Biathlon 2016/17

At last! The new World Cup biathlon season starts on Sunday with the mixed relay and single mixed relay, from Östersund. I understand the German team for the mixed is Laura Dahlmeier, Franziska Hildebrandt, Arnd Peiffer and Benedikt Doll; single mixed is Erik Lesser and Franziska Preuß.

Remainder of the programme for this event:

30 Nov - women's 15 km Individual
1 Dec - men's 20 km Individual
3 Dec - Sprints (7.5 Km women; 10 Km men)
4 Dec - Pursuits (10 Km women; 12.5 Km men)

Couple other snippets; apparently Tarjei Bø won't be there as he's been ill during the summer. In the first IBU Cup series races, Denise Herrmann (ex langlauf star, in her first biathlon race) won the 7.5 Km sprint despite no less than 6 misses - Dzinara Alimbekava (BLR) was second with just 1 miss, and Ekaterina Glazyrina (RUS) 3rd with 3 misses

IBU Cup: Saturday 26 Nov; IBU news flash – “Extreme weather conditions today in Beitostölen resulted in the competition jury deciding to move the two sprints to Sunday, with the 2 mixed relays scheduled cancelled. The IBU will make a decision regarding complete cancellation of the relays or possibly rescheduling at another venue later in the season”.
IBU World Cup - No GB team in the mixed relay, but Amanda Lightfoot and Scott Dixon are in the single mixed (where the French team is Martin Fourcade and Marie Dorin Habert!)

With the caveat that I have no video coverage (and Eurosport aren't showing the highlights as they are too focussed on snooker) and the IBU data stream is a bit cranky; here is what I think happened.

Mixed Relay: The first question is, perhaps, what on earth have the IBU done to their datacenter facility – the new one is terrible! And, the IBU video link is now blocked for UK – why? I have the live data feed only on, so it looks as though I’ll have to wait for video until Eurosport condescend to show us highlights later - snooker and tennis [Argentina v Croatia, for heaven’s sake], taking precedence. At S1 Selina Gasparin (SUI) is clear and leads out from Magnusson (SWE), Dunklee (USA) and Skardino (BLR). Quite a few misses too in the first 2 shoots – Vítková (CZE) on the penalty loop with Mun of Korea (and Bulgaria, Finland, Lithuania and Canada, apparently, after S2? Still working on the new data centre!). By the second split of leg 1 (5.7 Km) Marta Olsbu is leading, just, from Magnusson and Dunklee (good run from Susan who used 3 spares at S1). Franzi Hildebrand seems to be slow today, back in 7th, +22.5? First exchange and USA lead from Norway, Sweden and France. Next leg sees Birkeland (Fanny Horn as was) just ahead of Anais Bescond and Öberg (SWE) as they come into S3; Birkeland leads out Bescond  and Haecki (SUI) (2 spares each), Egan 4th for USA with Russia 5th (Akimova); Laura Dahlmeier in 7th just ahead of Kaisa Mäkäräinen . Coming into S4 Laura D seems to have closed up a lot; Birkeland, Dahlmeier and Haecki are the top 3, but it’s Öberg who leads out after the standing shoot, from Bescond, Doro Wierer, Birkeland and Dahlmeier – all very close; looks like Kaisa Mäkäräinen has done 2 penalty loops, as have Egan and Haecki. In for exchange 2 – Italy lead from Norway, Germany, Sweden and France (+11.8). First leg for the men – Lukas Hofer leading fairly comfortably at present from Benedikt Doll and Ole Einar Bjørndalen at their 2.2 Km split; Nelin (SWE) and Claude (FRA) well in touch. Leading 3 seem to be clear at S5, as was Claude – Nelin 1 spare – they are out Hofer, OEB, Doll, Claude, Nelin – then over 30 seconds to Tsvetkov (RUS). At 4.7 Km OEB has halved the distance to Lukas H, Claude is 3rd and holding his gap to Hofer at 16 seconds or so.  In for S6 – OEB clear again and he leads out (the Eurosport team will beside themselves!) from Doll (1 spare) and Hofer (1+3) who joined Claude, now in 4th, and Nelin on the penalty loop. Final exchange – Norway 17.3 clear of Germany who are another 20 seconds ahead of Italy; then France Sweden and the Czechs after a good lap from Slesingr.  JoBø has the final leg for Norway and seem to be flying, over 7 seconds pulled out on Arnd Peiffer by his 2.2 Km split with Dominik Windisch keeping his gap steady, just ahead of Quentin FM; Moravec losing ground. Last prone shoot – the IBU have no data in the S7 field , so no idea what is going on. At 4.7 Km JoBø has pulled out another 20 seconds on Arnd, and 10 on Windisch; Anton Shipulin has gained a bit though and is up to 4th. The IBU still have no data on the S7 field but there is some in S8, so seesm there was a glitch with that data! Assuming that we are on the final standing shoot (and we have data from 4.7 Km) it looks like Bø and Peiffer were clear at S8, as was Shipulin who is up to 3rd? The Russian is just ahead of Windisch and QFM who needed 1 spare each. Hopefully the finish is correct – both IBU and ZDF are showing a win for Norway (great effort) with Germany 2nd and Italy pipping Russia by just 0.3 seconds for the final podium place. Only now does the S7 data appear! Now, Eurosport say that they are covering this race at 1600 (UK time), but I suspect that they will run over time with the snooker, as they did yesterday with the GS alpine ski event. (THEY DID!) IBU report here

Single Mixed relay: Not too optimistic about coverage of this one either as Eurosport have finished blathering about the live snooker and are now running a “147 special” Well, things looking up – we do have Mike and Patrick (welcome back, indeed; the schedulers haven’t let us see you all day) and we have highlights of the MR first (very brief!) – that final shoot by JoBø was impressive! Good finish by Windisch too, to take 3rd. Back to the SMR; women start, 3 loops with 2 shoots interspersed, handover, men do 3 loops/2 shoots then the process repeats, with the men doing an “extra” final loop. Bit breezy/gusty and -4 degrees. I’m worried that Erik Lesser has shaved off his moustache again –didn’t work so well last time? They are away – quite a crowd at present! Rosanna Crawford (CAN) in the early lead; sure someone fell there but I couldn’t see who. Now Hauser from Marie Dorin Habert and Persson as they head for S1; the faller was probably Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold, as she is at the back. Out from S1, Franzi Preuß just ahead of MDH, Hauser 3rd despite 1 spare, then Sleptsova and Sanfilippo. Belarus, Japan, USA, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and the Czechs all on the penalty loop. On the lap MDH has passed Preuß; in for S2 – Franzi Preuß needs just 1 spare and leads out ahead of Hauser (2), MDH (2) and Persson (2). More on the penalty loop too, including Russia. Straight to the exchange for the women; Germany just ahead of Austria, then France, Sweden and Canada. Martin Fourcade has already halved the gap as they come in for S3 – Erik Lesser clear and out ahead of Simon Eder (1 spare); Martin F clear and in 3rd. Emil Hegel Svendsen also needing spares so Norway in 16th at present. Leading 3 very close as they head in for S4; Erik uses 2 spares, so as they head for the next exchange it’s France, Austria and Germany in that order. EHS is not having a good day – still in 16th at the exchange, with Scott Dixon on his heels! MDH is pulling away on the next lap, Hauser and Preuß losing time. They are already at S5 – MDH clear, Hauser & Franzi P 1 spare each; Vishnevskaya (KAZ) in 4th at present ahead of Persson and Gasparin. Norway needing 2 more spares, down to 18 with GB in 19. Hauser passes MDH at S6 as MDH used a spare, Preuß clear – final exchange and Simon Eder is briefly ahead of Martin Fourcade, Germany 3rd +14.9; final prone – Martin F clear, Eder (1) Erik L clear; sadly Amanda Lightfoot has incurred 2 penalty loops in her final shoot and I think that’s GB out. After S7 Sweden are 4th with Switzerland, Canada and Kazakhstan in close company. Final shoot – Martin F over 20 seconds clear, with Lesser 10 seconds back on Eder. Fourcade needs 1 spare, so does Eder and Lesser needs 2 – out in order Martin F, Simon Eder (+20), Erik Lesser (+40); then Stenersen (SWE), Savitskiy (KAZ) and Nathan Smith (CAN). Somewhat predictable that France have won, Austria a well deserved second and Germany third. A slight change in the pursuing teams – Sweden get 4th ahead of Kazakhstan with Dolder of Switzerland overtaking Smith for 6th. Norway down in 11th.

Women’s 15 Km Individual (no penalty loops, 1 minute added to the time for every target missed): No Tiril Eckhoff today, apparently due to a respiratory infection – I think she’s expected back for the sprint? No Dasha today either. There are 101 starters listed for this event; 3 Km track with some “good” hills – race has started. Most of the names are going in groups 1 and 2; Laura Dahlmeier and Doro Wierer go 3 and 4 respectively.  At 1.5 Km the time to aim for seems to be about 4:46; Doro going well early on. Sanfilippo has missed 2 at S1; disappointing for her but Laura D and Doro W are both clear – Doro almost 20 seconds clear of the German as they leave the range. Oops – Vitková has missed 3 at S1; Laukkanen has missed 2 – good speed to the range but that has almost certainly blown it; Franzi Preuß  clear and just fractionally faster than Laura. Franzi Hildebrand quite quick on the run to S1, but not as fast as Gabi Koukalová (no, that isn’t a typo – unusual surely to change just one letter of your name when you marry?), and Kaisa Mäkäräinen looks fast too. Now at S1 Gabi has missed 1, as has Lisa Hauser, while Doro has missed 2 at S2 – Laura D clear there; Kaisa has missed 2 at S1. It’s looking a bit gusty on the range now; Franzi P has missed 2 at S2 and is also a minute slower than Doro with the same penalties – maybe something wrong with either her, or the skis, or just saving herself? Conditions are looking nastier as the race goes on; Franzi H misses 3 at S2, Gabi drops 2 more – Laura D has missed 1 at S3, Doro 2 more; Darya Yurkevich (BLR) has cleared 15/15 but is slower than Laura. Back at S1 Miri Gössner has missed 2 – wind even stronger and gusty. Franzi P has cleared at S3, very impressive; Anais Bescond is 10/10 with good speed. Eva Puskarčíková was also 10/10 but has missed 4 at S3 – tough luck for the later starters at present. Laura D has missed 1 more at S4; Doro has missed 3 more (7 total); as a Miri fan I should expect this I suppose – all 5 missed at S2. At S4 Yurkevich is again clear – superb shooting, especially in these conditions; Franzi P has missed 1 more at S4. Marie Dorin Habert has cleared at S3, but has 3 misses from the previous shoots. Now there is a surprise – Anais Bescond is 15/15 and faster than Laura D after that shoot; after S4 Gabi has 7 misses in total – not the start she wanted to the season. Track seems to be breaking up a little too; Bescond at S4 and under pressure – she has missed her final target – she has just 7 seconds in hand as she leaves the range; this is going to have to be a great final lap for Anais. Looking back, Glazyrina is clear at S2 and about the same speed as Bescond – this is a good race, and the wind is perhaps easing! Miri has now completed S4 – a total of 11 misses – gloom! At 14.3 Km Anais has lost time on Laura – she is now +14.7; into 2nd at present, +15.8,  ahead of Darya Yurkevich who is the only 20/20 that I can see; sadly that’s Franzi P off the podium! Vanessa Hinz clear at S2, but slower there than Ekaterina Glazyrina, who has just missed 2 at S3. Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold has missed 8 so far, after S3 – good news though is that Vanessa Hinz is now 15/15 an just 24.6 back on Laura D’s time – pressure time! Hanna Öberg (SWE) into 7th at present despite 4 misses; Glazyrina has cleared at S4 – just 2 misses in total. Wind is all over the place again! Hinz in for S4 – 3 misses sadly, but she could still get a top 10? Quite a good run for Yulia Zhuravok (UKR) who has missed just 2 targets; again a top 10 possible (finally 11th). So, Laura Dahlmeier (2 misses) wins from Anais Bescond (1) and Darya Yurkevich (0). Franzi Preuß (3)  in 4th, ahead of Justine Braisaz (4), Ekaterina Glazyrina (2) and Lisa Hauser (3). Öberg (4) in 8th, then Vitková (5) and Hinz (3).  Gabi was 17th, Marie DH 19th, Kaisa 24th and Doro 31st. Laura D fastest round the course, ahead of Gabi and Kaisa.

