Biathlon 2015/16

Almost time too for the new biathlon season (end of Nov in Östersund for the first world Cup, IBU cup starts a bit earlier). Some bad news though - apparently Darya Domracheva has been diagnosed with mononucleosis (the same bug that slowed down Martin Fourcade's start to last season); sadly I understand that in Dasha's case it is so bad that she has been advised not to compete at all in 2015/16. I had hoped there might have been a mistake in the report, but it's also on the IBU website (here)

Östersund; Single Mixed Relay: This is the rather odd one – one man, one woman in each team and really designed for city tracks as far as I can make out. The “proper” mixed relay is later today and live on Eurosport, followed by a re-run of this race it seems (so don’t read this if you want to watch without knowing what happens). Trying to follow using the IBU video (no commentary) and the data center (sic); early leaders are France (Marie Dorin-Habert) and Germany (Hammerschmidt) – out of the range first time France, Ukraine (Dzhyma), Austria (Zdouc) and Germany. Into the range for the women to shoot a second time; MDH has missed two, so has Hammerschmidt, oops now its 3 – out Norway (10/10), Ukraine (1 miss), France (2), Japan (0) & Germany (3) and heading for the first exchange. Men are now at the prone – Birkeland for Norway ahead of Simon Fourcade (Martin trying cross country this weekend); out in order Norway, France, Ukraine (Semenov), then Germany (Böhm), Finland and Japan. Leading two are well clear at present; first standing shoot for the men coming up – Birkeland again leads from Simon F; one spare for Birkeland and he leaves the range about 19 seconds ahead of Fourcade (should he have done a loop, or did he do one with spares remaining?) with Böhm up to third and another 10 seconds back. Women take over again; MDH has made up time on Nicolaisen, both need a spare but France lead away (just) with the clean shooting Hammerschmidt in third. For some reason MDH has dropped down the shooting 5 results, but the video has her opening out a good lead as they head in for their second standing shoot – it’s starting to snow! MDH goes clear; Norway and Germany on the penalty loop – looks like some snag with Marie D-H’s time – the data center has Ukraine in the lead from Norway, Canada, Sweden & Germany; wonder if she shot the wrong targets or something (Fourcade missing a loop?)? Whatever, the video shows Simon F first away from shoot 7, but his time shows about 4 minutes penalty?? The “official” standings are Canada leading from Norway and Germany; Ukraine also seem to have picked up a penalty? At shoot 8 Simon F is away but not in contention; Birkeland out shoots Nathan Smith (Can) – out Birkeland, Böhm, Smith – think Norway have this but it’s going to be a battle for the next 2 podium places; Birkeland does take it with Nathan Smith out-sprinting Daniel Böhm; so Norway, Canada (well done them), Germany, then Sweden, Russia and Finland. Ah, it seems that Simon Fourcade got a 4 minute penalty for “not completing his shooting properly” – very careless as the French were otherwise rather impressive! Anyway – on to the proper events!

Östersund; Mixed Team Relay:  So, the IBU comment on the Fourcade issue – “However, due to a penalty on Fourcade who failed to use all of his spare rounds and not doing a penalty loop, four minutes penalty was added to their time, pushing them back to the end of the field”.

Now on to the more usual event – 2 x 6 Km (women) and 2 x 7.5 Km (men); four athletes per team. Sadly Eurovision are showing tennis instead of live biathlon! It’s not as though it isn’t on other platforms, together with snooker which is clogging up the other Eurosport channel!! On leg 1 a female Birkeland (was Horn) leads off for Norway (that would be an interesting double!), Anais Bescond (AB) for France, Vítková (VV) for the Czechs, Pidhrushna for Ukraine and Franziska Hildebrand for Germany. Race is on – Vítková away fast from Bescond and Dunklee (USA); at the second split it’s still VV from AB with Hildebrand up to third; in for the first shoot – great work from Bescond, Høgberg (Swe) and Podchufarova (Rus) who lead out in that order; Franzi H needed 1 spare and is 7th. At the 3.7 Km split Franzi is up to 3rd – now for the standing shoot. Høgberg goes clear and leads out of the range ahead of Franzi H, Podchufarova, Skardino (Blr) and Bescond. At 5.7 Km AB has taken the lead from Franzi H and Podchufarova, but it’s close and the leading 7 are only separated by 8 seconds. At the exchange it’s a little different – away in order France (Braisaz), Norway (Eckhoff!), Germany (Hinz), Belarus, Russia and Sweden but still close – Soukalová (Cze) is 7th but only 7 seconds back. On to shoot 3, Tiril first to settle – but she needs spares and it’s Gabi S who leads away from Eckhoff (+9 seconds) Kryuko (Blr; +21) and Hinz (+22.1). Going to be a good scrap between Gabi and Tiril – let’s see what happens at S4; lots of spares but Gabi is out first, then Tiril (+5.6) and Vanessa H (+18.3) – bit of a gap to Sweden, Belarus and Ukraine. Tiril is closing Gabi down at the next split time – at 5.7 Km Tiril leads but only by a second; Vanessa H is losing a little but still has a good gap to Abramova (Ukr) who has moved up to 4th. At the exchange Norway (J T Bø) lead out from the Czech Republic (Slesingr) and Germany (Doll), then Ukraine, Belarus and Sweden. Quite a few penalty loops so far too – including 2 for Russia and Switzerland, 3 for Italy! JoBø is good in S5 and leads out; Slesingr needing a spare as does Doll – they are out, respectively, +13.2 and +33.2 behind the Norwegian. There is then quite a sizeable gap to Sweden, Belarus and Ukraine with France also close to that group. Gaps much the same as they come in for S6: JoBø has 2 targets still standing, but gets them with spares; Doll cleans and is up to 2nd (+14.3), but with Slesingr hard on his heels (+19.8). Femling (Swe) holds on to 4th and has now opened up a bit of a gap. At 7.2 Km Doll seems to be holding Bø and has pulled out a little on Slesingr – final exchange and it’s Norway (T Bø) from Germany (Schempp) and the Czechs (Moravec); Tarjei seems to be pulling away a little as they come in for the last prone shoot – older Bø clears the lot! So does Simon Schempp but the gap is 29.3 and Moravec needs a spare so he’s over a minute behind Bø. Beatrix is up to 4th as Lindstrøm (Swe) needs 2 spares. Bø holding Schempp and pulling a little more out of Moravec as they come in for the last shoot – Bø clears the lot again – very impressive and I think that seals another Norwegian victory. Schempp needed 2 spares, but so did Moravec so the podium looks pretty settled? Lindstrøm shoots clean but Beatrix is very close behind. At the finish Tarjei has time for a quick pose; Norway win the second relay of the day (well done Birkelands), Germany 2nd and the Czech Republic third. Quite a tussle for 4th with Beatrix just taking it for France from Sweden.

Men’s 20 Km Individual: Looks like 106 starters today; snowing quite steadily at the start! Looking at the IBU data it looks as though Benedikt Doll (Ger) has vanished from the second split times, but he’s on the range! Semenov (Ukr) looking good at S1, but the strong winds are causing trouble – Fak has missed 3 here – no penalty loops in this event so that’s 3 minutes added to his time already! Nordgren (USA) seems to have missed all 5. Ah, Doll is back on the list but Semenov is the only one clear here at present. Shipulin (Rus) looking fast early on, but Svendsen (Nor) is even faster. Garanichev (Rus) and L’Abee-Lund (Nor) are also clear at S1. Shipulin has missed one at S1, but Svendsen – or EHS to save typing! – is clear, as is Serhiy Semenov at S2; 10 out of 10! At present Simon Eder is fastest at S1; only 8 of 28 have cleared all 5 – Simon Schempp (Ger) joins them and now he’s fastest at S1.  JoBø is at S1 – he has a shocking pink rifle this year and apparently says that if he wins he’ll dye his hair the same colour – he clears all 5 at S1 as does Tarjei a couple minutes later and T Bø is faster than Schempp; EHS is clear at S2 and notably faster than Semenov. – they are the only 2 with a perfect score of the 24 who have completed that shoot. Pity – Semenov has missed 2 on his third shoot; Lowell Bailey (USA) has joined the 10/10 set and so has Schempp, who is marginally up on Svendsen’s time! Poor Nordgren has finished S3 – so far he has missed 12 (5, 2, 5); JoBø has missed 2 at S2; Tarjei misses 1 but still in touch. L’Abee-Lund now fastest at S3 (0,1,0) but no one has 15/15 yet. Wind is up again as EHS tries S3 – he misses 2;  Eder with 0,1,0 is now fastest here – meanwhile Martin F has missed one in his first prone. Lowell Bailey has now cleared 15 out of 15, but is only 6.2 faster than Eder with his one miss; Schempp drops one here, but he’s 10.5 faster than Bailey! JoBø has cleared S3 (0,2,0) but Tarjei has dropped 2 (0,1,2); Volkov looking useful at S2 where he is also clear. Landertinger (Aut) has cleared 15/15 and is now the leader after S3; Bjørndalen (Nor, now OEB) is clear at S1 and EHS clears his final 5. Martin F has missed 1 in his first standing shoot too. No one has cleared 20/20 so far – Fillon-Maillet (Fra, 1,0,1,0 – now QF-M)) was best after S4 until Schempp managed to clear his final 5 – his 0,0,1,0 is the best so far and his ski time is good too; Lowell Bailey has dropped 2 here – pity! Landertinger seems to have speeded up a little – taking a few seconds out of Schempp’s time as he heads for S4; back at S3 Volkov has cleared 15 and leads – Landertinger misses 2 in his final shoot, but OEB is 10/10 and faster than EHS and Volkov at S2. Martin F is clear at S3, and skiing fast too – all still quite open. At the finish Simon Schempp holds the current lead with EHS and QF-M tied in 2nd. Surely Erik Lesser hasn’t been the same since he shaved off his moustache – 1,1,0,2 today and Arnd Peiffer doesn’t seem to be at his best either 1,1,1,1. Now, this is interesting – Volkov is 20/20 and 17 seconds faster than Schempp; meanwhile OEB is 15/15 and leading after S3 – quite significantly faster than Volkov and Landertinger; Martin F has missed 3 in his final shoot – I wonder if his brother will beat him? Looks like it. Now – OEB is 20/20 despite the wind; 36 seconds up on Schempp’s time as he leaves the range; commentators go into overdrive! Gap down to 28.8 at 18.8 Km – what’s he on? Ole Einar Bjørndalen wins the event by 27.1 – surely no one can match that today? Looks like Simon Schempp 2nd and Alexey Volkov 3rd with Svendsen and QF-M tied in 4th. Looking at the isolated ski time (without penalties) Martin Fourcade was fastest, almost 50 seconds up on Doll with Schempp 3rd. That’s it – OEB from Schempp and Volkov; not what the bookies expected!? Simon F did beat Martin!

Women’s 15 Km Individual: Oh dear, commentators still wittering about OEB (and it goes on through the race; I think they spent more time on him than any of the women!). OK – good spread of names in the various start groups for this race; for example Gabi Soukalová (Cze) at 5, Miri Gössner (Ger) goes at 19, Marie Dorin-Habert (Fra) 21, Kaisa Mäkäräinen (Fin) at 29, Dorothea Wierer (Ita) at 46 and Synnøve Solemdal(Nor) at 67. Hard to call – Gabi seems to be on form, but so is Marie D-H? No Dasha as she is ill and out all season, no Laura Dahlmeier – hopefully a shorter illness! Few name changes –  including Palka now Guzik, Horn now Birkeland and the IBU have converted Yuliia Dzhima’s name from Cyrillic script to that new version? At the first two split times Gabi is looking as though she’s going well at this early stage. With less wind, the shooting looks a bit better today; Gabi is clear at S1, as is Krystyna Guzik (Pol) – they are the fastest 2 so far. Fanny Birkeland (Nor) changes her sights as she settles – worked well as she is also clear and only marginally slower than Gabi. Meanwhile Vítková (Cze) is flying at split 1; by split 2 Miri G is faster and Marie D-H is faster still! Franzi Hildebrand (Ger) also clear at S1 but 20 seconds back on Gabi’s time; Miri has missed 1 at S1 – this “1 minute per miss” is cruel! Marie D-H though is clear and faster than Gabi who is at S2 – bit windier now but she’s clear; more errors creeping in with others though, but Fanny Birkeland is also clear and fast! Back at the early timing points Kaisa M has now gone fastest! At S1 Kaisa is clear; sadly at S2 Susan Dunklee (USA) has missed 3 more to add to her 1 at S1 – there goes my possible side bet. Franzi H clear at S2 but still slower than Fanny B and Gabi – Miri misses 1 at S2 but still in touch; Marie D-H has missed 2.  Gabi is at S3 – 15/15!  Anais Bescond (Fra) clear at S2; Birkeland has lost a pole as she comes in for her third shoot – first one missed, rest OK. Kaisa misses 3 at S2 as the wind continues to vary; Wierer clear at S1. Franzi H now 15/15 – Vanessa Hinz (Ger) has missed 1 in her first standing shoot; this means that after S3 Gabi leads Franzi H with Gerekova (Svk) third – all shooting clear. Aha – Miri G is clear at S3, great effort. Tiril Eckhoff (Nor) clear at S1, so is Braisaz (Fra); Gabi has missed her very last target, but Fanny B has missed 2 more here and Franzi H is also unlucky with the wind – 2 misses; Dorothea Wierer is 10/10, so is Skardino (Blr) but she’s slightly off the pace – Marie D-H clear at S4 and faster than Gabi even with an extra penalty. Rats – Miri has missed 3 in her last shoot and Anais B has missed 2. Looking at S4 so far, Marie D-H (0,2,0,0) is 14.5 faster than Gabi (0,0,0,1); Veronika Vítková (1,0,1,0) third – by the next split Marie D-H has taken another 15 seconds off Soukalová – at the finish she’s 94 seconds faster over the snow than Gabi. Now – Dorothea Wierer has cleared S4 – only the second person to get 20/20 (Dubarezeva, Blr being the other) and she’s 46 seconds up on M D-H. Nice run from Lisa Hauser (Aut) with 19/20 and presently 4th. Tiril has missed 1 on each standing shoot; Skardino joins the 20/20 group; meanwhile Dot W is losing time against Marie D-H at the split times but she still has 17 seconds in hand with 700 metres to go. Great effort – she holds on to win by 14.1 seconds; Dorothea Wierer (0,0,0,0,) gets her first senior World Cup win, from Marie Dorin-Habert (0,2,0,0) with Tiril Eckhoff (0,1,0,1) nicking provisional third from Gabi Soukalová (0,0,0,1) despite having 1 extra penalty. Meanwhile though Olena Pidhrushna (Ukr) has shot 20/20 as well; she’s gaining time on her last lap against Dot W too; not as much as Tiril did but it’s enough to get her on the podium ahead of the Norwegian, who goes 4th - then Soukalová, Skardino, Vítková, Hauser, Bescond, and Hildebrand making up the top 10. Rosanna Crawford (Can) was 13th; Franzi Hildebrand was best German in 10th from Franzi Preuß (19) with Miri third in 33rd position. Looking at raw ski speed, without penalties, Marie D-H was fastest ahead of Kaisa M, Tiril Eckhoff and Miri Gössner; Wierer fastest on the range from Hauser and Zdouc (both Aut).

Men’s 10 Km Sprint: Some of the favourites opting for an early start today – JoBø goes first with Martin Fourcade 6, Svendsen 14, Tarjei Bø 20 – Simon Schempp a little later at 31, OEB at 40. Eurosport having trouble scheduling again as they are staying with the Skiathlon; little pointless as with Sundby nearly a minute ahead with only 6 Km to go, the result is hardly going to be a surprise (ended with 7 Norwegians in the top 8!)! Hopefully we won’t miss too much of the biathlon – good start by Martin F; at the 2.9 Km split he was over 12 seconds up on Rastorgujevs (Lat) with JoBø third at that point; both Martin and JoBø missed 1 at S1, but poor Andi Birnbacher (Ger) missed 3 – only Grossegger (Aut) clear at present. Great start by EHS who is clear at S1 and so fastest there at this stage – lucky with one of the targets though! Quite windy and Johannes misses his 10th despite steady shooting; his brother has also missed 1 at S1; Martin F misses 1 at S2 and Grossegger has dropped 2 there. Amazing that Martin has 2 misses and is 50 seconds up on JoBø after S2 with the same number of penalties; very few clear scores at S1; Rastorgujevs has missed all 5 at S2. EHS misses 1 at S2, holds for ages as gusts go through the range, but misses another – very testing conditions; Tarjei has missed 4 here. So, as it stands, Martin F leads after S2 from Johannes B, Svendsen and Grossegger. OEB has missed 1 at S1; Simon Schempp has missed 4! I can only see 4 people clear after S1 – Benedikt Doll (Ger) joins them and so does Garanichev (Rus). Pidruchnyi (Ukr) was clear at S1, but drops 2 at S2 – still puts him up with Johannes and EHS. OEB in for S2 and he’s got 4 out of 5, shooting much faster than Freddie Lindstrøm who takes his time but misses 3! That puts OEB into 2nd after S2, where no one has yet got all 5; sadly Doll isn’t the first and with 3 misses a promising race has slipped away. Garanichev also very slow at S2 – nearly 2 minutes but at least he only missed 1; might have been better to do a couple loops!? At S1 the list of 5/5 scores now includes Moravec (Cze), Peiffer (Ger) and Hofer (Ita). Meanwhile Fillon Maillet (Fra) has pushed JoBø off the provisional podium and despite his 3 misses Doll is also faster than the Norwegian. At S2 Arnd Peiffer has only missed 1 which seems to be the best shooting score so far today; still slower than Martin F though. He’s losing time against OEB on the final lap too, but he’s held on to go provisionally 2nd – good effort. Lapshin (Rus) very fast shooting at S1; missed 1 but still only 24 seconds back here which is arguably better than waiting for the gusts to ease? Looking at the ski times and shooting results of the later starters the podium looks pretty set – Martin Fourcade (1,1) wins after showing blistering ski speed from Arnd Peiffer (0,1; +51.6) and Ole Einar Bjørndalen (1,1; +55.2). QFM is 4th ahead of Doll and Johannes B. Nice to see 2 Germans in the top 6! Looking at the statistics Martin Fourcade 2nd best for total range time (behind Lapshin) and not surprising that he was fastest on the tracks. That’s quite an advantage for Martin in the pursuit. At last – 10/10 – from Macx Davies (Can) although the commentators seem to have missed it completely; that might just get him into the top 10? Good stuff – he is 10th (just behind Nathan Smith, with his 2 misses!) I had hoped to see Simon Schempp do well today but with 8 misses he’s down in the 70s over 4 minutes back.

Women’s 7.5 Km Sprint: OK – let’s hope the wind has eased off a bit! Early starters include Krystyna Guzik (Pol) at 4, Valj Semerenko (Ukr) at 6, Susan Dunklee (USA) 8, Miri Gössner at 17, Kaisa Mäkäräinen at 20 and Tiril Eckhoff at 23. However – MDH and Bescond in the 90s? Seems the wind has eased, but there’s rain in the snow; if it freezes later that could help the later starters (unless they fall over, like I did!). Why did Bondar do a penalty loop – all targets shown as down but the last one did apparently sound odd. Pity – Innerhofer has missed 3 at S1; Dunklee fast into the range and clear in the prone – 18 seconds up at this stage. At the split before S1 it’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen, from Miri, Tiril and Franzi H. Miri has missed 1 at S1, Franzi H is clear as are Kaisa and Krystyna Gwizdon – after S1 it’s Kaisa, Gwizdon & Dunklee but Susan is at S2 and she’s missed 4! Varcin (Fra) is clear (10/10) so at present she’s fastest after S2; Dorothea Wierer is amazingly fast and accurate on the range at S1 and she gains time on Kaisa, just 0.5 back as she leaves. Miri is at S2; one miss here too (the last) but she’s still in touch. Kaisa misses 2 at S2 but is still faster as Franzi H clears 10 – however Jana Gerekova (Svk) is also 10/10 and clear of Kaisa; Eckhoff clears 5 here to go 9/10 as do Dzhima and Hinz – after S2 we have Gerekova leading from Tiril E, Dzhima, Vanessa Hinz, Wierer (2 misses at S2), Kaisa, Franzi H and Varcin. This is going to be an interesting last lap and we still have MDH to come, while Oberhofer and Preuß are looking good at S1. Currently at the finish it’s Eckhoff from Kaisa, Jana Gerekova, Yuliia Dzhima, Franzi H and Miri (only 4.4 behind Franzi who had no penalties). Now that’s nice to see – Vanessa Hinz into 2nd with 1 miss; meanwhile Federica Sanfilippo (Ita) is 10/10 and faster than Gerekova at S2; Hauser going well too as is Preuß with 1 miss – is the course getting faster? At 6.3 Km Sanfilippo is 29.1 faster than Tiril E – she goes into first place with Preuß slotting into 2nd! If it goes on getting faster MDH is going to be flying (but which teams have sorted out the waxing if things are changing?) Wind might have dropped a bit more; Gabi S is clear at S1 and fastest there until Weronika Nowakowska-Z (Pol; now WNZ) just pips her. Gabi is also clear at S2 and 28.7 up on Sanfilippo; WNZ has missed 2 here. Gabi is fading a little on her last lap but at 7.1 she still has 15.4 in hand. Looking good and she goes into the lead but Marie DH is clear at S1. Good run by Pidhrushna – 1 miss but still into third; interesting that the start numbers of the top 5 are – 69, 37, 70, 40 and 23 (Tiril – the only “early” starter there). Good grief – MDH has missed 2 at S2; on the plus side Clare Egan (USA) is 10/10 and heading for a considerably improved PB. So, an exciting race with the prospect of a great pursuit too – Gabi Soukalová (0,0) wins by 15 seconds from Federica Sanfilippo (0,0) with Olena Pidhrushna (1,0) third. Franzi Preuß (0,1) in 4th ahead of Tiril Eckhoff (1,0) and Marie DH (0,2). Vanessa Hinz was 9th, just ahead of Kaisa Mäkäräinen; Franzi H in 17, Miri in 18.

Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit: Martin F starts with 52 seconds advantage over Arnd Peiffer with OEB 3 seconds behind the German. Hope this is going to be interesting! Good to see the USA getting 3rd in the cross country 4 x 5Km relay behind Norway and Finland, beating Norway II and Sweden! Anyway, back to the biathlon – at the first split Martin F is now 1.00.7 clear, sadly Macx Davis is losing ground! By 2.1 Km the gap is 1.06; good battle between Arnd and OEB. Martin at S1; misses his third (lead down to 42.1) – OEB and Arnd both clear and Bjørndalen leads them out; EHS, Doll and QFM also clear and forming the top 6 – JoBø has missed 3, so have Lindstrøm and Fak and Weger 4! On the next lap Martin F is pulling out again and OEB seems to be pulling away from Arnd Peiffer who is losing ground to Svendsen too. At S2 Fourcade clears all 5; OEB has missed 3 as the wind gets up a little – Doll is clear and into 2nd ahead of QFM (also clear) with Pieffer 4th. EHS missed 2; wonder if the Norwegians missed the change in the wind? On the lap Peiffer is losing time again – I seem to recall he tends to be slower at the start of the season. Beatrix is gaining ground too, up to 9th. Martin F is in for S3 – another 1 miss here, but Doll misses 2, QFM 1 –Arnd is clear and goes back into 2nd, QFM third, EHS up to 4th ahead of Doll and Nathan Smith. So far the leading 15/15 athletes are Garanichev in 7th and Erik Lesser in 13th; Beatrix has missed 2 (?) which has halted his climb up the rankings and OEB has missed another 2. QFM just ahead of Arnd, EHS up to 4th as Martin F (1,0,1,1) cruises round 1 more penalty loop after S4. Arnd clears again (0,1,0,0) and is out 2nd ahead of QFM (0,0,1,1) and Svendsen (0,2,0.1). Garanichev is 20/20 and up to 5th, but Lesser has missed 2. Doll is 6th ahead of Tarjei Bø and Nathan Smith. Last lap is quite relaxed at the front – Martin must have slowed as Arnd is closing in; he should be safe but QFM has EHS and T Bø closing in on him. At the finish Martin F cruises in to win (back in yellow?), Arnd Peiffer gets second, QFM holds on for the final podium only 1.7 ahead of Tarjei who has passed EHS. Benedikt Doll is 6th. Real position changers – Tarjei up from 29 to 4, Malyshko 34 to 7, Garanichev 27 to 8, Simon F 49 to 14 – going the other way JoBø 6 to 16, Macx D 10 to 30, L’Abee-Lund 12 to 47. On the last lap Martin F was only the 58th fastest; overall Tarjei was quickest ahead of his younger brother. Simon Eder best for total range time ahead of OEB and Birkeland.
Now for the women’s 10 Km Pursuit: This should hopefully be a lot closer! Gabi Soukalová starts out with 15 seconds advantage over Federica Sanfilippo with Olena Pidhrushna another 23 seconds back – Preuß, Eckhoff and MDH close behind, in fact the top 10 are only separated by 52 seconds (~ 2 loops) with Kaisa Mäkäräinen 10th! At the first split Sanfilippo, MDH and Kaisa are making up time, Pidhrushna losing places but Gabi has pulled back a little by 1.6 Km; Kaisa up to 5th, Miri Gössner also gaining – into S1; Gabi clear and leads out ahead of Eckhoff, Preuß and Hinz; Sanfilippo misses 1, so do MDH and Kaisa but Miri is clear!! Dorothea Wierer also gaining places, up from 20 to 7 at this point. In for S2, the 2nd prone – Gabi misses 1 which lets Preuß get into 2nd just 4 seconds back, MDH up to 3rd ahead of Wierer, Eckhoff and Miri, who has 10/10 !! Franzi H also 10/10 and up to 7; Hinz has missed 1 as has Vítková. MDH closing fast on the next lap – so much for me thinking she didn’t look too well yesterday! At 5.6 Km MDH is in 2nd and just 0.6 back on Gabi; Franzi Preuß still close but Dot W is really making up ground with 3 more within a couple seconds. Now, standing shoot 1 – S3, wind quite light; Preuß is clear and out in the lead, with Franzi Hildebrand 2nd  both 15/15. MDH misses 1 as do Gabi, Dot W, and Miri who make up the top 6; Tiril has missed 2 more. Olsbu has shot 15/15 too and is up from 26 to 8; at 7.6 Km MDH has pulled back about 13 seconds and is close behind Franzi H – last shoot coming up. In for S4, wind still quite light – Preuß has missed 1, but so has MDH. Out in order Franzi H, Dot W, Gabi, Franzi Preuß, Kaisa and MDH – now it’s a ski race! Miri has reverted to type and missed 3; what a pity but 3 good shoots nevertheless. At 8.8 Km Franzi H is just ahead of Kaisa M with Dot W third – by 9.6 Kaisa is leading, Franzi going with her and Wierer also tucked in. MDH up to 4th ahead of Gabi and Franzi Preuß. This is going to be close – Kaisa (1,0,1,0) takes the win with Wierer (0,0,1,0) just pipping Hildebrand (0,0,0,0,) to make up the podium. MDH was 4th ahead of Gabi and Franzi Preuß. Impressive to see Tiril Eckhoff in 9th despite 5 misses; Miri and Vanessa Hinz in 11 & 12 despite 4 misses each. Gainers include Dot W, 20 to 2; Franzi H 17 to 3; Olsbu 26 to 7; Miri 18 to 11, Braisaz 23 to 13. Main losers Hauser 11 to 29; Dzhima 13 to 28 and of course Sanfilippo from 2 to 44 after missing 8 targets (1,2,3,2). Good race; Kaisa fastest ahead of MDH and Miri; Wierer best on the range.

