 19)

Back to the World Cup, this session (the Sprints) from Pokljuka: Out for the men's race, but it sounded like a real thriller so I'm hoping to catch a repeat later. Women's race was also a bit wind affected although apparently not as badly as the earlier race; Andrea Henkel was probably the unluckiest catching a minor gale on her standing shoot and ending up 25th. Great performance from Katharina Innerhofer (0.0) to take the win for Austria, and a really amazing late charge by Daria Virolaynen (Rus; 0.0) - maybe the tracks were cooling a little but to do that from start number 86 seemed a real achievement? There was a podium for Belarus, but it was Nadezhda Skardino (0.0) who took it, pushing Kaisa Mäkäräinen (0.2) down into 4th. I think Dorothea Wierer (Ita; 0.1) was the fastest on the range and ended up 5th ahead of Tora Berger (1.1), who wasn't in the top 3 fastest skiers today today! I though Dahlmeier (0.2) did well to get top German but only in 22nd place - she was just ahead of Zina Kocher (Can; 2.2) which prompted me to check Kocher's ski time - 3rd fastest today; best was Darya Domracheva but 5 misses (1.4) ruined her day despite such speed; Kaisa was 2nd fastest. Belarus got 2 in the top 10 after Kalinchik came in 8th, and the Finns also managed 2 in the top 10. Sorry for Preuss who had a reasonable run until shoot 2 when she missed all 5; maybe she needs a break?

Not sure what Susan Dunklee's problem was at shoot 2 - we were on a commercial break so no video but apparently she was in a competitive position until she had problems with her sight and the US team didn't respond, so she continued with the same rifle and missed 4 targets? Not sure it was a fall - seemed to be a rear sight problem, but I'd love to be a fly on the wall at the race washup!

Caught the highlights of the men's race - very close with the top 4 separated by less than 3 seconds. In the end Björn Ferry (0.1) won just ahead of Anton Shipulin (0.0) with Arnd Peiffer (0.1) apparently over his illness in third - nice to see him back on form! Dmitriy Malyshko was just out of it in 4th, with OEB the best of the Norwegians in 6th, just ahead of Martin Fourcade, the fastest on the tracks but who missed 2 targets and was arguably particularly unlucky with the wind. Luckily for Martin his closest challenger in the overall points is Svendsen, who had a bad day on the range (1.2) and ended up 33rd!

Presque Isle update: Nothing from Pokljuka today, so I was following the Junior Women's relay. Good first leg from Knoll (Ger; 1 spare) although she was overtaken just before the first exchange by Varcin (Fra) with Norway third. Good tussle on leg 2 between Germany and France until Braisaz (Fra) had a bad day at the range and ended up doing a couple penalty loops, letting Slivko (Rus) and Ransom (Can) into places 2/3, behind Germany - at the second exchange it was Germany from Canada and Russia - on to the final leg (teams of three only here) with Kummer (Ger) almost 10 seconds clear. She shot clear at S5, opening out to 40 seconds on Russia and Austria who both needed spares; Norway on the penalty loop here. On the next lap Hauser (Aut) passed the Russian as they headed for the final shoot, and also managed to pull back some 7 seconds on Kummer. Sadly for the rest of the field, Luise Kummer's shooting remained faultless at S6 and she left the range 48.3 ahead of Kaisheva (Rus) with Hauser about 3.5 seconds further back - looking like a good battle for silver and bronze. Thought France were making up ground but another 2 penalty laps ruined any chance of that! At the final split Hauser had closed a little on Kaisheva, but the Russian had obviously got something more left in the tank - Germany take gold, Russia silver and Austria bronze. Some more good news for the Germans here, which might be welcome given the bad season their WC women are having! Norway got 4th, motoring past Kazakhstan on the final lap, with France 6th. A day to forget for the Finns who had 6 penalty loops.