Men’s 20 Km Individual: Looks like 106 starters today; hard to believe that Eurosport are currently showing exactly the same snooker match on BOTH of their channels (the twisted logic of that decision completely escapes me) so it’s hard to pick up any comments from the biathlon team! We should have had highlights of the Women’s race but that didn’t happen. Finally we join the men’s race – small mercies! Seems as though the weather is more settled tonight, so maybe the wind be less of a lottery? Race on – already I’ve lost track of the OEB mentions! Andrejs Rastorgujevs is first away; unusually both Windisch and Tsvetkov are even faster than the Latvian at the first split; Benedikt Doll also fast there – remember though that Laura Dahlmeier was quite slow on lap 1 yesterday and ended up with the fastest course time! Andrejs is at S1 – 1 miss; same for Maxim Tsvetkov – meanwhile some bloke called Martin Fourcade has gone fastest at the 2.8 Km split, that might be a name to remember? No one clear at S1 yet; wind has picked up a little but despite that Evgeniy Garanichev is clear. So are Simon Schempp and Martin F; the Frenchman is 18.4 faster than Schempp after that first prone! Bjøntegaard also clear and marginally faster than Schempp; Johannes Thingnes Bø clear and 2nd fastest here; quick shooting but he did sound as though he was breathing harder than most of the other athletes. Good shooting from Rastorgujevs – he’s cleared S2; OEB has cleared S1, so has Arnd Peiffer – Doll has missed another 1 at S2. Schempp and Fourcade are in S2 together, and it’s gusty – 2 misses for Martin, 4 for Simon, his race is surely over. The locals will be pleased – Freddie Lindstrøm missed 1 at S1 but has cleared S2 and is currently fastest here. Or, at least, he was until JoBø is the first to go 10/10 – he is 1 minute 43.8 faster than Freddie! Simon Eder and Brendan Green have also missed 3 in the first standing shoot. I shoot clays left handed but even for me Lowell Bailey’s stance looks awkward; he’s missed 2 in the stand. That’s impressive – Andrejs R is clear at S3 as well. OEB has missed 2 at S2, so has Peiffer; Doll clear at S3, so is Martin F – Swedish Freddie has missed another 1 here and so has Schempp. Looking at the S3 timings Rastorgujevs is fastest with 1 miss, Martin F just 16.1 behind with 2 misses and Benedikt Doll 3rd, also with 2 misses. JoBø has gone 15/15 (his 5th one very lucky – not a lot of the round hit the target but it did fall!), which puts him 1 minute 54.3 ahead of the Latvian. Rats – Andrejs has missed 2 in his final shoot; I hoped he might have sorted his standing shoot. OEB has cleared at S3; Doll has missed 4 on his final shoot. So far only JoBø is clear after S3; Martin F clear at S4, Freddie Lindstrøm has missed his 3rd target here. JoBø has missed 2 out of 4 at S4 – he takes ages on the final shot, but it does eventually go down; meanwhile Anton Shipulin has only missed 1 by S3 and his time is looking good. After S4 Martin F now has 16.1 seconds in hand over Johannes; worth watching the splits on this final lap! OEB has missed his 3rd target too; at the 18.8 Km split JoBø has dropped 10 seconds against Martin F; Vladimir Chepelin (BLR) currently third after the final shoot with just 1 miss. JoBø continues to slip back on Fourcade’s time – at the finish he’s 29.5 back, in 2nd place. Well, that’s pretty much the last threat over – Shipulin has missed 3 at S4. Looking back there were very few (just 5 by my count) 10/10 scores after S2, and one by one they are picking up penalties later on; Florian Graf has become only the 2nd person to go 15/15; he’s missed just 1 at S4; he leaves there in 6th – that 1 missed shot has probably cost him a podium place! That’s pretty much it – Martin Fourcade (2 misses) wins again; JoBø (2) 2nd and Vladimir Chepelin (1) gets a well deserved podium place. Birkeland 4th, OEB 5th and Rastorgujevs 6th. Worth noting that Florian Graf was the best of the Germans in 8th (next best Doll in 30th) and an impressive run from Cornel Puchianu (ROM) to get 14th with 3 misses. Best course times – Martin F from JoBø and Julian Eberhard (AUT), then L’Abee-Lund, Schempp and Doll.

Women’s 7.5 Km Sprint:  I missed both sprints live (no complaints, as it was an excellent lunch). No sign of a highlights programme on Eurosport, so I’ll have to wait until they show the video. Aha, here it is (but the IBU have cleared the data from the race, just the results seem to be available) – weather seems to be a bit kinder today, less wind!  I see Eckhoff is back today after her respiratory infection. Teja Gregorin away first; Justine Braisaz a bit lucky at S1 – final shot a split round; good shooting from Akimova too,  Charvatová also clear and fast. Some of the bigger names are away, Marie DH, Gabi Koukalová; MDH is very quick to S1 and clear – she is fastest by 13 seconds, which is pretty nearly half a penalty loop. Some good prone shooting, but it’s trickier for the stand – Gregorin and Braisaz 1 miss each, Charvatová has missed 2. Doro Wierer is at S1 – very quick shooting and she’s clear too, and 2nd fastest behind MDH. Gabi K is also clear and in touch. Marie DH is at S2 – she’s taking her time, but that’s 10/10 and fastest at S2 by 37.7. Franzi H is clear at S1 and it’s a fair time; that’s Vanessa Hinz 10/10, which is good news. Tiril Eckhoff has 9/10; Laura D is clear at S1. Doro is at S2; first miss was a bit unlucky but she’s missed a 2nd target; Kaisa Mäkäräinen clear at S1. Gabi 10/10 and 4.3 behind MDH, but ahead of Hinz. Veronika Vitková also clear at S1, if a little off the pace – the Czech women are going to be a pretty impressive relay team? Rats, Franzi Preuß  has missed 2 at S2; Laura D has missed her last shot at S2, Kaisa her 4th. Looks like MDH has a superb set of skis – nearly 20 seconds faster than Gabi with the same shooting record. Kaisa is flying round the course, and Lisa Hauser is 10/10 and also looking fast. Laura D is at the finish – she has outskied Gabi, but that miss has been costly. Kaisa has also skied well – despite her 1 miss she’s ahead of Gabi. That’s pretty much it – Marie Dorin Habert wins – perfect shooting and great ski speed. Kaisa (0,1) in 2nd, ahead of Gabi K (0,0), Laura D (0,1) is 4th, Lisa Hauser (0,0) gets a well deserved 5th with Vanessa Hinz (0,0) in 6th.  Franzi H was 16th, Maren Hammerschmidt (1,1) 20th, Franzi P 25th, and Miri Gössner (1,2) 37th.    IBU report  HERE

Hope to catch up with the video of the Men's 10 Km Sprint tomorrow. Sadly with the men's GS and the Pursuits on I haven't managed to see the video yet - the IBU report is HERE

Women’s 10 Km Pursuit:  Again, the weather doesn’t look too bad although I can’t see the flags at present. Five times round a 2 Km loop today; MDH will lead off – only 26 seconds to Laura D in 4th. Certainly Marie seemed to have the best skis of the day yesterday – the race is away; the time gaps are so small in some cases that Patrick W can’t keep up with the names as they start! Kaisa closing down MDH at the first split; Vanessa Hinz has lost a couple places. All starts fine – no problems reported from race control. Coming in for the first prone shoot – wind may have increased a little? MDH hasn’t checked down the range and she has just missed her first; that’s 2 missed – Kaisa has missed 1; Gabi and Laura clear, so is Hauser – Tiril has missed 3! Out in order Gabi K, Laura D, Kaisa, Lisa Hauser – MDH in 7th. Susan Dunklee’s unhappy time here continues as she has also missed 2. MDH seems to be losing a bit of time on the lap; I wonder if she is completely well? Braisaz going well at present – in 6th after S1 but now up to 4th; MDH is making up time again. In for the second prone – Gabi clear, Laura has missed 1, so has Kaisa; Braisaz has missed 2 but Hauser is clear, so is Skardino. MDH has missed another 1. Out Gabi, Laura D (now +25.7), Lisa H and Kaisa, Nadezhda Skardino in 5th.  Kaisa up to 3rd at 4.8 Km – Doro up to 6th from 19 at the start. Heading in now for the first standing shoot – Gabi has missed her first, but cleared the next 4; Laura has also missed 1. Hauser has missed 1, but Kaisa is clear, so is Haecki – Skardino and Hinz clear too. Order now – Gabi, Kaisa (+17), Laura D (+22.9), Doro W (+24.3). MDH has missed 2 more – 5 in all and is 11th. At 7.6 Km Kaisa is just 5.8 seconds behind Gabi; here we go for S4. Gabi has cleared the lot! Kaisa has missed 4 and 5 – Doro clear marginally faster than Laura; so out Gabi (1 miss), Doro (+17.7, 20/20!), Laura (+19.8, 2 misses), Haecki (+29.8, 20/20) and Hauser (+45.6, 1 miss). MDH has missed another 1. Kaisa has passed Hauser on the lap and Laura is past Doro and has taken 10 seconds out of Gabi at the final split. So Gabi Koukalová wins the pursuit, from Laura Dahlmeier, with Doro Wierer up from 19 to 3rd having cleared all 20. Lena Haecki also cleared all 20 moving from 12th to 4th, Kaisa 5th despite 4 misses and Lisa Theresa Hauser 6th after 1 miss. Amazingly Marie DH ended up 7th despite 6 misses. Among the gainers Yuliia Dzhima went from 21 to 12 and Franzi Preuß  from 25 to 14. Going the other way, MDH from 1 to 7; Vanessa Hinz from 6 to 11; Vishnevskaya 9 to 17; Eckhoff 7 to 27 with 8 misses; Birkeland 13 to 36 and, sadly for me as a fan, Miri G from 37 to 54 with 9 misses in total – I can’t see her keeping her place in the World Cup team? Fastest round the course – Kaisa from Mari Laukkanen (5 misses though), Laura D and MDH.

Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit: Again not being covered live as there is so much else going on today! From the IBU data center (sic) I can get an idea of what is going on and hopefully catch up later (if ski jumping and/or snooker don’t interfere – later; what a surprise, ski jumping is running late – situation normal, and even though they are 10 minutes late already we get a massive tranche of adverts, including one about how much sport Eurosport is covering in December – not at the moment they aren’t!). My first data set is from the first prone shoot (I am getting more used to the new format but there are only so many sets you can view/compare without running out of screen). At last I have the highlights on, so I can fill in a few gaps hopefully, although it looks as though they are only covering the shoots. Martin F starts with 42 seconds advantage, which is a good 1.5 penalty loops. In for S1; Martin Fourcade has missed 2 here, both off right, but still leads away from Babikov, brother Simon Fourcade and OEB, all of whom were clear, Tsvetkov in the hunt too - very fast shooting by him; Doll (4th at start) and Peiffer (third at start) have missed 2 each, Schempp 1, JoBø has missed 3. On to S2, wind picking up, and this time Martin is clear, he leads out but Babikov is also clear and just +5.6. Tsvetkov, Bailey, OEB and Simon F are also clear and very close together about 22 seconds back. Doll and Peiffer clear and making up some ground; JoBø has missed 1 more. Shipulin and Lindstrøm also clear so far. On to the first standing shoot – Martin F clear again; Babikov has missed 1 and is now 2nd but just clear of Tsvetkov and Bailey; they are about 35 seconds back. Simon Desthieux has 1 miss in total and is in touch just ahead of Erik Lesser who also missed 1 here. Doll has missed 2 here, Peiffer 1 and OEB 2. Shipulin has missed 3, as has Lindstrøm; Schempp clear this time and making up after a single miss in both prone shoots. Weger has missed 7 so far. Final shoot and Martin has a penalty loop in hand – he’s going to need it as he’s missed 2 here (1 and 5) as well – 4 in all. Babikov is clear and leads out fellow Russian Tsvetkov (20/20); Martin F is 3rd, 10.8 seconds back, then Simon F (2 misses), Erik Lesser (2) and Arnd Peiffer (3). Lowell Bailey has missed 2 – pity, and Freddie Lindstrøm has missed 2 more; looks like Doll has missed 3 more. At the 11.3 Km split Babikov has pulled out time on both Tsvetkov and Martin F; Germans hunting down Simon F a little. Well there’s something of an upset – Anton Babikov (1 miss) wins from Maxim Tsvetkov (20/20) and Martin Fourcade (4). Peiffer (3) in 4th ahead of Lesser (2), Simon F (2 and Krcmar (20/20). Schempp in 9th and OEB 12th. Big gainers include – Babikov 7 to 1; Tsvetkov 11 to 2; Lesser 15 to 5; Krcmar 38 to 7; L’Abee-Lund 58 to 19. Losing places – Windisch 6 to 25; Eberhard 5 to 27; Doll 4 to 33 (and 7 missed targets); Lindstrøm 2 to 38 (5 misses). Fastest course time JoBø (4 misses, 10th place), ahead of L’Abee-Lund and Schempp, then Babikov, Martin F and Shipulin. The Russians had some great skis today, and with good shooting too they have taken the top 2 places on the podium.