Hochfilzen – Women’s 7.5 Km Sprint: Tiril Eckhoff will be the first away today, with Dorothea Wierer, Franzi Hildebrand, Kaisa Mäkäräinen, Gabi Soukalová and Miri Gössner among the first 11 away; MDH goes 16. Franzi Preuß goes 48, and Laura Dahlmeier, back from illness, is number 71 – good for getting info, but a slightly odd decision (possibly the German priority system at work, as Laura wasn't racing in Östersund?)? Weather not ideal; a green valley and snow on the tracks has been shipped in, but apparently very cold last night. Men’s race later today might be affected by the tracks cutting up, especially for late starters? I have to say, those tracks don’t look inviting, surrounded by mud and stones. At the 1.6 Km mark Kaisa is flying; Tiril in for S1 – she’s clear but Wierer has missed 1 (bit unusual?); Franzi H is also clear and marginally faster than Eckhoff ; big upset – Kaisa has missed 3! Wind is up a little since zeroing, but Gabi hasn’t changed her sights – good decision as she’s also clear, and out in 3rd. Miri G is in and clear too – out in 4th; good to see her prone shooting better than last year when the aftermath of her accident was still causing problems. Vítková has missed 3 in S1; Tiril has missed 3 in S2 but Marie D-H is clear at S1 and the fastest there so far. Dot W has missed 1 at S2 as well but Franzi H is clear and with 10/10 is currently fastest by a good margin, especially as Gabi has also missed 1; Kaisa adds another 1 miss – Lisa Hauser is also 10/10 and briefly up to 2nd – Miri has missed 1 but is still 2nd at present after S2. Franzi H is going well on her last lap and her chances today are improved as MDH has missed 2 in S2. Yuliia Dzhima (Ukr) is also 10/10 and marginally ahead of Miri, only 3 perfect shooting scores so far. Franzi H is through the finish and into the lead with Miri second ahead of Gabi; Yuliia losing time against Miri on her lap. Karen Oberhofer has joined the 10/10 set and so has Anais Bescond who is faster – good shooting. Franzi Preuß has missed her first – quick adjustment of the sights and clears the rest; Vanessa Hinz clear at S1 - so were Podchufarova and Abramova, but both have misses at S2 (2 & 1 respectively). The standings at present are Franzi H (0,0) from Miri G (0,1 +21), Anais Bescond (0,0 + 23.4), Yuliia D (0,0 + 28.6) and then Gabi and Karen Oberhofer. Meanwhile Vanessa Hinz has missed 1 at S2, and Franzi P is 1,1. Charvatova (Cze) is 1,0 and 4th after S2; Laura Dahlmeier has missed 1 at S1 and I have to go out – rats!! I hoped that, as the race unfolded, Miri might retain at least a top 5 place – delighted to see when I sneaked a look at the results that she has stayed on the podium, taking third – even happier to see that the person who dislodged he was Maren Hammerschmidt (whose pulse was apparently still at 192 when she started her standing shoot); another German! So, Franziska Hildebrand (0,0) wins from Maren Hammerschmidt (0,0 + 15.1) and Miri Gössner (0,1 + 21). Anais Bescond was 4th, ahead of Lucie Charvatova with Laura Dahlmeier 6th – welcome back Laura! Yuliia D in 7th, Gabi was 8th and MDH 10th. Kaisa was fastest round the loops, ahead of MDH and Tiril Eckhoff with Miri 4th fastest.

Men’s 10 Km Sprint: Missed this live and hope to catch up later, but looked an interesting race. Martin Fourcade (who went number 22) missed 1 in his prone shoot, which meant that after S1 he ended up in 29th place [looking at the post race timings]! Best here was Simon Schempp, just ahead of Dominik Landertinger and Erik Lesser, with OEB 4th ahead of Simon Desthieux and Benedikt Doll. Martin F made up some time on the next lap (predictably), but Schempp had shot clear at S2 as well – as the various athletes went through this second shoot Schempp remained fastest from Shipulin, the late starting Tarjei Bø and Martin F who cleared all his standing targets. By the next split Fourcade was up to second, just ahead of T Bø and that’s how the positions remained. Simon Schempp wins (good day for Germany!), just ahead of Martin Fourcade (1,0 +9.9) and Tarjei Bø (0,0 +18.9). The Russians seem to be coming back as Anton Shipulin was 4th, Dmitry Malyshko 5th and Evgeniy Garanichev 6th! Doll was 8th, EHS 10th and OEB 16th. Martin Fourcade was fastest round the course with Simon Schempp 2nd and Shipulin 3rd; Simon Eder and Nathan Smith best on total range time

Women’s 10 Km Pursuit: Now, this should be interesting – four shoots today, quite small advantages; only 0.37 separating the top 10 and if, for example, Marie DH shoots well and the Germans don’t ... ? Weather looks much better than the alpine women are getting in Are! Germans have gone off fast, and Laura Dahlmeier is up to 4th – Kaisa gaining ground too. In for S1 – the 4 Germans are clear and out Franzi H, Maren H, Laura D and Miri – MDH is also clear and 5th, Gabi 6th and also clear. Charvatova has missed 2 and Kaisa 1. All very close at the top; Podchufarova also gaining places. In for the 2nd prone – Miri has missed 1 but the other 3 Germans clear again – out Franzi H, Maren H, Laura D – Gabi clear and up to 4, Podchufarova 5th then Miri and Franzi Preuß – Tiril Eckhoff has gone from 30th up to 9th! MDH missed 2 here, and Wierer 1. Tiril is up to 6th – pushing hard. Now the first standing shoot – Franzi H and Maren have missed 1 each but Laura D is clear, so is Gabi – Miri misses 2; away from the range it’s Laura Dahlmeier from Franzi H with Gabi 3rd. Then Maren Hammerschmidt, Tiril Eckhoff (still 15/15!), Podchufarova, Wierer and Hauser. Laura is pulling away a little on the lap – Gabi up to 2nd and Tiril to 4th; Miri down to 16. Last time on the range – Laura D misses her first but clears the rest; more misses in the chasing pack – out Laura D (0,0,0,1), Maren Hammerschmidt (0,0,1,1), Franzi H (0,0,1,1) but with Gabi (0,0,0,1) right on her heels – Tiril has missed 2 and is 7th – Skardino the only 20/20 in the top 10! On the lap Laura is well clear, but Maren has Gabi closing and Franzi H is still in it! At the finish Laura Dahlmeier takes a well deserved win, Maren H holds on for 2nd with Gabi third (from 8th); Franzi H is 4th ahead of Eckhoff, Dzhima and Podchufarova. Tiril must be the best “gainer” going from 30 to 5; Olga Podchufarova 17 to 17, Elisabeth Högberg up from 59 to 17. Those dropping back – Miri 3 to 15, Anais Bescond 4 to 16, Lucie Charvatova 5 to 22 and poor Karin Oberhofer 9 to 42 with 7 misses! Fastest round the track was Kaisa ahead of Tiril, MDH and Miri.

Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit: No internet connection for my desktop (possibly aerial problems) so I’m “watching” this on the IBU live data feed on my iPad! At shooting 1 Simon Schempp went clear leading out from Martin Fourcade, Anton Shipulin and Tarjei Bø – on the lap Simon seems to be matching Martin – in for the second prone shoot ; Schempp clear but Fourcade has missed 2 (what is it with the French shooting today?) – Shipulin also clear and just leads Schempp out; Landertinger up to 3rd ahead of EHS (both clear) and Tarjei Bø who missed 1 (as did Malyshko and Garanichev). The 2 leaders are very close on the lap, with a 30 second gap or so to the chasing pack which includes a charging Martin F; Svendsen has passed Landertinger. Standing shoot time and Schempp has missed 1 – he still leads out; Martin F clear and up to 2nd, just ahead of Tarjei Bø and Anton Shipulin who missed 2 here; OEB has overtaken EHS and Andi Birnbacher is 15/15 and up to 9th from 21! At 8.7 Km Schempp just leads Fourcade and T Bø; Shipulin about 10 seconds back, then another 20 seconds or so to Simon Eder and the rest of the pack; Martin F is just ahead at the next split – in for the crucial final shoot. Martin F is clear, seems Schempp is too and they come out Martin F, Simon Schempp, Anton Shipulin – Tarjei misses 1 more and is 4th ahead of Landertinger, OEB, Quentin F-M (up from 19th) and Svendsen; Andi B 20/20 but still 9th – can he get EHS who has done 2 loops extra? Fourcade seems to have lit the afterburners; he is pulling away from Schempp who has also opened out a little on Shipulin – good scrap between OEB, EHS, QFM and Andi B! Martin Fourcade (0,2,0,0) wins despite his 2 penalties, Simon Schempp (0,0,1,0) is 8.9 back with Anton Shipulin (0,0,2,0) a further 10 seconds back in 3rd. T Bø 4th ahead of Landertinger and OEB. Svendsen beats QFM and Andi B. Good gains by, among others, OEB (16 to 6), Quentin F-M (19 to 8), Andi B (21 to 9) and Maxim Tsvetkov (29 to 11); going the other way Malyshko (5 to 16), Doll (8 – 19), Simon Desthieux (9 – 22) and Julian Eberhard (7 to 30)

Women’s 4 x 6 Km relay: Still no online video capacity so it’s the IBU data feed again. One question today was which 4 the Germans would pick, given how well they have been doing – looks like Franzi H on leg 1, then Maren Hammerschmidt, Vanessa Hinz and Franzi Preuß – Miri and Laura D not racing. Czech Republic also look strong – Puskarcikova leading off, Gabi Soukalová, Charvatova, Vítková. Right, race is underway and at the first split Franzi H leads from Braisaz, Skardino and Laukkanen. First shoot of the day – lots clear and out Hauser (Aut), Franzi H then Slovakia, Belarus, Norway and Ukraine. At the next split – Germany, Austria, Norway but only 10 seconds or so between the top 10. Few spares needed at S1 but I can’t see any loops. In for S2 – Dzhima first to shoot and she leads out from Braisaz; Franzi H needed 2 spares and is down to 14th some 26 seconds back. Italy up to 3rd ahead of Slovakia and the Czechs. At the first exchange it’s the Czech Republic leading (just) from Ukraine, France, Slovakia and Italy – Franzi H has got Germany back to 8th, only 11 seconds adrift. At S3 Gabi is clear and leads out from Karin Oberhofer (Ita), then Varcin (Fra) and Abramova (Ukr); Maren H needs a spare and is 20 seconds back. Gaps fairly steady into S4 – and the same 3 lead out (Cze, Ita, Fra) with Guzik of Poland up to 4th, Canadians up to 5th, Germans 10th. Next exchange Cze, Ita, Pol, Fra, Blr – Canada have dropped back to 8th, just ahead of Germany who are 22.2 seconds off the lead. At S5 Lucie Charvatova takes the lead with Högberg (Swe) up to 2nd and Vanessa Hinz has got the Germans back to 3rd ahead of Fra, Blr and Ukr (Valj Semerenko going for them on this leg). Standing shoot on leg 3 and Vanessa Hinz takes the lead from Sola (Blr) with Bolliet (Fra) 3rd ahead of Valj S – a gap of about 15 seconds now to the chasing pack – as they change over for the final time Germany are 10.7 clear of France with Ukraine and Belarus still well in touch. In the final prone Franzi Preuß leads out ahead of Belarus with Dorothea Wierer getting Italy up to 3rd; Ukraine, France and Poland still in the game. Dot W is closing down Preuß as they come in for the last shoot – Franzi leads out but the gap to the Italian is only 1.3 seconds – chasing pack now 20 seconds behind these two; Tiril Eckhoff in 8th 48.4 back which might be a bit much for even her to make up! At 5.2 Km on the final leg Dot is just ahead of Franzi P with Olena Pidhrushna 3rd (+15.5) – that’s how the positions remain despite some epic sprinting by the two leaders - great win for Italy, by only 0.2 seconds from Germany and Ukraine 3rd – perhaps a slight surprise? Poland take 4th ahead of France and the Czechs.

Missed the men's relay - chasing aerial snags! Back on now so ready for Pokljuka next weekend!

Pokljuka – Men’s 10 Km Sprint: Watched Klemen Bauer’s course video on the IBU site – impressive, but this is imported snow and it already looks a bit rutted in parts, especially on the downhill sections; might see a couple crashes today – wonder if they’ll resurface before the races? Jakov Fak, on home snow, away number 3, OEB at 14, Martin Fourcade 20 with Svendsen next but Schempp not until 52.  Nice looking day, sunny – good for the crowd but perhaps not ideal for the 106 athletes, although it’s not too windy? Mike reckons 19 perfect scores today; let’s see! Fak looking as though he’s taking it a bit easy, but he’s still well in touch at the early splits – Bjørndalen has started and Mike and Patrick are in auto rabbit. Fak is at S1 and clear, to the delight of the crowd; meanwhile Malyshko is fastest at the early split. Lowell Bailey is clear at S1 and so is Tarjei Bø; not too far behind Fak’s time – Moravec has joined them. Andi Birnbacher has missed 1 here, but Malyshko is clear and marginally faster than Fak; OEB clear and he goes second. On the lap Tarjei is past Fak and Moravec is also faster; Fak in for S2 and he’s missed 1 while Martin F is clear at S1 and over 5 seconds faster than Malyshko; EHS also clear but 13 seconds slower than the Frenchman. At present Bailey (10-/10) is leading after S2; as I type Tarjei goes faster despite his one miss in S2; Moravec has also missed 1 – down to 5th. Malyshko will probably get a caution for putting his hand over the end of the loaded barrel after forgetting the snow cover, and he’s missed 2 as well. Now – OEB is clear and leading after S2 – skiing fast too, must be taking monkey glands (qv Sherlock Holmes; Adventure of the Creeping Man)! Garanichev into 2nd here, also 10/10 – Slesingr fast into the range but he’s missed 4 at S2; I blame the beard! Fourcade fast but he’s missed his first; just that one and he’s +6.6 behind OEB after S2; EHS has also missed 1. Good work by Rastorgujevs but he’s missed his final shot; QFM joins the 10/10 group and he’s ahead of Fourcade; nothing much is changing at S1 so far, Arnd Peiffer is clear but 38 seconds off the pace. At the finish OEB is over the line and in the lead; interesting that Martin F isn’t catching him at 8.6 Km; in fact at 9.2 he’s losing time – too fast, too early or just general fatigue?! At present the podium is OEB, Garanichev, Martin F – amazing! Now Schempp is clear at S1 and 2nd fastest there; Doll marginally faster as he also goes clear at S1; Eberhard also in touch. Now, Simon Schempp is 10/10 and out from S2 7.8 faster than OEB; Jo Bø has had a bad day (2,3) and is over 2 minutes off OEB’s time - might miss the pursuit at this rate. Benedikt Doll has missed 1 at S2; Volkov is 10/10 though and only fractionally slower than Martin F after S2. At 8.6 Km Schempp has changed +7.8 to +15.7; looks like he might get another sprint win? Well, Simon Schempp is into the lead at the finish and I can’t see much of a threat to that apart from Eberhard IF he clears at S2 – probably OEB will hold on to 2nd, but Garanichev might be vulnerable? So – Eberhard has missed 3 at S2; pity for him as he was fast, but the standing shoot isn’t his forte at present! Looks like 11 athletes are 10/10 so far so Mike’s forecast might be a bit out! Arnd Peiffer was one of the 10/10 group but over a minute slower than the leaders. Great, very fast, shooting from Slepov, so perhaps it’s not entirely over yet – he’s third out of the range!?  On the last lap Volkov is losing time and goes into 9th (then); Slepov is losing time to Schempp but closing very slightly on OEB at 8.6 Km. No, he’s slipped back by 9.2 Km – hard to bear; he misses the podium by 0.2 – lucky Garanichev! The podium is Simon Schempp (0,0); Bjørndalen (0,0; +15.2) and Evgeniy Garanichev (0,0; + 25.1). Great effort from Alexey Slepov (0,0; +25.3) to get into 4th. Martin Fourcade was 5th ahead of Anton Shipulin and Quentin F-M. Good day for the Russian men with 3 in the top 6; OEB the best Norwegian! Volkov fastest on the range, marginally ahead of Darozhka (Blr) and Nathan Smith; Eberhard fastest over the course from Schempp and Martin F;  should be an exciting pursuit on Saturday!

Women’s 7.5 Km Sprint: Kaisa Mäkäräinen going 9th, Gabi Soukalová 15, Miri 18 and MDH at 35; Franzi H is 20, Maren Hammerschmidt 26 and Laura Dahlmeier 30. Snow looking a bit wet and soft; I was going to count the commentators’ mentions of OEB but I haven’t enough fingers! Kaisa fastest at the first split, at the moment – Dunklee also good there but she’s missed 1 at S1; Kaisa in now and she’s missed 1 as well – interestingly she’s slower than Susan Dunklee. Rosanna Crawford (Can) clear and quite fast after S1, just behind Yurlova (Rus); Miri now best at the early split just ahead of Franzi H. Gabi has missed her first shot, but Guzik (Pol) is clear and leads out of the range; Miri has missed her last shot in prone but Franzi Hildebrand is clear and faster than Guzik. Susan Dunklee has cleared all 5 in the stand – think for the first time this year, and that’s a good time. Kaisa Mäkäräinen has missed one in the stand, and so has Crawford; Maren H has missed her 5th shot in prone. Gabi has cleared in standing and is marginally ahead of Dunklee’s time; meanwhile Laura Dahlmeier is clear at S1. Miri misses 2 in the stand, but Franzi H is clear – 10/10 and looking good. MDH is clear at S1 and so is Solemdal – they are very close to Franzi H’s time. Maren H is clear at S2 and half a minute off the pace (about equal to the one loop?) but Laura D is 10/10 and even faster than Franzi H. Franzi Preuß is clear at S1 but a little slow; Wierer is also clear and fastest at S1. Amazingly Miri is only 48 seconds slower than Franzi H at the finish despite her 3 loops! Now MDH is clear at S2 – 5.4 behind Laura D; this is going to be close, especially as both Germans (Laura & Franzi H) seem to have slowed on the last lap; Vítková also 10/10 and she is making up time – Laura has speeded up again! MDH is now fastest at 6.2 Km but Laura has skied a very fast last kilometre. At 6.8 MDH is still just ahead by 0.8; Dorothea Wierer was faster than MDH coming in to S2, but 2 misses have ended her charge! Now – at the finish Marie D-H is leading by 1.1 from Laura D with Franzi H currently 3rd – Vítková comes in to go 4th; Tiril Eckhoff was a threat coming into S2 but she’s missed 4 there; similarly Solemdal missed 2 in the stand. Sanfilippo has missed her last shot, but was rather off the pace anyway – I suspect the podium isn’t going to change! So, Marie D-H wins (0,0) from Laura Dahlmeier (0,0; +1.1) and Franzi Hildebrand (0,0; +13.0) – Vítková (0,0) 4th ahead of Gabi (1,0) and Susan Dunklee (1,0). Good to see Maren H in 7th with 1 miss only 15 seconds or so off Gabi; Preuß 9th with 1 miss. Vanessa Hinz (0,1) and Miri (1,2) both in the top 20 (in fact all 6 Germans in the top 15 today! )– should be a very interesting pursuit! Kaisa was 10th and is 44.3 behind MDH. Miri was fastest round the course, ahead of Kaisa and MDH.

Pokljuka – Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit: All quite close at the start; just 40 seconds separate the top 10, although at the front Simon Schempp has 15 seconds on OEB and 25 on third starting Evgeniy Garanichev. With OEB apparently on his best form since 2007, the commentators are in full gush! Few missing names, including JoBø. Five loops today and 460 metres of height gain in total but at least the men have had 48 hours to recover from the sprint; fairly steady to the first split and the second. First prone and Schempp is clear, so is OEB and he’s gained a bit of time (now +9.2) – Russians missing (Garanichev and Volkov one each, Slepov 2). Martin Fourcade out third ahead of Shipulin and Doll. On the lap Martin F has closed in on OEB, and he’s taking Anton Shipulin with him; Tarjei Bø and EHS also in touch still. Schempp is clear again at S2 – so are Martin F and OEB – Simon is leading but Martin F up to 2nd and just 10 seconds back, fractionally ahead of OEB; Doll 4th just in front of Tarjei, QFM up to 6 and EHS 7th – all 10/10. At the 6.2 Km mark Martin F is just 2.5 seconds back and OEB has also closed in, then a gap of about 15 seconds to the chasing group of 5. Very close into the range – Simon Schempp and Martin F both clear and out in that order only 0.4 apart. Tarjei Bø clear and out third but OEB has missed 1 and drops to 4th; several misses here including Doll who drops 2. Simon Fourcade 15/15 and up from 33 to 12. On the lap Martin F seems content to tuck in behind the German at first, but then passes before the second split – Schempp passes back; Bø closing a little but OEB falling back a little – luckily QFM is also a little slower! Final shoot – Schempp clear while Martin F has missed 1; Simon out with an 18.4 lead over Martin; Bø also misses 1 and OEB misses another – Bø is third just ahead of Shipulin and QFM as they exit the range – final podium place up for grabs! I think Martin F may have opted to save energy for the mass start; looking a bit tired on the last lap and not closing. Shipulin and Bø are very close together about another 20 seconds back with QFM about 8 seconds back on them. Going to be a good scrap for 3rd – Schempp (0,0,0,0) has also eased back but takes the win, Fourcade (0,0,0,1) 2nd and Anton Shipulin (0,1,1,0) beats Tarjei Bø (0,0,0,1) to 3rd. QFM in 5th ahead of Garanichev and EHS. Major gainers Simon Fourcade 33 to 10, Andi Birnbacher 26 to 11, Erik Lesser 21 to 12, Freddie Lindström 30 to 14, Beatrix 32 to 15, Pidruchnyi 43 to 19 and Arnd Peiffer 42 to 27. Losing ground OEB 2 to 8, Slepov (2,2,1,1) 4 to 25, Bailey 15 to 29 and Lukas Hofer 17 to 32. Great race; well done Simon Schempp!

Women’s 10 Km Pursuit: Again, very close at the top – can MDH hold off the Germans? Eurosport are taking ages to get over to biathlon coverage – loads of adverts despite all the extras they put in during Mayer’s accident. The live IBU feed is ahead of the video now! Miri has started too early and gets a 30 second penalty – careless mistake! OK – all back in sync now – at S1 MDH and Laura D are clear, so is Franzi H; Guzik has missed 3! Out MDH, Laura D, Franzi H, Vítková, Gabi, Kaisa Mäkäräinen clear and up to 6th; Miri has missed 2 so today won’t be her day. Gaps at the front fairly steady although Franzi H has closed a little and of course Kaisa is closing too. On to S2; the 2 leaders are clear, with MDH marginally faster; Franzi H has missed 2 letting Vítková, Gabi and Kaisa (all 10/10) through; Lucie Charvatova up to 6 from 17 and Wierer also making up places. Laura is just ahead of MDH, with Gabi about 25 seconds back at 5.4 Km; now Fenne is up to 6th from 18. So, first standing shoot – again the 2 leaders are clear and MDH is shooting faster; she leads out. Kaisa also clear and 3rd but 30 seconds back; Gabi and Veronika Vítková have both missed 1 but still 4th and 5th; Fenne 6th. Hammerschmidt, Preuß, Hinz and Franzi H are 8-11 in that order but Dorothea Wierer has missed 2, as has Lucie C. Now, Laura D has passed MDH after the Frenchwoman has a fall just before 7.4 Km – very fast recovery though. Franzi H is now leading the German foursome. Final shoot and Laura D is clear and out, but MDH has also cleared and is just 4.9 behind; Kaisa has missed 1 so it’s a straight race for first and second. Gabi is up to 3rd but 52 seconds off the lead, and only a fraction ahead of Kaisa. Franzi Preuß is up to 5th ahead of Vanessa Hinz, but Franzi H has missed 1 more and is down to 13. Last split and Laura has pulled out on MDH; Kaisa 3rd but might have eased off for tomorrow. Great win for Laura Dahlmeier (0,0,0,0), Marie D-H (0,0,0,0; +18.0) in 2nd after her fall, Kaisa M (0,0,0,1) in third. Gabi gets 4th ahead of Franzi Preuß and Vanessa Hinz – another good day for Germany. Among the gainers, Kaisa 10 to 3, Hinz 13 to 6, Fenne 18 to 8, Podchufarova 37 to 14, Teja Gregorin 47 to 21. Those going the other way Franzi H 3 to 12, Miri 15 to 41 (7 misses [2,1,1,3] plus a 30 second penalty!), Rosanna Crawford 23 to 45

Pokljuka – Men’s 15 Km Mass Start: OK – mass start time, and it’s another nice day (so soft again for the women later?) although the overnight frost has left icy patches in the shade for this race – interesting test for the waxing technicians. Good early pace from Landertinger; Tarjei Bø and Anton Shipulin just leading at split 1 but it’s all very close. First prone – Martin F has missed 2!! OEB has missed 1, and it’s Shipulin who leads out from QFM, Andi Birnbacher, Simon Schempp, Nathan Smith and Benedikt Doll; JoBø is clear and 12th. Top 18 out of the range all shot clear; still all very close on the next lap. In for the second prone: good shooting here although Schempp and Doll are among those who have missed 1 – Martin F clear this time – out Birnbacher, QFM, Landertinger, Bailey, Beatrix and Lindström.  Only 10.3 seconds separate the top 10; Martin F is 17th, 26.6 seconds off the front; by 7.6 Kms he’s only 9.2 seconds back! All bunched up again as they approach S3 – just 3.6 between the top 10. Good shooting by (some of) the French; QFM and Jean Guillaume Beatrix 15/15 and they lead out in that order ahead of Garanichev and Lindström. However, Martin F has missed 2 more, Doll misses 3, Schempp and OEB miss 1 each (so 2 each total). This is very tight and the race certainly isn’t over; on the next lap the gaps are closing again – Shipulin and Svendsen back in touch; they have made up huge amounts of time! Final shoot over and it’s OEB leading out despite 2 misses earlier, just ahead of EHS and Beatrix; Birnbacher and Schempp go clear and they are within 5 seconds of the leaders – QFM and Shipulin have missed 1 and they are about 20 seconds back, Lindström has missed 2. At 13.6 Km it’s EHS just ahead of OEB, Birnbacher just 1 second back with Schempp 4th; Beatrix and Desthieux a couple seconds back – Martin F is up to 7th just 13 seconds back! At 114.2 Desthieux is dropping a little – EHS leads from Beatrix, OEB, Schempp. Massive scrap to the line – Beatrix (0,0,0,0) outsprints Svendsen (0,0,1,0) for the win; photo between OEB (1,0,1,0) and Schempp (0,1,1,0) for the last podium place – Bjørndalen gets it! Andi Birnbacher gets some useful points in 5th, Desthieux is 6th and Martin F is 7th despite 4 misses! Not surprising that Martin F was fastest around the course ahead of Slepov and Tarjei Bø; Nathan Smith best on range time ahead of QFM and Andi Birnbacher – what a race!!