Pokljuka Pursuit races: Missed almost all of the men's race, where Anton Shipulin (1.0.0.0) seems to have dominated, winning from Bjørn Ferry (1.1.0.0) with Bjørndalen (yes, him again; 0.1.0.1) in third. I rather thought that in this format he might have lost out to Malyshko (about 4 seconds back as they left the range) on the final lap, but not a bit of it!! Big winners included Fak (15 to 6), Simon Eder (20-8) and Svendsen (33-19), although Martin Fourcade's 7th place means he opens out from Svendsen in the overall. Not too good for the Germans with Arnd Peiffer going from 3 to 20, so perhaps he isn't well yet?
Women's race was good - quite a few misses and penalty loops but a brilliant win (her first this year) for Kaisa Mäkäräinen (0.0.1.1) who managed to keep her shooting under control. Tora Berger (1.0.1.0) managed to close to 14 seconds or so after the final shoot, but then the gap opened out again on the final lap leaving Berger with second place. Dorothea Wierer (1.0.2.0) got a very well deserved third place, holding off the amazing charge of Darya Domracheva (1.0.1.1) who went from 28th at the start to 4th! Another good climb up the ranking saw Andrea Henkel (0.0.0.1) go from 25 to 6, while Skardino went the other way from 3 to 23 after 6 penalties. So, a little good news for the Germans, (although not up to the standard of the Juniors at Presque Isle, who took both relay golds), but the acrimonious discussion about team selection etc continues in Germany with Kathrin Lang and Nadine Horchler particularly scathing!

Meanwhile the women's overall points situation is interesting - Berger 553; Kaisa 547; Dasha 511.

Pokljuka - Mass Starts: Men's race under way, and lots of clean shooting at the first prone, although OEB missed two, and Lukas Hofer all five! No Shipulin (sore throat) or Tarjei Bö today, although his younger brother is going well at present. Martin Fourcade and Emil Hegle Svendsen both well up and no real gap between them, both clear at S2; in fact all the top 11 go out still clear, with 6 seconds separating first from 11th! Still very close as they come in to the first standing shoot; now the "clear so far" group is down to 6, with OEB back up to 7th! Good to see Tim Burke up in the lead group; Bailey was going well but 3 misses at S3 have dropped him back. On to the crucial S4; Fourcade clear, so is Ferry, and also Ustyugov; Burke and Svendsen miss one, as does Böhm; OEB drops another 2. Now it's a ski race, Björn Ferry is obviously on form here, but Fourcade is on his heels and Ustyugov is very close too, but he's dropping back a little as they go to the next split. This is going to be an exciting finish - looks like Ferry is going to ski away; he has!! So Björn Ferry wins, with Martin Fourcade second, Ustyugov third ahead of Svendsen, and JoBö 5th despite 2 misses. Best German was Böhm in 8th. Top 3 all shot a perfect 20/20; some discussion about whether Martin's skis were as good as Ferry's?

Now for the women's race, and of course their overall points situation is a lot tighter than it is for the men. Dasha away quite fast, but the top 10 are very close at the first split and it's early days. At S1 both Dasha and Kaisa are clear, amongst others, but Berger has 2 misses - shades of OEB. There are 12 clear at this stage  with Kuzmina leading the pack. On lap 2 Dasha has retaken the lead with Kaisa just behind by the second split of the lap, at the moment Berger seems to be losing time on the leaders. Wind up a bit at S2, and Kuzmina and Zaitseva clear; Kaisa and Dasha miss 1 each, as does Berger - I can only see three 10/10 scores now.  The tree branches are moving around a bit more, and I understand that the wind tends to get up at this time of day; let's see how that affects S3; Dasha clear but the two leaders, Zaitseva and Kuzmina miss 1, and although the graphic says otherwise Kaisa also misses once. Very unlucky for Wierer who has a rifle snag, causing a long delay - real shame as she's been going well. At S4 Dasha misses her final shot, that will allow Zaitseva to close a little as she clears but Kuzmina misses 2. Kaisa goes clear too, Berger misses 1 more - she really needs to maximise her points today so I reckon she'll steam round this final lap, but her shooting isn't helping her cause. Now, can Kaisa catch Olga for silver? Commentators looking for Kuzmina; they seem to have overlooked her penalties! Final split, Dasha is still 27.9 seconds clear, with Kaisa flying round and now well ahead of Zaitseva. That seemed to give Kaisa the lead in the overall, but Berger is hauling herself up the rankings, ending in 8th which will leave her 14 points behind Kaisa, with Dasha also closing - roll on Kontiolahti! So, today a win for Domracheva, second place to Kaisa M, third to Zaitseva. Kuzmina took 4th, with Eckhoff having another good day in 5th. Henkel best German in 12th, with 3 penalties.