Men’s 10 Km Sprint:  Apparently Martin Fourcade has never won here in Pokljuka! Good recovery opportunity going into the range, but it can be subject to some odd wind conditions – looks nice at present. Top names in group 1 and 2, although L’Abee-Lund goes 103 and he looked fast last week? Race has started; huge cheer for Klemen Bauer - OEB starts, commentators go into overdrive! Benny Weger looking quick at the first split, early on. Early starters are at S1, Benedikt Doll is clear and quite fast; Erik Lesser also clear; Windisch has missed 1. Bauer clear and shooting fast; OEB also clear and out 2nd.  Tim Burke has missed 2 here, Arnd Peiffer a bit off the pace and he’s missed 1 as well; Svendsen is clear and in touch. Rats – Doll is at S2 and he’s missed 3 out of the 5 – very unhappy German coach! That’s better – Erik Lesser is 10/10, but he was slower than Doll into the range. JoBø fast at S1 and clear there – 7.8 inside the best so far! Eberhard still having a bad run, missing 3 at S1. Klemen Bauer is now also 10/10; so is OEB who is 6.5 faster than Lesser after S2, Bauer another 21 seconds back. Doll pulling back time on Lesser on the lap, but he has a lot to make up. Martin F clear at S1, but 7.1 slower than JoBø, who has gone clear at S2. Missed a bit greeting the plasterers – Svendsen is 10/10 and looking fast at 8.6 Km; welcome back EHS? At the finish OEB is 1.2 faster than Erik Lesser; Anton Shipulin 10/10 but slower than OEB at S2. Martin F is 10/10 and just 0.5 slower than JoBø. If the data is correct Doll (3 misses) has finished ahead of Weger who only missed 1 – not far off Peiffer either and he only missed 1. Good final lap from EHS to take the lead at present; Bø is faster still – an all Norwegian podium as it stands. However, Martin F and Anton S are 10/10 and on their final lap; Schempp also clear and with a similar time to EHS. Fourcade is really flying on his final lap – 8.7 faster than JoBø at 8.6 Km, Shipulin still about 4 seconds back on the Norwegian. Final split and Fourcade is now 12.2 clear; maybe Bø was fading a little? Currently, at the finish, Martin F (0,0) leads from JoBø (0,0 +13.7) and Anton Shipulin (0,0  +15.1) EHS 4th about 10 seconds ahead of OEB, Lesser 6th. Tsvetkov and Babikov are now 10/10 but about 30 seconds off Fourcade as they leave S2 – looking like an exciting pursuit? Schempp (0,0) into 5th, 29.5 back on Martin F. Shame – Rastorgujevs was clear at S1, but has missed 4 at S2.  Of the later starters Bjøntegaard was in touch after S1, but he missed 2 at S2; QFM and Dorfer also clear at S1 – Fillon Maillet has gone 10/10 and is just 11.5 back on Bø’s time there – that could upset the podium? No, he seems to be losing time on the lap – track seems to be getting a little wet? Matthias Dorfer also 10/10 but slower than QFM, who has just gone into 5th, pushing Simon Schempp down to 6th. Dorfer is looking wasted on the final lap – his first World Cup race I think and not bad to be in the 30s. That’s it – Martin F has won at Pokljuka! JoBø 2nd, from Anton Shipulin. Svendsen 4th ahead of QFM and Schempp – OEB 7th ahead of Lesser, Krčmár and Eliseev. Should be a good pursuit with 12 people inside a minute of Martin F’s time. Fastest round the course – Martin F from Doll, Svendsen, Bø and Eberhard. L”Abee-Lund has missed 3 in all – no pursuit for him.

Women’s 7.5 Km Sprint: Interesting; Doro Wierer is going almost last! That should keep up the interest for the later stages. MDH is away at number 10; skies are getting a bit darker as she leaves the start. Early starters are in for S1 – Fialkova goes clear, so does Hinz; nice, fast shooting from Podchufarova – Eckhoff clear and fastest so far out of the range. Nice to see Susan Dunklee go clear (you can advertise on her sights I see!) and she’s just a fraction off Eckhoff’s time; MDH also clear – maybe doing a Martin and taking the pace a bit slower early on? Franzi Hildebrand clear and 3rd after S1 at this early stage. Justine Braisaz is going quickly on her first lap; that’s’ good from Podchufarova – 10/10. Sadly Vanessa Hinz has missed 2 in her standing shoot; Fialkova has missed 4! Laukkanen has missed 1, but Susan Dunklee has cleared 10/10 and is leading from S2 at present. Back at S1 Kaisa Mäkäräinen is clear, but so is Braisaz and she’s even faster! MDH has missed 1 at S2, so has Fanny H-B, but Franzi H is 10/10 and just 4 seconds slower than Dunklee. Laura Dahlmeier is clear at S1; at the 6.8 Km split Podchufarova has closed up on Dunklee but the American has taken some of it back at 6.8 Km. Kaisa has missed 1 at S2; amazing – Franzi H has gone through 6.2 Km 15 seconds ahead of Dunklee! Sadly Kaisa is just +2.1 behind Franzi; at S2 Braisaz has cleared again and is 19.4 faster than anyone else there; she really is flying – great French skis again today. So 20 have finished – currently Justine Braisaz leads from Kaisa and Franzi H. Laura D is also 10/10 and just +9.7 versus Braisaz there; it’s +4.4 at 6.2 Km – dead heat at 6.8 Km – YES, Laura is 3.5 faster at the finish – great work! Not over though as Marte Olsbu has also cleared all 10 and her ski speed went up by a quantum leap at the end of last year. She’s 2.5 seconds better than the German at S2. Miri Gössner has cleared S1 and is second fastest there … however? Interesting, Olsbu has lost time against Laura D at 6.2 Km, and bit more at the final split; will she beat Kaisa? Yes, she has – 1.5 seconds in hand, into 3rd behind Laura and Justine – while that is happening, Miri has hit 4 at S2 – much more like it!! Out of S2 in 9th and +34. Gabi K has missed 1 at S2; out about 4 seconds ahead of Miri. Kuzmina going well at S1, so is Yuliia Dzhima; Denise Herrmann has missed 1 there, so has Doro. Kuzmina clear at S2 as well, but has lost a little time. Gabi seems to be taking a little time out of Miri over the final lap; she’s into 6th but Puskarčíková and Kuzmina are yet to come. Dzhima has missed 2 at S2; coach looks disgusted! Denise Herrmann is in for S2 – 1 miss here too; Kuzmina losing a bit of time from 6.2 to 6.8 but that’s a good return from a 2 year break – into 6th pushing Gabi down a place. With Doro Wierer going backwards on her final lap, that’s about it. So, Laura Dahlmeier (0,0) wins, from Justine Braisaz (0,0 + 3.5) and Marte Olsbu (0,0 + 21.3). Kaisa (0,1) gets 4th despite that penalty loop, ahead of Franzi H (0,0) and Anastasiya Kuzmina (0,0). Gabi was 7th ahead of Puskarčíková , and Aymonier just went fast enough on the last lap to pass Miri, who was 10th (Hurrah!). Susan Dunklee ended up 11th and Denise Herrmann 18th despite 2 misses. No surprise that Kaisa was fastest round the course from Celia Aymonier and Braisaz; Laura 4th just ahead of Denise H and Selina Gasparin. Another interesting pursuit in prospect!

Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit: Commentators already in full OEB flow! Cold overnight but about plus nine now – might be slushy for the women’s race? What a front row – Martin F, JoBø, Shipulin and Svendsen; behind them QFM, Schempp, OEB and Lesser. Race is on – order much the same for the first 8 at the early split; 2,3 and 4 very close. Martin F pulling out a little, EHS in the chase; Eliseev seems to have considerably improved his pace this season! Martin taking his time at S1; clear – leading 4 clear in fact; Shipulin fast shooting and up to 2nd. Out Martin F, Anton S, EHS, JoBø; Schempp up to 6th and OEB has missed 2! QFM has missed 1 as well, as has Erik Lesser. On the lap Shipulin is closing down Martin F, just 0.9 at the second split; Eliseev up to 6th now! In for S2 – both leaders clear and out; Shipulin marginally ahead; EHS 3rd, Bø 4th then Schempp and Eliseev – wind picking up? QFM has missed another, OEB clear this time. Martin right behind Anton on the lap; now he’s past – JoBø and EHS almost together 17 seconds back. Back to the range – S3; shot for shot and it’s the same for the 2 Norwegians – out Anton, Martin, JoBø and EHS (+20 or so); Erik Lesser 5th, Eliseev 6th, Schempp 7th – top 4 all clear. Next 3 1 miss each and about a minute back. QFM has missed 1 more, OEB 2 here. On the lap Martin F passes on the hill again; final shoot – Martin F shooting faster – he’s clear but Anton has missed 1; JoBø has missed 2, EHS clear. So, Martin leads out, Shipulin and EHS neck and neck 24 seconds back, Bø a minute back just ahead of Schempp and Rösch! Next split Bø has pulled away from Simon Schempp, close for 2nd between EHS and Shipulin – Martin F (0,0) takes the double; EHS (0,0) wins the sprint for 2nd, Shipulin (0,1) 3rd. Bø was 4th, Simon Schempp 5th and Michael Rösch (16th place to 6th) was 6th – great result for, er, Belgium! Other major gainers included Tsvetkov (13 to 8); Birkeland (32 – 13); Moravec (31 – 14); Eberhard (47 to 21); Landertinger (49 – 29) and Windisch (59 – 27). Going backwards – QFM (5 to 20); Babikov (22 – 34); Bauer (12 – 41); Mesotitch (14 – 46) and Simon Fourcade (29 – 54).

Women’s 10 Km Pursuit: Another one I had to watch on catch up (how many adverts can they cram in – too many to count); seems to have been a real roller coaster of a race! Temperatures dropping a bit as we head to the start – start list shows some very small time gaps; 3 non starters. The catch up isn’t providing a lot of coverage; in the early stages there isn’t much change – into S1; Laura clear as are Marte O and Kaisa; Justine Braisaz has missed one letting Franzi H up to 4th, with Gabi Koukalová 5th and Susan Dunklee 6th. Kuzmina has missed 3, and Aymonier 2 – both dropping back; MDH clear and gaining ground. We join the video after about 9 minutes at 3.4 Km – Laura Dahlmeier leads from Kaisa M, Gabi K and Marte Olsbu. In for S2 – Laura D has missed 2, Olsbu clear, Gabi has missed 3, Kaisa 10/10, Braisaz has missed 1 more – Olsbu leads from Franzi H and Kaisa, Susan Dunklee up to 4th, Laura out in 5th. On to S3 – Marte Olsbu has missed 1 but leads out from Dunklee and Hauser (both 15/15); Franzi H has missed 1 but is just ahead of Kaisa, who has also missed 1; Laura D still 5th but she’s more than halved the time difference to the leader. At 6.7 Km it’s Franzi H, Marte Olsbu and Susan Dunklee nominally in the lead but with only 2.6 between the top 6. Coming in to S4 Laura D is back in the lead! Then Kaisa and Franzi H; still a lot to play for, this is even more exciting than the men’s race. Now S4 – 6 in just about together – Laura D clear; Olsbu, Dunklee, Franzi H Hauser and Kaisa have all missed 1; it’s Laura D, Susan Dunklee and Lisa Theresa Hauser then Eva Puskarčíková and Marte Olsbu as they leave the range. On the lap Laura is nicely clear; it’s a bit of a zoo behind – Kaisa, Puskarčíková , MDH, Hauser, Dunklee all close. Laura Dahlmeier wins, Kaisa gets 2nd, Eva Puskarčíková just pips MDH for the final podium place; Dunklee 5th, Hauser 6th. Good effort by Braisaz to get 7th despite 3 penalties. Gainers include Puskarčíková (8 to 3), MDH (17 – 4); Dunklee (11 – 5); Hauser (12 – 6) Dzhima (28 – 11); Vishnevskaya (25 – 13) and Vitková (30 – 15) – quite a change in the field! Going backwards, to make up for all the gainers, Braisaz (2 to 7); Olsbu (3 – 9); Aymonier (9 – 17); Gabi K (7 – 26) and Kuzmina (6 – 31). Sadly Miri G continued her dismal record for Pursuits dropping from 10 to 25 with 5 misses; Denise Herrmann missed 4 and went from 18 to 21 – quite a good result. Franzi H ended up 8th but Tiril Eckhoff had a bad day missing 6 targets and ending up 32nd.