Women’s 12.5 Km Mass Start: Sadly not live as Eurosport are showing ski jumping, which isn’t something that interests me! I’ll follow this on the IBU video feed (no commentary) and data centre and see if I want to see the Eurosport version later! Early leader, at the 2nd split, is Miri but she’s missed 2 in her first prone as has Dorothea Wierer! It’s tough being a Miri fan, she seems to have reacquired her bad prone habit! Tiril Eckhoff is clear here and she leads away from the range ahead of Franzi H, Gabi and Laura D; MDH also clear and 5th ahead of Hinz, Maren H and Franzi Preuß. Fenne also well in touch and gaining a couple places on the early part of the lap; just 6 seconds between the top 10 at 4.3 Km and now they are in for the second prone shoot. Fenne is clear and leads out ahead of Eckhoff, Vanessa Hinz up to third ahead of MDH and Gabi – the usually reliable Dahlmeier has missed 2, Preuß and Maren H 1 each; Franzi H clear and 6th. My gloom deepens as Miri misses another 3 – perhaps I won’t watch again! So, S3 and MDH and Franzi P have missed 2 each, so has Tiril and Fenne 3, so it’s the clean shooting Veronika Vítková who leads her fellow Czech, Gabi, out of the range. Kaisa M is up to third despite a miss in her first prone (if you must miss, do it early?); Podchufarova is 4th ahead of Skardino and Hauser. Laura D has missed another 1 and (gulp) Miri 2 more. Franzi Preuß, Maren and Vanessa are 8/9/10 with just 1 miss each, all in the 2nd prone. Ah, quelle surprise, Kaisa has taken the lead, but will that speed affect her last shoot? MDH is 9th, very much up with Maren H’s German trio, Tiril also in touch. Last shoot and Kaisa is clear there – out 4 seconds ahead of Gabi (20/20) followed by Podchufarova, Vítková, Skardino and Hauser. MDH has missed another and is 8th ahead of Preuß and Hinz. Maren has missed 2 more but so has Eckhoff; Miri going for a new record by adding 3 more misses to make a total of 10; will she bother to finish? Kaisa is pulling away and there are good gaps between Gabi, Podchufarova and Vítková – probably all over bar a fall? So Kaisa Mäkäräinen (1,0,0,0) wins from Gabi Soukalová (0,0,0,0) and Olga Podchufarova (0,0,0,0). Veronika V 4th ahead of Skardino and Pidhrushna. MDH (0,0,2,1) somehow got 7th; best German Vanessa Hinz (0,0,1,1) in 9th just ahead of Franzi Preuß (0,1,0,1) and Laura Dahlmeier (0,2,1,0). Franzi H down in 17 with 3 misses. Not sure I can put myself through that again, might watch the Nordic Combined from Ramsau instead and see if I can recognise the bits I walked round the other year; might lighten the mood!?

Garmisch-Partenkirchen: Seems Laura Dahlmeier is ill (nothing too serious apparently as I understand she was around GAP yesterday) and won't be in either show event! Couldn't find any live video of the GAP race as it's a such small event, but looks huge fun as it takes place in the centre of the town on imported snow! Not much scope for gaining time on the short, tight loops so the fast shooters are in their element. According to a biathlon forum contributor, the pairing of Franzi Preuß and Andi Birnbacher won; both of them fast shooters. Nadine Horchler (standing in for Laura D) and Matthias Bischl were second, with the Südtirol duo of Karin Oberhofer and Dominik Windisch third and last place going to Johannes Kühn and Miri Gössner. Apparently there were over 12,000 fans in Garmisch for the event, so it must have been a really lively evening!

Schalke (Veltins Arena – not really biathlon country!) – World Team Challenge: The teams, as far as I know, - Valj Semerenko & Sergei Semenov (Ukr); Vanessa Hinz (vice Laura Dahlmeier) & Simon Schempp (Ger); Franziska Hildebrand & Erik Lesser (Ger); Marie Dorin-Habert & Martin Fourcade (Fra); Gabriela Soukalová & Ondrej Moravec (Cze); Dorothea Wierer & Lukas Hofer (Ita); Teja Gregorin & Jakov Fak (Slo); Ekaterina Yurlova & Evgeniy Garanichev (Rus); Lisa Hauser & Simon Eder (Aut); Emma Nilsson & Tobias Arwidson (Swe). Wonder if there are any more changes? Once again the ski jumping runs late and we join the event with 7 laps left of the initial section (mass start), so no time for Patrick to explain the format – no real surprise that Martin & MDH are leading at that stage – MDH on the lap! Yurlova well in touch, and at the changeover the Russians lead due to MDH having a couple misses, Franzi H and Erik L up to 2nd but Erik has fallen! Loads of misses by the men on the next round, Czechs lead from France and Russia at the next change – so things can change really quickly here! That’s a nasty corner just after the downhill bit – lot of snowploughing going on. More women’s prone and MDH is missing, just 1 this time, same as Gabi – Ukraine lead at the next change from Russia and Franzi H/Erik. Snow is getting quite cut up in places; Semenov going well, and into the prone – he’s clear and so is Garanichev, Martin and Erik have missed. Now it’s Ukr, Rus, Cze, ahead of Franzi H and Erik. Valj is in for her standing – 1 miss; Gabi missing 3, Vanessa clear but so is Ekaterina – Hinz/Schempp up to 3rd behind Russia and Ukraine; the Czechs down to 8th. Last shoot, standing again – the 2 leaders are clear (impressive shooting) but Erik has missed 4! A fight between Ukraine and Russia for the lead of this first part of the event, France in 3rd – pursuit to come. So, Russia win, from Ukraine (+ 12.8), France (+14.3), Hinz/Schempp (+15.2), then Austria, Slovenia, Czechs, Franzi/Erik, Sweden and Italy. Those intervals are halved for the pursuit. To make my typing easier – Hinz/Schempp are Ger 1, Hildebrand/Lesser Ger 2 for this next bit. Frantic waxing going on as they prepare for the pursuit. OK, we’re away – just a few minutes to recover! MDH closing down well on the lap; first prone for the women – Valj clear, as is Vanessa - change Ukr/Rus/Ger 1/Fra. Men in for prone – Russia clear; Fra/Ukr both 1 miss. Now Rus/Ger 1/Ukr/Fra. Swedes seem to have vanished from the scoreboard? Women in for first stand – Hinz clear and leading away; MDH and Gabi clear; now Ger 1/Ukr/Fra/Cze. Men’s standing – all 3 leaders have missed; looks like only Garanichev clear? Ger 1/Rus/Ukr/Cze/Fra – on to women’s prone; Vanessa 1 miss but her chasers do the same – change Ger 1/Fra/Ukr/Rus/Cze and it’s close – 7.7 between the top 5. That really is a nasty corner – more than 90 degrees! Garanichev has fallen here again. Martin F clear and fast – change Fra/Cze/Ger 1/Rus/Aut; France have almost 15 seconds now (Fourcade playing games again). MDH in for stand and she’s pulled out a bit more – misses her 5th, Gabi clear; next change Fra/Cze/Aut/Rus/Ukr/Ger 1 – Hinz looking tired and she isn’t happy on that corner either. Last shoot – Martin F clears and we get the fist pump again, Schempp clear which gets them up towards the Czechs but can Simon S take that time back? So, Martin Fourcade and MDH win, Gabi and Ondrej are 2nd and Vanessa/Simon S take 3rd. Russia get 4th ahead of Ukraine and Austria – now they can all rest until January 8th when the venue will be Ruhpolding vice Oberhof due to the lack of snow.

I was out today so missed the live coverage of both sprints; having seen the results, I’m not sure I can bring myself to watch the men’s race; the women’s event however was a little more promising! In summary – Men’s 10 Km Sprint; Firstly, no OEB and no Simon Schempp, both off sick, among others! Now obviously the IBU data pages just give an overview, and it's historical, not real time now, so relatively - Johannes Bø (JoBø) seems to have been very fast away, fastest at splits 1 and 2 by over 5 seconds relative to Martin Fourcade and his brother Tarjei as the event progressed. Matvey Eliseev (Rus) also very well to the front, when he came through from start 82! At S1 (prone), despite a calm day, there were a few misses including one by Martin Fourcade, but JoBø was clear and was fastest out of the range compared to Nathan Smith and brother Tarjei; Grossegger, Eder and Svendsen (EHS) making up the top 6 there once all the times were in. Poor Eliseev missed 2 which dropped him to 71st! At that stage Andi Birnbacher and Arnd Peiffer were also both in the mix, but lost time relative to others on the next lap, and subsequently both missed one in the standing shoot. The Bø brothers cleared all 10 however and as they left the range (so to speak) Johannes had a lead of almost 7 seconds over Tarjei. EHS up to third ahead of Grossegger and Martin Fourcade who had cleared all his standing targets. On the final lap Fourcade closed a little on the leading times and got up to 4th, but he couldn’t cross the gap – a clean sweep for Norway with Johannes taking the win from Tarjei and EHS, Martin F getting 4th as some consolation; Sven Grossegger 5th and Simon Eder 6th. Fastest round the course was Martin F, but only 4.8 better than JoBø. The IBU report is HERE
Women’s 7.5 Km sprint: Much the same conditions as the men had – rather warm! At the second split time (again, looking at the times once all athletes had been through) Gabi Soukalová was just ahead of Laura Dahlmeier with Kaisa Mäkäräinen third and Franzi Hildebrand 4th – all very close to each other's times going in for the prone shoot. There was apparently an audible groan when Laura D missed 1 here in front of the German crowd, however as Gabi S left the range she dropped a pole which she had to pick up, so historically she was just ahead of Susan Dunklee, Franzi H and Kaisa, all of whom had cleared all 5 targets; Podchufarova and Wierer making up the top 6. Franzi H took the over as the fastest on the next lap from Gabi and Kaisa – all cleared S2, as did Podchufarova, Wierer and Dahlmeier. I need to see the replay of the final lap because it must have a been a real epic as the coaches passed on the relative timings to the later starters – in the end Franzi Hildebrand took the win by just 0.3 seconds from Gabi with Kaisa third. Laura D was 4th despite that 1 miss, just 2.8 seconds back! Vanessa Hinz had a fairly good day; despite missing 2 (1,1) she managed 13th place , just over 20 seconds back and just behind Marie D-H, who had the same shooting record. Sadly Miri Gössner missed 4 (1,3) and ended up 46th; Luise Kummer (think this is her first World Cup race?) shot all 10 but was 48th and Maren Hammerschmidt missed 3 in the stand and was 49th. Laura D was fastest round the course, 17.7 ahead of Franzi H; Gabi 3rd and Kaisa 4th!! The IBU report for this race is HERE

Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit (9 Jan): Quite soft and wet snow – waxing going to be fairly critical. Gaps look fairly steady at the first 2 splits; in for the first shoot – both Bøs clear with JoBø leading out; Svendsen, Grossegger and Eder have missed 1 but a clear shooting Martin Fourcade is up to third. No dramatic changes early in the next lap for the leading 3, Martin F has taken a couple seconds back; second prone shoot – JoBø misses 1, Tarjei 2 but Martin F is clear, but it’s a slow shoot for him. After S2 Martin F leads from JoBø (+3.3) and EHS (+26.6); Andi Birnbacher best German in 7th with 10/10 but +42.9. Very close between the leading 2 on the next lap, EHS still 3rd, Simon Eder up to 4th, ahead of Tarjei, then Moravec and Birnbacher. Both JoBø and Martin F have missed 1 in the first standing shoot; out with the Frenchman just marginally ahead – Eder has cleared and he’s up to 3rd fractionally ahead of EHS And Tarjei who have cleared the standing targets too. Slesingr and Pidruchnyi both 15/15 and into the top 10. At 8.6 Km JoBø is leading from Martin F, then Eder, EHS and Tarjei – less than 5 seconds between them. The final shoot is going to be crucial – Fourcade seems to be cruising at present, but he’s letting Johannes get away a little – all closed up again as they come in for S4. Lots of misses here – Simon Eder is clear and he leads out! Martin F misses 1 and he is away second (+16.9) ahead of Slesingr (+20.1) who is 20/20. Tarjei missed 1 more as did EHS – they are out 4 and 5 with Nathan Smith up to 6th. JoBø missed 2 and is down to 7th. Anev is also 20/20 and 13th from 23rd place. Last lap – at 11.1 Km Fourcade is +11.0 but Slesingr is going even faster! At 11.4 Km Eder leads, Fourcade +8.9, Slesingr +10.6! Final kilometre and Simon Eder (1,0,0,0) has held on to take the win; Martin Fourcade (0,0,1,1) is second with Michal Slesingr (0,0,0,0) in third. Tarjei Bø 4th ahead of EHS and Nathan Smith! So, gainers include Eder (6 to 1), Slesingr (8 to 3), Smith (15 to 6), Evenly Garanichev (40 to 9) and Simon Fourcade (29 to 13). Going the other way JoBø (1 to 7), Grossegger (5 – 14), Birnbacher (9 – 15), and Peiffer (11 – 28). Julian Eberhard fastest round the course but he missed 5 targets!

Women’s 10 Km Pursuit (9 Jan): Wet snow, and the IBU data says 5 degrees air temperature; light winds too. Right, they’re off; no one jumped the start so no time adjustments – very close for the top 4 as they come in for S1 – Gabi Soukalová a little ahead. Franzi H has missed 1, but the other 3 leaders are clear – out Gabi, Laura Dahlmeier, Kaisa and Dorothea Wierer moves up to 4th; Marie D-H has also missed 1, so has Tiril Eckhoff, Braisaz 2. Kaisa Mäkäräinen has upped the pace a little on lap 2, opening a little on Gabi and Laura, but they have closed up again – I wonder how Kaisa’s skis are running? In for S2 – Gabi and Laura both clear and out in that order, Kaisa has missed 1 but is out 3rd just ahead of Franzi Hildebrand who was clear this time. Podchufarova and Dunklee both 10/10 and 5th/6th ahead of Wierer. Kaisa and Franzi H both closing a little on the next lap; Miri Gössner has missed 1 in each prone and is 44th! First standing shoot – that’s unusual – Gabi clear but Laura has missed 1 (curse of the commentator?)! So Gabi out and clear; Kaisa has missed 2, Franzi H another 1, Vanessa Hinz has dropped 3 here; Miri has got all 5 – brilliant! So, after S3 Gabi is over 30 seconds clear of Laura D who is more than 15 seconds ahead of 3rd placed Podchufarova. Wierer 4th ahead of Franzi H and Fialkova; MDH up to 7. OK, final shoot – Gabi cruises in to the range, no wind and somehow she drops her second shot. Still out first, 13 seconds ahead of Laura D who cleared her targets; Franzi H has missed 2, so has Kaisa. Out from the range – Gabi (0,0,0,1) then Laura D (0,0,1,0) and Dorothea W (0,1,0,1). Fialkova is 4th ahead of MDH and Tiril Eckhoff (despite her 3 misses, she’s up from 17 to 6!). At 8.9 Km Laura D has pulled back over 6 seconds! This is going to be exciting – Laura is up with Gabi and through her, Gabi has given up and is saving energy for tomorrow. What a great win for Laura Dahlmeier; Gabi takes 2nd with Dot Wierer getting 3rd ahead of Tiril Eckhoff and MDH. So, gainers here include Laura D (4 to 1), Dot W (6 to 3) but even better were, among others, Tiril Eckhoff (17 to 4, despite 1,0,2,0 – no surprise she was fastest round the course), MDH (12 to 5), Paulina Fialkova (15 to 6), Lisa Theresa Hauser (27 to 12, with 20/20), and Yan Zhang (51 to 31). Missed out Valj Semerenko who went from 41 to 17! Going the wrong way – Franzi H (1 to 9), Kaisa (3 to 13) and Braisaz (14 to 52). On the final lap Laura D was only 2nd fastest behind Charvatova!

Men’s 15 Km Mass Start (10 Jan): Still no Simon Schempp today, so that’s another pile of points that he can’t try to access! However OEB is here, and the commentators are having a field day! The air temperature is up again, so the course has been salted; JoBø at the front but it looks a fairly steady pace – Martin F moving through as they come in for S1 and Shipulin well up too. OEB has missed 2, so has Tarjei Bø; EHS, Birnbacher, Peiffer and Doll 1 miss each – out from the range it’s Grossegger, Quentin FM, JoBø, Moravec, Martin F, Simon F and Desthieux – 5.6 seconds between them. At the next split Simon Fourcade leads from his brother and QFM. Eurosport takes a break as we go into S2 – what are they on? So, Moravec clears and he leads out from QFM, Simon F, Beatrix and Lowell Bailey! Martin F has missed 1 and he’s down to 7th. Only 5 athletes are 10/10! On the lap Martin F has closed down about 10 seconds on the leading group and Rastorgujevs is going even faster just behind him! EHS also closing in as they head for S3 – Ondrej Moravec clear again and leads out but EHS is up to 2nd just ahead of Martin F; Simon F has missed 1 and is 4th +19.2, just ahead of Garanichev, OEB and JoBø (amazing that Johannes is behind OEB when he has done one less penalty loop; have we missed a fall?). Beatrix and QFM have both missed 2 at S3, so has Rastorgujevs. Quick lap and Martin F just leads EHS coming in for S4 – Martin clear, EHS has dropped 3! Martin F leads out, Moravec also clear (20/20!) and out 2nd, Simon F third and Arnd Peiffer up to 4th ahead of QFM, Pidruchnyi and Tarjei Bø. On the final lap Martin F is pulling away; 2nd/3rd look safe, but behind them Tarjei Bø has caught Arnd P and Pidruchnyi is also there – they are hunting down Simon F! At the finish, Martin Fourcade (0,1,0,0) wins again, Ondrej Moravec (0,0,0,0) gets second with Tarjei Bø (2,0,1,0) getting the final podium place from Pidruchnyi, Peiffer and Simon Fourcade. Amazing run by Tarjei to finish so well despite the 3 misses! Although Tarjei’s speed was amazing (fastest round the whole course), the fastest last lap went to Bendikt Doll; best range time for OEB.

Women’s 12.5 Km Mass Start (10 Jan): Apparently Franziska Preuß has a damaged coccyx and so will miss this race too. Kaisa Mäkäräinen off fast, leading at the first 2 timing points from MDH and Gabi; Miri making up several places too. Someone has fallen which has slowed some of those nearby (think it was Franzi H); Kaisa slowing as they approach the range. Gabi among many clear but it’s Vanessa Hinz who leads out from Dunklee, Gabi, Eckhoff and Franzi H; Miri also clear but +13.2. Eurosport continue their annoying habit of going to adverts while the commentators are talking! Dot Wierer, Kaisa and MDH among those who did miss a target at S1. Tiril Eckhoff taking the lead on lap 2 ahead of Dunklee, Gabi, Franzi H, Vanessa Hinz and Laura D. Veronika Vítková coming up too and she passes Hinz; Miri just +7.7 at present. Still very close as they come in for S2; Tiril clear and out first just ahead of Susan Dunklee, Laura D and VV; Gabi 4th then Oberhofer and Fialkova, who’s having a good time here! Gloom – Miri has reverted to type and missed 2; Franzi H and Vanessa both missed 1. Vítková looking good on the lap – what a mixed relay team the Czechs might have if they keep this form! MDH is back in the mix, up to 6th and just +4.3. Still quite a close group coming in for S3; Laura D clear and leads out ahead of Bescond and MDH. Eckhoff has missed 1, so has Gabi but they are 4th and 5th respectively. Susan Dunklee has also missed 1, and VV has missed 3 – real pity. Franzi H has missed 2 more, so has Miri and poor Maren H has 5 in total so far. Lap 4 and Laura has pulled out a little on MDH who has passed Anais B; Tiril seems to be dropping back, as does Gabi – maybe the softer snow really doesn’t suit them, but it has been salted? Final shoot – Laura D is clear again; that’s all 20 today. She leads out but just 6.9 ahead of MDH who has proved that the saying “if you must miss, do it early” has some merit. Anais is also 20/20 and third ahead of Dunklee, Eckhoff (who missed another 1 in S4) and Pidhrushna. Gabi now 8th. At 11.1 Km Laura has pulled out a little; I think Tiril might catch Anais? Yes, she’s through by 11.4 Km; Laura now 17 seconds ahead. Laura D (0,0,0,0) wins it; MDH (1,0,0,0) second and Bescond (0,0,0,0) is coming back at Eckhoff (0,0,1,1) – a photo for the final place on the podium. Looks like Tiril has been given it, Pidhrushna (0,0,0,0) 5th ahead of Susan Dunklee (0,0,1,0). Gabi was 7th ahead of Gwizdon, Vítková and Fuyuko Tachizaki (her PB!). Marie DH was fastest round the course today, ahead of Kaisa and Laura D; Lisa Hauser fastest on range time ahead of Lucie Charvatova. Not such a good day for the Germans today (apart from Laura of course), Franzi H 17th (possibly affected by her early fall?), Vanessa H 19th, Miri 24th and poor Maren H was 30th after 7 misses.

Men’s Individual 20 Km: This is the first of the “planned” Ruhpolding races (relay and mass start to come) – I see Schempp is on the start list, but I’m not sure if he’ll start – also Jakov Fak apparently has a nastily bruised elbow – he’s down to start but that injury isn’t going to help. Bit warm when they prepared but snowing now (wet snow) and a bit cooler – hence 3.3 Km loops rather than the normal longer ones as there was one hill they couldn’t get ready, so they’ll ski 6.6 Km before the first prone, which might possibly unsettle some competitors?. Commentators already blathering about OEB and how he floats over the snow, as opposed to the heavier athletes! You’d think he was the only name they know sometimes! There are 106 starters today, so this is going to be a long programme! Julian Eberhard fast at the first split time, with 15 through at the moment; Anton Shipulin has beaten his time by 8.4 – I see Simon Schempp hasn’t started, he must still be cold ridden? First 2 men are at S1, Volkov and Iliev, and they’ve missed 2 each – expensive in an Individual where each miss is a full minute. At 1.8 Km Landertinger is now fastest with 30 through; Tarjei Bø has matched him. At S1 Oleksander Zhyrnyi is among those clear and currently fastest; Peiffer also clear here – Julian Eberhard has cleared and he’s fast too; -17.2 on Zhyrnyi. Looking back OEB seems to be winding up his pace; 5th fastest at 3.3 Km with 35 through but Tarjei Bø is motoring at that point – he’s fastest at present. Martin Fourcade is through 1.8 Km, +2.3 there; Andi Birnbacher has missed 1 at S1 but Anton Shipulin is clear and he’s 30.2 faster than Eberhard, who’s certainly no slouch. Rastorgujevs is faster than Tarjei at 3.3 Km; EHS clear at S1 and third behind Garanichev at the moment – Peiffer has missed 1 in the first stand (S2). Back at S1 Landertinger has split Shipulin and Garanichev; OEB also clear. Eberhard has missed 2 at S2 – sounded odd; Shipulin is in for his first standing shoot, clear again and he’s 57.6 faster than 2nd placed Birkland! However, Martin F has cleared S1 and he’s 10.4 seconds faster than Shipulin! Tracks seem to be getting faster but the snow is now rain; Peiffer has missed another at S3, while OEB has missed his 10th at S2 – commentators blaming the change in music! Shipulin has made his first error at S3 with 1 miss – Garanichev however is clear and into the lead. Back at S2 Martin F is clear and faster than Shipulin again but at S1 JoBø is clear and faster than the Frenchman! At S3 OEB has missed 2 more – no music for them to blame this time! Looking at S4, with 15 through there, there’s no 20/20 but Shipulin (0,0,1,0) has cleared here and he’s much faster than anyone else so far, but JoBø has cleared S2 as well 20.9 up on Martin F’s time! Garanichev has missed 1 at S4 which puts him 36 seconds behind Anton S. Now, Martin F has missed 1 at S3; Moravec is clear and marginally faster; OEB has completed his last shoot – 0,1,2,1 so it looks as though he’ll lose the red bib today. Moravec has cleared all 20 which gives him a good chance – the tracks certainly seem to be getting faster. JoBø has missed 1 at S3 but even so he’s quick – Martin F has cleared at S4 and is faster than Shipulin and Moravec. Now, what can younger Bø do at S4? There it goes – 3 misses, which drops JoBø to 12th. Not over yet though as Simon Eder is 15/15 at S3 and 1:11.6 faster than Fourcade! Meanwhile Tsvetkov has cleared 20/20, so a good day for Russia!; Stenersen is looking the best of the Swedes (0,0,0,1), currently 4th after S4. Eder has lost about 12 seconds on Martin F as he comes in for S4 – he’s missed 1 as well but he’s shot quickly and is only +7.8 on Martin F and the tracks do seem to be quick; this is maintaining the interest!  At present Martin F (0,0,1,0) leads at the finish from Anton Shipulin (0,0,1,0) and Ondrej Moravec (0,0,0,0); Eder is losing a bit of time on the last lap but he could still get Shipulin – he has! So Martin F wins from Eder and Shipulin. Moravec 4th from Tsvetkov and Garanichev. Great effort from Torstein Stenersen to take 7th place. Benedikt Doll (0,2,0,0) best German in 8th; Andi Birnbacher (1,1,0,0) down in 15th; interesting that Erik Lesser (1,1,2,0) was only 13 seconds behind him (+2:55.4 to +3:08.5)! Kühn just outside the top 20, also with 4 misses but Peiffer (0,1,1,1) is way down at +5:51.5 despite “just” 3 misses – wonder if he’s well, surely the tracks can’t have got that much faster? Nice to see Scott Dixon shooting well (1,0,1,0) and finishing around the 70s. Looking at the ski times (without penalties) JoBø was just marginally faster than Martin F – not sure about the total course times which look really odd (like the clock time of finishing rather than elapsed)!