Points: Kaisa 601; Berger 587; Dasha 571!

Kontiolahti Sprints: I know it's not over yet but what a race by Arnd Pieffer in the men's 10Km, which sadly wasn't shown live on Eurosport at all. - he was the only one in the top 10 with one penalty (rest all clear) and despite that Martin Fourcade only beat him by 0.1 of a second with a perfect 10/10; thought the Frenchman looked very slow at S1 and really tired at the finish, but OEB and Svendsen were also slower.  Good run from Doll and Schempp and great stuff from JoTBö!

Well, now it is over. Looking at the timings Fourcade was slower on the tracks than Pieffer (today's fastest) and lost huge amounts of time (relatively speaking) on the range (only 60th in the range times).  So good win for Bö the younger, Martin Fourcade just in second from Arnd Pieffer - Arnd should be very happy with that! Malyshko in 4th just ahead of OEB, with Moravec 6th. Svendsen 8th just ahead of Doll and Schempp, so 3 Germans in the top 10. Close race!

On to the women's race and again Eurosport are not live and this time missing at least the first 15 minutes; back to IBU feed and data centre. Nice to see Soukalova back, although she has just missed her final shot at S1! Sadly Tora Berger (have I mentioned I'm not a fan) has cleared here. Judging from the noise levels, both now and during the men's race, there is a lot of Russian support and Vilukhina and Zaitseva are clearly popular! Kaisa is clear at S1, but Dasha has missed 2 - gloom. Looks a very strange exit from the range, almost as though you are going on a penalty loop with that corner there. Coverage is a bit patchy, with the short lap, so I missed Berger at S2 where she dropped one shot, while Soukalova was clear; Vilukhina is 10/10 though. There seem to be all sorts of problems with the IBU feed, not showing the target graphic or updating the misses which is making it hard to follow - I think Kaisa has missed one (seems that is correct) at S2 but Zaitseva is clear and leading at this stage after S2. Well, that's one Finn ahead of Berger at the finish, but it's Laukkanen; meanwhile on her final lap Kaisa is really flying, and so is Zaitseva! Kaisa takes the provisional lead (0.1) from Olga Zaitseva (0.0) and Mari Laukkanen (0.0) - Dasha has missed 2 more at her standing shoot which I think will almost certainly ruin any faint chance in the overall standings. Eurosport eventually condescended to join the event some 15 minutes after it started; which is barely 5 minutes before the early starters finished, in an event where we expected the early bib numbers to be the main contenders in the rather soft conditions! I think that's pretty much it, although a few placings might alter down the results sheet - Kaisa Mäkäräinen wins - fastest on the course today, some 34 seconds faster than Berger on the tracks. Olga Zaitseva takes second place with Mari Laukkanen third. Berger in fourth, probably glad that the pursuit is based on the next sprint, not this one! Soukalova (1.0) was 7th with Franzi Hildebrand (0.1) best of the Germans in 8th. Good run from Fialkova (0.0; bib number 82) in 10th. Bit disappointing for the rest of the Germans - Andrea Henkel (1.1) in 30th, beaten by Susan Dunklee who had 2 more penalties, Nadine Horchler (1.1) in 43rd and Vanessa Hinz in 60th - still, good experience for the younger team members.