Men’s 4 x 7.5 Km Relay: Looks a nice day; Mesotitch is wearing a T shirt before the start! No Bøs in the team; Tarjei still out and no JT – there was a rumour that he had a cold? At 1.8 Kms it’s Tsvetkov from Rastorgujevs, Hofer and Birkeland; nasty crash there but everyone is up – are the rifles OK? Gronman (FIN) and A N Other involved. In for S1 – Birkeland leads out from Tsvetkov, Mesotitch and C Gow (CAN) – all clear; quite a few spares being used, including 3 from Erik Lesser, but no penalty loops that I can see. First error of the day – Andrejs Rastorgujevs (possibly in the crash – seems some confusion) is on the loop and Belarus are doing 3; Bocharnikov had to swap rifles as he came in – presumably he was also in the crash? Heading for S2 – Russia, Austria, France, Czech Republic; out of the range Tsvetkov, Pryma (UKR), Gow (those 3 clear), Hofer (clear here), Anev (clear so far) and Birkeland (2 spares); Lesser has used 2 more spares and Mesotitch is on the penalty loop. Beatrix 7th out of the range but 4th by the next split. First exchange and Russia lead – looking strong (much faster than before – I can’t be the only one a bit uncomfortable about that); Babikov has leg 2. Belarus have now done 6 penalty loops on leg 1! So, Russia lead from Italy, Ukraine and France; Germany down in 9. In for S3 – out in order Semenov (UKR), Windisch (ITA), Babikov (1 miss RUS) and OEB; QFM in 5th and S Gow 6th. Dorfer clear and up to 7. Adverts coming thick and fast so we miss a good bit of track action! In for S4 – the second standing shoot, top 5 bunched up now. Italy & Norway needing spare(s) – QFM leads out from Semenov and Babikov; then Gow, Windisch and OEB (3 spares there!). Dorfer clear and 7th - +34.2. On to the second exchange – France lead out ahead of Russia and Italy, Norway 4th, + 19.4, then Canada and Ukraine; Slovenia past Germany – Dorfer has lost a lot of time on this final lap. Simon Desthieux setting a fairly gentle pace, but that might suit this course? Chasing pack in for S5; Desthieux clear and out but several others having a nightmare; Eliseev on the penalty loop (out +57.0), so is Macx Davies; Bjøntegaard using 3 spares, as is Doll. Out in order France, Ukraine, Italy, Norway, Canada and Germany. A few surprises might be on the cards? Third standing shoot – Desthieux has missed 2 but clears with 2 spares, Norway missing 3 and on the penalty loop! Out Desthieux, Montello (ITA), Eliseev (RUS, how? Now + 24.7!), Kilchytskyy (UKR) and Doll. In for the final exchange – Doll is flying! Out France (guess who), Germany (+20.5), Italy (+22.7), Russia (+26.6) and Ukraine (+29.1). The timing data is getting confused by tail enders; can Austria really be second by only 0.1???  No, in reality Fourcade, Schempp, Pidruchnyi are top 3; in for the last prone – Fourcade 1 spare, Shipulin fast and clear, Schempp 1 spare – out Fourcade, Shipulin, Schempp, Pidruchnyi (UKR), Bormolini. Svendsen is clear but still 8th and he’s lost a little time. Final shoot – first 2 about 20 seconds apart then next 3 another 20 or so back; Fourcade clears and leads out! Shipulin needs 1 spare, but he’s out 2nd about 9 seconds ahead of clear shooting Schempp; Pidruchnyi also clear, about 6 seconds back on Schempp. EHS is down to 9th after using 2 spares. Last lap – Shipulin has closed a little on Fourcade, so has Schempp but the Rus/Ger gap is steady; they are opening on Ukraine. So Martin Fourcade, who has never won in Pokljuka until this year wins both Sprint and Pursuit  and anchors the French team (0+7) to the win. Russia 2nd (1+6) and Germany (0+11) third (good recovery). Ukraine get 4th from the Czech team with Austria 6th. Norway were 9th – 1 penalty loop and 13 spares.

Women’s 4 x 6 Km Relay: Busy day – two Alpine races, with 2 runs each and 2 biathlon relays; no time for lunch today! We’re away Chevalier leads Hinz and Puskarčíková  at the early split; all safely round that nasty bend. Looks like Puskarčíková  leading; captions seem to be a bit odd today.  In for S1; Puskarčíková (CZE) leads out from Vishnevskaya (KAZ), Podchufarova (RUS)  - all clear; then Hinz (1 spare), Skardino and Varvynets. No penalty loops this time; 8 teams within 10 seconds. Not a lot of snow off the actual track; in for the first standing shoot - Puskarčíková  and Hinz struggling a bit, Birkeland will have to do 2 penalty loops! Out Vishnevskaya, Podchufarova, Puskarčíková (I hate relays – all those names – my spell check isn’t too happy either), then Varvynets (UKR), Gregorin (SLO) and Öberg (SWE); Hinz needed 3 spares and is 8th, + 20.6. First exchange – Puskarčíková is flying, Tia Gregorin in 2nd –out from the exchange it’s CZE/SLO/KAZ/RUS/GER/JAP. On the lap, at 1.4 Km of this leg, Charvatová leads from Erzen (SLO), Akimova (RUS), Kistanova (KAZ) and Franzi H. At S3 Franzi is clear and first out; Charvatová is on the penalty loop – 2 loops to do, very sad for them! Out Hildebrand, Akimova, Yuliia Dzhima (UKR), Erzen and Gontier (ITA); Kuzmina also has a loop to do. Second standing shoot – Franzi has missed her first; now 3 misses – she’s kept off the loop though. Out Dzhima (1 spare), Franzi H (3, +15.9), Braisaz (clear, +19.9); Gontier on the loop, so is Erzen. Heading for the 2nd exchange Dzhima is flying, opening up a nice gap on Franzi, Justine B holding her place. At the change – UKR/GER/FRA/BLR/RUS/SUI. Not a good changeover for Ukraine! Next split – Pidhrushna leads Aymonier and Hammerschmidt, less than 10 seconds between them. Then over 30 seconds to Pisareva (BLR), Sleptsova (RUS) and Laukkanen (FIN). In for S5 already – Pidhrushna has missed her first and 5th; Maren H clear and out first; Pidhrushna +15.3, Aymonier +24.6; Eckhoff narrowly avoiding a penalty loop! Maren pulling away a little on the lap, Aymonier up to 2nd. Next standing shoot – Maren misses her 5th and needs 2 spares to clear it; Aymonier clears – she’s away and the gap is just 4.6 seconds to the German; Pidhrushna clear and 3rd, + 13.6. Laukkanen on the penalty loop; Eckhoff taking ages to get her final target down – she’s 12th almost 2 minutes back. Aymonier has passed and is opening the gap on Maren – final exchange and Marie DH is away ahead of Laura D (+14.2), then UKR/SUI/BLR/CZE. Laura isn’t closing at present; now she is – Merkushyna in 3rd, but she’s the least experienced of the Ukraine team; Gabi K in 5th just behind the Gasparin team (sorry – Swiss team). Final prone – MDH clear, Laura D misses the 5th, 1 spare to clear, Merkushyna clear too; Gabi clear and up to 4th, Elisa Gasparin on the penalty loop. Laura now only 3.1 behind MDH, at 3.4 Km; great downhill section. Final shoot and Laura leads in – both clear, finishing together! Merkushyna also clear – what an effort; Gabi has cleared but she’s some 27 seconds back on the Ukraine athlete if she wants to get on the podium. Leading 2 taking it tactically, so Merkushyna is closing on them; Gabi still about the same amount behind.  Laura has attacked on the hill; that’s a 6 second gap opened. Laura has done it – anchoring the Germans (0+9) to the win. France second (0+3), Ukraine 3rd (0+3), Czechs in 4th (2+9) – that was a great effort after those penalties! Norway (2+9) up to 5th, another good effort, Russia in 6t.

Post race note: Much was made of Merkushyna's relative World Cup inexperience; worth noting that the day before she won the IBU Cup sprint in Ridnaun and then had to travel 5 hours to Pokljuka to join the relay team!

Nove Mesto; Men’s 10 Km Sprint: There seems to be a good crowd! Race is on, under floodlights – snow soft around the stadium, but recent rain seems to have stabilised most of the track? OEB away early, to the delight of the commentary team; Michal Krčmár is away – huge roar from the locals! OEB fastest early on at split 1; at 2.3 Km Rastorgujevs is faster still; at S1 OEB has missed 1, but Lowell Bailey is clear. Mesotitch is also clear and marginally faster than the American. Good start from Andrejs Rastorgujevs – clear and fastest so far at S1; five loud cheers indicate that Krčmár is also clear at S1. Babikov has missed 2, Koiv has missed 4; Peiffer clear although a couple looked a bit low! Lindstrøm has missed 1 - Shipulin now fastest at S1; one lucky hit there! Very fast shooting from Simon Eder, and he’s clear. JoBø in for S1; missed his first (not by much, but … ). Now Andrejs R  is at S2 – missed his 3rd, but that’s not bad and he’s fast. EHS clear at S1 and now fastest there; Krčmár has missed his first at S2, and there’s a 2nd miss. Schempp at S1 – clear but +9.4, Doll has missed 2; Peiffer in for S2 – he’s clear, but even after his loop Andrejs is 8 seconds faster! Martin F clear at S1 and even faster than EHS; Shipulin has cleared at S2 and he’s quick. Eder has missed 3 at S2; Eberhard in for his standing shoot; 1 miss there to add to 2 in prone. Ey up – Iliev is clear at S1 and faster than Fourcade! Rösch has missed his last at S2; so has EHS, who broke his rhythm for that final shot. Schempp has also missed 1 here; at the finish Arnd Peiffer is about 15 seconds back on Rastorgujevs who had to do a penalty loop – Shipulin leads at present and Martin F has missed his 9th shot – that’s going to be expensive for him? Current state after S2 – Shipulin leads, JoBø +11.8, Martin F +12.6, EHS + 15.5. Hell’s bells – Julian Eberhard, with 3 misses is ahead of Arnd P at the finish! Back at S2 Iliev has missed 1 but he’s still with Fourcade and EHS. Fourcade has pulled back 10 seconds from Shipulin at 7.8 Km; EHS also took out some time but not enough to catch the Russian; he’s into 2nd. Fourcade (0,1) has done it again – at present he leads at the finish, from Shipulin (0,0; +1.6), EHS (0,1; +6.4) and JoBø (1,0; + 10.5). Andrejs currently 7th, Eberhard (2,1) 8th ahead of Arnd Peiffer (0,0)! Iliev (0,1) has just gone into 5th – Erik Lesser has missed 1 at S2; Germans not doing too well today. Semenov (0,0) into 7th ahead of Moravec (0,0) who has pushed Eberhard down a place. Looking back at S1 Bjøntegaard is clear but +15.8; huge cheer as Jaroslav Soukup becomes the second Czech to clear all 10, but he’s +29.1. Bjøntegaard has also missed 1 at S2 but he seems to be gaining places on the last lap; Soukup losing time on the lap. Bjøntegaard is into 10th at present, pushing Peiffer out of the top 10; Germans look to be off the pace – on course total time Doll +27.6, Schempp & Lesser about +49, Peiffer about a full minute against Eberhard (who was 7 seconds faster than Martin F). The top 10 hasn’t changed – Martin Fourcade has now won the first 3 sprints  of the season; his pace on the final lap is amazing! Shipulin 2nd, EHS looking to be back on form with 3rd, ahead of JoBø. Three Norwegians in the top 10, no Germans, but they got 3 in the top 20.