Women’s Individual 15 Km: Franziska Preuß still hors de combat today. Gabi Soukalová going quite early (7) while MDH is a bit later (19) just ahead of Kaisa Mäkäräinen; Tiril Eckhoff (36), Laura D (40) – fewer "names" later on. I do hope Yurlova beats Gabi today, so Patrick W has to buy dinner; probably not much chance!! Ten through the 1.6 Km point and Gabi fastest there, and at 2.1 Km. Fialkova clear at S1, so are Valj Semerenko and Gabi – Gabi leads out, Guzik quite close (quite a cant on that rifle in the prone, but it seems to work). That’s a nuisance – Franzi H has missed 1 at S1; Crawford clear though and well in touch – so are Dzhima, Sanfilippo and Vítková. Marie DH has also missed 1 at S1, so has Kaisa M – Valj S is so far the only 10/10; Gabi has missed 1 at S2 which puts her about 30 seconds back on Valj. Krystyna Guzik is also 10/10 and now fastest there; Vanessa Hinz clear at S1 but a little off the pace. Franzi H clear at S2 which closes the gap to Gabi; Podchufarova also clear at S2 – Doro Wierer clear at S1 and fastest there so far (oops, now it’s Tiril E, that didn’t’ last long). Sanfilippo is clear at S2 and faster than Vítková. Kaisa is clear at S2 but seems a little slow? Laura D is clear at S1, shooting faster than Gabi who is clear at S3; Guzik has missed her first at S3, Hinz has missed 1 at S2. After S1 it’s currently Eckhoff, Wierer and Dahlmeier – at S2 Guzik, Sanfilippo and Vítková, but Doro has just gone 21.7 faster! Some good news for the Germans – Franzi H is clear at S3 and leads Gabi; now Podchufarova leads there. MDH clear at S3 and now 55 seconds off the leader; Vítková has missed 1 here. Now, Tiril has just cleared S2 and is even faster than Doro; Kaisa clear at S3 and closing – meanwhile Sanfilippo is 15/15 and almost 30 seconds up on Podchufarova. Laura D clear at S2, Franzi H clear at S3, Gabi clear at S4! Looks like Patrick won’t have to pay for dinner; Gabi going well and Yurlova has missed 2 at S2. Meanwhile Franzi H has cleared S4 and she’s just 2.9 off Gabi’s time; Doro W is 15/15 and almost 30 seconds faster than Sanfilippo; Podchufarova is 20/20 and just 4.9 behind Gabi – Selina Gasparin also 20/20 but 28 back. Kaisa is clear at S4 and she’s now only 10.4 back, Tiril is 15/15 and 11.6 up on Doro – Sanfilippo has missed 1 at S4. Laura D misses 1 just as the commentator says “has yet to throw a shot wide” – curse of the commentator! I think Gabi might have slightly better skis than Franzi H – at the finish she’s just 0.9 ahead! Franzi must surely think that could have been found on the last flat? Doro Wierer is clear at S4, so 20/20 and she leaves over a minute up on Gabi’s time – can she do the Individual double? My late starting Miri Gössner has already missed 2 at S1! Tiril Eckhoff in for S4 with the race win a definite possibility – lost her routines and she’s missed 3; that must be tension getting to her, surely? Sanfilippo has missed her last shot, but that’s still a good result. Laura D has missed her first at S4; just 18/20 today. Kaisa has been flying (so much for my comment about her early pace!) and has taken 25 seconds or so out of Gabi on the last lap; she currently leads! Right Doro Wierer (0,0,0,0) has finished – not sure any of the late starters can match her time. Solemdal is 15/15 but over 1:30 off the pace; Laura D has finished just 0.4 behind Sanfilippo who had 1 fewer miss! Miri is 2,1,2,1 so her prone has developed snags again, from the look of it. As the later starters complete, I can’t see any chance of a change in the top ten unless Solemdal speeds up (no, into 13th at present) – so, Wierer has taken the Individual double from Kaisa Mäkäräinen (1,0,0,0) and Gabi Soukalová (0,1,0,0). Franzi H (1,0,0,0) best German in 4th just a fraction behind Gabi. Selina Gasparin 5th just ahead of MDH (fastest of the 2 misses group), then Paulina Fialkova, Federica Sanfilippo, Laura D and Olga Podchufarova. Miri will be in the 50s at best (think it was 59th); not sure how long she’ll stay in the World Cup team? Looking at the total course time MDH again fastest from Kaisa, Laura D, Miri and Franzi H. Doro Wierer was best on the range from Lisa Hauser and Rosanne Crawford.

Men’s 4 x 7.5 Km relay: Some interesting choices not only of team members, but also running order; the Germans have Lesser, Kühn, Peiffer and Doll which is relatively normal (although Erik did miss 4 in the individual) given the recent performance levels (and Schempp’s illness) but the Norwegians have Svendsen on leg 4 (against Shipulin, amongst others) which might be a bit odd given 3 misses in the individual, and the French have Martin F on leg 2, leaving the occasionally erratic QFM to anchor – he can be brilliant though. We’ll see – the commentators will be happy though as Bjørndalen is on leg 1! Lot of snow falling, so there will be new snow on the track for those on leg 1 – Rastorgujevs going well on lap 1, coming up from the last grid at the start. All very close as they come in for S1; windy today too – out Volkov, Lesser, Lowell Bailey and Rastorgujevs! OEB needed all 3 spares and he’s almost 26 seconds back – early days though. Commentators are getting confused - it’s Beatrix not Simon Fourcade, and Rastorgujevs wasn’t on the penalty loop – he’s leading!! OK, in for S2 – Erik needed 1 spare but he leads out from the clean shooting Bailey and Semenov; Rastorgujevs used 1 spare and he’s 4th; OEB needing another 2 spares here. Penalty loop getting more use; I think the Swiss have done 2? Rastorgujevs is doing well on the lap – back up to 2nd already. At the first exchange Rastorgujevs sprints hard to hand over to Deksnis just in the lead, from Germany, USA, Ukraine, Belarus and Russia (tied with Austria). Norway 10th, +29.6. At 1.4 Km of the second leg, Martin Fourcade is up to 4th from 9th at the exchange and JoBø is closing on him. S3 and Kühn is clear and out, but JoBø has also cleared and is out 2nd ahead of Garanichev (according to the graphics; commentators think it’s not him, but it is) and Martin F (1 spare); Nordgren (USA) has needed 3 spares and is 6th, Latvia down to 12th. The leading 4  (Kühn, Bø, Fourcade & Garanichev) have opened a fair gap on the chasing pack. Now for S4 – Kühn is in trouble; he has 3 penalty loops to do, in front of a very quiet home crowd, some of whom are heading for the beer tent! Martin F shot amazingly fast and leads out from JoBø and Garanichev. Martin is pulling away from Bø on the lap; over 11 seconds gain at the 6.4 Km stage – Kühn is losing time after the 3 extra loops. Handover 2 and France (Desthieux) come out 20.8 ahead of Norway (Tarjei Bø) with Russia (Tsvetkov) up t 3rd. Germany now 2 minutes back in 12th, just behind the Czechs who were my bet for a podium today! Tarjei has already pulled back 8 seconds, and it looks like he’s going to get even closer as they come to the range; Desthieux needs 1 spare and leads, but Bø needs 3 and the gap is back to 16 seconds, Tsvetkov third, 36.2 back on the Frenchman. Arnd Peiffer needs 1 spare and he’s 8th but still 1:56 back; Italy and Slovenia on the penalty loop. By the 3.9 Km mark on this leg Tarjei has closed the Frenchman back down – Desthieux doesn’t seem to be on form today; I wonder if he’s caught Simon F’s flu? In for S6 – Bø used 1 spare only; France on the penalty loop!  Russia taking ages as the wind gets up, so Bø leads by almost 48 seconds from Desthieux, and Simon Eder has got in front of Tsvetkov; Ukraine 5th and Germany up to 6th. Bø is pulling away even further (worryingly I remember EHS losing a massive lead when anchoring another relay; surely he won’t do that again?). Norway lead out for the final leg; QFM just 2nd  but 1:09.6 back with Landertinger close astern – Russia 4th ahead of Ukraine and Germany. Svendsen is in for his first shoot; bit lucky with the first 2 and needed 1 spare after missing the 5th; wind getting up and Landertinger out 2nd a minute behind, ahead of Shipulin . QFM needed 1 spare , as did Doll; out 4th and 5th - Ukraine on the penalty loop (3 of them!). Svendsen cruising a little early on the next lap; in for his final shoot and the wind seems to have eased a little – he’s missed a couple but after 2 spares he’s away; Anton Shipulin gets all 5 really fast and the gap is down to 21.3 – amazing effort! Landertinger 3rd but only 3 seconds ahead of QFM. Benedikt Doll needs a couple spares but he’s away in a comfortable 5th – little chance of 4th unless there’s a major fall! Shipulin had closed a little but now Svendsen has picked up the pace; Landertinger has opened from QFM; could he catch Shipulin? Norway take the win, Russia 2nd (+14.6!) and Austria 3rd. France are 4th with Germany staging a great recovery from 3 penalty loops to take 5th, USA 6th. Great work from Erik Lesser (and Peiffer/Doll for pulling the team back up several places); I feel sorry for Johannes Kühn!

Women’s 4 x 6 Km relay: A few names missing – MDH wasn’t on the list anyway, Gabi not in the Czech team; Germany don’t have Franzi H (or Franziska Preuß for that matter – still injured) but do have Miri on leg 2; bit of a gamble? Vanessa Hinz should have been on leg 1 but Karo Horchler has taken her place; another illness? Commentators already speculating about how many Miri will miss, but also saying Germany are favourites. I personally think Italy are going to be hard to beat; side bet on Poland? Norway don’t seem to be on form but they do have Tiril on the final leg. So, in for the first shoot – lots of clear shooting; Karo among those needing 1 spare, Olsbu too, but Poland (so much for my side bet!!), USA and Lithuania all on the penalty loop! Shumilova leads away for Russia ahead of Puskarčíková (Cze) and Varvynets (Ukr); Ransom (Can) gaining on the lap. In for S2 – Varvynets clear and leads out, several chasers need spares; Skardino clear in 2nd ahead of Olsbu (also clear here, good effort from her), Fialkova and Horchler. Ukraine the only team not to have used a spare at all so far. On the lap Olsbu is going well, Braisaz has passed Karo H – first exchange and Norway lead from Ukraine and Belarus, those 3 very close; Slovakia 4th ahead of Germany and France. Leg 2 – Birkland leading Dzhima and Kryuko, Miri has turned a 22 second gap to 15 by 0.9 Km into her leg. Their prone shoot – the leading 3 are nicely ahead. Dzhima clear and out first from Kryuko, Oberhofer (both clear) then Gerekova, Birkeland (2 spares) and Virolaynen. Miri has missed bucket loads and has 2 penalty loops to do; another Kühn moment for the very silent crowd! Miri still 15th out of the range and she’s gained a couple places on the lap – now for the standing shoot. Yulia Dzhima is on form – clear again and leading out for Ukraine; Kryuko (Blr) needed 1 spare and she’s second but almost 30 seconds back, Gerekova 3rd ahead of Oberhofer and Crawford. Russia, Bulgaria and Norway on the penalty loop. Miri needing spares but she gets the 5! Tang has used no spares and has got China up to 6th. Second exchange – Birkeland seems to be losing a little time on the lap; Ukraine lead out with 24 seconds in hand from Belarus, Italy, Slovakia, Canada and Norway (+1:20.9), Germany in 11th. Valj Semerenko keeping the gap to Pisareva and Runggaldier (not Sanfilippo, Patrick! She seems to be out of today’s race too). Prone shoot time – Semerenko misses her last shot and despite the spares she’s on the loop! Pisareva clear and she leads, Valj still 2nd ahead of Poliakova (Svk) and Runggaldier. Solemdal up to 5th ahead of Sweden (Brorsson). Pisareva needs 1 spare in her standing shoot, so does Valj; they are out in that order. Solemdal up to 3rd with a clear shoot; Italy 4th ahead of Slovakia and Sweden. Pisareva looks absolutely exhausted on that hill, but Maren Hammerschmidt is flying – up to 5th and chasing down Italy! I thought Pisareva was going to pull out, but she’s keeping going – lost a lot of time though. Final exchange and Ukraine lead from Germany – what an amazing lap from Maren!!! Norway just behind. So, Pidhrushna has 27.7 advantage over Dahlmeier with Eckhoff another second back. Poor Belarus down to 11th, 1:28 back. On the lap Laura and Tiril are catching up – that’s going to be quite a battle! Doro is also making up time – as is Andersson for Sweden. Last prone – Pidhrushna clear and still leading, Laura D also clear and 2nd out (+18.0) from Doro (+29.5) who is also clear. Tiril needing all 3 spares which has let Podchufarova close up to just over a second back. On the lap Laura has pulled back almost 10 seconds by the split time and she’s into the lead as they approach the range (did she need to do that?). Final shoot – Pidhrushna clear under pressure and away, with a gap of +9.2 as Laura needs 1 spare. Doro W in 3rd +25.1, just ahead of Podchufarova. Eckhoff has used all 3 spares again and in 5th, 53 seconds back. At 4.9 Km Laura has closed the gap to just 2.6 seconds; Doro only just holding off Podchufarova for the final podium place. Pidhrushna still fighting, and she’s pulled out a little – what a battle. Pidhrushna closes the door on Dahlmeier and the crowd don’t like it! Ukraine win from Germany with Italy just holding on for 3rd from Russia and Norway. Great recovery by Germany to snatch second after Miri’s problems – superb effort from Maren Hammerschmidt!

Women’s 12.5 Km Mass Start: No Kaisa today and Sanfilippo is a DNS. Well, they wanted snow, and there is certainly a lot falling at present – harder work for the leaders! Minus 3 air temperature but a bit soft underfoot apparently – off they go! Doesn’t seem a rush to go to the front and clear the track; quite a gentle pace (although I probably couldn’t keep up!). Tiril Eckhoff has gone to the front and the pace is a bit faster; in for the first shoot – quite dark on the range and the snow won’t help visibility. Rosanna Crawford leads out but still only 8 seconds between the top 10 and lots clear; Dunklee, Miri, Doro W, Vítková among those missing 1, Hauser has missed 2 and Abramova 3. Pace is still reasonable so maybe the “1 miss group” might catch up? Looks like MDH leading in for S2 – Yulia Dzhima clear and leads out from MDH, Maren Hammerschmidt, Gabi and Franzi H. Laura D has missed 1, so have Dunklee and Miri among others. Only 10 have the perfect 10/10 score now. Doro clear this time and up to 11; Tiril up to 15; MDH pulling away now and the pace is more normal. By 6.4 Km Marie DH is 13.5 clear of Dzhima; she’s taken almost 12 seconds out of Laura D for example since leaving the range; Gabi has lost a pole and got a spare from the Italians! MDH has almost a miss in hand; no one seems keen to chase her. In for S3 and MDH has missed 1, but so have Dzhima and Maren. Franzi H leads out from Gabi (both 15/15); MDH 3rd, about 18 seconds ahead of Laura D who is up to 4th. Only 3 athletes have cleared all 15, the third being Crawford but she’s almost 50 seconds off the leaders. In these conditions the penalty loop is taking almost 30 seconds, but MDH is still looking strong while Laura D seems to be dropping back a little. Gabi was well in touch at 8.9 Km but now seems to be losing contact – final shoot and MDH pushing the pace. Gabi clear and out first, Franzi & Laura have both missed 1 each but MDH has missed 4 - Melt down time!! Out of the range it’s Gabi from Franzi H (+22.1), Maren H (+45.5), Skardino (+45.8) and Laura D (+45.9). Tiril Eckhoff still in with a chance of a podium. At the next split Franzi has pulled back 4 seconds or so, Laura up to 3rd and Tiril closing on Maren H. Gabi is the only one who has the perfect score; she takes a well deserved win  - Franzi H (0,0,0,1) holds on for second with Laura D (0,1,0,1) third. Tiril Eckhoff in 4th ahead of Maren H (who stumbled, arguably impeded by the Norwegian?) and Nadezhda Skardino. Marie DH somehow managed to finish 9th despite those last 4 loops, Miri (1,1,1,2) was 16th, just ahead of Vanessa Hinz who had only 3 misses! Unsurprisingly Marie DH had the fastest course time 18.3 up on Eckhoff, with Laura D, Franzi H and Miri taking the next 3 places.  Rosanna Crawford best for range time, ahead of Doro W and Maren H. Although MDH must have flown on the last lap to end up “just” +1:15.5 behind, the fastest final lap went to Laura D.

Men’s 15 Km Mass Start: The weather isn’t looking too nice! Beatrix isn’t racing today, which I think has given Grossegger a place; however, Simon Schempp is back. Much faster start than we saw in the women’s race, except for Erik Lesser who is taking it a bit easier, and letting the leaders clear the fresh snow! First shoot – quite dark despite the floodlights; Shipulin, Schempp, Birnbacher and Doll all miss 1, Arnd Peiffer has missed 2 as has OEB! Simon Eder out first, ahead of Tarjei Bø, Martin F, Simon F, Garanichev and Svendsen. Erik Lesser is the only German who cleared all 5! On the lap Tarjei has picked up the pace; Martin F has gone with him and they are opening a small gap which closes again on the climb – 2.9 seconds between the top 5. In for S2 – a group of 10/10 athletes here and Martin F leads out from Garanichev, JoBø, Tsvetkov, Lesser and EHS; Doll clear but Birnbacher Peiffer and Schempp miss another 1 each, Tarjei Bø has missed 2, Bjørndalen another 3. Martin F, Garanichev and JoBø are close, little gap to a chasing group of 5 with Lesser crossing to the lead group, then another gap. Who’d be a sports photographer – crouched in a ditch at the side of the track in heavy snow! Now the first standing shoot – Martin F clear, so are Garanichev, Lesser and Moravec and they are out in that order; JoBø has missed 2, EHS 1, poor Arnd Peiffer has missed another 2 (2,1,2 so far) and so has OEB (2,3,2). The leading 3 are about 30 seconds clear, and Martin F is pushing the pace again; Garanichev with him but Lesser is taking it a bit easier; in for the final shoot – Martin F has missed 1, so has Garanichev but Erik Lesser has cleared all 20! Erik leads out but he only has 12.3 over Martin F with Garanichev third very close to the Frenchman. Anton Shipulin up to 4th ahead of Moravec and Svendsen. Last lap – at 13.6 Km the gaps are pretty much as they were after the range; Martin F has led a lot of this race in fresh snow – that’s tiring! Garanichev through Martin F on the hill and he’s now 10.9 behind Erik L; has the Russian gone too early? So, what a great race from Erik Lesser, who wins to the delight of a very vocal crowd! Martin Fourcade (0,0,0,1) in second from Evgeniy Garanichev (0,0,0,1). Shipulin in 4th from Krcmar and Simon Schempp who recovered really well from a miss in each prone. Doll just in the top 20 after 4 misses, don’t think Andi Birnbacher is entirely well; Arnd Peiffer missed 7 (2,1,2,2) and OEB a massive 10 (2,3,2,3). Wish I’d backed Erik today!! Martin F fastest round the course from Schempp and Garanichev; QFM best on range time from Erik L and Shipulin. Very popular result here in Ruhpolding

Women’s 7.5 Km Sprint: A few names missing today too – Franziska Preuß still injured, Laura Dahlmeier has a cold/flu and doesn’t start (and I’ve seen reports that Maren Hammerschmidt is the same) – no info yet on other nations. Germans on the start list today are Miri Gössner (13), Franzi Hildebrand (22), Vanessa Hinz (32, but she was ill last week for the relay) and Karo Horchler (75). I see Nadzeya Pisareva is on the list despite her near collapse last week (but she’s a DNS, as are Laukkanen, Piton and Fialkova). Gabi Soukalová, who might be something of a shoe in for the overall globe, partly due to the illness of others, goes number 35, Tiril Eckhoff at 11. What a great day – blue skies, light winds and hard snow. This is a relatively high venue though (~1600m altitude?), and it’s a tough track. Susan Dunklee away fast; Yuliia Dzhima, by contrast, is slow at the first split (doing a Lesser or bad skis?). Pidhrushna clear at S1, so is Karin Oberhofer but Selina Gasparin has missed 2! Eckhoff and Miri both faster than Dunklee early on, so is Doro Wierer – and Susan D has missed 1 at S1, now so has Tiril; Miri has missed 2 and I still wonder if some of her problems in prone are due to that accident which so hurt her last season? Oddly Hauser has also missed 2 here, she’s usually rather more reliable but the wind seems to be varying a bit. In comes Pidhrushna for her standing shoot; Patrick mentions how solid she looks just as she misses one – commentator’s curse strikes again! Doro W is clear at S1, and fastest there so far – Kaisa has missed one there. Franzi H is clear at S1 but +17.4 on Doro’s time. Tiril E has missed 2 in the stand but she is fast on the skis. MDH has missed 1 at S1, Miri 1 more at S2 – not bad, and she’s faster than Tiril who also has 3 misses! Podchufarova is 10/10 and fast too – she’s out, now 14 seconds ahead of Doro who missed 1 here. Not sure Vanessa H is totally well – 2 misses at S1 and 3 at S2; Gabi has just gone clear at S1. Now, Kaisa M has missed 1 in both shoots, but she’s behind Miri’s time. Rats; Franzi H has missed 2 in S2; Doro is not catching Podchufarova! What a final lap from Miri; even with 3 penalties she’s only 12.6 behind Pidhrushna (0,1)! Podchufarova (0,0) currently leads at the finish just 8 seconds better than Doro (0,1) – and Gabi has just missed her last target. Yurlova has also cleared all 10 and is ahead of Gabi after S2; MDH (1,1) has also been very fast round the course. Very odd – Gabi is over the finish but only 2.6 faster than Miri who has 2 more penalties; lot of races recently and people are getting tired; Vítková has just pipped Gabi! Currently Podchufarova from Wierer and Yurlova – good day for Russia! Of the later starters Akimova, Persson, Chevalier and Horchler are clear at S1 but a bit off the pace. Persson has cleared S2 as well, and leaves in the top 10; Horchler and Chevalier have missed 1 each though. This is a good race from Linn Persson; not a bad last lap and she’s in the top 20 at present (17th at the end). So, Olga Podchufarova (0,0) has the win, from Dorothea Wierer (0,1) and Ekaterina Yurlova (0,0). Marie DH (1,1) is 6th, Gabi Soukalová (0,1) down in 9th, just ahead of Miri Gössner (2,1) in 10th – the only woman to get into the top 10 in a sprint this year with 3 misses! Rather a dubious honour, but a better one is that she’s the best German today! Kaisa 18th, Franzi H just in the top 20 in 19th, just ahead of Tiril Eckhoff. Not surprisingly Miri was fastest round the course ahead of Eckhoff and MDH; Doro best on range time.

Men’s 10 Km Sprint: Again, missed the live coverage as I was out, but looking at the results there were some surprises here too! Again, there seems to be illness affecting the athletes; Freddie Lindstrøm for example is not starting. German “team” today are Simon Schempp, Arnd Peiffer, Andi Birnbacher, Benedikt Doll, Erik Lesser and (delighted to see he gets another chance!) Johannes Kühn. Naturally the repeat showing is late as the ski jumping has over-run (yet again). Right – we’re away; QFM first into the range, 2 and 5 are wide. Semenov follows him and clears all 5; advert break and we have suddenly jumped to S2 with Rastorgujevs missing 2! Looking back at S1 we see Tarjei Bø clear but fastest at that stage is still Simon Eder from EHS with Lukas Hofer well up. Schempp also clear and just faster than Tarjei. Big shocks at S1 though are OEB missing 2, and Martin Fourcade the same; Shipulin has cleared here and faster than Hofer. Back at S2 Schempp has cleared and is faster than Eder who also went clear; Hofer missed 1 here, EHS has missed 3 and Martin F another 1. Tarjei Bø also clear at S2 and out 6th; Simon Fourcade also 10/10 and marginally better than Tarjei. Simon Schempp is at the finish and just faster than Eder; back on the tracks Tsvetkov has cleared S1 and was marginally faster than Schempp; he clears S2 as well just a little back on the German’s time, and Beatrix is clear at S1 and in touch. Tsvetkov is flying on the final lap, but I still losing a bit to Schempp; JoBø has missed a second in S2 (1.1). Anton Shipulin, with 1 miss in S2 is looking fast, and at the finish he pushes Eder off the provisional podium; at present Schempp, Tarjei Bø and Shipulin. Simon F has lost time on the final lap (not unusual, he gets 10th). Here comes Tsvetkov and he goes 2nd ahead of T Bø. Beatrix has cleared S2 and he’s just 5.9 off Schempp’s time, in 4th. On his last lap Beatrix gets up to 3rd, beating Eder’s time but relative to Tarjei he is slowing a little – another 4th place! A very good late run from Martin Jäger (Sui, start 89) who was fastest at the first 2 splits – missed 2 at S1 though, but good ski speed! In the end, a win for Simon Schempp (0,0) who was just 5.8 ahead of Maxim Tsvetkov (0,0) with Tarjei Bø (0,0) in third. Jean Guillaume Beatrix (0,0) was 4th – he looked good for a podium but lost time on the last lap; apparently his back seized up following a heavy fall at Ruhpolding. Krasimir Anev had a good day, 10/10 and 7th place; JoBø (1,1) managed 8th despite his 2 penalty loops, Arnd Peiffer (0,0) in 9th with Benedikt Doll (1,0) 11th. OEB (2,0) was down in 23rd, and Svendsen (0,3) had another bad day ending in 27, just 1 place above Martin Fourcade (2,1). I don’t think Andi Birnbacher is well yet (or maybe just really off form) – down in 41st after just 2 misses and L’Abee-Lund was also off it – 10/10 but 42nd, 1:27 off the pace. Johannes Kühn (1,4) may have blown it this time – 70th place. JoBø was fastest round the course from Eberhard (certainly one to watch if he can shoot a little better – 2,1 and ended 22nd) and Schempp. OEB fastest on the range from Windisch (1,1 – ended 19th) and Anton Shipulin (0,1 – got 5th!). Coverage of tomorrow's pursuits looks sketchy - so much going on!

Women’s 10 Km Pursuit: Seems Guzik is the latest victim of whatever bug is going round – not sure she’ll start; latest FB post says she’ll skip the pursuit. Looks like we aren’t going to see this live on Eurosport; weather problems with some of the Alpine events might shift the schedules but possibly not to the benefit of biathlon fans? Looks like the commentary less IBU video plus the live data for this one – despite her FB post Guzik is starting! Early on Miri is closing on MDH – hope she doesn’t go too hard, she has a bit of a reputation for losing ground in pursuits! At S1 Doro W goes clear, so does Podchufarova but Yurlova has missed 1, letting through Bescond, Oberhofer, Gabi, MDH and Vítková – Miri has missed 2; her prone shooting is a problem and I still wonder if that’s due to body position which she had to change after her accident. On the lap Doro and Olga P have a useful 17 seconds in hand over Anais Bescond who has about 10 over a big chasing group. Second prone and Doro leads Olga away – both clear – Anais has missed 2 so Gabi now 3rd ahead of MDH – again both 10/10 but they are over 30 seconds back form the leading 2. Miri has missed another 2, Oberhofer has missed 2 this time and so has Franzi H – after a miss at S1 Persson is gaining ground with all five at S2. Tiril Eckhoff missed 1 at S2, but she’s still in touch and closing on the lap. In for S3 – Doro has missed 2, Olga still clear so the Russian leads out, Doro still 2nd and Yurlova in 3rd – Gabi missed 1 and she’s 4th. Valj (1,0,0) is up to 6th, Tiril has missed 1 more and MDH has dropped 2 here; Franzi H clear here and Karo Horchler is 15/15 and 22nd from 50 at the start. Tiril is closing down Valj Semerenko on the lap for 6th place; last shoot and the wind is up a little?  Olga P has had a melt down to throw a possible double – she missed 3 but Yurlova has cleared and she leads by 18.9 out from Doro W, who missed 1 here. Selina Gasparin is clear here and up to 3rd Olga now 4th ahead of Tiril who has missed another 1. Gabi has missed 2, Valj 1 – Ekaterina Yurlova is looking good for another Russian win; Doro dropping back a little to Selina, and I think Tiril will get Olga P. So, Yurlova (1,0,0,0) has won – Selina Gasparin (1,0,0,0) has got past Doro (0,0,2,1) to get a very impressive 2nd place from a 16 start with Doro 3rd. Tiril (0,1,1,1) is 4th from 20, just ahead of Krystyna Guzik (1,0,1,0) who is probably glad she did start, taking 5th from 26 at the start. In the end Olga P was 8th.  Some others who gained are Valj S (21 to 9), Anais Chevalier (23 to 11), Daria Virolaynen (32 to 12), Susan Dunklee (37 to 17), Nadezhda Skardino (29 to 18 and Julia Ransom (46 to 19). Going backwards Olga P (1 to 8), Anais Bescond (4 to 10), Miri (10 to 20 – could have been worse given a shooting record of 2,2,1,2) and MDH (6 to 26 – 0,0,2,2). I can’t really believe that Miri is once again the best German finisher in 20th (having gained 9 places on the last lap), ahead of Karo (0,0,0,1) who was 24th from a start number of 50 – Franzi H (0,2,0,2) dropped from 19 to 27; not their best day! Once again Miri has the best course time from Selina Gasparin and Anais Bescond. Doro W fastest on the range.