The second Kontiolahti sprints: Temperature down below freezing last night (just) so the tracks should be a little harder today, although possibly softening later, so it may be a little odd that Martin Fourcade has opted to go in the second group rather than the early starters; I'm sure he must have a reason? Different commentary team today. Good start from JoTBö, cleared S1 and skiing fast too, but Schempp has missed two, which is unusual. I hadn't appreciated that this venue is unusual in having the range as the high point so you have an uphill section on the approach. Meanwhile Svendsen has cleared S1, but Shipulin has missed two here; interesting for the points perhaps, especially with Bö on form. Interesting, JoBo has cleared S2 as well - looking good! Gloom - Pieffer has missed 2 at S1, not good for the pursuit. Surprise - OEB has also missed two in the prone, and Svendsen has missed one in the stand. Not that many perfect scores at present, and Martin Fourcade isn't going to join that few as he has missed two in prone! The snow looks awful from what I can see in the range area, soft and deep. Looks like a good run from Lowell Bailey today, as he is clear; Moravec likewise - both are real contenders for the podium today; Bailey has pipped Moravec by 0.3 at the finish, 19.4 behind Bö. Martin Fourcade has been fast on the second lap, and cleans the stand - he leaves the range in 9th, 13 seconds behind Svendsen's time. Loginov has just beaten Bailey's time, which knocks Moravec off the podium. Martin F has closed a little on Svendsen, just about maintaining his position relative to Bö, although he seems to have lost a bit between the final split and the finish - ends just over 40 seconds behind the leader - maybe saving something for the pursuit? Norwegians urging on Birkeland, who could drop Fourcade a place, reducing his points - every little helps?!  Just done it, by 0.6 of a second, taking Martin out of the top 10. Looking at the times after S2 I can't see any surprises looming; an emphatic win from Johannes Bö, 18.5 clear of Aleksandr Loginov who skied a good last lap to close down Lowell Bailey, who just pipped Ondrej Moravec for third. Svendsen 6th from the look of it, and Fourcade 11th. Not a good day for the Germans; no one in the top 20, Schempp and Doll their best but both with 2 penalties, Arnd Pieffer with 3! OEB way down the field with 4 penalties; lot of people must be wishing the pursuit was based on the Thursday sprint!

Women's race: sadly Eurosport aren't covering this live (cycling & snooker), so no commentary, think it's on at 1645 in UK? Looks as though Berger is away relatively late - bib 28. The data centre gremlins are back; the range graphic showed Selina Gasparin missing all 5 when in fact she cleared, same for Tofalvi! At least the actual data seems accurate, at present. Eckhoff seems to be going well at present, but Laukkanen has missed one and so has Kaisa. Dasha has also missed one, but at the moment Susan Dunklee is going nicely. Tiril Eckhoff has missed 2 in the stand, but Berger is clear at S1, as is Olga Zaitseva, and Kaisa is clear in the stand. Not so for Dasha, who has missed 2 here - she seems to have gone off the boil again and surely that will ruin any chance she had of the overall. Andrea Henkel is 10/10 and (gritted teeth) so is Berger. Berger is pretty much neck and neck with Kaisa after S2, who can get the fastest final lap? At the first split Berger has lost almost 6 seconds, ... at the next it is up to +9.1, so Kaisa must have been really motoring as Berger isn't exactly hanging around. At the finish Berger is 6.2 behind Kaisa who had one penalty loop while Berger shot a perfect score, not sure who else might challenge them. Henkel did shoot 10/10 but didn't have the ski speed to get on the podium; same for Vilukhina and Vitkova. Zaitseva might have given Berger more trouble, but she missed one in the stand - there are still some names in the early stages of the course, but I wonder if any can match Mäkäräinen's raw speed today, even with no penalties, especially as she knows this course. Soukalova has gone clear in her prone shoot, but is she fully recovered? She is certainly shooting well, 10/10, and leaves the range after her standing shoot as the fastest at that point! Don't think she is fully fit, as the clock was going the wrong way on that final lap, but losing time to Kaisa and Berger is perhaps an occupational hazard for female biathletes, especially starting late and I think she might keep that third place. So, a second win for Mäkäräined, second for Berger and third for Soukalova. Kuzmina took 4th, with 1 penalty, ahead of Selina Gasparin and Zaitseva. Andrea Henkel was the best German, in 9th but she was the only one in the top 20. Good runs from Wierer and Dunklee to get in the top 10, but Domracheva was over a minute back in 20th. Wierer seems to have been fastest on the range again, with Kaisa the fastest on skis, some 26 seconds faster than Darya in second. Surprisingly Berger was only 7th fastest, if the data is working today!