Nove Mesto; Women’s 7.5 Km Sprint: Wind apparently negligible tonight, and the air temperature is near freezing. Franzi H will be the first away; race is on. Early at S1 Dzhima is fast but she has missed 2; Franzi H is clear but so is Doro (lucky with the 4th!) and she’s faster; Braisaz looking fast at the 2 Km split. Back at S1 Olsbu has missed 1; Ransom clear, so is Justine B (very lucky though – low on the first 4) and now she is fastest at S1. Hauser also clear and in touch; MDH clear and +13.1. Franzi H has just cleared at S2, but on the lap Doro has been going faster; crowd going wild as Vitková clears S1. Doro has missed 1 at S2, but she’s still out in a better time than Franzi. At S1 Laura D is clear and fastest out; Susan Dunklee clear too and second. Braisaz has missed her first in the stand, and another one as well; even so she’s just 3 seconds behind Franzi – very fast skiing. Wind might be picking up – Skardino has missed 2 at S2 as well; MDH has missed 1 in the stand, Kaisa has missed 1 at S1. Looks like Dunklee is losing time on her second lap; Vitková has missed 1 at S2, but Gabi Koukalová is clear at S1 and 10 seconds faster than Laura – speaking of Laura she might have let the roars of the crowd for Gabi get to her as she’s just missed 2 in the stand; Susan Dunklee is clear and fastest after S2. At the finish Justine B, with 2 penalty loops done, is leading from Doro (1 loop) and Franzi (no loops – what is wrong with some of the German skis?). MDH is into 3rd; Laura is pulling back time on the final lap. Gabi slow to start her final shoot and she’s missed 3 – huge groan! Laura is 2nd, behind the clear shooting Dunklee, but she pulled back from +30.9 at S2 to + 11.4 at the end, even faster than Braisaz. Back at S2 Akimova (RUS) is 10/10 and just +1.5 on Dunklee (more mention of the McLaren report follows!) Kaisa (1,1) is into 3rd. At 6.3 Km Tatiana Akimova has taken the lead and she’s increased that at 7 Km. At the finish she’s beaten the American’s time by 5.1 seconds – the crowd are booing, I think – bit unfair if the Russian is clean, but at present there is so much suspicion! Selina Gasparin looking good until Patrick said “this is good” at which point she missed 2. Meanwhile, ignored by the camera and commentators, the amazing Franzi Preuß is 0,1 and 5th fastest at S2 – not sure about her ski speed at present (same sort of overall time at 7 Km as Gabi who had 2 more penalties). Possible upset time – Anais Chevalier is 10/10 and fastest leaving S2; Miri is 2,2 – not too bad in these conditions! Patrick seems to be getting a bit confused by time gaps, but by the final split he’s right that Chevalier is now behind Akimova. She can’t get it back – it’s Akimova (0,0) in the lead from Chevalier (0,0; +4.3) and Dunklee (0,0; + 5.1) – Laura D off the podium (0,2; +16.5) but ahead of Kaisa and Justine (also 2 misses each). Looking back Birkeland has missed 1 at S2, but she’s still in touch. Alina Raikova (KAZ) has joined the 10/10 team but she hasn’t got the speed to upset the podium. Birkeland into 9th at present; Tiril Eckhoff (1,1) is in to 14th but ahead of Franzi H who shot clear. Denise Herrmann clear at S1, but she’s missed 4 at S2. So, Akimova wins from Anais Chevalier and Susan Dunklee; Laura in 4th ahead of Kaisa and Justine B. France with 3 in the top 10 (Anais Bescond 8th), none of them MDH (who was 11th) ahead of Aymonier – do the Germans need to steal the French wax technicians!? Germans get 2 in the top 10; Laura plus Preuß in 10th; best Norwegian was Fanny Horn Birkeland in 9th. Miri ended up 59th (tbc) but still much faster than Denise Herrmann and Vanessa Hinz who also had 4 penalties each. Course times – Gabi K just the fastest from Kaisa (+0.3); Laura (+3.3) just faster than Justine B (+3.8), then Aymonier and Eckhoff

Nove Mesto - Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit: Very close time gaps so this should be interesting! Is Svendsen there, was he looking a bit under the weather yesterday? Interesting, at 2 Km the Fourcade/Shipulin gap is the same but after that the gaps are opening – where is EHS, can’t see him  on the graphics, presume he didn’t start? In for S1; Shipulin marginally faster- JoBø has missed 1, so has Iliev. Out with Shipulin and Fourcade close, then 25 seconds to Semenov and Rastorgujevs, Bø still in touch in 5th. Next loop quite pedestrian at the front – chasing group catching up a little. Moravec seems to have had a fall; rifle looks broken – needs to change it at the range. In for S2; Shipulin slightly faster – he’s clear but Fourcade has missed 1, he drops to 2nd +22.6 – JoBø also clear and out with Bjøntegaard and Rastorgujevs, Moravec has the spare rifle but he’s missing targets – all 5 by the look of it. Erik Lesser up to 6th from 15, QFM in 8 from 16, Schempp 9 from 17. Shipulin isn’t looking fast on this lap either; is that tactical? First standing shoot – wind very light; Shipulin has missed his first, next 4 clear – Martin F clears the lot! JoBø also clear but Rastorgujevs and Bjøntegaard have missed 2 each. Out – Fourcade, Shipulin (+10.9), Bø (+22.3), QFM (+39.5, from start 16) and Schempp (+42.9); drat – Erik Lesser has missed 2, so has Peiffer. Fourcade is pushing on this lap – last shoot coming up – all 5 down for Fourcade and most would have dropped a prone target. Shipulin has missed 1, Bø has broken his cadence, melted and missed 2. QFM and Schempp both clear. Out Martin F, Shipulin (+40.8), QFM (+49.5), Simon S (+53.7), Bø (+1:17.2). Martin F is cruising gently round the lap, high fives to the crowd on the hill, saving energy for tomorrow. Shipulin looking secure in 2nd, good fight between QFM and Simon S – Fourcade wins, Shipulin 2nd; QFM wins the sprint by one tenth! So, both QFM (16 to 3) and Schempp (17 to 4) are among those gaining – also Beatrix (31 – 8), Bailey (20 – 9), Krčmár (28 – 10) and Garanichev (41 – 11). Going backwards, the list includes Semenov (7 to 21), Iliev (5 – 22), Peiffer (11 – 26) and Moravec (8 – 50, due to that fall and rifle change).  Eberhard fast round the course but with 4 misses, ending up 13th.

Women’s 10 Km Pursuit: Not live on Eurosport – not sure of the logic in showing a repeat of the women’s downhill when the live biathlon is on, with the (truncated?) biathlon in a half hour slot later? There is an IBU video feed, which is available in UK, but Eurosport have only the shooting line apparently. Wind seems light still, and it’s below freezing. There are reports that Koukalová had a fall in the last lap of the sprint yesterday, which makes her course time even more impressive. Surprise – we have Patrick & Mike doing the IBU feed commentary – good news! Akimova away, race is on. At 1.5 Km Akimova is holding on from Chevalier and Dunklee; gap of just over 20 seconds to Braisaz, Dahlmeier, Wierer and Kaisa M. First prone shoot – wind might be getting up a tiny bit? Susan Dunklee clears and she’s out first; Doro and Laura D clear and out next; Akimova and Chevalier have missed 1 each, in 4/5 respectively, Franzi Preuß  in 6th, Aymonier 7th and Franzi H 8th. MDH has missed 1, so have Gabi and Kaisa. Dunklee losing a little time on the next lap; Aymonier and Chevalier going well. Now for S2, Susan D adjusting her sights but there’s a miss; Laura D clear, Doro has missed 1, Aymonier and Braisaz missing 2. Out – Laura D, Anais C, Franzi P – Susan Dunklee 4th, +14.4 then Akimova and Doro W. Tiril Eckhoff 12th – clear at S2 but 2 misses in S1. Miri is 10/10!! Birkeland 3,1; Gabi clear this time. On the lap MDH is up to 4th; first standing shoot now – Laura has missed her 2nd shot and another – Chevalier clear, so is Akimova. Gabi has also missed 1, Kaisa clear. Out in order – Anais C, Akimova, Doro, Preuß , Dunklee, MDH. Laura down in 9th +41.6. On the lap MDH and Kaisa are through Franzi P. Maths a weak area for the commentary team, if Akimova was +11.1 at the first split and is now +12.4 how can she have pulled a second back? Last shoot – Anais Chevalier is clear here, so is Doro and Susan D – rest missing including Laura D; Miri seems to have missed all 5. Out in order Chevalier, Wierer (+17.4), Akimova and Dunklee. Franzi Preuß in 5th, just ahead of MDH and Franzi H, then Gabi and Laura. At 8.9 Doro is closing, MDH through Franzi P, Laura past Gabi. At the finish Anais Chevalier (1 miss) wins, Doro Wierer (2) is 2nd (from 7th at the start),  Akimova (1) 3rd. Susan Dunklee was 4th, ahead of MDH, Franzi P and Laura D – Gabi 8th. Major gains include MDH (11 to 5), Franzi P (10 – 6), Gabi (13 – 8), Tiril E (14 – 9), Dzhima (34 – 13), Vittozzi (38 – 14) and Vishnevskaya (41 to 20). The other side of the coin – Kaisa (5 – 11), Justine Braisaz (6 – 22), Anais Bescond (8 – 27), and Birkeland (9 – 35; 7 misses!). Tiril seems to have been fastest round the course ahead of MDH and Mari Laukkanen; Vittozzi and Varvynets seem to be the only 20/20s on the range

Men’s 15 Km Mass Start: Courses have apparently changed for today due to the lack of snow around the area. No Svendsen today as he is still unwell. Last men’s race before the Christmas break, and they are away. Shipulin and Bø lead from Martin F; looks a steady pace – quite a crowded track! Erik Lesser coming through as they come in for S1 (prone) – Shipulin shooting fast and he leads out from Fourcade, Eder, Bailey, Krčmár and Semenov (all clear); Lesser, Schempp, OEB and Doll among those who have missed 1; Bø has missed 2 and Slesingr 3. Eberhard has also missed 1; fastest man yesterday, pity he can’t always shoot well. Coming in for S2 (prone) – Eder and Pidruchnyi fast and out in that order from Birkeland, Soukup and Babikov. Both Fourcade and Shipulin have missed 1 here and are some 20 seconds back now. Bø and OEB clear this time; Lesser and Schempp have missed another 1 each. Track seems to be breaking up a little. Fourcade is closing back up as they come in for S3, the first standing shoot – still quite close. Windisch and Birkeland have missed 2, Eder 3. Out Pidruchnyi, Babikov, Fourcade, Moravec, Beatrix and Peiffer; top 5 all within 3.5 seconds. Martin F is flying on the next lap; a good gap back to the pursuing 4 Peiffer has dropped back – final shoot! Martin F clear and away; Babikov and Pidruchnyi have missed 1 each. Out Fourcade (1 miss), Babikov (1 miss, +27.9), Moravec (2, +28.5), Pidruchnyi (1, +29.2), Eliseev (2, +29.5), Bø (3, +30.9) – very close for the podium places. Schempp and OEB among those also in touch. At 13.3 Km it’s Martin F from Babikov, Bø, Schempp and Eliseev. JoBø has fallen; Babikov and Schempp fighting for 2nd , Eliseev also close, Moravec making up time. Martin Fourcade wins yet again; Simon Schempp wins the dash for second despite 2 misses in the prone, Babikov 3rd. Moravec in 4th ahead of Pidruchnyi and Eliseev. OEB in 7th ahead of QFM and the rather unlucky Bø; Lesser 11th, Peiffer 14th (he seems to have faded early on in the final lap, better later ). Eberhard again fastest round the course (but 5 misses, which Doll also had), Schempp second fastest ahead of Bø and OEB; Fourcade 9th but he was slow on the final lap as there was no real threat!