Men’s 15 Km Pursuit: This one should be close; only 29 seconds between the top 10 – wonder if it will be as volatile as the women’s race? Looks like we won’t get all of this on Eurosport either, or if we do it will be out of synch with the live data feed. For some reason I can’t get the IBU video now either! Got it; just in time for S1 where Simon Schempp has cleared – Tsvetkov has missed 4, and JoBø 2. Out Schempp, Eder, Shipulin and Tarjei Bø; Anev and Peiffer also clear, Beatrix has missed 1. Schempp is being closed down on the lap, and Eder is past at the 4.6 Km split; Tarjei also making up time and Doll also fast. At S2 Eder clears and is out 8.6 up on Schempp (also clear); Shipulin 3rd despite missing 1, then Anev, Tarjei (1 miss) and Arnd Peiffer 6th with 10/10; Doll has missed 2 (pushing too hard?). Martin F is 10/10 and up to 10th from 28! Over to Eurosport – JoBø up to 8th again after a clear at S2; Shipulin making up time on the leaders; about 14 seconds from range to 7.1 Km split. First standing shoot – Schempp clear, so is Shipulin here; Eder has missed 1; out in that order. Tarjei clear and 4th, JoBø drops 1 more but still only 3 seconds behind his brother; Martin F clear and up to 6. Fourcade has made up another 10 seconds on the lap; last shoot and Schempp has missed 1; so does Shipulin but the Russian leads out. Tarjei misses 1 but JoBø clear and leading out 3rd just ahead of Martin F (who has cleared the lot). So, Shipulin, Schempp (+6.7), Bø (+18.4), Fourcade (+19.5) and Eder (+28.3). Now for the last lap race – Anton Shipulin pulling away and Martin F fighting with JoBø for 3/4. This is exciting – at the last split Shipulin is +10.6 over Schempp and Bø/Martin F are clsong him. Anton Shipulin (0,1,0,1) makes it a Russian pursuit double, Simon Schempp (0,0,0,1) holds on for 2nd and JoBø (2,0,1,0) has the better of Martin F (0,0,0,0) for the final podium place. Arnd Peiffer 5th, ahead of Simon Eder. Most obvious gain – Martin Fourcade from 28 to 4, but also note Anton Babikov (Rus; 31 to 7 with the second best isolated pursuit time), Emil Hegle Svendsen (27 to 12), Andi Birnbacher (41 to 14!), Erik Lesser (35 to 18) and Andrejs Rastorgujevs (36 to 21 despite 4 penalties). Backwards were Tarjei Bø (3 to 8), Krasimir Anev (7 to 17), Benedikt Doll (11 to 23) and Lukas Hofer (12 to 34). Simon Fourcade started 10th but had 6 penalties and was a DNF. Beatrix also DNF – wonder if he’s well? Best total course time – Garanichev from JoBø and Martin F.

Going to post the Men's details first as I want to see the video of the women's race, which wasn't live on Eurosport, later this afternoon (and check for errors - too much to watch today!)

Men’s 4 x 7.5 Km Relay: Interesting that the Russians have Malyshko in their team (who hasn’t raced here this time and arguably is well off form) but have left out Babikov who had a great pursuit. No Svendsen or Tarjei Bø today, and no Martin F. Among those on the first leg, OEB, Simon Fourcade (who was a DNF in the pursuit, presumably resting?), Tsvetkov, Lesser and Grossegger; I see we have a GB team today. Very pretty montage on Eurosport (telling us how they are covering so much winter sport) but you’re missing the bl**dy race! Now we have adverts and the athletes are through 2.1 Km – what are these idiots doing? S1 and still no coverage – Gow of Canada leads out from Jakov Fak and Erik Lesser, Zahkna of Estonia 4th, OEB needed 2 spares and Laponder is doing 2 loops! Good light and no wind – not good. At last – we have coverage. On the lap Erik L has taken the lead from Fak and de Lorenzi, OEB pulling back a bit of time. In for S2 – Lesser clear again, so are Zahkna and Savitskiy (Kaz) – out in that order followed by Fak, de Lorenzi and OEB (another spare here, but only +14.3). Coming to the first exchange – at 7.1 Km Erik leads, Jakov Fak up to 2nd, OEB doesn’t seem to be catching, so Germany lead out on leg 2 from Slovenia , Italy, Kazakhstan, Estonia and Norway. GB already 3 minutes back. Early on Doll is losing to Hofer and also to Birkeland; Hofer is through at 2.1 Km of this leg. Now, S3; Doll clear and he’s shot faster than Lukas Hofer. Doll leads out from Hofer, Birkeland and Garanichev; Eberhard has used all 3, so has Nelin. Hofer is catching again on the lap, but that didn’t work out so well last time? Good, Lukas has tucked in – probably better tactics, but Garanichev is flying, and past Birkeland! The second standing shoot, S4 – Hofer used 1 spare and shot faster than Doll who ends up on the penalty loop (and Eberhard joins him, that’s his 2nd) – another melt! Out Hofer, Garanichev, Birkeland and Weger. By 7.1 Km of this leg Garanichev has closed on Hofer, Birkeland losing time but Doll up to 5th and gaining. Second exchange – Italy just a fraction ahead of Russia, then the Swiss, Norway and Germany. So, JoBø away for Norway against Arnd Peiffer, Simon Eder, Malyshko, Montello (Ita), Finello (Sui) and Desthieux. Even early on little Bø has pulled back 10 seconds; at 2.1 Km Dmitri Malyshko leads from Montello, Finello with Bø up to +14.5 (+33.1 at exchange). Now S5 – several misses; JoBø is clear and out first ahead of Finello. Malyshko needed 3 spares but he’s out 3rd just ahead of Peiffer (1 spare), and Desthieux (1 spare) – Montello on 4 penalty loops! JoBø is flying towards S6 and Malyshko and Peiffer are catching Finello. S6 and very calm conditions – JoBø clear, lovely shooting and VERY fast, he’s out 18.6 ahead of Malyshko. Arnd P is also clear and 3rd; Eder gets Austria up to 4th, Nordgren (USA) 5th and Finello 6th. Little Bø still pulling away on the lap, Malyshko opening a gap on Peiffer – final exchange and Bjøntegaard is 29.2 ahead of Anton Shipulin with Simon Schempp 3rd; Britain have already been lapped! Landertinger out 4th ahead of Beatrix (another DNF in the pursuit) and Sean Doherty. At 2.1 Km the Russian isn’t catching but Schempp has closed a little on Shipulin. S7 – Norway need 2 spares and the lead is down to 6.8 as Schempp has cleared quickly and is out 2nd; Anton Shipulin needed 1 spare and he’s 3rd; Landertinger and Beatrix also 1 spare. At 3.6 Km Bjøntegaard is 2.4 ahead of Schempp, Anton S has pulled back about 6 seconds. This is getting close as we come in for the last shoot – Shipulin clear, so is Schempp and they are out just 0.5 apart in that order; Bjøntegaard needs 2 more spares; USA on the loop. We are in for a really epic last lap – steady pace at first which is letting Norway catch up; at 7.1 Km Anton leads by 0.6 with Bjøntegaard 10 seconds back so the pace is winding up. Japan in the way as they sprint – Shipulin wins, so a Russian victory with Germany recovering from an early penalty to go 2nd, Norway third. Then Austria (also with an early penalty), France and USA in 6th.

Canmore – Men’s 10 Km Sprint: Nice video on the IBU site; Rosanna Crawford on the 2.5 Km loop; I hadn’t quite realised that Canmore is relatively high (1408 metres at the stadium), so dealing with altitude might be important here, and it’s also very dry and cold. A slightly odd series of races here in Canada, as there are several notable absences due to athletes staying away to prepare for the World Championships in Norway. Apparently no Svendsen, no OEB, neither Bø (and no Eckhoff either). I gather Lindström is ill (and so are Nelin [who apparently made it to the airport before pulling out with a sore throat] and Högberg). Martin Fourcade, Simon Schempp and Anton Shipulin are among those on the start list though – what about a battle for the sprint win between those three?
On to the race – 89 starters with Simon Eder (happy at altitude, so ..??) going first. Lots of good names going early. Meanwhile Eurosport, who advertise starting biathlon coverage on the hour, are showing some sort of collection of outtakes from tennis – why?! Apparently some sort of transmission problem; why not let us know before? Anyway, Simon Schempp away well but Martin F is even faster; Simon Eder is clear at S1, so is Schempp – Garanichev and Fourcade too. This is apparently a tough range but so far the shooting is looking good – Semenov the first to miss one, but Shipulin is clear and fastest so far after S1; Rastorgujevs fast at 2.5 Km (Hofer even better) while Doll has missed 2 at S1. Now, Lukas Hofer is also clear at S1 and very close to Anton Shipulin’s time; Eder has cleared his standing shoot but Garanichev has missed 1; Schempp clear. Martin F is at S2 – he’s clear too and leaves 11 seconds faster than Schempp – Shipulin between the two times. We keep losing the picture – the transmission snag seems to be still around! So, after S2 it’s Martin F, Anton Shipulin and Simon Schempp (all 10/10) – Eder also clear; nice to see Rastorgujevs is (0,1) and currently 7th. Lukas Hofer has also missed 1 and he’s 12th. Looks like Shipulin might have closed down Martin F - not enough though (he seems to have lost a bit on the final lap – fall?); at present Martin F leads at the finish, Shipulin 2nd (+15.7) and Schempp 3rd (+18.7). Looking back at S1, Landertinger and Peiffer are in touch, so are Simon F and Erik Lesser but I fear everything is already decided. Simon F has cleared S2 as well, so has Alexander Os but both rather off the pace. Julian Eberhard fast but he’s (1,1) and lies 10th as he leaves the range. Arnd Peiffer clear at S2 and 6th and we are apparently giving up on Eurosport video coverage as the picture is too flaky – wonderful! Erik Lesser has missed 1 but is still 12th. I can’t see any later starters doing well enough at S1 to upset things at present; quite a few clear but maybe 30 seconds or more off the target time. Good effort by Eberhard to get into provisional 4th despite his 2 misses; ahead of the clean shooting Eder! Bit disappointing for Arnd Peiffer – all 10 cleared but +1:14.3(seems he lost about 40 seconds on the last lap?); only just ahead of Erik L who had 1 miss (and he too lost time on the final lap – waxing?). I really can’t see anyone bothering the top 3 – Eberhard still 4th and +45, ahead of Landertinger and Eder. Ah, good call for once – there is no change to the top 6 – MF, Shipulin, Schempp (all 10/10), Eberhard (1,1), Landertinger (0,1) and Eder (0,0). Simon Fourcade 7th, Os 9th (best Norwegian), Peiffer 11 and Lesser 12. Best Canadian was Macx Davies (0,0) in 25th. Martin F fastest round the course, ahead of Eberhard and Schempp; Simon Eder best on range time

Women’s 7.5 km Sprint: Welcome back Franziska Preuß! Strong German team here; Miri is first away, Franzi Hildebrand 16, Laura Dahlmeier 27, Preuß 40, Karo Horchler 62 & Luise Kummer 75. Fair spread of “names” here (Kaisa 10; Gabi 13; Doro 17; MDH 24) so hopefully it won’t be settled as early as the men’s race yesterday! Sounds as though the wind has picked up today – trees are moving a bit! Race is under way; touching wood – the picture seems OK. That wind really has got up – it’s blowing the snow horizontally across the tracks in places – Miri has missed 1 at S1 (quite good in these conditions), but that isn’t as bad as Yuliia Dzhima who has missed 3, Laukkanen 2, Lisa Hauser 2. Back along lap 1 Kaisa is flying and so is Gabi – Anais Bescond is the first to clear all 5 in the prone! Kaisa has missed 1 at S1; the wind is gusting as Gabi manages to clear 4 out of 5. Miri is in for S2 – she’s missed 3 while (unusually) Franzi H has missed 3 in prone, so has Selina Gasparin – Doro is clear at S1, and she’s quick too! Dzhima has missed 4 at S2, Laukkanen 2, Bescond 2 but she’s currently best after S2 – or was – Kaisa M has missed 1 at each shoot but that’s very good today; Gabi even better as she’s got a calm spell and (1,0) leads after S2, can she hold her advantage over Kaisa on the final lap? Laura D has missed 1 at S1, Guzik clear there, Doro has missed 1 at S2 but she’s much quicker than Gabi! Franzi H is having a bad day – 3,2 but fairly quick. At the finish Kaisa is provisional leader but Krystyna Guzik has become the first person to clear all 10; Gabi is in and faster than Kaisa. Preuß is clear at S1 – Doro is approaching the finish – she’s into the lead. Now, Tachizaki has also cleared all 10 – how fast can she get round the final lap? Interesting that Miri, with 4 misses, is only 5 seconds behind Bescond. Guzik is pushing hard on the final lap – after S2 she was 7.3 ahead of Wierer, she’s over the line and first by 4.9 ahead of Doro and Gabi. Franzi P is 0,1 after S2 and just inside Gabi’s time. Pidhrushna is also 10/10 , about 16 seconds slower than Guzik; Ransom is also 10/10 but a little off the time – Preuß had lost a bit at 6 Km but at 6.8 she’s back ahead of Gabi. Back on the range the wind has eased, so that might throw up a few surprises? Yes, Franzi Preuß has dislodged Gabi from the provisional podium; however I think Olena Pidhrushna will change all the places! Yes, she has produced a fantastic final lap and takes the lead from Guzik and Wierer. Meanwhile MDH is 1,3, Fenne 0,4 – Horchler and Kummer have both missed 1 at S1. Well – the wind has calmed down and there’s a potential upset or two, Baiba Bendika (Latvia) and Iryna Varvynets (Ukr) are both 10/10 and well in touch - +11.5 and +6.8 at S2 respectively!! Hojnisz is also in touch after clearing S2, despite 1 miss at S1. This is going to be close today; Bendika has gone into 4th (briefly, as Hojnisz has taken it away – very good skiing, and a good day for Poland) and Varvynets is 8th. Wind back up again – something of a lottery! Norway having a really bad day – best is Fenne and she’s already in the 50s (54th in the end). So, Olena Pidhrushna (0,0) wins from Krystyna Guzik (0,0) and Doro Wierer (0,1). Hojnisz (1,0) in 4th ahead of Bendika (0,0) with Franzi Preuß (0,1) best German in 6th. Gabi was 7th but extends her lead as MDH was 29th, dropping her below Doro in the overall. Karo Horchler was 9th, Luise Kummer 14th and Laura D 16th – Miri ended 27th, bit unlucky with the wind! Franzi H was fastest round the course, ahead of MDH, Kaisa and Miri. Not really surprising that Pidhrushna is credited with the fastest final lap! Once again Doro was the best on range time. Mass starts tomorrow.

Canmore – Men’s 15 Km Mass Start: Nice to see Andrejs Rastorgujevs in this august company! Almost 500 m total climb today, and remember it’s at 1400m elevation – however wide tracks and good snow, if a bit overcast and gloomy. Seems the wind has eased but there are some gusts around; Nathan Smith the only Canadian but Lowell Bailey and Tim Burke are also in the 30 starters. Only one Norwegian – Alexander Os (not often that happens). Looks like Kazar right at the back, but it’s not a crippling pace – maybe he slipped on something or he’s trying a Lesser? Julian Eberhard is well up at 2.3 Km but they are all fairly close. In for the first shoot, and it’s a bit gusty – Garanichev has missed 2, so has Simon Fourcade and (oh gloom) Schempp has missed 3; Martin F has missed 2 as well – even more wind than it seemed?! Simon Eder has shot very fast and he leads out with a healthy advantage, Desthieux is second (+18.8) and Pryma (+19.6) third – Kazar’s gentle lap has paid off as he’s 4th! Those are the only 4 clear – amazing! Martin F was +49.9 as he left the range – at 5.3 Km the gap is down to just 30.0 – that’s a huge chunk pulled back. Commentators have reverted to their favourite topic – Bjørndalen (who isn’t even here). In for the second prone (no wind this time) and Eder is clear again, so is Pryma - Eder leads the Ukraine athlete away and the gap is +21.6. Rastorgujevs (1,0) is third, Windisch 4th and Kazar (still clear) in 5th. Martin F was clear this time and back up to 7th; Schempp has missed another 2 – Germans aren’t having a good day generally; Arnd Peiffer currently best in 12th with 1 miss per shoot. On the lap Windisch is pulling back time on Eder and Martin F has pulled back another 12 seconds. First standing shoot and the wheels are coming off as the wind gusts – Eder has missed 3! Martin F has also missed 3 – I don’t think anyone has 15/15. Out in order Quentin F-M (1,0,1), Rastorgujevs (1,0,1), Landertinger (1,1,0). Tim Burke up to 4th ahead of Peiffer and Doll (both with 3 penalties). On the lap QFM has lost a little time to Andrejs R but is pulling out a bit on the chasing group; Doll gaining places though although he is losing a little time. There are some serious totals of misses – Schempp now 6 in all, same as Eberhard, Malyshko and Slesingr. Final shoot and the weather isn’t looking kind, but it’s calm on the range? QFM has missed 1 and leads out – great stuff as Rastorgujevs has also only missed 1 – out just 13.9 behind just ahead of Windisch and Doll. Kazar has only missed 1 target all day and he’s 5th. Martin F has missed 6 in all (2,0,3,1) but he’s still 10th, +26.3. Sadly it looks like Andrejs has a set of skis that aren’t gliding well now while Windisch has a super set! At 13.4 Km Dominik Windisch has taken the lead ahead of QFM and Rastorgujevs; Doll 4th and Martin F up to 5th almost 19 seconds back. At 14.3 Km it’s Windisch, QFM, Doll and AR – Martin F hasn’t closed any more. At the finish Dominik Windisch (1,0,2,1) has held on for his first (individual) win; Benedikt Doll (2,1,0,1) has managed to get into 2nd ahead of QFM (1,0,1,1). Landertinger pips Rastorgujevs with Martin F 6th, Tim Burke in 7th, Peiffer 8th. Simon Schempp (3,2,1,2) was 21st – he really doesn’t like windy days! It’s snowing more heavily now – the women aren’t going to have a nice day for their Mass Start! Benedikt Doll was fastest round the course ahead of Martin F and Windisch; Eder fastest on the range. Good race!

Women’s 12.5 km Mass Start: Now, given how well Dominik Windisch’s skis ran in the men’s race, will Doro have the same set up? Well, 6 Germans today – well done them, let’s hope they emulate Doll not Schempp! No Canadians but Susan Dunklee is in and Bendika’s good sprint has got her a start today. Weather looking a bit friendlier at present but the wind is still gusty and it can change quickly – this might be another set of surprises! Slightly hard initial tempo perhaps but it’s a fairly reasonable entry to the range here. Doro breaking trail, and the athletes are starting to stretch out; here they come for S1 – Doro has missed 1, Guzik, Pidhrushna, Bescond, Oberhofer among those with 2 misses, Kaisa 3! Franzi Hildebrand leads out from Hauser, Virolaynen, Kummer, Gabi and MDH. Miri has cleared all 5, quite slowly, and is 7th ahead of Varvynets and Horchler. Franziska Preuß and Laura Dahlmeier have missed 1 each. On the lap MDH and Miri are closing on Franzi H; Gabi also close, as is Aymonier. In for the second prone – Franzi H clear, so are MDH, Aymonier, Gabi and Doro – out MDH, Franzi H, Aymonier. Miri has missed 3 – I think she gets carried away with the excitement of the race. Laura D, Luise K and Franzi P have all missed 1 in prone and are in 9/10/11 (I wondered about their wax set up yesterday, or maybe fatigue?) while Doro has the same total but is up to 4th! MDH is looking good today as they come in for the first standing shoot – she’s opened up a small gap. Franzi H has missed 1 but MDH and Gabi are clear, so is Doro here and she leads out ahead of MDH and Gabi – gap of 30 seconds or so then to Franzi H (1 miss here), Laura D and Anais Bescond. Aymonier has missed 2 which has dropped here to 7 ahead of Virolaynen and Eva Puskarčíková. At 9.3 Km Doro is marginally ahead of MDH and Gabi. Franzi H is +29, Laura D +51 with Bescond very close. Final shoot – Doro clear but Gabi and MDH have missed 1 each (hooray!) – Doro is out 30 seconds ahead of MDH and Gabi; meanwhile Franzi H and Laura have also missed 1 more each – Kaisa M, after a bad time in prone (3,1) has cleared all 10 in the stand – what a comeback! So, out of the range Doro, MDH, Gabi, Franzi H, Anais B, Kaisa. Laura D is 7th and Miri up to 11th after good standing shoots (0,3,1,0). Looks like a good day for Italy; MDH is closing a little – maybe more to open from Gabi than close on Doro? The podium seems secure but there’s some interesting movement behind, Kaisa homing in on Franzi H for example! So, it’s an Italian double today – Doro Wierer (1,0,0,0) wins from MDH (great race, 0,0,0,1) and Gabi (0,0,0,1). Kaisa M (3,1,0,0) has passed Franzi H (0,0,1,1) for 4th with Bescond 6th. Laura D is 7th and Miri has got back into 8th – apart from S2 she shot really well! No shock to see Kaisa M fastest today round the tracks ahead of Miri and MDH; Doro best on the range, ahead of Kummer and Hauser. Another good race!

Single Mixed Relay: One woman, 1 man from each nation, and three exchanges. Some nations obviously taking this more seriously than others – brave man who would bet against the French super team of Marie D-H and Martin F! Germans have Kummer and Lesser, Norway Fenne and Birkeland, Canada Nathan Smith and Ransom. Then there’s Austria with Hauser and Eder, Russia Podchufarova and Volkov, and Latvia do have a team – Bendika and Rastorgujevs! Women away first, up that nasty hill and lots of snowploughing into the first shoot – several spares used, out in order Sweden (Andersson), Russia, Japan (the female Tachizaki, hubby paired with her; similar for Poland who have a pair of Guziks) – MDH in 5th, Luise Kummer 7th. The commentators haven’t got the sequence the same as the IBU data stream; the IBU are correct! So S2 – more spares – out Sweden, France (despite 1 spare each time), Russia then Kazakhstan, Austria and Germany; at the exchange it’s France ahead – good luck to Stenersen trying to stay with Martin F! S3 and Martin F is clear; out ahead of Volkov and Lesser; Stenersen uses 2 spares – out 4th, Latvia in 9. That really is a sharp corner at the end of the downhill into the stadium – Martin F uses 1 spare in S4 and leads out, Volkov clear in 2nd and Erik Lesser third (1 spare); Eder 4th and very close to Erik. Next change – Fra/Rus/Ger/Aut/Nor; leading 2 have a gap over the chasers. Next shoot – MDH clear and away (+21.7!), Fenne in 2nd, Podchufarova 3rd; Luise needs 1 spare and she’s 4th ahead of Vishnevskaya (Kaz) and Hauser; quite a few penalty loops so far as well, including USA, Slovenia, Poland. On to S6 – MDH clear again and out before anyone else is on the mat! Fenne out second but that’s a 50 second gap, Kummer third ahead of Vittozi (Ita) and Russia. At the exchange France are well clear but Norway, Germany, Italy and Russia are close. Now – S7 and Martin clears 5 and out on his own – Erik Lesser out 2nd ahead of Simon Eder and Volkov – all clear. Birkeland needs 2 spares, which drops him to 5th. Final shoot – Martin F cruising gently around the lap; he uses 1 spare but is still away before the chasers are in. Eder clear and out 2nd ahead of Norway and Volkov – Erik melts (again) and is on the penalty loop! Now, might Birkeland catch Eder; can Bormolini catch Volkov? No to both suggestions - Martin F sprints over the line, Austria keep 2nd, Norway 3rd, Russia 4th, Germany down in 7th! Latvia have taken 8th, Canada 12th. Russia very impressive on the range – just 2 spares all day, Lithuania worst with 6 penalty loops and 12 spares!

The “Normal” 2 x 6 Km, 2 x 7.5 Km Mixed Relay: Twenty two teams this time; Franzi H kicks off for Germany, against (among others) Olsbu, Vítková, Chevalier and Doro W. Pidhrushna not starting (Burdyga in instead). How about Italy for a bet - they seem to have the waxing sorted and Doro and Windisch are on form. Race is away, already we’re talking about Bjørndalen! All very close coming in to S1; Doro clear and leading out from Susan Dunklee and Raikova (Kaz). Virolaynen also clear and 4th; Franzi H needing 1 spare and 10th. For some amazing reason the Czechs are doing 3 penalty loops; 3 teams needing all 3 spares, including Finland. On the lap Doro is only just ahead of Dunklee, Franzi up to 5th. In for S2 and Selina Gasparin clears to lead – Doro needs 2 spares but still out 2nd ahead of Franzi who was clear this time. Crawford 4th but Dunklee has used 3 spares; Vítková has cleared this time but is still almost 2 minutes adrift. As we near the end of leg 1 Doro is back up with Selina, Franzi close too – exchange and it’s Sui/Ita/Ger – gap to Nor/USA/Can – the Czech team are over 2 mins back. Aita Gasparin for the Swiss against Karin Oberhofer, Franzi Preuß and Solemdal. Coming in for S3 and Preuß is clear, out ahead of Gasparin and Dreissigacker, Solemdal 4th – Italy on the penalty loop! On the lap Preuß is motoring – hope she isn’t going too fast! Last shoot for the women – Franzi has used 1 spare, she’s out ahead of Solemdal (clear, +13.2) and Mona Brorsson (+31.4); USA 4th and Canada 5th. Gabi up to 15th but still over 2 minutes back. Preuß still going well as they come in for the next exchange – she’s pulled out 5 seconds on Solemdal; Dreissigacker has passed Brorsson, but can she hold it? Next exchange – out Ger/Nor/Swe/USA and somehow Italy are 5th despite a penalty loop! Canada in 6th. So, Arnd Peiffer away from Os and Arwidson; Tim Burke going for the USA, and Lukas Hofer for Italy. First shoot for the men – Arnd clear and leads out, Arwidson clear and out ahead of Os who needed a spare; Tim Burke clear and ahead of Lukas Hofer who was also clear! Looks like Eberhard is on the loop, so are Pryma and Toivanen. On the lap Os and Burke are past Arwidson. Calm at S6 and Arnd Peiffer has cleared and fast too; Os needs 2 spares but Hofer clear; USA on the loop. Out from the range Peiffer, Os, Hofer, Arwidson, Burke and Malyshko; at the final exchange Simon Schempp takes over with a gap of 1:02.9 to Dominik Windisch who is just ahead of Bogetveit (Nor); about 30 seconds then to Lowell Bailey who is just ahead of Slepov. Final prone – coming in, Bogetveit just past Windisch, Slepov past Bailey – Schempp needs 1 spare, Windisch (+1:09.3) and Bogetveit (+1:13.9) both clear but the Italian out ahead; Russia just ahead of USA with Armgren 6th. Dominik W is pulling away from the Norwegian a bit; 4/5 still very close. Final shoot – Schempp needs 1 more spare and he’s away; looked like Windisch ejected a round, but he’s out 2nd just ahead of Norway who used just 1 spare and are back with him. Canada up to 4th with Brendan Green, ahead of USA and France (QFM); looks like Slepov is on the loop? Final lap, Schempp away and Windisch is pulling clear again, Bogetveit looks safe but Green and Bailey are neck and neck, QFM potentially still in touch. Germany have walked it (just 4 spares) but the excitement is behind Schempp – Italy get 2nd, Norway 3rd. Lowell Bailey has passed Brendan Green to take 4th and QFM has also pipped him. So, Germany, Italy, Norway, USA, France and Canada! The Czechs managed 10th despite the 3 loops; most unusual for Vítková.