Kontiolahti Pursuits: The men are away - hard to see anyone catching J T Bø, who effectively has a penalty lap in hand - now watch reality upset my prediction! Young Bø is off like the proverbial, pulling out slightly at each of the first two splits; Martin Fourcade also making up time. Bø clears at S1, as do Nathan Smith, Martin F and Lukas Hofer, among others. Lowell Bailey misses 2 and Svendsen 3!! That climb up to the second split of each lap looks a real nasty! Bø is reading the conditions well at present, adjusting his sights carefully - he shoots very fast and clears at S2; Martin Fourcade is also clear, but Nathan Smith drops 2 - pity. Eder is up into third and Bauer 4th as they leave the range - Bø now has just about 2 penalties in hand! Pieffer and Doll both 10/10, as are Mesotitch and Ferry; and I'm getting really fed up with that Holiday Inn advert. At S3 Bø missed one, but he got out before the wind increased quite significantly - Fourcade misses 2, Peiffer 4 - some athletes really unlucky with conditions there, although Loginov, Bailey and Birkeland all cleared those 5 and have closed back on the chasing group; Ferry is 14/15 and going well  - Bø is miles clear, over a minute ahead. Svendsen is out, not sure what the reason is [maybe just missing 9 of his first 15 and deciding to call it a day?] - saving energy for Oslo? Just as I was trying to remember how to spell "procession", Bø misses 4 in his final shoot, Fourcade misses just 1, Ferry 2. Coming out of the range, after all the loops, it's Bø 16.2 seconds ahead of Fourcade with Ferry 3rd. Simon Schempp is 5th (1.1.0.0), so he's done well; Pieffer and Doll were both really unlucky with the wind at S3; both cleared the rest but that one windy episode has ruined their chances, although Doll is really pulling back some places. And, Eurosport, it's Klemen Bauer (Slovenia), not Lukas (isn't he an Italian cross country skier?). Johannes Bø (0.0.1.4) has made it 3 wins in a row, which I think gets him up into second place overall, displacing Svendsen and OEB. Martin Fourcade (0.0.2.1) takes second, sealing the overall win, and Bjørn Ferry (0.0.1.2) continues his run of form in third. Birkeland got 4th (from a start in 10th place) with Klemen Bauer 5th. Rastorgujevs must be the greatest climber today, surely, going from 41st to 6th - fantastic effort; Doll went from 22 to 7, Schempp 21 to 9 and Sumann 45 to 11. Big losers, in a rather flukey day, included Loginov who went from 2 to 24 after 6 misses, 3 in his final shoot.

Women's Pursuit: Now, what will the wind do here? No one can deny that Berger goes quickly, but that's a very ugly style! Gusts arrive in the range just as the leaders come in for S1; Kaisa gets away with one miss, as does Soukalova, but Berger has 3; lots of 3s here and Zaitseva has missed 4 - she's not the only one either - bit of a lottery! Out in order KM, GS and Andrea Henkel; Domracheva is clear and up to 5th!! At S2 Kaisa is clear, so is Dasha but Soukalova has missed 4 - pity, hoped she was back on form - Henkel also missing, but Berger is clear this time. Just as for the men, the wind seems to have picked up at S3 - Kaisa drops one; Dasha clear - Gregorin is into third with Zaitseva coming back (last 2 shoots clear) and Berger has missed 1 as well - all a bit closer at the top. On to the crucial S4; Kaisa is clear, Dasha drops just 1, so does the resurgent Olga Zaitseva - Berger drops 2 more as the wind once more intervenes. On to the finish - Kaisa Mäkäräinen (1.0.1.0) takes the triple, like Bø but with less drama! Dasha is second (0.0.0.1) and Zaitseva has overcome a disastrous first shoot (4.0.0.1) to get the final podium place. Teja Gregorin (1.0.0.2) was 4th, and despite 6 penalties Tora Berger (3.0.1.2) is 5th. Quite a good run from Dunklee (2.2.1.2) to get 7th despite those penalties! Another bad day for the German women, with no one in the top 20 - best was Hinz in 24th; Henkel was one of the day's losers dropping from 9 to 34 after 8 penalties. Winners must include Dasha (20 to 2), Gregorin (14-4) and Chevalier (30-8). The overall points picture is swinging in Kaisa's favour but there are the 2 races to discard (and that can be complicated to work out), and the final races are on Berger's home ground