Women’s 12.5 Km Mass Start: O Fortuna in the background as they get ready for the start; not live on Eurosport but the IBU video has Patrick and Mike again; good news. Long run to S1 today as they have been changing the tracks around. And it’s starting to snow in Nove Mesto; Kaisa leads them out into the first bend, Laura D quite a way back. Quite a number of biathletes threatening to boycott the World Cup event in March if it is held, as planned, in Tyumen, Russia –pity it has to come to that. Heading towards 2 Km Laura D has moved up; there’s a fall – Franzi H taken out by Haecki? At 2 Km Braisaz leads from Kaisa, Laura D and MDH – still very tightly bunched, Doro Wierer seems to have fallen? In for S1; looks calm – 24 within 10 seconds. Lots of misses; Laura D has missed 2, so have Birkeland, Vítková and Aymonier; Doro, MDH, Braisaz and Kaisa among those with 1 miss. Out in order Hauser, Franzi Preuß, Eva Puskarčíková, Chevalier and Gabi (Koukalová, Patrick, not Soukalová!); Laura over 50 seconds back. Quickly back in for the second prone shoot – Hauser clear and away, Hinz clear and second just ahead of Akimova, then Chevalier, Skardino and Wierer. Koukalová has missed 1, so has Preuß , Franzi H has missed 2, Aymonier 2 more and Birkeland is now on a total of 5 misses. Gabi really pulling back time on the lap, Akimova moving into the lead. First standing shoot – leading 4 have all missed at least one – Gabi clear and out in front from Doro W, and MDH; Hauser 4th from Olsbu, Hinz and Chevalier; Preuß in 10th, Laura D up to 12th but +34.9. Next lap and the chasers are a tiny bit closer to Gabi; Laura going up the rankings, Franzi P losing places. Final shoot – Gabi clear but so is Doro, so is Laura D. Out Gabi, Doro (+2.2), Marta Olsbu (+15.4), Hinz, Laura D and Franzi P. Doro doesn’t seem to have the skis to catch Gabi but Laura D is 3rd and closing; Vanessa H still just ahead of Marta O. At 11.5 Km Laura is 2nd just +6.9, Hinz holding onto 4th. Gabi (1 miss) wins in front of her home crowd, Laura Dahlmeier (2 misses) gets 2nd with Doro (1) 3rd. Vanessa Hinz (1) in 4th – her best so far this season – ahead of Olsbu (2) and Preuß (2). MDH in 7th with Kaisa 8th despite 3 misses. Tiril Eckhoff in 11th just ahead of Braisaz after 4 misses each. Aymonier has missed 9 targets so maybe she had a fall and damaged something; Birkeland has 10 misses, not sure what happened to her either? Fastest round the course was Laura D, ahead of Kaisa and Tiril E. Next stop – Oberhof in early January!

Quote: "Today, the RBU informed the IBU that the Youth and Junior World Championships 2017 that was originally assigned to Ostrov and the BMW IBU World Cup 8 in 2017 that was assigned to Tyumen are given back to the IBU". Full report at http://www.biathlonworld.com/news/detail/ibu-press-release-extraordinary-ibu-executive-board-meeting

World Team Challenge – Veltins Arena, Schalke 28 Dec: No IBU data for this one, but a good amount of prize money on offer for the 10 teams. All rather confusing – mass start relay first, with a pursuit later (time differences from the MS will be halved). Women away first – some very tight corners! Vanessa Hinz is leading in for the first shoot, from Bescond and Koukalová; Bescond on the loop (just 75 metres but tight corners); Hinz/Schempp (H/S) ahead of Wierer/Windisch (W/W) then Hildebrand/Lesser (H/L) at the first exchange; Koukalová/Slesingr (K/L) 4th.  First shoot for the men – Schempp has missed 1, so has Windisch; Slesingr clear and he hands over to Gabi in the lead, Pidhrushna/Semenov (P/S) second, Hildebrand/Lesser third – 7 laps to go. Women now in for the first stand – Gabi melting down, 3 misses, Pidhrushna 2 misses – Franzi H clear and “her” team lead at the next change, from Hinz/Schempp and Bescond//Beatrix. First stand for the men – Lesser has missed 2, so has Beatrix – lots of single misses but Schempp clear – H/S lead at the next change, from H/L and Podchufarova/Volkov (P/V) third. Second prone for the women – Hinz clear, so is Franzi H; Pidhrushna also clear. Next change H/S; H/L; P/S; P/V. Men’s prone – Schempp clear, so is Lesser, Semenov has missed 2, Beatrix clear. Exchange – H/S, H/L, Bescond/Beatrix (B/B), and P/V. Women’s standing shoot – Hinz has missed 2, Franzi H clear, Anais B also clear, so is Podchufarova – exchange H/L, H/S, B/B, P/V and Schwaiger/Eder (S/E). Men back on track – they have to do that lap, shoot and do a final lap to the finish.  Final shoot of the Mass Start – Erik Lesser clear, Simon Schempp has missed 1, Beatrix 2. Onto the final lap – H/L, H/S, P/V, S/E & B/B – at the finish (no money yet, it all depends on the pursuit), it’s Franzi H & Erik L leading from Vanessa/Simon (+15.1) and P/V (+23.7) S/E in 4th (+27.5) – all those time differences will be halved for the pursuit. So, an interval and we’re back for the pursuit. Franzi H away, Vanessa H and Olga P chasing – Gabi making up some ground; a few people looking very nervous on those corners and probably with good reason. First prone – no wind to take into account; Franzi clear, so is Vanessa, Olga has missed 1, lots of misses. First exchange – H/L, H/S, P/V, P/S, B/B and Doro has got Italy up to 6. Men in for the prone, has Erik broken a ski pole?  Yes! He’s clear anyway and so is Simon Schempp; Volkov clear too and Birkeland. Exchange – H/L, H/S, P/V (+24.7), the Birkelands, S/E. Oops – Gabi is the first faller tonight. First standing shoot – Franzi has missed 1, Vanessa clear; Olga P has missed 2, Birkeland 1, Bescond 2, Doro W clear! Exchange H/S, H/L, P/V, W/W and Norway (Birkeland & Birkeland). The corners are getting rutted and a bit soft – one caught out Gabi, and it almost got Erik L too. Men in the stand – Schempp 1 miss, Erik has missed 2. Volkov has missed 2, so has Windisch, Birkeland 1; next change H/S, H/L, and Norway (+51.7). 4 laps to go; women in prone – Vanessa clear, so is Franzi H, Schwaiger next to go clear. Exchange – H/S, H/L, S/E up to 3rd (+1:07.1), P/V, W/W (Doro fast and clear on that last shoot). Men in for their next prone – Simon S is clear and away, Erik clear too behind them Volkov clear, so is Windisch. Change – H/S, H/L, P/V, W/W – those targets do look a long way away as you look down the range. Last standing shoot for the women – Hinz misses her first, and last. Franzi has missed her last 2 – all getting close at the top. Anais Bescond clear, so is Fanny HB.  Exchange – H/S, H/L, B/B (+50.4), Norway, W/W. Last shoot of the evening – Schempp missed his first but the rest are down; Erik has missed his last shot – one lap to ski; Volkov clear and up to 3rd, France & Norway in touch. So Germany (Hinz/Schempp) win from their number 2 team (Hildebrand/Lesser); third place to Russia (Podchufarova/Volkov) then France, Austria and Norway. Good applause for Canada (Tandy/Davis) in 10th place. Great night for the Germans – a good evening’s entertainment.

Oberhof – Men’s 10 Km Sprint (5 Jan): Well, some nations a bit light on the ground this weekend - no Tiril Eckhoff, neither of the  Bøs (Johannes seems to be here today according to Patrick, but not starting; they seemed not to know that he wasn’t expected to race), no Franzi or Laura (who is resting, not sick, although she will apparently do the Mass Start?). I think Vítková is also sick, and I’m sure there are others. However, Darya Domracheva is back for the women’s events – no idea what sort of form she will be in, we’ll get some idea in the women’s sprint tomorrow. Anyway – the men’s race; it’s snowing and it’s windy and foggy in patches too! Might be a bit of luck today, especially for the later starters IF it stops snowing? Race has started; still quite a few Russians around! Early fastest man at 2 Km is L’Abee-Lund; wind has died down a little on the range and the light is better than when they zeroed. Chepelin is having a bad S1; he’s missed 4 out of 5; Eliseev has missed 3, so has Bormolini; Martin Fourcade away and fastest at 2 Km ahead of Slesingr and Eder. L’Abee-Lund and Florian Graf have both missed 1 at S1, so has Krcmar – Arnd Peiffer clear and fastest so far out of S1; Shipulin has missed his first but Maxim Tsvetkov is clear and marginally faster than Arnd P. Julian Eberhard is marginally the fastest at 2 Km; Moravec clear at S1 and well in touch, as is Slesingr, who is fastest here. However Martin F has also cleared and he’s even faster. Semenov (UKR) clear and just 9.9 back, Windisch just behind him. Klemen Bauer seems to have a rifle issue, it doesn’t seem as though he has fallen and damaged it so maybe a firing pin – he’s missed all 5 at S1. Svendsen is at S1 – clear and just 2.2 seconds off the best. Peiffer has missed 2 at S2; crowd seem very quieter than normal! No one is clear at S2 so far; Shipulin has missed 2 as well, so has Tsvetkov. Erik Lesser is clear at S1, and faster than Fourcade! Slesingr has missed just 1 at S2, best there so far; Martin Fourcade has missed 3 in the strengthening wind!! He is 38.1 behind Slesingr’s time. Simon Schempp has missed 1 at S1; OEB has missed 2, Malyshko clear. After S2 Eberhard leads – he missed 1 at S1, but clear at S2 and fast over the snow! EHS is at S2 and has missed his first – rest down though; Benny Weger is the only one clear after S2 but a little slow. Snow is back and the wind is up a bit too – Doll has missed his 5th at S1. Erik Lesser has missed 2 at S2; Eberhard has lost a little on Slesingr’s time but he has 10.6 in hand at 8.6 Km – he is leading at the finish from Slesingr and Windisch, with Fourcade 4th at present. Lesser through 8.6 Km in 5th, looks to have good ski speed today.  Unlike Weger, who with 10/10 is slower at the finish than Fourcade with 3 misses – interesting that Svendsen, with just 1 miss, is barely 4 seconds faster than Martin F at the finish. Doll has missed 4 in the stand – disappointing, but Lesser is into 4th at the finish and faster than EHS, despite 1 more penalty loop. Simon Schempp into 5th, just behind Erik. Aha – Lukas Hofer is the second man to go 10/10 after S2, faster than Windisch, but he’s dropped a pole which has cost him a few seconds. Matthias Bischl clear at S1 and pretty fast! Hofer is losing time to Eberhard at the 7.4 Km split, but he doesn’t seem to be tiring as much as some others who were faster after S2; up to 3rd at the 8.6 Km point – wind has calmed down for the later starters. Lukas Hofer looks exhausted – coaches urging him on – he’s missed the podium by one tenth, just behind Windisch! Currently Eberhard (1 miss) leads from Slesingr (1) and Windisch (1); Hofer (0) 4th ahead of Lesser (2) and Schempp (2); Svendsen (1) in 7th, Martin Fourcade (3) in 8th at the moment, Weger and Iliev making up the top 10. Rats – Bischl has missed 2 at S2; coaches are trying to speed him up on the lap! In-Bok Lee (KOR) has cleared all 10, but a bit off  the pace; just 3 perfect shoots today!  Martin Fourcade fastest round the course, 9.5 ahead of Eberhard, then Slesingr, Schempp, Lesser and Iliev. That’s the race over; no changes to the top 10 - well done Eberhard!

Women’s 7.5 Km Sprint – Oberhof 6 Jan: So, no Laura Dahlmeier (resting, not ill, Patrick!), no Franzi Preuß (sick), no Tiril either, however we do have Darya Domracheva! Gabi Koukalová will be first away today – not sure she’s entirely happy about that! It’s cold today – minus 15 earlier on apparently, currently about -7 degrees. Crowd seem a bit noisier today, despite the cold. Looking at Gabi, at the start, surely that hair (tucked under the Buff, over the right shoulder) will get in the way when she shoots? We’ll soon see, Gabi in for S1 – very calm at present – quite slow but she’s cleared all 5, obviously the hair isn’t an issue! Hinz shooting faster but she’s missed her final target; number 14 (Zhuravok, UKR) has fallen on the tricky corner. Akimova is flying on lap 1; leading at 1.5 Km from Selina Gasparin and Franzi H. Eva Puskarčíková quick into S1, but she has missed her first shot; Akimova has cleared and she’s fastest so far out of the range, Franzi has missed her 5th shot. Gabi in for S2 – clear, so 10/10. Maren Hammerschmidt has cleared at S1 and faster than Akimova; my live data feed has crashed! Vanessa Hinz clear at S2, but slow on the snow. Doro Wierer is clear at S1, 3rd on the way out. Tatiana Akimova has missed her first in the stand; Franzi H has also missed 1 here but she’s still faster than Hinz. Back at 1.5 Km Kaisa Mäkäräinen is fastest, from Braisaz and Akimova; Marie DH clear at S1 and fastest by 10.8 seconds. Kaisa in for S1 – she’s clear, and so is Maren Hammerschmidt at S2 (+15.7 behind Gabi). Miri Gössner is racing today – she has missed 1 at S1; Anais Chevalier is 10/10 and 3rd out of the range. Doro W is also 10/10 but a bit slower than Gabi, and the Czech had a superb final lap. Kaisa is much faster on lap 2 than MDH; Hauser and Braisaz have missed 2 each at S2, MDH 1 miss. Kaisa has missed 2 at S2, Dasha 1 miss at S1, but her ski technique still looks lovely! Susan Dunklee has missed 2 in each shoot. MDH and Kaisa both flying – despite their penalties they are both faster than Maren H at 6.5 Km, but MDH is losing time against Gabi! Wind seems to be picking up, Miri has missed 2 more at S2. Currently at the finish Gabi Koukalová (0,0) leads from Marie DH (0,1) and Anais Chevalier (0,0). Kaisa (0,2) has just gone 2nd – amazing! Dasha has missed 1 at S2; drills a bit rusty today. Chardine Sloof (SWE now rather than Netherlands) has cleared all 10, and looks set for a top 10 if she can hold on over the final lap; Nadine Horchler has missed her last shot, sister Karolin is (1,1). The wonderfully named Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold has joined the 10/10 team but 1:40 or so off the pace after S2. Not sure we will see any change now – no, that’s it; Koukalová wins from Kaisa M and MDH; Anais Chevalier (0,0) in 4th ahead of Maren Hammerschmidt (0,0; best German today by a good margin), and Doro Wierer (0,0).  Franzi H in 17th, Miri in 26th, Vanessa Hinz, with only 1 miss, down in 34th – wonder if she’s fully fit? Chardine Sloof finished in 10th (+1:12.9, best Swede!). Looking at the course time, Kaisa Mäkäräinen was the fastest, 24.6 ahead of Gabi with MDH 3rd; Aymonier and Braisaz 4th & 5th respectively so the French have good ski speed. Franzi H 8th, just ahead of Miri.

Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit - Oberhof (7 Jan): Unusual to see Martin Fourcade not the first away  - Julian Eberhard has 51 seconds lead over him; the Frenchman starts 8th! It is cold again, quite windy and there seems to have been fresh snow. Eberhard away, Slesingr closest to him, the chasing pack all bunched up; Benedikt Doll has fallen on that nasty corner. Eberhard is in for S1 – wind blowing hard from L to R, but he’s cleared them all. So has Slesingr, Svendsen the first to miss, Hofer, Schempp and Landertinger have missed 2, Iliev 4. After S1 – Eberhard, Slesingr (+15.3), Lesser, Windisch, Fourcade & Tsvetkov (+51.4) – all clear. OEB has missed 2, Bischl 3, but Doll is clear. Eberhard has almost fallen on the lap, which has lost him some time – windy in the trees with some snow being blown around; hard work if you’re on your own, especially if you are the size of Eberhard! Windisch and Fourcade making up time; Martin F seems to have cold fingers! Eberhard in for S2 – second prone; he’s missed his last shot, Slesingr also 1 miss; Windisch clear but Fourcade has also missed 1, so has EHS, Weger having problems with 3 misses. Out Eberhard (1 miss), Windisch (+0.9), Lesser, Slesingr (1 miss), Babikov & Peiffer – Fourcade 8th, +23.3. Beatrix having trouble on the lap – Fourcade up to just 7 seconds back and into the main group, he’s slowed a little to tuck in to the slipstream, Erik Lesser in the front getting the full force of the wind. In for the first standing shoot – Fourcade fast and all down, Lesser has missed 2, so have Eberhard, Slesingr and Svendsen, Windisch and L’Abee-Lund have missed 3, Babikov all 5. Out in order Fourcade, Peiffer (1 miss at S3; + 36.8), Tsvetkov (clear here), Slesingr and Lesser, with Eberhard 6th, +1:04.8. On the lap Martin F is on his own so he’ll suffer from the headwind this time; still pulling away though. In for the final shoot – wind is strong but seems steady. Fourcade gets the first 2, long pause, then the last 3 down – he’s away. Tsvetkov and Peiffer have missed 2 each, Tsvetkov has missed a 3rd, Lesser has missed 3, EHS just 1. Out in order, Fourcade (1 miss), Peiffer (3 misses in all, +1: 34.7), Svendsen (5 misses in all), Windisch (5), Babikov (5) and Lesser (5). Martin F can cruise the final lap – actually he seems to be maintaining the gap! Peiffer seems safe in 2nd, good scrap for the final podium between Windisch, Svendsen and Lesser, Babikov also in the mix. Fourcade takes the pursuit win, crossing the line backwards. Arnd Peiffer is second, great run from Dominik Windisch to just nick the last podium place from EHS (did he go too early?). Lesser in 5th ahead of Babikov and Slesingr. Some impressive gains; obviously Fourcade 8th to 1st, but also including Peiffer (15 – 2), Babikov (18 – 6), L’Abee-Lund (20 – 8), Pryma (57 – 9, very impressive), and Rösch (36 – 14). Going the other way Eberhard (1st to 19th), Slesingr (2 – 7), Hofer (4 – 12), Schempp (6 – 20) and Landertinger (12 – 30). L’Abee-Lund fastest round the course ahead of Babikov and Svendsen.

Women’s 10 Km Pursuit – Oberhof 7 Jan: We might join this slightly late because of the thrilling men’s GS at Adelboden – Hirscher’s 100th podium place, and Pinturault becoming the most successful French male skier ever! Actually we just made it, despite the adverts! Very cold again, lots of arm waving to keep the fingers moving. That tricky corner might cause some upsets when it gets crowded; it’s getting a lot of respect!  Still windy as they come in for S1 – Gabi clear, MDH has missed 1, so has Kaisa; Chevalier, Hammerschmidt and Wierer all clear, as is Pidhrushna, but several others missing including Sloof; Dasha has missed 2. Out Gabi, Maren Hammerschmidt (+38.5), MDH, Anais C, Doro W and Kaisa (+46.5). Chevalier has fallen at “that” corner, losing time, but Gabi seems to be pulling away; Kaisa has gained places but the gap to Gabi remains pretty constant. In for S2 – Koukalová has cleared them, but very lucky as most were on the left edge! MDH clear, so is Kaisa but Maren H has missed 1. Wierer and Chevalier also missed 1 each. Out Gabi, MDH (+38.5), Kaisa, Maren H, Doro and Anais C (+1:33.2); Franzi H up to 7th from 17 at present. Miri has missed 1 in both prone shoots. Gabi in for the first stand shoot – snow a bit heavier and she’s missed the first; long pause for the last one but she’s got it – just 1 miss. MDH clear, Kaisa has missed 1, so has Maren H – Miri seems to have missed 3 more. Poor Susan Dunklee has missed 8 so far! Franzi H has missed 3 here. Out of the range – MDH leads from Gabi (+5.5), Kaisa, Maren H, Anais Chevalier and Anais Bescond. On the lap Gabi was perhaps lucky not to fall on the corner – her luck is definitely in today, given the 2nd prone! Last shoot – MDH has missed 1, Gabi 2; Kaisa slow and she’s missed 2. Maren H has missed her first, and 2 more; Chevalier has also missed 3, so has Haeki – no one perfect this time so far – Vanessa Hinz has done it! Out in order Marie DH, Gabi (+28.9), Kaisa, Maren H, Anais B and Marta Olsbu (+2:22.3). So Marie Dorin Habert (2 penalties) wins the pursuit, Gabi Koukalová (3) in 2nd, Kaisa Mäkäräinen (4) in 3rd. Good result for Maren Hammerschmidt (5 misses) in 4th, ahead of Bescond with Vanessa Hinz (2) into 6th from 34th!  So, gainers today include Bescond (18 to 5), Hinz (34 – 6), Olsbu (24 – 7), Vishnevskaya (38 – 10), Birkeland (30 to 16) and Nadine Horchler (35 – 17). Losing ground – Anais Chevalier (4 to 9, not helped by her fall), Aymonier (9 – 21), Gwizdon (8 – 31) and Guzik (11 – 40). Miri Gössner missed 6 in all but actually gained 2 laces to finish 24th. Gabi fastest round the course, ahead of MDH, Kaisa and Laukkanen. Dasha 7th fastest, finishing 34th with 6 misses. I can’t see any 20/20 scores, best seems to be 2 misses.

Men’s 15 Km Mass Start – Oberhof 8 Jan: Well, it’s misty in parts of Oberhof too; bit warmer than yesterday but still below freezing. Anton Shipulin leading them away; the range area is quite misty. Fourcade back in charge and he’s slowed the pace a little; camera lingering on the corner to see if there are any fallers. Apparently there is a norovirus doing the rounds; Shipulin back in front as they head back into the mist. First shoot coming up – Shipulin has missed his first shot, and another. Fourcade, Svendsen and Babikov among those clear; QFM has missed 4. Out Fourcade, Lesser, Eliseev, Tsvetkov, OEB and Schempp (+1.5), so all very close. Through 4.5 Km Lesser is ahead of Fourcade with OEB third, Simon Schempp up to 4th; Fourcade accelerating, EHS has broken a pole. In for S2 in front of a packed stadium – Doll has missed 1, Fourcade, OEB and Schempp clear Windisch has 4 misses, Eberhard 3; out Martin F, OEB, Schempp, Lesser, Tsvetkov and Eliseev (+4.5); Shipulin has missed 2 more here. At 7.5 Km it’s Schempp, Fourcade, OEB, EHS and Lesser but the top 8 are only separated by 8.8 seconds. Fourcade pushing the pace up the hill heading for the first standing shoot – Martin F has missed his first and another; EHS and Schempp have missed 1, Lesser and OEB clear – out in order OEB, Lesser, Schempp (+24.8), Svendsen, Beatrix Babikov with Martin F in 7th (+44.2). OEB wants Erik to take a share of the lead, but he’s not playing! OEB has taken a drink and Erik has gone past; QFM has withdrawn. In for the last shoot – 2 in the leading group, 3 chasing, 3 more behind them. S4 – Lesser has missed 1, so has OEB; Fourcade, Beatrix and Schempp clear, EHS has missed 1, so has Babikov. Out OEB, Fourcade (+1.9), Lesser, Beatrix, Schempp (+3.2), then a gap to EHS, Babikov and Tsvetkov. Massive burst of speed from Fourcade, possibly a bit early? At 13.5 Km Fourcade leads by just 0.6 from Schempp; Beatrix ahead of OEB and Lesser. Good race here - Fourcade puts on the turbos but he hasn’t shaken Schempp and Lesser is up to 3rd and close. Simon Schempp (1 miss) is accelerating - he takes the win with a photo between Lesser (1) and Fourcade (2); Erik gets it, Germany 1 and 2 with Martin F 3rd. Beatrix (1) 4th ahead of OEB (1) with Benedikt Doll (2) 6th. Martin F fastest around the track from Schempp and Lesser; I can’t see any perfect shooting scores?

Women’s 12.5 Km Mass Start: Laura Dahlmeier is back today, having missed a possible 120 points. All very close – Gabi K now leads overall but only by 4 points over Kaisa and 9 over Laura. Kaisa into an early lead with Braisaz second; one or two looking rather tentative round that corner. All very close at 1.5 Km – just 12.2 separating the top 20. Kaisa looking good on the hills, she’s opened a gap as they head in for S1 – wind not too strong but variable – Kaisa and MDH have already missed 1 each. Kaisa has missed 4, MDH 2, Doro W 2 as well. Out in order Akimova, Franzi Hildebrand, Laura Dahlmeier, Braisaz, Dunklee (good to see her hitting targets again) and Chevalier – all clear. Gabi 8th +13.0 at the range, gap down to +2.1 at the 4 Km split. Leading group of 4/5 with another 3 chasing as they come in for S2 – Braisaz has missed 2, Franzi H 1, MDH another 1. Vanessa Hinz and Maren H have missed 1 at each shoot. Out Gabi K, Laura, Susan Dunklee, Tatiana Akimova, Selina Gasparin, Eva Puskarčíková. Gabi is ramping up the pace, Dahlmeier close, Dunklee dropping back a little? Hauser has dropped out – think she must have damaged something? In for the first standing shoot – Gabi & Laura close – Gabi has gone clear, Laura and Susan have missed 1 each, Akimova has missed 3; Gasparin clear but MDH has missed 3 more; Sloof has missed just 1 so far. Out Gabi K, Eva Puskarčíková (+23.3), Franzi H, Dunklee, Gasparin and Dahlmeier; Vishnevskaya also in the chasing group. At 9 Km Gabi has pulled out a little – Laura D (no glasses on – her eyes must be watering!) up to 2nd ahead of Franzi H and Eva P. Heading for the last shoot – Gabi with 1 miss in hand. So, final standing shoot – Gabi has cleared all 5 before Laura has settled. Laura clear, so is Eva P – Franzi 1 miss, Dunklee 2. Out, Gabi K leads by 30.7, then Laura D who has 5 seconds or so over Puskarčíková. Franzi H another 30 seconds back with Vishnevskaya and Dzhima in touch; Kaisa and MDH back down the pack with 7 misses each, but looking at a top 20 finish! Gabi set for a relatively easy win, Laura safe in 2nd, Eva Puskarčíková looking at the podium place, but a good fight for 4th! Gabi Koukalová (20/20) cruises to the win, Laura Dahlmeier (1 miss) 2nd, Eva Puskarčíková (20/20) 3rd. Vishnevskaya (1) in 4th ahead of Yulia Dzhima (3 misses, 0,1,2,0!) and Franzi Hildebrand (2). Kaisa in 7th despite those 7 penalty loops, Dunklee (3) 9th, MDH (also 7) 14th just ahead of Sloof (just 1 miss!)! Kaisa fastest round the course, ahead of Dorin Habert and Koukalová, Dahlmeier 4th.