Presque Isle, Maine – Men’s 10 Km Sprint: Nice tour of the 3.3 Km loop on the IBU site courtesy of Lowell Bailey – looks awkward and twisty with at least one very tricky downhill (Lowell reckons Ted Ligety would enjoy that bit) and a mean uphill – the approach to the range looks hard too! Well, not only are the Norwegians prioritising the forthcoming Worlds (although the Bø brothers are here), but the Canadians who have pre-qualified for the World Championships are apparently staying in Canmore to train rather than go to Maine – seemed that one exception might be Nathan Smith on the grounds that he wanted to keep (or improve) his position in the overall, but he doesn’t seem to be on the start list. So maybe that was a false buzz. And, no Brendan Green, no Gows, no Crawford, Beaudry, Davies or Ransom. Apparently Megan Tandy fell pre Canmore; she has broken her arm and will miss the rest of the season. Finally, on the news front, Olga Abramova has been caught doping – not much more detail yet but this may have been unlucky (prescription in late 2015, drug banned early 2016? However, it seems that Martin F has tweeted that for her excuse to be credible, she might need to explain why she was taking a drug prescribed for heart problems!?).
Anyway – back to the sprint – cold, dry snow which, again, will be a challenge for the wax technicians. 92 on the start list today; Martin F away number 3. It’s minus 8 at the start; no problems with altitude here! I see Schempp, Moravec and Stenersen are not starting; not sure why. Looks a sensible pace to the first split; the early starters are at S1 and the wind seems to have shifted since they zeroed - Martin F is clear, as is Bjøntegaard but Windisch has missed 2 so he almost certainly wont be winning this sprint! Arnd Peiffer also clear and in touch, Benedikt Doll also clear and marginally faster, Serafin Wiestner (Sui) even better! Anton Shipulin is also clear and currently 4th after S1 – that’s 6 with 5/5 so far; QFM joins them, so does Simon Fourcade. At S2 Martin F has shot very slowly and carefully, but he has missed 1; no one is 10/10 yet; Windisch and Eberhard are (2,2). Arnd Peiffer has also missed 1, which leaves him over 20 seconds back on Martin. Back at S1 JoBø is clear and 7.4 seconds quicker than Martin F there; Rastorgujevs also clear and he is also faster than Martin F. Oops, Doll has missed 2 at S2, so has QFM; Weistner has missed 1 but so far he’s closest to Martin F’s time; however Anton Shipulin has cleared all 10 – he’s only 7.8 better than Martin F though. Well – JoBø has cleared all 10 as well and he’s a lot faster than Shipulin – looks like his week off has worked (but why is his rifle than gopping colour?)! By 8.9 Km Anton S has only 2.1 left of his advantage – down to 1.9 at 9.4 Km, but he’s got just enough left to take first at present, but just 1 second. Meanwhile Rastorgujevs is 0,1 after S2 – faster than Martin F and very close to Shipulin. Surely JoBø has won this – 29.4 faster than Shipulin; Rastorgujevs seems to have lost a massive amount of time on the final lap – wonder of he fell? He’s over the finish line and 6th at present – maybe he was just too tired or his waxing wasn’t that good (small team!); less than a second back on Shipulin at S2 and about 26 behind him at the end. Erik Lesser is 10/10 but already slower than Martin F, who had 1 miss. No late excitement at S1 at present, although Dolder (Sui) is close to Shipulin’s time – missed 1 at S2 though. Erik Lesser in to 4th at present – best of the Germans at present; good shooting but a little off the ski pace. As far as I can see just 8 x 10/10s today – JoBø, Anton S, Erik L, Kalev Ermits (Estonia), Lorenz Wäger (Aut), Michal Sima (Svk), Vassiliy Podkorytov (Kaz), Junji Nagai (Jpn). So, JoBø wins from Anton Shipulin, Martin Fourcade and Erik Lesser. Good day for the Swiss with Wiestner 5th and Weger 6th, Andrejs Rastorgujevs gets another good result in 7th, just ahead of Tarjei Bø and Arnd Peiffer. Best American Sean Docherty(0,1) in 13th. Not surprisingly, Martin F had the best course time ahead of JoBø, Eberhard and Doll; on the final lap Andrejs R was 36th against 6th overall, 3rd on lap 1 and 2nd on lap 2. Simon Eder again best on the range ahead of Birkeland and Zahkna (Est).

Women’s 7.5 Km Sprint: Again some names missing, no Hildebrand or Dahlmeier; I think that might have been planned? If so it surely reduces the contenders for the overall to Gabi, Doro and MDH? Those 3 are racing – Gabi & Doro at 8/9 and MDH at 24. Also no Eckhoff, Horn, Solemdal or Olsbu. 90 starters today – let’s see how they deal with the turns and terrain! Sean Docherty reckons the wind will pick up – doesn’t look too bad at present. Kaisa going 6, Susan Dunklee 13 (hope she’s not superstitious!), Miri 16. Now, how will Vítková do today – she’s been having problems in the prone recently. Just five female biathletes away and we’ve already had the first OEB mention! Kaisa and Gabi (complete with new hair colour) flying; Veronika V is at S1 (wind up a bit) and has missed just 1; Laukkanen and Fenne 3! Teja Gregorin is clear, but Kaisa has done the same and is 16.7 faster. Gabi clear and even faster but Doro has missed 1; Hauser clear and currently 3rd here behind Gabi And Kaisa; eh up – Susan Dunklee clear and fastest at S1 at the moment! Miri in for S1 and very deliberate – 1 miss; Teja Gregorin has missed 1 at S2 and may have dropped something on the range? Vítková clear here; Kaisa has missed 1 (her last shot). Gabi goes clear which gives her about 30 seconds over Kaisa, Doro has missed another 1 while MDH is now fastest after S1. Susan Dunklee has cleared all 10 – just 9.3 behind Gabi! Poor Franzi P has missed 2 at S1; Pidhrushna has missed her first shot, and 1 more too. Miri has missed 3 in the stand – pass me the whisky! At the finish it’s currently Gabi, Kaisa and Veronika V. At S2 Krystyna Guzik has gone clear, as have Podchufarova and Bendika; MDH has missed 1 – Gabi looking good for the win now. Dunklee has lost a bit of time on the final lap but into provisional second on home snow. Guzik also losing time to Gabi on her last lap, she’s into 3rd ahead of Kaisa; MDH is approaching the finish almost neck and neck with Kaisa’s time; great finish as she’s into 4th ahead of Kaisa! Franzi P is clear at S2, but only just faster than Miri who had 4 penalties in total – she’s lost 20 seconds on the last lap too, so I wonder if she’s entirely well! Now that’s good for Nicolaisen (Nor) who is 10/10 and 6th after S2, Podchufarova also 10/10 and 8th at the range. Again, nothing very likely to affect the podium going on at S1. Nice shooting from Luise Kummer (1,0), who seems to be the best shooting German today! That is it – Gabi has won the sprint with 17.8 seconds in hand for the pursuit tomorrow. Susan Dunklee gets what I think is a PB in second, just ahead of Krystyna Guzik. MDH in 4th, ahead of Kaisa, Selina Gasparin (another good result for the Swiss!) and Doro. Kaia Nicolaisen best Norwegian in 9th – good result for her. Luise Kummer has done it – best German today (but 20th - so not a good day generally for the German women)! Miri still 22nd despite those 4 penalty loops, but 1:28.2 adrift for the pursuit! Franzi P down in 36, so either badly off form or maybe not well? Interesting that Aymonier was fractionally faster than Miri round the course (and the last lap) with MDH third. Luise Kummer fastest on the range ahead of Hauser and Doro.

Presque Isle, Maine – Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit: Apparently a bit windier today (~13 Km/h) but otherwise looking good – the IBU says air temperature is -160C; lots of tape and warm hats! JoBø has 28 seconds advantage in this race over Anton Shipulin and 1 more over Martin F – so a full miss in hand. That’s the race away – that’s Doll, not Schempp boys! At 1.5 Km the gaps between the top 3 are almost the same except Martin is just past Anton; at 2 Km JoBø has gained a second! JoBø has missed 1 at S1 but so have Martin F and Anton S; out in that order – Erik Lesser clear but still 4th, now 34.6 back with Rastorgujevs also clear and up to 5th; the 2 Swiss (Weger & Wiestner) have also missed 1 each. Andi Birnbacher clear and up from 23 to 12! At 4 Km Martin F has closed slightly, Shipulin a slight loss. Andrejs R closing on the 3 chasers. JoBø a little faster to the next split though – in for S2: JoBø clear here and out before Fourcade settles! Martin F has missed 1, Erik & Anton clear so the running order after S2 is JoBø, Anton S (+34.7), Erik L, Rastorgujevs, Martin F. Erik and Andrejs are 10/10, so are Grosssegger and Desthieux – that seems to be the lot? QFM has 6 misses so far! First standing shoot – Bø clear again (that rifle really is a disgusting colour!) and out 44.1 ahead of Martin F who was clear this time. Shipulin clear and out 3rd but Erik has missed 2; Andrejs R 3! Erik out 4th just ahead of Eder and Tim Burke who is 6th from 20 at the start; Ermits is 8th from 19; Wiestner has missed all 5 here. Can’t see any perfect scores now. On the lap Tim Burke is up to 4th with Eder and Lesser close; Bjøntegaard with them. Final shoot – JoBø has missed 2; Martin F clear and he’s out 7.9 ahead of the Norwegian. Anton Shipulin misses 1 more and he’s third but 40 seconds behind JoBø. Lesser has missed 3 more, so that’s ruined his day; Eder is 4th ahead of Bjøntegaard and Slesingr; Tim Burke has missed 2 and is 7th. Last lap and Martin F has lit the afterburners – by 11.5 Km he’s pulled out another 13 seconds on Bø. Anton S is also losing time. I’ll be interested to see who was fastest on each lap – JoBø may have similar race management issues to Rastorgujevs (who has blown his good streak with 7 misses today). Martin Fourcade (1,1,0,0) cruises home ahead of Johannes Bø (1,0,0,2); Shipulin 3rd ahead of Eder, Bjøntegaard and Slesingr. Main gainers today include Eder (11 to 4), Bjøntegaard (10 to 5), Slesingr (14 – 6), Burke (20 – 7), Iliev (21 – 8), Birnbacher (23 – 15) and Zhyrnyi (31 to 16. Those losing out – Erik Lesser (4 to 13), Weger (6 – 17), Tarjei Bø (8 – 19), Rastorgujevs (7 to 21), Wiestner (5 to 27), Os (17 to 31) – both QFM and Arnd Peiffer were DNFs. Looking at the isolated pursuit times, Martin F was almost 54 seconds faster than JoBø, best course time for Julian Eberhard, just ahead of Martin F and Iliev. Simon Eder again fastest on the range. Late news - seems Arnd Peiffer had an accident, hence the DNF, and is in hospital with facial lacerations and possibly a neck problem. Hopefully more later (if my German is up to reading it). Sounds like concussion, but I think he's been able to phone his family and can remember the accident - hope he's well soon!

Women’s 10 Km Pursuit: I suspect we may see some notable place changing here – it’s a bit closer at the start than it was for the men’s race and still very cold; wind much the same. Odd start from Gabi, hesitating for a fraction – was she early? Apparently she’s not very enthused by Presque Isle, particularly the atmosphere here? She seems to be asking her coach something on the lap too, but we are told there are no start irregularities. Anyway – on to S1 and the wind is apparently picking up; Gabi clear and leads out, so is Dunklee and the gap is down to 11.5, Doro up to 3rd ahead of Guzik and Kaisa – all clear. One miss for MDH though; same for Vítková, Nicolaisen, and Miri among others; Luise Kummer and Anais Bescond among those missing 2. Gabi pulling away on the lap; in for S2 and Gabi is clear again, Susan Dunklee has missed one, so out in order Gabi, Doro, MDH (clear here), Selina Gasparin, Kaisa (1 miss here) and Dunklee. Reasonable number of 10/10s, but some bad scores too – poor Lucie Charvatova has missed 3 in each prone. On the lap Gabi is losing a tiny bit to Doro and MDH – not quite the same at the second split so it’s varying – now for the first standing shoot – what on earth is happening? Gabi has missed 3, so has Doro; MDH has missed 4, so has Selina G – Kaisa has missed 2. Out in order Doro, Gabi, Susan Dunklee, Kaisa, Gwizdon, Guzik. Brorsson is 15/15 (the only one?) and up from 30th at the start to 8th! On the lap Doro and Gabi are pretty much neck and neck, pushing hard (let’s see what that does to S4) while Kaisa is up to 3rd just ahead of Susan Dunklee. Celia Aymonier (who had the fastest ski speed yesterday) is 5th. Amazingly MDH is still in the top 10! The final shoot – Gabi is clear but Doro has missed another 3; that must be the race over? Out Gabi, then Kaisa (clear here but +25.6) and Krystyna Guzik. Dunklee 4th and MDH up to 5th! This should be an interesting last lap for the final podium place. On the lap Gabi and Kaisa look safe but MDH is catching Guzik; she’s through her by 9.5 Km! So, another win for Gabi (0,0,3,0); Kaisa (0,1,2,0) just holds on getting 2nd by just 4.8 from MDH (1,0,4,0)! Guzik 4th ahead of Dunklee and Vítková; Doro still in the top 10, in 9th. Franzi Preuß (0,1,1,0) the best German in 14th, up from 36. Other gainers include Pidhrushna (14 to 7), Lisa Theresa Hauser (0,1,0,1) 28 to 12; Shumilova (39 to 16), Brorsson (30 to 17), and Anais Chevalier 50 to 21! Losers include Bescond (8 to 18), Selina Gasparin (6 to 26), Luise Kummer (20 to 35) and Miri (22 to 41, with 8 penalties). Franzi P had the best isolated pursuit time and MDH the fastest course time (also fastest on the last 2 laps) ahead of Gabi and Kaisa. Doro wasn’t fastest on the range today, that was Zdouc! Women get a rest tomorrow when the men have their relay, and are back on Sunday. Amendment: It seems (according to the IBU data center [sic]) that the women's relay has been rescheduled to Saturday, after the men's race (1920 and 2110 in UK tbc) - no reason at present

Presque Isle, Maine – Men’s 4 x 7.5 Km Relay: I suspect Norway, with the Bøs taking legs 3 & 4 are the favourites; Austria putting Eberhard on leg 4 seems brave, and the French include the wildly erratic QFM. Germany are missing Arnd Peiffer (who is back out of hospital after yesterday’s accident and seems OK) and Simon Schempp (who is ill). Italy look quite strong on paper but given the shooting record of Hofer and Windisch yesterday … ? Race hasn’t even started and we have our first OEB mentions! Air temperature is about -12, still dry and fairly calm at present; fast start today, all very close. Shoot 1 – good shooting here; Simon Fourcade leads out from Volkov, Lesser and Chepelin (Blr). Birkeland needs all 3 spares; looks like Sweden haven’t started, I thought Lindstrøm wasn’t well, so I wonder if that’s the reason? (apparently he and Armgren are not too bad, but not fully healthy while Stenersen has a fever). In for S2 – Erik Lesser is clear again and he leads out (that’s more like it!!); Fourcade and de Lorenzi both use 1 spare and are out 2/3 ahead of Chepelin, Savitskiy (Kaz) and Semenov. Birkeland clear this time and up to 11. That’s a good leg from Erik Lesser – at the first exchange Germany lead, from the Swiss (+17), Belarus and France; Birkeland has lost a lot of time on that lap, Canada not having a good day at present, but early days. On the lap Andi Birnbacher is losing a bit of his advantage; even more gone by 2 Km of this leg. Now for S3 – Birnbacher has used all 3 spares which shifts the order; Benni Weger leads out, ahead of Dyuzhev (Blr) and Hofer!! Germany now 8th, and 27.4 back – possibly fatherhood doesn’t improve performance! Next standing shoot – Weger uses 1 spare and leads out; Lukas Hofer needs 2 but is out second, ahead of Povarnitsyn (Rus), Nordgren (USA), QFM (I seem to have underestimated him!), Bjøntegaard and Birnbacher (who used 2 more spares – not a good day for him). The Swiss have a nice lead at present – building on it a little too, Andi B going backwards! Exchange 2 – Swiss lead with Italy 2nd (+33.4), ahead of Russia, France, Norway and Germany (+51.5). On the next lap JoBø is going for Norway and he’s closing; 10 seconds in 1.5 Km! S5 – Dolder is on the loop, very disappointing for the Swiss, JoBø uses 2 spares – so, Italy lead out (I might have maligned Windisch too) ahead of Desthieux and Malyshko. Böhm has used 2 spares and is 7th behind JoBø (4), Dolder and Burke. JoBø flying around the lap again, he’s gaining loads of time but .. what about the standing shoot? So, S6 and Windisch has lost a lot of his advantage on the lap – great shooting from Malyshko who leads out; JoBø one spare and 2nd, Desthieux clear and 3rd. Windisch needs all 3 spares and are 4th ahead of Burke and Böhm; Dolder is doing another penalty loop. JoBø has almost caught Malyshko, and he’s through – in for the final exchange – Norway lead out but Russia are only 0.2 behind. France 3rd ahead of Italy and USA. Böhm has lost another 8 seconds in 6th. Some interesting athletes on the final leg; Norway’s choice of Tarjei looks good but he’s up against Tsvetkov, Beatrix, Bormolini, Sean Doherty and Doll; Bø pulling out a little – more at the next split! Final prone – Tsvetkov looking tired; Tarjei is clear and leading out. Beatrix is also clear and 2nd; Tsvetkov needs 2 spares and leaves 3rd. Doherty (1 spare) is 4th ahead of Doll (1) and Bormolini (3). Then a big gap to Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan; the Swiss have now done 5 penalty loops in all. Tarjei Bø is pulling out time again (must be taking lessons from Terry Pratchett’s “Sweeper” – see the “Thief of Time”). Final shoot – 1 spare for Bø who leads out 14 seconds clear of Beatrix who was clear. Tsvetkov in third ahead of Doll and Doherty, Bormolini in 6th. France very impressive on the range – just 2 spares! At 6.5 Km Doll is up to 3rd but Tsvetkov and Doherty still close. Looks like the Russian and American are out of gas – at 7 Km Doll seems to have secured 3rd? So, as predicted (despite Birkeland) – Norway win. France take second place (sorry QFM – good work), with Doll getting Germany back up to 3rd (Andi B what were you doing??). I thought USA might just have pipped Russia on the line, but the photo says no, Russia 4th! Italy in 6. Eberhard did do a penalty loop – Austria down in 9th. Interesting race, with loads of change!

Women’s 4 x 6 Km Relay: Some odd choices of both team and running order, in certain cases! I see Vítková anchors the Czechs with Gabi on leg 3 and Braisaz anchors an MDH free French team. Perhaps putting Franzi P on leg 1 with Karo Horchler on the anchor leg makes sense to someone - not at all sure? Let’s see how that all turns out. Given my predictions in the men’s race, anything might happen! Quite cold so thicker, warmer kit which might be unusual? Aymonier away fast – good ski speed in the French team. In for S1 – I see Norway are a DNS, as are Slovakia. Franzi Preuß clear and fast – she leads Raikova (Kaz) and Yordanova (Bul) out ahead of Persson, Akimova and Dunklee; Canada are on the penalty loop. Commentators busy putting their curse on Germany! Susan Dunklee going fast on the next lap – pulling back 10 seconds by 3.1 Km; Selina Gasparin also going well, despite 2 spares at S1. On to S2; Franzi uses 1 spare, Selina G doesn’t need any – out Gasparin, Preuß, Varvynets, Gwizdon, Puskarčíková – are the Eurosport commentators being paid to big up the USA today (and it’s a relay, not a mass start!)? Dunklee again pulling time back; Varvynets past Franzi P. First exchange and the Swiss lead from Ukraine, Germany, USA (Dunklee having lost a bit later on the lap) and the Czechs, Poland in 6 (+18.8). Lucie Charvatova closing a little on the lap; in for S3 – Luise Kummer clear and out first from Aita Gasparin (1 miss), Yurlova, Dreissigacker (1), Charvatova (2) and Oberhofer (1). Yurlova making up ground on the lap, so is Lucie C; the Russian is into the lead. Next standing shoot – Kummer just 1 spare and out ahead of Yurlova (2) and Oberhofer (0). Gasparin 4th ahead of Burdyga and Hauser. Now, Lucie C is on the loop but one caption says she’s just used 2 spares – might be a snag? Yurlova back into the lead (really on form now?); Luise losing time as is Karin O – next exchange Russia lead from Germany (+14), Italy, Ukraine. Swiss in 4th ahead of France and Austria. This is where I really worry – can Miri hold it together or will she get caught up in the speed and go too fast? On the lap Podchufarova is being caught by Miri and Sanfilippo (who seems to be even faster than Miri in some places?). S5 – Podchufarova clear and out ahead of Miri (1 miss), Gabi (0) up to 3rd, Italy on the loop! Dzhima 4th ahead of Rieder (Aut) and Chevalier. The 2 chasers are closing down Russia, but Podchufarova is shooting well! Now for the standing shoot of this leg – Miri easing off on the approach; Podchufarova uses 1 spare and leads out, Gabi out 2nd (1). Anais Chevalier 3rd – Miri is on the penalty loop – where’s that whiskey? The USA also on the loop – at present its Rus/Cze/Fra/Ukr/Swe/Ger. That’s nice though, WNZ has cleared all her targets with no spares; more like it. Miri flying now, but so is Gabi – last exchange and the Czechs lead away from France (+16), Russia and Ukraine; Germany up to 5th (+41.7). Light fading a bit now, as they start the final leg – Vítková losing a little time to Braisaz early on the lap but the chasers are a little slower. Last prone – VV needs 2 spares but she’s out first with Shumilova up to 2nd with a clean shoot, Karo H 1 spare and 3rd ahead of Guzik and Pidhrushna; Braisaz is on the loop. The arc lights are on around the course – quite dark in places though where there aren’t enough lights (Gabi will be moaning again); Pidhrushna past Guzik and closing on Karo; both past at 3.5 Km but it’s very close. Last shoot – in the gathering gloom – Vítková needs 3 spares but she leads out, nicely clear; Karo clear and 2nd (+28.4), Guzik 3rd. Ukraine 4th ahead of Italy (Doro) and Sweden – Russia have 2 penalty loops and are 7th just fractionally ahead of France. On the lap Pidhrushna is through Guzik and the rest of the podium is still open! Rats; the Czechs get a well deserved win, but Ukraine have again pipped Germany on the line! So, finally the Czech Republic (1+14) win, from Ukraine (0+12), Germany (1+7), Poland (0+7), Italy (1+12) and France (1+13) – lot of loops in that top 6! Russia (2+8) in 7th ahead of Sweden, Austria and USA. Presumably no problems with Charvatova’s penalty loop then, must have used all 3 spares first!

2 x 6 Km, 2 x 7.5 Km Mixed relay: Leg 1 sees, amongst others, Marte Olsbu (Nor) against Franzi Preuß, Anais Bescond, Doro, Valj S, Susan Dunklee and Veronika Vítková. Some interesting conditions today; apparently It snowed about 25 cm overnight and this morning at the stadium – icy on the downhills. During training this morning, the snow stopped, to be replaced by fog. Now the fog is coming and going as the mixed relay start approaches. Looks clear now, with light winds – they’re away! Very confusing that the Norwegians have swapped to a new suit! Olsbu away fast, from Anais, VV and Doro. In for the first prone – lots clear, a few single spares, Franzi P uses 2, don’t see any loops! Anais B leads out from Dunklee, Selina Gasparin and Tachizaki; Franzi down in 17. Susan Dunklee going well on the lap, neck and neck with Anais – Doro 3rd; Marte Olsbu up to 5 and Franzi making up time too. Here we go for the first standing shoot – Susan clear, but so are Marte and Doro among others – out in order Olsbu, Doro, Dunklee, Skardino, Valj and Franzi P; VV has used 5 spares in all on this leg and is 16th; Russia and Poland on the loop with Romania. Olsbu is pouring the sauce on the lap, pulling out on Doro and Susan D – 1st handover: Dunklee closing down the Norwegian – Dreissigacker leads away from Tiril Eckhoff, then there’s a 16 second gap to Ukraine (Pidhrushna) and Germany (Franzi Hildebrand) who are fractionally ahead of Italy (Oberhofer), MDH in 6th, Gabi almost a minute back in 12th. Some gaps closing on the lap – in for S3: that approach looks very icy! Tiril in first – 2 spares, 2 for Franzi P, MDH clear – out Pidhrushna (despite 2 spares), Eckhoff, Dreissigacker, MDH, Franzi P – just 3.4 between that group. Last split before S4 – Ukr/Fra/Nor/Ger/USA – still just 4.7 between them. Franzi needs no spares and leads out from MDH (1), Pidhrushna (2), Tiril (2) and Dreissigacker (1); Gabi has cleared all 10 with no spares and is 6th. MDH flying on the lap, so is Tiril but Gabi seems to be losing a bit? MDH has a stumble on the icy descent – Franzi H away! Exchange 2 – Tiril has done wonders – Norway (JoBø) leads from Germany (Arnd P), France (QFM) and Ukraine (Semenov) together, then 36.4 to the Czechs (Slesingr) with USA (Bailey) 6th, but another 25 or so seconds back. Top 4 very close on the lap; Sweden (Nelin) and Italy (Hofer) through Bailey. S5 – Semenov clear and leads out from Arnd (0), JoBø (1) and QFM (2); Slesingr clear and 5th nicely ahead of Lowell Bailey. Benni Weger seems to be on the loop. JoBø is making up lost on the lap; 8 seconds by the first split, QFM also getting back into it. Top 3 close at 4.3 Km; QFM about 10 seconds back – gap to Slesingr, another gap to Hofer, Nelin, Eder and Garanichev. S6 – Semenov away first (1), then Arnd P (1), JoBø (1) with QFM (1) very much back in touch; Nelin on the loop. Still close for the top 4; Semenov seems to have improved his ski speed? Final exchange – Pidruchnyi out from Martin F, Simon Schempp and Tarjei Bø; almost 50 seconds to Krcmar (Cze) and almost 30 more to Anton Shipulin. Modest pace at first, but Martin F is attacking up the hill – last prone shoot; Pidruchnyi clear and away first from Martin F (0), Simon S needs 1 spare, but Tarjei needs 3 and he’s lost 18 seconds. Almost a minute from the leader to the Czechs. Final shoot – Martin F (1) leads out from Schempp (1) – Tarjei clears and is up to 3rd ahead of Pidruchnyi (2). That’s 4 in the lead group – who is going to miss the podium? First split shows Martin F just 1 second clear of Simon S, Tarjei +10.4, Pidruchnyi +19; next time the top 2 are closer, Tarjei +10.3, Ukraine +19.5. Still close at the top of the hill – Martin F gains a couple metres, and that breaks Schempp! France win from Germany with Norway 3rd. Exciting finish – Martin had to really work for it! Ukraine 4, Austria 5. Interesting that the Czech Republic (in 6th) didn’t need even 1 spare in the last 3 legs – 30/30 which won’t do much for Veronika’s morale after she used 5!

Men’s 10 Km Sprint: Now, Anton Shipulin will lead off, Martin F is going quite early (so is QFM) but the Germans are going much later, and so are the Norwegians – hoping the tracks/weather hold up while they have a clear understanding of the timings and positions of the early starters (ie Martin!). Still looking quite icy on the tracks – very glazed. Anton Shipulin is in for S1 , final shot goes wide – 1 miss! Garanichev, fresh (?) from the Europeans in Tyumen, seems to be in touch with Martin F’s time at this early stage; Martin is in for S1 – clear (is that the third mention of OEB already? He’s not starting for ages [53]).  Interesting, Garanichev is also clear and faster than Martin! QFM has also missed 1; Stenersen and Macx Davies have gone clear. Shipulin is at S2 and he’s missed 1 more, wind has got up a little. Back at S1 Rastorgujevs has gone clear and he’s faster than Garanichev! Martin Fourcade has cleared all 10 – Garanichev has missed 1 at S2; now, knowing how well Martin has done won’t help the later starters – I suspect the coaches won’t be telling! QFM has cleared all 5 in the stand but he’s 55 seconds back on Martin – weather might be getting worse as the wind is slowly increasing? Dominik Windisch has missed 1 at S1, so has Jakob Fak – OEB has now started and the commentators are in full gush! Sean Docherty has missed 1 at each shoot, but at the finish he’s only just behind Stenersen who just missed the one. Rastorgujevs has missed 2 at S2 – pity! Martin F has finished 1:34.5 inside the previous best time! He doesn’t even look that shattered – very annoying! Meanwhile Doll has missed 1 at S1, Peiffer clear; Babikov (Rus) is 10/10 and currently 3rd after S2. Back at the first split JoBø is now fastest; OEB has cleared at S1, just 6.8 back – crowd like that! JoBø, with his disgusting pink rifle, has also cleared S1 and he’s faster than Martin F. Doll and Peiffer are in for S2; Doll has missed 2 but Arnd Peiffer is clear; barely ahead of Garanichev’s time, though despite the Russian’s penalty. Semenov is clear at S1 and that’s a good time too – quite an improvement! Huge roar from the crowd as OEB goes clear at S2, just 10.3 behind Martin F. However, JoBø has missed 1 at S2 – still 5th though at present. Schempp and Svendsen both through the first split and well in touch; Erik Lesser clear at S1. Semenov clear at S2 as well; his ski speed really has picked up recently. OEB is through the finish and currently 2nd; if you tried a drinking game based on how many times they mentioned him you’d end up in A&E! Back at S1 Simon Schempp has missed 1, but Serafin Wiestner is clear – at S2 he’s missed 1 though. JoBø into third at the finish – his pace seems to be a bit off? Not a good day for Germany, except Arnd; Erik L has missed 2 at S2, one looking very much like a negligent discharge. Simon Schempp has cleared S2 though, fractionally slower than Garanichev and JoBø; EHS has missed 1 at S2 and he’s slower. Semenov has knocked JoBø off the podium! Schempp seems to be fading on the final lap, his illness hasn’t helped, I fear; EHS also fading a bit. Simon Schempp might have been the best German, but he stumbles in the finish straight (pole on the ski) – just 8th. Looks like it’s all over; good win for Martin Fourcade, Bjørndalen in 2nd and Semenov 3rd. JoBø was 4th, ahead of Windisch and Garanichev with Arnd P 7th and Schempp 8th. Tarjei had a bad day (1,3). Martin F was fastest around the course from JoBø and Landertinger; Benedikt Doll was 5th. Simon Eder best on the range ahead of Nathan Smith.

Women’s 7.5 Km Sprint: There is apparently a little fresh snow on the tracks, which might slow the early starters. Kaisa starts 10th, just ahead of Franzi H; MDH 20th, Gabi goes 33, Tiril 42, Laura D 48 and Franzi P 49. Tachizaki gets the race underway; rumour has it that the Norwegian fans reckon their women can’t handle the pressure – however Olsbu seemed to do well in the mixed relay, so let’s see how she and Tiril Eckhoff do today. Early starters at the range, where the wind seems to have got up a little; pretty erratic though as it’s shifting around – Kaisa M is the first to go clear in the prone, and Franzi Hildebrand has also cleared all 5, as has Akimova. Rats – Vanessa Hinz has missed 2 at S1; Susan Dunklee however has cleared all 5 and is well in touch, just +5.9 on Kaisa. MDH is also clear and only fractionally back on Dunklee. After S1 it’s currently Kaisa Mäkäräinen, Karin Oberhofer and Susan Dunklee. At S2 Kaisa has missed one – Franzi H is clear but only 13.7 ahead of the Finn! Beilmann (Est) is the only other 10/10 at present, but doesn’t seem to have good ski speed; back at S1 Doro Wierer has cleared and is just faster than Kaisa; Gabi has missed her 5th at S1 – Susan D has missed 1 at S2, but she’s well inside Kaisa’s time. Now, Marie DH has also cleared 10/10 and she’s 18.3 faster than Franzi H! On the last lap Franzi H is losing time against Kaisa – at the finish Kaisa is leading with the German 2nd; Tiril has just gone clear at S1 and inside Doro’s time. Meanwhile at S2 Doro has cleared all 10 (at some speed too!!) and is just 0.9 behind MDH; Brorsson (Swe) is also well in the mix – perfect shooting and +13 on MDH after S2; Gabi faster after S2 than Franzi H despite her penalty. Both Dahlmeier and Preuß have missed 1 at S1; Franzi P seems a bit off the pace too. At the finish Marie DH leads from Dunklee and Kaisa M; Franzi H off the provisional podium; what about Gabi and Doro? And, just to complicate the picture Tiril has also cleared all 10 and she’s 8.4 faster than MDH – crowd go wild! So much for the “can’t handle it” view! Doro goes into 2nd despite a slight stumble, Brorsson into 3rd so that’s Susan D off the podium too. Gabi takes 2nd – amazing given she has one penalty and has still beaten Doro; must be the red hair! Vítková is 10/10 today but +24.1; Tiril Eckhoff is increasing her lead on the final lap; Marte Olsbu has missed 1 at S1. Impressive stuff – Tiril Eckhoff goes into the lead 15 seconds ahead of MDH; can’t see anyone taking that away? It does look as though the glazed tracks have favoured the later starters. Lucie Charvátová has just missed her 5th target; a very impressive last lap from Laura Dahlmeier has got her into third, about 18 seconds faster than Gabi – both with 1 miss. So, at present Eckhoff, MDH, Dahlmeier; Gabi 4th ahead of Doro and Mona Brorsson; VV 7th ahead of Susan Dunklee (and that's how it stays). Pity – Vitozzi has just missed her 10th; Olsbu with 2 misses is in ahead of Franzi P with just 1 penalty, not sure if Franzi is 100%. Marte is the only athlete in the top 20 with 2 penalties and also only just behind the clean shooting Franzi H – that might be the fresh snow to some extent, but that’s impressive speed! Speaking of which, it has just started to snow again – quite heavy too! Best course time went to Laura Dahlmeier, who was also fastest on the final lap; Tiril E 2nd and Marte Olsbu third. Looking at the start numbers the three fastest skiers are 48, 42 and 69! Looks like Doro is again fastest on the range, ahead of Hauser. Vanessa Hinz is going to miss the pursuit, which I suspect will be a real epic – certainly two good sprints today!

A very exciting start to the World Champs.

A very impressive victory for France in the mixed relay.  I was getting a bit worried for Martin as they approached the finish but there was no need to worry.  I was a bit disappointed with the Boe's I really thought they would go for it but they didn't seem to have much in the tank. I though Leg 3 was set up for JT to pull away but he didn't and came home in fourth.

A fantastic performance by Martin in todays sprint, his speed on the last loop was very impressive, it looks like he is in very good shape. You can never write of OEB, as the season has gone on I would have him ranked as the fourth Norwegian but once again on the big day he delivers, it's great to see him on the podium.  A surprise to see Semenov in 3rd but he did look good in the mixed relay.  JT Boe looked better today but I wouldn't say on his top form. Other impressive performance came from Windisch, Iliev, Weistner and Chepelin.  Disappointed with Shuplin, from the start he seemed a bit off.

Seriously impressed with Tiril Echoff today, I thought MDH would have been faster on the last loop but couldn't believe that Tiril increased her lead from S2. Not sure where she pulled this performance from.  I didn't expect to Dahlmeier on the podium after missing a target but she was really fast on the skis.  Has Weirer lost some speed? I would have expected her to place higher shooting clean.  Very impressive from Brosson in 6th and good to see Vitkova bounce back after the relay.  Disappointing for Hinz, Podchufarova and Semerenko not make the Top 60 and miss out on the pursuit.

The European Championship from Tyumen were quite entertaining.  The Russian Men and German women were the strongest teams.  Nice to see Skardino from Belarus win a gold medal.  I was really looking forward to seeing the return of Svetlana Sleptsova as she has shown some decent form on the IBU cup but she had a very disappointing competition.  I think her best result was 12th and she featured in no relays, I think the pressure got to her again. Not sure where she goes from here.

Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit: Joined at S1 – Martin F and JoBø clear and out in that order; Dominik Windisch third with Arnd Peiffer 4th – both also clear. OEB and Semenov both with 1 miss, in 5/6 respectively. Simon Schempp has also missed 1, but Erik Lesser, the defending champion, has cleared and is making up places (albeit he has a long way to go to retain his title!). On to S2 and Martin F is clear again; JoBø has missed 2 – Arnd is clear and up to 2nd, Evgeniy Garanichev up to 3; Sergey (as the IBU list him)Semenov 4 and OEB 5. Erik Lesser up to 7th (from 19), EHS also gaining places (17 to 8), as is Anton Shipulin. Martin Fourcade seems to be pacing himself well, but he’s still pulling away from the following pack! In for S3 – Martin F has missed 1, but he still has a comfortable margin – OEB clear and out back up to second, Erik Lesser also clear and third, just ahead of EHS who is also 15/15. JoBø is 5th, Arnd has missed 1 and drops to 6. Shipulin also 15/15 and up to 10th from 45! Martin seems to have moved up a gear, OEB is holding off the chasers well and EHS has passed Erik, JoBø very close too. Final shoot – Martin F has missed 2 here (just after Patrick says “probably the best at clearing the last 5”)! OEB has missed 1 which gives Martin scope; JoBø and EHS also miss 1 each, Erik has missed 2! So, Martin F away, OEB 2nd (+23.2), then JoBø (+42.5), EHS (+43.1), Jakob Fak (20/20 and +54.1) and Semenov (+54.3). At the next split OEB seems to be holding Martin F but he’s losing a bit to the next 2 Norwegians! I can’t see OEB losing the silver; good effort from Simon Desthieux who is also 20/20 and up to 5th. Martin F (0,0,1,2) has got his third gold (and the overall and pursuit crystal globes as well – a record 5th successive overall!), OEB (1,0,01) gets a second silver and Emil Hegle Svendsen (0,0,0,1) gets bronze. JoBø outsprinted in 4th ahead of Fak, Desthieux, and Lesser. Gainers today include – EHS 17 to 3rd, Jakob Fak 39 to 5, Simon D 12 to 6, Erik L 19 to 7, Anton Shipulin 45 to 9 and Nathan Smith 46 to 15! Those going the other way Semenov 3 to 8, Garanichev 6 to 11, Landertinger 9 to 14, Arnd P 7 to 13, Schempp 8 to 18 and Windisch 5 to 28 (6 missed targets). Best course time went to Julian Eberhard, ahead of Anton Shipulin and Nathan Smith; best isolated pursuit time was Jakob Fak, ahead of Shipulin and EHS. That was a good race! Erik Lesser best of the Germans; pity about those 2 misses in S4.

Women’s 10 Km Pursuit: Also not live on UK Eurosport! On the IBU video feed we have an American commentator; hope it’s not the useless one! I’m going to try working from that and the IBU date centre, maybe watching the Eurosport coverage in due course. Tiril Eckhoff has gone off like a rocket – apparently her coach wanted her to go to bed early last night but she was enjoying herself too much and kept giving interviews! Apparently, according to our expert, it’s important to balance both shooting and skiing in biathlon!! This man is a master of stating the blindingly obvious! So, S1 and Tiril has missed 1, her first; MDH clear as are Laura Dahlmeier and Doro W, Susan Dunklee is also clear. Out in order MDH , Laura D, Tiril, Doro, Susan D and Varvynets. Who is Sook a Lowver? On the lap Tiril is catching Laura, who has lost a little to MDH; Dunklee’s speed looks good too. S2 and both MDH and Laura are clear and away in that order; Doro misses 1 but she’s 3rd ahead of Tiril (1,1), Susan D 5th after her miss here. Franzi P is clear and up to 8th. MDH is pulling out a little on the lap; Doro does seem to be a little off her normal pace, Preuß through Varvynets – Gabi has missed 2 at each shoot so far. Franzi P is making up places, but has lost time on MDH. First standing shoot – MDH has missed 2, Laura clear, Doro 2 misses, Tiril 1 more (1,1,1); Susan Dunklee has dropped 3! Out Laura D, Doro, MDH, Tiril and Franzi H. No, I can’t stand any more – video off! Franzi P still clear and in 9th, but she seemed to take an age getting started in S3; wonder if she had a rifle or magazine issue? On the lap Laura seems to be pulling away a little; Doro and MDH neck and neck at present. Gabi was 5/5 at S3 and is in 14th. Final shoot – Laura Dahlmeier has shot the perfect score; you little beauty! MDH misses 1 more, Tiril 4!! Doro W clear at S4 and she’s out 2nd, nicely ahead of Franzi H (1,0,0,0) who has about 6 seconds on MDH – not sure that’s enough but Marie has done 3 loops extra to Franzi’s one. The other Franzi is 20/20 and up to 5th, but only just ahead of Pidhrushna who has a nasty habit of beating my favourites on the final lap! At the next split MDH is right back with Franzi H – they are really close at 9.3 Km, but at least Franzi P seems to be holding off the Ukrainian! Laura Dahlmeier takes the gold medal, almost 50 seconds clear of Doro Wierer; sadly MDH was just to strong for Franzi H and she takes the last podium place. I spoke too soon, that dratted Pidhrushna has gone past Franzi Preuß for 5th/6th! Without that slow S3 (still not sure what happened there), I wonder if Franzi P could have got bronze? Kaisa in 7th despite 4 penalties, Vítková 8th, Dunklee 10th and Gabi (2,2,0,1) 11th. Gainers obviously include Laura and Doro, plus Franzi H (10 to 4), Olena P (16 to 5), Franzi P (14 to 6), Yuliia Dzhima (31 to 9), Anais Chevalier (26 to 15), Lucie Charvátová (33 to 18), Paulina Fialkova (49 to 23) and Dunja Zdouc (58 to 28). The most obvious example of going the other way must be poor Tiril (1,1,1,4) who went from 1 to 17, but there were also Gabi (4 to 11), Jialin Tang (15 to 34), and Mona Brorsson (6 to 39 after 7 penalties). Laura D had the best isolated pursuit time ahead of Doro and Pidrushna; best course time to Kaisa M, ahead of Susan Dunklee and Gabi. Three Germans in the top 6 – not bad (pity the Franzis each lost a place on that last lap). I think I need to see the race on Eurosport. Drat – Eurosport are showing tennis which is over-running (and it’s on BBC anyway!!) Whoever planned this schedule obviously thought Murray would win in straight sets – hopefully the race will be on some time, but there’s no sign at present! Very annoying.

Women’s 15 Km Individual: The amended time was a bit of a nuisance, as I was out – joined just as Tiril Eckhoff got to S1 – 2 misses, so that’s another 2 minutes on to her time! Weather looks bad – snow and deteriorating visibility; no wonder they brought the start time forward. Nobody yet at S4; at S3 only Persson is clear so far; Doro has missed 1 at both S1 and S2; Gabi has missed 1 at S1. Mun of Korea has just gone 15/15; MDH is clear at S1 and marginally clear of Anais Bescond at that stage. Franzi H has also missed 1 at S1 – in good company though! Marte Olsbu may be continuing her run of form – clear at S1 and fastest there – 12.8 faster than MDH; are the tracks a bit faster? If so, the snow will soon slow them down again? Persson is at S4 and has missed 2; Hinz is 0,2,0,1; at S2 Guzik is 10/10 and fastest. Gabi in for S2 – clear this time; Anais Bescond has just cleared 10/10 and is the new leader at S2. – 19.9 better than Guzik! MDH is also clear at S2; marginally slower than Bescond. Laura D is now 1,0,1 – that’s not looking good! Julia Ransom is 15/15; currently second after S3; oops – Olsbu has faltered, 3 misses at S2, pity. Nadezhda Skardino is 15/15 and briefly leads the S3 standings until Yurlova also clears! Guzik has missed 1 at S3. At S4 Runggaldier (1,0,0,0) is leading from Doro (1,1,0,0) and Lisa Hauser (1,0,0,0). Back at S3 MDH has cleared and is now slightly ahead of Anais B, who has also cleared 15/15 – they are over a minute clear of Yurlova and Skardino, who were also clear at that stage! Gabi best of those with 1 miss after S3, 1:13.5 off MDH. Julia Ransom is 20/20  but a bit off the pace, Beilmann also clear but over 2 minutes back; Skardino has missed 1 at S4 and so has Yurlova. Guzik is now fastest at S4, where Gabi has just missed another (1,0,0,1); still ahead of Doro’s time with the same number of misses. Anais Bescond has also missed one at S4 but she’s masses faster than Guzik! MDH is even better, despite also missing 1 at S4. I can’t see how the French can be so much faster? Franzi H (1,0,0,0) is through S4 in 3rd, but even she is 1:10.5 behind MDH – the French must have amazing skis today; at S4 over a minute ahead of Franzi H, Vítková, Yurlova etc with the same penalty tally; maybe they started at a good time for the tracks to come into condition (start 50 and 52)? At the finish the French seem to have done it, amazing effort – MDH leads from Anais Bescond, with Laura D third +1:17.8, although Laura has one more penalty minute. Varvynets and Gwizdon are possibly the only ones likely to change that podium; just maybe Pidhrushna, but she’s missed at S4 (1,0,0,1); so has Varvynets (0,0,0,1)? That’s about it – Gwizdon has missed 1 at S4 too; not sure she can match Laura on the final lap. Not sure what has happened to Pidhrushna; she left S4 and then seems to have vanished from the timings; has she called it a day? Yes – she is now shown as a DNF. So, a great day for the French – Marie DH has won the gold, just 12.2 ahead of Anais Bescond. Laura Dahlmeier had a superb last lap (the best of the day) to get the bronze. Vítková in 4th ahead of Gabi (so 2 Czechs in the top 6) and Franzi H. Doro was in 8th, which I think gives her the Individual crystal globe (by just 2 points from MDH?). Kaisa M down in 19th with 3 penalties; awful day for the host nation – looks like the best Norwegian is Fanny Birkeland (2,2,0,0) in 29th; Olsbu 42nd, Eckhoff 43. MDH fastest round the course from Bescond, Dahlmeier and Dunklee; Hauser best on the range (time wise!) from Doro and Varvynets.

Men’s 20 Km Individual: I was out for the live coverage, but what a good day for the Austrians (oh, there I go telling you the plot!). Or at least part of it – guess who won! The repeat (highlights only) was delayed (surprise!) – joined with Dominik Landertinger at S2; 10/10 there and he went on to clear S3 as well. Andi Birnbacher, who has announced that he’s retiring at the end of the season, also cleared S2, but Martin Fourcade missed 1 here. Simon Eder was clear at S1 and 2, so was JoBø. At S3 Martin F cleared as we saw Tarjei Bø miss his third of the day (1,0,0,2). As JoBø cleared all 5 at S3 I thought it would be his to lose, given Martin’s 1 miss. After S3, as the middle of the start list shooters completed, JoBø was leading, about 20 seconds clear of Landertinger, with Eder, Martin F, Yan Savitsky, Gow and Krcmar all within a minute – of those only Martin F had missed a target. At S4, Dominik Landertinger cleared again – that’s all 20! Shortly after that, Simon Eder also went 20/20, and he was faster than Dominik – alas for them Martin F also cleared at S4 leaving the range just 0.3 behind Eder. However, JoBø still to come and faster still on the course. Quite gentle into the range for S4, but JoBø has missed 1; Krcmar is 20/20 though but almost a minute off Eder. On the last lap Martin F is really flying; Eder has lost time on Landertinger but at present it’s Austria 1 and 2 – Martin F ruins their day by finishing 5.1 ahead of Landertinger with Eder 3rd. JoBø couldn’t pull any time back and he’s into 4th, ahead of Krcmar. Back down the start list OEB has missed 1 at S1 but is clear at S2; Andi Birnbacher missed 1 at S3 but cleared at S4; Erik Lesser who started much later missed 1 at S2 but cleared all the rest, Simon Schempp missed 1 in each prone and his ski speed looks a bit off too. None of the later starters seem to be likely to threaten the top 6, and in the end it stayed Martin F (4th gold), from Landertinger, Eder, JoBø, Michal Krcmar and Jakov Fak. Erik Lesser (start number 77) was the best German in 7th ahead of Garanichev and Birnbacher with Simon Fourcade in 10th. Interesting to see Benedikt Doll (0,1,1,1) in 13th despite those misses – better than Schempp with just 2! Another off day for Svendsen – 2 misses but down in 32, +4:11.4. OEB with 2 misses was 17th, ahead of Tarjei who (also with 2 misses) was 22nd! Looking at course time, Martin F was best ahead of Doll and Slesingr; Eder best on the range.

I still have no idea what happened to Pidhrushna in the Individual, unless she fell or was injured - however I see she is not doing the anchor leg in the relay, which seems bizarre!

Women’s 4 x 6 Km Relay: German team – The AFP (Amazing Franziska Preuß) goes first, then Franzi H, Maren Hammerschmidt and Laura D – could be good but France (who seem to have truly amazing ski speed here), Ukraine, Italy (?) and the Czechs could all be in with a chance – hopefully a good race! It’s sunny today, not too cold at the start but cooling later on – tricky for the wax team! OK – the race is on; at the first split Vittozzi leads from Nadezhda Skardino and Braisaz, Solemdal in 4th; Franzi P at the back, but it’s all very close! First shoot – prone; lots clear with no spares – Franzi P leads out from Valj Semerenko and Solemdal, Dunklee also well up; Braisaz has used all 3 spares; Selina Gasparin is on the penalty loop! Kaisa M is leading as they come in towards S2; Franzi needs 2 spares which is a shame – it’s Lisa Hauser who leads out from Valj, Solemdal, Tachizaki, and Kaisa – Franzi is 10th, +24.6! Poor Braisaz has used 2 more spares. On the lap Kaisa has taken the lead, but she is pretty much the only Finn with real speed today; Franzi isn’t catching her but is gaining a couple places. Exchange 1 – Finland lead from Japan and Austria; Germany 7th. Next split – Tanaka leads from Kiskola, Zdouc and Usanova (Jpn/Fin/Aut/Kaz respectively) Fanny HB is 5th, with Franzi H 6th; Anais Bescond is 17th. They are cracking around this lap – in for S3 – more good shooting. Zdouc leads out from Usanova, Varvynets (all 3 clear), Birkeland (1 spare) and Franzi H (clear) – very few spares on this shoot! At 3.3 Km Usanova still leads, Fanny HB, Franzi H and Varvynets close together about 6 seconds back; Anais B up to 10th. S4; Varvynets clear and out in the lead, from Zdouc, Franzi H – all clear. Usanova needs 1 spare but is 4th ahead of Hojnisz and Crawford. Birkeland needs 1 spare too, and drops to 10th. Anais B has cleared all 10 with no spares and France are back to 5th. At 5.3 Km Rosanna Crawford has got Canada into the lead, just ahead of Franzi, Varvynets and Hojnisz but it’s all close – 15.7 between the top 10! Next exchange – Canada marginally ahead of Germany, then Ukraine, Poland, Kazakhstan, the Czechs and France – 8 teams within 9.1 seconds. Now, Pidhrushna is taking this leg, not anchoring; Beaudry (Can) is opening up a gap on Maren H, WNZ and Olena P – going a bit fast? Lucie Charvátová gaining places as they head for S5 – not many spares here either; Beaudry needs 2 though and Pidhrushna is on the loop – still not sure what happened to her in the individual. Out Anais Chevalier (!), Lucie Charvátová, Maren H; Tiril up to 4th. On the lap Tiril is engaging the afterburners – top 5 separated by just 7.5 seconds. Standing shoot – Chevalier needs 1 spare, Maren 2 but Tiril Eckhoff has managed 10/10 this leg and leads out, from Chevalier and Maren. Then Kaz/Pol/Can/Slo/Ita and Swe – all within a minute. Poor Lucie Charvátová is doing 2 penalty loops (actually it might have been 3!). Tiril is really fast now – opening up a good gap; Anais Chevalier dropping back to Maren; 25 seconds to the chasing group. The stadium is going mad – no one really expected Norway to be so much in touch!! Now, Marte Olsbu has been unusually fast here, but how will she shoot under this pressure. Final exchange; Norway lead from Germany (+23.3) and France (+28.6) – Olsbu versus Laura D and MDH. Olsbu is pulling away; quite an attack! The gap is over 30 seconds now; are Laura and Marie tired or just being tactical? Final prone shoot – Olsbu needs 2 spares, crowd go quiet! Laura D clear, but MDH needs 2 spares too – Olsbu leads out ahead of Laura (+17.5) and Marie (+29.4). Guzik up to 4th ahead of Doro and Yuliia Dzhima. Olsbu streaking away again – she does seem amazingly fast at these championships; MDH catching Laura, who is looking a bit tired. Last shoot – Olsbu misses 2 more; MDH and Laura both clear. Olsbu out first but MDH is just 8.8 behind, Laura at +11.6 – this should be interesting! MDH closing a little, Laura losing time, she hasn’t looked in form all through this leg! Norway take the win, against expectations, from France (+5.3) and Germany (+28.6). Poland get 4th, Ukraine 5th. There is a photo for 6th between Italy (I think Doro ended up doing a loop too) and the Czechs (despite their 3 penalty loops!) – the Czech Republic get it. Canada promising at times but they’ve done 3 loops too. Germany seemed to have shot the best, but still only 3rd. Golden jackets all round for the Norwegians; they would have been worth a bet today!

Men’s 4 x 7.5 Km Relay: No GB team today! Tiny bit colder today, looks a bit overcast and maybe a touch windy? OEB taking leg 1 for Norway, up against Tsvetkov, Simon F, Erik Lesser etc. Austrians might be a bit worried about Eberhard in due course because of his dodgy shooting stats – we’ll see; Tiril did OK yesterday with her spares to hand! So, at 1.8 Km it’s OEB from Lesser, Bauer, Tsvetkov and Fourcade; looks like the Swiss (Finello) have taken out Tsvetkov! In for S1 – OEB clear and out ahead of Lesser, Zahkna (Est), Rösch (Bel) and Bailey – all of them clear. Semenov is doing a penalty loop, so has Kaukenas (Ltu); Stenersen used all 3 spares. Several teams apparently woken up last night at 0230 by a fire alarm in the hotel – conspiracy theories abound! Top 6 split by just 1 second as they come into the second shoot – Erik Lesser clear and leads out, ahead of Gow (Can), Zahkna, Bauer and Yan Savitsky; OEB needs 2 spares, Simon F all 3 and Poland on the loop! As they head to the exchange OEB has pulled back some 7 seconds and is up to 2nd, but in company – at the exchange it’s Germany, USA, Czech Republic and Norway. Benedikt Doll leads away from Nordgren, Soukup and Tarjei Bø. Bø is going fast – at 0.9 Km he’s leading; 12 seconds pulled back (perhaps on the same regime as Olsbu?), but is this too fast, too early? Nathan Smith also well in touch – top 6 all within about 5 seconds. S3 – Hasilla (Svk) leads out from Soukup – both clear, then Bø, Smith, Doll and Nordgren (all 1 spare); Finns on the loop. On the lap Tarjei is again pushing the pace, but he’s not dropping Soukup and Smith, Hasilla also still in touch, Doll 4.2 back. Second standing shoot – Hasilla 10/10 and leads out; Bø needs 1 spare but 2nd ahead of Nathan Smith (1), Simon Eder (0), Doll (1) and Soukup (1) – then a 14 second gap to Sweden (Nelin); Garanichev has done a penalty loop. Simon Desthieux has used all 3 spares and France are over a minute back in 15th. Top 5 within 6 seconds at 6.8 Km; good lap from Doll – at the second exchange; Norway from Germany, Canada, Austria, the Czechs, Italy and Sweden. So, JoBø from Peiffer, another Gow (Scott?), Julian Eberhard (!), Moravec and Bormolini. Nordgren seems to have lost some time, so Tim Burke has work to do. S5 – JoBø clear and leads out from Gow (0), Peiffer (1), Moravec (0) and Eberhard (2). Belarus on the loop; Braun (Kaz) is doing 3 loops. Gow is holding JoBø at present – gap to Arnd P steady, Eberhard isn’t closing much at present. Light is fading a little as they come in for S6; JoBø looks very deliberate today, and it’s working – 10/10 and he leads Arnd P (1) by 16.8! Gow has used 3 spares, so has Moravec, Julian E is on the penalty loop!! Italy also doing a loop, as are Slovakia. After S6 it’s Bø, Peiffer and Gow – French have used 10 spares so far and are 1:45 back – bit much even for Martin? Now, with all the shooting done, JoBø has opened up – he’s pulled out 10 more seconds on Arnd by 5.9 Km. Norway have Svendsen on the final leg – remember the Olympics! Final exchange and Norway have 29.4 in hand over Germany, Canada another 5 back. Austria in 4th ahead of the Czechs and Bulgaria. So EHS leads Simon Schempp, Brendan Green, Dominik Landertinger and Michal Slesingr. On the lap EHS is keeping the gap to Schempp, who is losing a bit to Green. Last prone shoot – EHS clear, so is Schempp, so is Green – Simon has gained a bit on the other 2 by fast shooting. Freddie Lindstrøm clear, so is Martin F but with no hope of a medal maybe he’s going to ease back and save himself for the mass start? EHS skiing a little faster than Schempp (commentators pse note – Simon gained time on the range and has now lost a bit – he has not gained on the track!). Now, can EHS make up for Sochi!? EHS uses 2 spares, Simon Schempp uses 1 – out 10 seconds back; Green clears all 5 and he’s 22.5 back on Svendsen. Canada have 40 seconds in hand over Austria, who are just ahead of the Czechs. Shipulin has got Russia up to 6th. At 5.9 Km EHS has gained 2.2 seconds on Schempp; Brendan G dropping back a bit. Much comment on the size of the lunch portions of the German team! At 6.8 Km the gap is now 12.7; Martin F is also gaining time. The podium looks set now – Svendsen looks knackered but he’s got enough left – Norway (6 spares) win from Germany (5) with Canada (5) getting a very impressive bronze. Austria somehow get 4th (1 loop and 10 spares!) ahead of the Czechs (0+7) and Russia (1+7); France down in 9th. Clean sweep for Norway in these relays, and another gold for OEB.

Two very exciting relays. Great to see some close racing, with lots of the smaller teams being in the mix. Well done to Norway on doing the double.

I thought Olsbu was going to struggle with the pressure but she skied and shot well and was able to hold of a charging MDH and a tired Dahlmeier. The French lost it on Leg 1. I expected more from Ukraine, Pidhrushna had a poor day on the range. Charvatova took the Czechs out of the running. The Russians had a poor day, Daria V is not the best in the relays, just can't handle the pressure.

For the men EHS had to work hard on the last leg. I was worried in case he was going to have a Sochi style performance but he skied and shot well, he was working very hard to hold on Schempp on the last loop, I don't think Schempp is at full fitness here. Great to see OEB get a gold. Delighted to see Canada on the podium, it would have been pretty long odds for that to happen before the race. Poor for the Russians with Garanichev on the penalty loop again and the French being out of it even before Martin took the last leg.

Once again the atmosphere was amazing. Hard to believe today is the end of the championship, it's been a fairly intense 10/11 days. I would like to see Kaisa M do well today, she looked good in the relay.

Women’s 12.5 Km Mass Start (13 Mar): Still looks a bit murky, and it’s a bit warmer today; the race has started and all very close at 0.9 Km, Tiril Eckhoff in the lead. At 1.8 Km Laura Dahlmeier leads but there is only 1.8 between the top 10. In for S1 – Doro W, Franzi H, Franzi P, Olsbu and Birkeland among those missing 1; lots clear too and MDH leads out from Lisa Hauser, Yurlova and Dahlmeier. Pidhrushna and Dunklee have missed 2 each. The two Franzis seem a long way back for only 1 loop? Kaisa M gaining time on the next lap, Braisaz also well up. Pidhrushna seems to be a long way back given that Dunklee, with the same number of penalties is 20 seconds ort so ahead – I still don’t know what happened to her in the Individual? In for S2 – MDH leads out from Laura D, Yurlova, Hauser and Kaisa M – all clear. Tiril has missed 1, so have Gabi, Braisaz while Doro has missed another 2; Olena P still here and clear this time. Olsbu and Birkeland both clear here and now ahead of Tiril. Kaisa M is gaining time again on the lap, Marte Olsbu is again showing amazing speed (which she hasn’t found before this season; is the home advantage that good?) and is up to 4th. The first standing shoot – Kaisa and Laura have both missed 1; MDH though is 15/15 and away first from Ekaterina Yurlova, Vítková, Gabi and Skardino. Laura D is 6th, Olsbu has missed another 2 – too much pace on the lap? Tiril has missed 3 here. Next lap – Gabi gaining ground and now just ahead of VV – Franzi P (1,0,1) is ahead of Franzi H (1,0,0). MDH has almost got a penalty loop in hand as they come in for the last shoot – Marie DH has cleared the lot – 20/20 and she leads out; awesome! Laura D (0,0,1,0) is clear here, but so is Gabi (0,1,0,0) and the Czech is marginally ahead as they leave the range, Kaisa M (0,0,1,0) also there. On the lap Laura and Kaisa are through Gabi at present. Gold looks certain but the places are still open – Gabi seems to be dropping off the chasers though. Laura back through Kaisa, Gabi perhaps coming back? Kaisa closing the door on Laura on the hill – a very tired Marie DH wins another gold, the French are having a really great championships. Laura D has taken the silver, pulling back 13 seconds on MDH on that last lap, Kaisa M third. Gabi 4th ahead of Bescond and Vítková. Franzi P was 8th despite 2 penalties, behind Olsbu with 3 though! Kaisa had the best course time, from Laura D and Susan Dunklee, Olsbu 4th. Lisa Hauser best on the range, ahead of Olsbu and Varvynets. Now, can Marie DH chase down Gabi in the overall?

Men’s 15 Km Mass Start: Apparently the conditions might suit the lighter athletes? Lots of “getting to the front and slowing it” going on at first. Now we are really getting going, Martin F has injected some pace! Eder is with him, then a gap to the chasers – in for S1; Martin F has missed 1!  Simon Eder is clear and leading out from Erik Lesser, OEB, Shipulin, Bailey and Schempp; top 17 all clear. Martin F on 1 miss is joined by, among others, Tarjei Bø, EHS, and QFM; Garanichev, Landertinger and Wiestner on 2 misses. Shipulin pushing the pace now, ahead of Eder and OEB but Martin seems to have pulled back about 16 seconds. All very close as they head for S2; Simon Eder fast and clear and he leads out. Simon Desthieux second ahead of Schempp, OEB, JoBø and Erik L – all 10/10. Martin F clear here and 10th, within 10 seconds of the lead. JoBø is winding up the speed on the lap, trying to stretch the competition – this is the 3rd time the commentators have told us that OEB is going to Khantiy since race start! At 8.4 Km JoBø is 6.4 clear of a very tight bunch – 8.2 between the top 10. The first standing shoot – JoBø has missed 1, so have Schempp, Doll, QFM etc. OEB is clear and out just ahead of Martin F, Erik Lesser, Simon Eder, Lowell Bailey and Semenov. Fourcade trying to pull away on the lap, but OEB and the chasers are hanging in there – 3.9 between the top 7. JoBø back up with the pack, so is Shipulin, Bailey still well in touch, and looks to have good skis. The final shoot and Martin F has done another fast hill – didn’t work for S1! So, Martin F has cleared – amazing! OEB has gone 20/20 and is 2nd ahead of JoBø, Sergey Semenov (also 20/20), Windisch and Peiffer. Bailey has missed 1, Erik L has missed 2, rats. Schempp (0,0,1,2) and Doll (0,0,1,2) not shooting too well. JoBø has passed Martin F, who is looking tired, OEB also there but Semenov dropping back. Martin and Johannes away; there is a marshal in Martin’s way – very unprofessional! Tarjei has passed Semenov. Very close at the front and OEB getting back to them. Last split – just 4.2 between the top 3 – JoBø cuts off Martin with a great spurt up the last little hill and I think he has it! So, Johannes wins, Martin F second and OEB getting yet another medal! Dominik Windisch in 4th ahead of Arnd Peiffer and Tarjei Bø (who was fastest round the course, ahead of Windisch and Martin F). Eder best on the range from OEB and JoBø; none of the medallists were fastest on the final lap! Bailey 10th in the end, Svendsen (1,0,0,3) down in 28th. Looks like Martin has a clean sweep of the crystal globes?

@Irish Runner - "I expected more from Ukraine, Pidhrushna had a poor day on the range" - I've been trying to find out what happened to Pidhrushna recently. She was a DNF after the last shoot in the Individual, then wasn't on the anchor leg in the relay as might have been expected, shot badly in that relay and off form again today (18th place; 2,0,0,0 so at least her shooting was fine after S1). No one (apart from her and the team presumably) seems to know why she had that DNF?

A great end to the World Championships with two very exciting races.

Well done to MDH.  What an outstanding championships she has had.  She was definitely struggling on the last lap but held on for another gold medal, her maternity break has done wonders for her career. A much better performance from Dahlmeier, she looked tired in the relay but bounced back here and looked really strong.  I never thought of her as the fastest of skiers but she has improved so much in that area.  I was delighted to see Kaisa on the podium, in the absence of Darya I expected her to dominate but she has rarely been at her best this season.

On the Mens side I really wanted Martin to get another gold but it was just a race to far for him.  Exiting the range I thought he was going to take as I didn't think that JBoe has been on his best form here but he really dug in on the last lap.  Another great performance by OEB and at one stage closing in on the leading duo.  Eurosport has been going on all week about his retirement, is he really retiring?

On the whole it was a fantastic championship with loads of exciting races, especially so in the final few days.  The French had an outstanding championship.  I was a little disappointed for the Czechs, I expected they might have got 2 (maybe 3) medals. I was very disappointed with the Russians, I didn't expect much from the ladies but they still disappointed.  On the Men's side they never seemed to recover from the poor start and just seemed to keep missing out.  Shipulin kicked this season of talking big but he doesn't have a lot to show for it.

Hard to believe the season is going to be finished this weekend. Hopefully we will have some good races in Khanty.

Bleausardv2 I know you are a big fan of Miriam Gossner, was she selected for the Worlds team but not given a chance to race? It's going to be tough for her in the very strong German team.

Women’s 7.5 Km Sprint: Und so schnell ist die Saison schon wieder vorbei! Almost the end, these are the final races of the season. Nice to see Miri Gössner on the start list! Seven Germans on the list today including Nadine Horchler – 80 starters in all. I can’t see Tiril Eckhoff’s name and I understand she isn’t coming to Khanty (apparently Svendsen is also not here – this will apparently be his first winless season since 2006/07) – however the awesomely named Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold gets Eckhoff's spot! I gather Patrick and Mike still don’t know why Pidhrushna pulled out of that Individual, it’ll probably remain a mystery. It’s minus 7 today and may well be colder later in the race; bit unusual for this season! I suspect a few athletes will be tired after the championships and the travel here. Rumour has it that Gabi has a sore throat but she’s on the start list. Race is on – Teja Gregorin away first; Doro fastest at the first split with 10 through. At S1 Gregorin, Ransom and Bescond have gone clear – the Frenchwoman fastest at present, by a healthy margin. Yurlova the first to miss 1; Dunklee, Kaisa M and Olsbu fast early on. Doro has just gone clear at S1, and she’s fast too; the usually reliable Laura Dahlmeier has missed 1 though, her 5th. Lucie Charvátová is the fastest at S1 with a miss; Olsbu clear, but Susan Dunklee has missed 2. Kaisa M is clear at S1 and now fastest there. MDH is clear at S1; Teja Gregorin is 10/10 but already slower than Bescond who missed 1 at S2. Currently Braisaz (0,0) is fastest after S2; Doro has just gone faster! Wind is starting to build at the range; Franzi H has missed 1 at S1, so has Franzi P; Laura D has missed another 2 at S2 – very unusual, and she doesn’t look comfortable either. Marte Olsbu has shot 10/10 and leads after S2 – she really has got a lot faster late on in the season. Kaisa has just missed 1 at S2, but she’s only 6.5 seconds behind Olsbu! Akimova has cleared all 10, but MDH has missed 1 at S2. Gabi has started and is clear at S1; be still my racing heart – so has Miri G! At 5.9 Km Kaisa has cut the gap to Olsbu in half, by 7.1 Km she’s ahead. Kaisa has taken the lead at the finish, ahead of Olsbu! Now, is there anyone who can take that position away? I think the rumours about Gabi being unwell might have been wrong – looking fast and she’s just gone clear at S2 – faster than Olsbu! Bit of a snarl up as she leaves the range. Franzi Preuß (1,0) is clear at S2; Miri has missed 2 at S2 – gloom returns! At S1 Guzik is marginally faster than Gabi; Franzi P is currently 5th at the finish but will Pidhrushna knock one of my favourites down again? At 7.1 Km Gabi is marginally up on Kaisa’s time; the Finn’s last lap was awesome though and Gabi is +3.1 at the finish, into 2nd. The sprint crystal globe goes to Gabi (ahead of MDH and Doro) and she’s ahead of MDH today (Marie currently 10th – now 92 points behind Gabi), which gets her closer to the overall. Nadezhda Skardino has cleared at S2 as well, another one who is 10/10, but slower on the skis; Franzi P currently the best German (6th at the moment), and the second fastest at the finish with 1 miss – I can’t see a threat to Kaisa at the moment, looking at S1 (where Hammerschmidt, Hinz and Horchler have all missed 1 – Miri the only German who cleared all 5 in prone!!). That’s everyone through S1; Guzik might have been in the mix but she’s missed 1 at S2 – everyone through there too, so Kaisa Mäkäräinen has taken the sprint win – nice to see her back! Gabi is second and the remarkably improved Marte Olsbu third. Justine Braisaz 4th ahead of Doro and Franzi P. Franzi H in 11th and Miri 15th and the fastest with 2 misses! Laura D down in 36; MDH confirmed in 10th, Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold 29th with 1 miss. Best Russian was Akimova in 12th. No surprise that Kaisa was fastest round the course, ahead of Gabi, Olsbu, Franzi P, Laura D – odd to see Miri was only 6th fastest? Hauser best on the range; Doro only 27th!

@Irishrunner - Bleausardv2 I know you are a big fan of Miriam Gossner, was she selected for the Worlds team but not given a chance to race? It's going to be tough for her in the very strong German team. Mike and Patrick mentioned this during the race - she was in Oslo but not selected for any of the races there although she was training the whole time, which must have been a bit frustrating! Her FB posts seemed very upbeat though, and today she was the only German to clear all 5 in prone (pity about the stand!). We'll have to see how she does in the pursuit - normally she goes backwards with the 4 shoots! It's tough being a Miri fan!

Men’s 10 Km Sprint: Cold and relatively dry today (although it apparently just tried to snow); slightly warmer than for the women’s race and quite calm. Race is on, most favourites going in group 1 or 2, although Nathan Smith is going last but a couple – maybe he hopes the track will get faster, or perhaps he isn’t feeling well!? (Maybe the latter, as later I see he’s a DNS) Tim Burke is away fast, so is Serafin Wiestner; both slower than Andrejs Rastorgujevs! Early starters are at S1; Tim Burke is clear and fast; Garanichev and Wiestner have both missed 2; Doll and Semenov clear. Rastorgujevs also clear and fastest so far at S1. Not a good day for Austria at present – Simon Eder has also missed 2; Arnd Peiffer is clear and even faster than Andrejs R! Tarjei Bø has missed 1 at S1; Volkov has cleared 5 quickly but doesn’t quite have the ski speed. Wind picking up; OEB has also missed his 5th at S1, Simon Schempp clear, JoBø has also missed 1 here. Dominik Landertinger is 10/10 but Tim Burke has missed 1 at S2, so has Doll, so has Rastorgujevs, but he’s fast. Freddie Lindstrøm clear at S1; Arnd P clear at S2! Commentators reckon the tracks might be slowing; Shipulin clear at S1 but slow; Erik Lesser clear too but much faster; seems odd to think the Russians might have got the ski prep a little off? Tarjei has missed 2 at S2, but Simon Schempp is 10/10 and 16 seconds faster than Arnd Peiffer! OEB has missed another 1 at S2, but back at S1 Eberhard is clear and fastest – can he survive the stand? Lindstrøm has missed 2 at S2; Martin F is at S1, very fast but he’s missed 3 – very odd! JoBø clear at S2; Schempp flying on the last lap – seems to have judged his pace better than Arnd P. QFM is 10/10 but almost a minute off the pace after S2; Erik Lesser also 10/10 but +28.6. Schempp is through the finish in the lead and 21.9 faster than Peiffer. However, Julian Eberhard has cleared 10/10 (amazing!! His hit rate is about 64%) and is 1.9 faster than Schempp after S2! Nothing much happening at S1, so maybe the tracks have slowed? Martin F has missed another 1 at S2; Eberhard has lost his advantage by 8.4 Km, now +0.6; it’s out to +2.6 at 9.5 Km – looking good for a podium though! What am I saying – a brilliant final half kilometre and Julian Eberhard has won (So much for analysing the split times, and that earlier comment about not a good day for Austria too, when they have 1st and 4th – I’m almost qualified for a Eurosport job!). Looks fairly certain that the podium won’t change – Eberhard from Schempp (+1.1) and Peiffer (+23.0) – Dominik Landertinger 4th ahead of Erik Lesser; all clear. At present Doll is in 8th, so 4 Germans in the top 10 – who would have seen that coming after Oslo? Tim Burke 6th, JoBø 7th, Andrejs R 9th. Not a good day for the Russians – best seems to be Slepov in 23rd (might slide back a little), with Volkov 1 place back. Martin F is in 40th, over 2 minutes back, one place ahead of OEB. Schempp was fastest round the course, ahead of Eberhard and Landertinger; Volkov fastest on the range – Eberhard 3rd there but 5 seconds faster than Schempp!

Women’s 10 Km Pursuit: Race is on, but Eurosport haven’t got coverage yet (and the men’s pursuit doesn’t seem to be in the schedule at all). Looks like we are going to have a group of 3 at the front, chased by a group 10 or so. Eurosport have eventually condescended to stop showing adverts and join the live action - having already missed S1! Marte Olsbu clear and out ahead of Doro (+24.7); Kaisa and Gabi have missed 1 each and are 3/4 respectively ahead of Preuß, Pidhrushna and Fanny BH; Miri has missed 2, so has Justine Braisaz. Kaisa and Gabi making up time on the lap – yet another blasted advert break, when we’ve only just got coverage! Olsbu in for her second shoot and she’s missed 1, so have the two Franzis (Preuß and Hildebrand) – Doro clear again and she leads out from Kaisa, Gabi and Olsbu. MDH up to 5th ahead of Birkeland; yet more adverts! Kaisa back into the lead on the lap – in for the first standing shoot – lots of misses this time – but MDH 15/15 and just leading out from Gabi (1,0,0); Doro has missed 1 and is third ahead of Olsbu (0,1,1), Fanny BH (0,0,1) and Kaisa (1,0,1); Laura D is having a trying final set of races – 0,1,2 so far and 33rd; poor Miri is having a typical pursuit (2,1,2). Last shoot – MDH has missed 1 but so has Gabi, so has Olsbu; Doro clear here – out MDH, Doro, Gabi; Franzi P up to 4th, just 3.3 back but just ahead of Birkeland and Kaisa. Nice to Braisaz back in the top 10 having cleared the last 15. Kaisa really flying on the final lap; Gabi, MDH, Franzi P and Doro very close; Fanny BH not out of it either. This is going to be close – Kaisa takes the win, Marie DH just 1.5 back (after starting 10th) with Doro third – Gabi 4th which I think gives her the pursuit globe (in fact it looks more than likely she’ll get the complete set). Franzi P fifth, ahead of Birkeland. So, gainers today include MDH, Fanny BH (13 to 6), Yuliia Dzhima (26 to 9 with 20/20), Laura D (36 to 16 despite 0,1,2,0 – good recovery), Yurlova (32 to 18) and Ransom (54 to 34). Going t’other way – Olsbu 3 to 8, Braisaz (4 to 10), Skardino (9 to 15), Miri 15 to 43 (7 penalties!). Laura D had the best overall course time, ahead of MDH and Kaisa, Susan Dunklee 4th. On the range Hauser, Olsbu and Chevalier best.

Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit: Seems we do have some video (one timing point and the range only) but no commentary on Eurosport; might that be better than the American commentary on the IBU feed!? Now can Eberhard actually shoot well 2 days in a row? The commentator is already annoying me – who are Boo and Laser? Back to bits on Eurosport. Race is on – Peiffer and Landertinger closing in a little – hope they aren’t going too fast! We are looking at an empty track; back to the annoying American I suppose. In for S1 – Eberhard has missed 2, Schempp, Doll and Peiffer 1 each; Landertinger clear and leads out from Erik Lesser; Schempp still up with them, JoBø also clear. On the lap Schempp has closed right up on the lead – 3 away (Lesser, Landertinger and Schempp) then a gap of about 20 seconds to Peiffer, Burke and JoBø; Dominik L looks a bit slow today? Next prone shoot – Erik L clear again and he leads out; Schempp and Peiffer 1 more miss each, but Eberhard is clear this time – out Lesser, Eberhard (+17.6), Burke (0,0), Schempp and JoBø (0,0). Heading for the first stand – Erik ahead but Schempp, Burke, Eberhard, Bø and Landertinger closing. Erik has missed 1 Julian Eberhard has missed 4 – JoBø is clear (15/15!) and he leads out just ahead of Schempp, Dominik L third just ahead of Laser (oops, he’s got me doing it) and Tim Burke some 16 seconds back on Erik. Leading 2 pulling away; at 9.6 Km they are 10 seconds clear of the chasing 2, Arnd Peiffer just ahead of Burke and Weger. Final shoot – JoBø has missed 1, but so have Schempp, Lesser and Landertinger – oops that 2 for Dominik. Out in order JoBø, Schempp, Lesser, Weger (20/20!) and Doll. Freddie Lindström is also 20/20 and 7th. Going to be an interesting last lap – Weger through Lesser at 10.9 Km; JTB fractionally ahead of Schempp. At 12.1 Km Simon Schempp has a small gap on Bø, but has he gone too early? Erik still in touch with Benni Weger. Simon Schempp (1,1,0,1) has done it – 8.5 seconds clear of JoBø (0,0,0,1) – Erik Lesser (0,0,1,1) has got back past Weger (0,0,0,0) for the final podium place – 2 Germans there again! Benedikt Doll 5th ahead of Tim Burke. Gainers include JTB (7 to 2), Benjamin Weger (11 to 4), Freddie Lindstrøm (15 to 7), Simon Eder (38 to 11), Garanichev (29 to 14) and Anton Shipulin (45 to 20). Other way – obviously Julian Eberhard (2,0,4,2; 1st to 18), Arnd P (3 to 9), and Doherty (21 to 32). Alexey Slepov fastest round the course ahead of Tarjei and Johannes; Volkov fastest on the range from Eder and Eberhard.

Women’s 12.5 Km Mass Start: Due to strong, gusty winds the Mass Start races have been rescheduled; looks like the men’s race as was, with the women going later, not before – not entirely sure of the time zone difference (+5 hrs I  think). Seems a floodlight might have fallen in the range area too – at least it wasn’t a drone crashing! (although the photo of it looks pretty bad – right over the lanes of the shooting area). The ZDF ticker is not exactly optimistic about these last 2 races happening. Seems the tracks are also covered with debris from the trees – this isn’t looking good! Biathlon im Ersten reckons that’s it and the races are cancelled, what a sad end to the season, but I suspect it wouldn’t be safe to try and race in these conditions (which can be seen in Benedikt Doll’s video – shared by Biathlon im Ersten)! Franzi H has also posted on FB that the race will not start; Biathlonworld report that the jury have announced the cancellation of both races, so “this is the way the season ends, not with a bang but a whimper” (apologies to T S Eliot!)