Men’s 4 x 7.5 Km Relay – Ruhpolding 11 Jan: New snow at Ruhpolding – should be nicer than all the machine made stuff they’ve had most of the season? I see Simon Fourcade is back, going on the first leg for France; Russia have Volkov back in the squad. OEB taking leg 1 for Norway; no Bøs again today. Lukas Hofer leading from Mesotitch and Lesser at the first split; I’ve already lost track of the number of mentions of OEB by the commentary team! First shoot – wind fairly benign; OEB fast but he’s missed 1, Fourcade has missed 3 and is on spares; at least he seems to have stayed off the penalty loop, unlike Korea. Germany lead from Italy and Austria, but the top 10 are less than 10 seconds apart as they leave the range. At the next split the top 10 gap is about 3.6 seconds; all very close! In for the first standing shoot – all change, as Erik Lesser is on the penalty loop! Lukas Hofer leads out from OEB, Volkov, Bailey and Moravec. Germany 41 seconds back now; Dolder (SUI) has also done a loop, Gronman (FIN) has done 2 here and Simon Fourcade has used 5 spares. Exchange 1 and Italy (Windisch) leads from the Czechs (Soukup). OEB has handed over to Christiansen in 3rd;  Erik Lesser was pulling back a little time after his rather disastrous second shoot, but the split times suggest that he went out too hard, looks like he has actually lost a little as he heads for the exchange to Benedikt Doll. At the next split the Germans are 53 seconds behind the leaders. Windisch has a fair lead coming in for S3, with the chasing pack now closing up to a distinct group. Italy and Norway go clear, Russia need one spare - out in order Windisch, Christiansen, Shipulin and Sinapov (BUL). Jaroslav Soukup is on the penalty loop; Doll has got the gap down to about 44 seconds while at the next split Leitner (AUT) is up to 4th. At 3.9 Km it's still Windisch in the lead from Shipulin, Leitner, Christiansen, Varabei (BLR) and Tim Burke (USA). The second standing shoot - Windisch needs spares, lots of others also missing but Anton Shipulin has cleared all 5, and he leads out - USA are on the penalty loop as are Italy and Bulgaria. Order after S4 is Shipulin, Leitner, Nelin (SWE), Christiansen and Semenov. At the second exchange Shipulin hands over to Eliseev, who leads out from Eberhard, Samuelsson (SWE), and Semakov (UKR) - L'Abee-Lund up to 5th. In for S5 and Russia, Ukraine and Sweden have all gone clear, but so has Arnd Peiffer. Out Eliseev, Semakov, L'Abee-Lund, Peiffer and Eberhard. QFM is not having a good time, but the French have at least avoided the penalty loop again. First 4 teams are quite close on the downhill section, heading in for S6; Eliseev is clear and very steady looking, that was a good, fast shoot. He leads out ahead of Peiffer, L'Abee-Lund, and Semakov, all of whom needed 2 spares - Samuelsson is 5th; Belarus have no less than 3 penalty loops to do, Austria have just the one! At the 6.4 Km split Russia lead by 35.6 with Germany and Norway pretty much together as the closest chasers. Exchange 3; Anton Babikov on the final leg for Russia and he leads from Svendsen and Schempp, Landertinger is 4th, with Freddie Lindstrøm in 5th. As they head for the final prone shoot Krcmar (CZE) is up to 6th; Babikov was, it has to be said, very lucky with his first round which was low right and clipped the edge - his remaining shots were quite well spread out but all the targets went down; EHS and Simon Schempp also clear, so is Landertinger but Lindstrøm needs 2 spares. Out - Russia, Germany, Norway, then Austria, Ukraine (Kilchytskyy) and the Czech Republic. Martin Fourcade is shooting well, but he doesn't seem to be pushing the pace as the French are down in 13th place! Schempp and EHS have closed a little at the 3.6 Km split but Babikov still has a reasonable lead. At the final shoot he needs one spare which reduces his lead - pressure now on the 2 nearest chasers, EHS and Schempp to take advantage - EHS shoots clear and leaves the range 14.8 seconds back; Simon Schempp needs 1 spare and is third, +23.4. Landertinger is on the penalty loop, so the order is now Russia, Norway, Germany, Ukraine, the Czechs and Sweden. At the 6.1 Km split Svendsen has closed to 9.6 seconds, and Schempp has also closed on Babikov; at 6.4 Km EHS is even closer (8.5) but Schempp has dropped back a little – tired after the Mass Start on Sunday? Svendsen seems much more like his “old self” today and he really is chasing hard; as they turn towards the finish he is right up with Babikov – he powers round the outside, and he’s gone! Norway (0+5) get a very well deserved win, with Russia (0+2) second and Germany (1+9) recovering well to get the final podium place.  Ukraine (0+6) in 4th ahead of Czech Republic (1+9) and Sweden (0+8). France (0+9) in 9th!

Women’s 4 x 6 Km Relay – Ruhpolding 12 Jan: Quite a good crowd; temperature just above freezing, bit of low cloud. This could well be close, 23 teams – not sure which I’d pick for the win. MDH is not racing today, and France have Aymonier as their anchor – not sure if that is a good idea; the Czechs look strong, Russia have apparently really gone for it, choosing a team, that might be a disaster or a real surprise! Race is on; Vanessa Hinz setting the early pace, Kaisa Mäkäräinen has overtaken her and is really flying – too fast? Kaisa has opened up a good gap, Chevalier 2nd with Hinz. In for S1 – Kaisa miles clear – 1 spare needed; out in order Eva Puskarčíková , Hauser, Hinz, Varvynets, Øberg and Vitozzi, Kaisa in 9th. Poland (Mitoraj) are doing 3 penalty loops, but everyone else is clear (14 teams) or has manged with just spare rounds. Kaisa back in the lead at the next split, from Hinz and Dunklee but the chasing pack are quite close. Kaisa in first again for S2 – Kaisa clear! Dunklee struggling and she needs all 3 spares, Hinz thought she had them all but missed the 5th – out Kaisa, Hauser, Chevalier, Puskarčíková , Varvynets, Vitozzi. Kaisa fast on the lap, Lisa Theresa Hauser going well as they head for the first exchange. Laura Toivanen takes over for Finland – then Sweden (+18.9, Sloof skiing for her “new” country), France, Czechs, Germany and Italy. Norway 9th, Russia in 16th. On the lap Laura T has been caught by the pack – Justine Braisaz has taken the lead and is opening up a good gap. In for S3 – Maren Hammerschmidt has missed her first but has the 5 down before Braisaz; Hilda Fenne is the fastest out, ahead of Braisaz, Maren H, Sanfilippo, Innerhofer and Toivanen. It seems Mitoraj might have fallen near the end of leg 1, she was shown limping off, but Gwizdon seems to be on leg 2, so they haven’t retired or been lapped. At present Braisaz leads from Maren H and Fenne as they come in for S4 – Maren has again missed her first; Fenne is clear again, great shooting, and out first, Braisaz needs all 3 spares. Order after this shoot – Fenne (NOR), Hammerschmidt, Sanfilippo (ITA), Dzhima (UKR), Braisaz and Kuzmina (SVK, +39.0). Norway and Germany have collided on the lap which has let Italy catch up; Fenne not happy! Second exchange – Germany lead out (Franziska Preuß , just back from illness) from Italy (Runggaldier), Ukraine (Merkushyna), Norway (Eckhoff), France (Bescond) and Slovakia (Poliakova). Hammerschmidt and Fenne still seem to be talking and smiling after the coming together. Interesting that Runggaldier is sticking well to Merkushyna on the track – in for S5; Preuß is amazing again, clear and fast! Out Preuß , Runggaldier, Merkushyna, Bescond and Eckhoff, Dasha in 6th. There is a group of 5 fairly close as they come in for S6; Merkushyna and Runggaldier clear, so is Eckhoff, Preuß and Bescond both using 2 spares, Russia have 2 penalty loops. Out from this shoot Ukraine, Italy, Norway, Germany, France and Belarus. Runggaldier has lost a ski pole; bit of a wait for the spare and meanwhile Eckhoff is flying! Final exchange – Norway lead out (Olsbu) from Ukraine (Pidhrushna), Italy (Gontier), France (Aymonier) and Germany (Dahlmeier); only 11.4 between them. Final prone shoot – Olsbu fast and clear, Laura D clear, Ukraine 1 spare, Gontier having snags. Out Olsbu, Laura D, Aymonier, Pidhrushna – Gontier 5th but +41.5, Gabi up to 6th but +1:52.1; commentators trying to curse the leaders by saying how great their standing percentages are! Final shoot – Laura has missed her 5th, but Marte Olsbu is fast and clear. Olsbu leads out, 10.7 ahead of Dahlmeier; Pidhrushna 3rd +20.1, then Aymonier and Gontier. By the 4.9 Km split Laura is just 1.3 behind, Aymonier through Pidhrushna. Good scrap for 1st & 2nd, likewise for 3/4. Laura D is past and has put in a real spurt to break away, Olsbu has lost time and she could lose 2nd – indeed Celia Aymonier (who was very steady today) has got second with Olsbu 3rd – I think she suffered from trying so hard to stay with Laura! Germany (0+6) win from France (0+7) and Norway (0+1, great shooting). Ukraine in 4th ahead of Italy and the Czech Republic (1+10); Austria 9th, Russia 13th – Poland managed 17th despite 3 penalty loops and 9 spares, beating USA (0+11).

Men’s 10 Km Sprint – Ruhpolding 13 Jan: Missed it live, so waiting for the catch up; guess what is over running? And this is only the qualifying? Let’s try the video option. Big field today, 107 starters. Looking at the biathlon start list, Martin Fourcade is starting later on in the field, which means he can see the split times during his run. Might work well if conditions don’t get slower. It looks icy today – Wiestner has fallen, might have damaged the rifle? OEB away number 13, on Friday 13th – hope he isn’t superstitious! Johannes Bø back today. Wiestner has only missed 1 at S1, so it seems his rifle is pretty much OK. Weger looking very hirsute, can’t think that helps! Svendsen away #25; Birkeland is one of the first to clear all 5 at S1, but lucky with his 5th – he’s fastest after that shoot at present; OEB marginally better. JoBø is in for S1; he’s missed number 2; out in 7th. Wind conditions are changing a little - Soukup has missed 2, Hofer 1. Tim Burke clear and in touch, so is Weger. EHS has cleared at S1 as well, he leaves in current 3rd. Birkeland has shot 10/10 and leads at S2; Julian Eberhard is clear at S1 and leads there. OEB has missed 1 at S2; Doll clear at S1, so is Dmitry Malyshko – Erik Lesser shot fast at S1 but missed 1. Rastorgujevs shoots amazingly fast, but he has also missed 1; JoBø has cleared at S2 but he’s off the pace today. Tim Burke fairly quick but he’s also missed 1 at S2; EHS is clear and he leads here from OEB and Birkeland. Eberhard is in for S2 – clear! No surprise that he’s now leading after S2; at the finish it’s OEB leading with Birkeland 2nd. Erik Lesser has missed his 10th as well; JoBø has finished but he’s looking more tired than usual. Chepelin clear at S1 and fast; Martin F has started and he’s fastest at the first split. Svendsen at the finish and he’s currently fastest; not for long though as Eberhard is 21.7 better. Back at S1 Martin F has gone clear and he’s 6.3 faster than Eberhard! Malyshko into 3rd at the finish; Doll also in but he’s missed 3 at S2 which has spoilt his day; Chepelin has missed one at S2. Simon Schempp clear at S1, out in third; Krcmar also clear but a bit off the pace.  Martin Fourcade has been really flying; in his second shoot he’s clear again and he’s now the fastest out of the range, 13.2 better than Eberhard. On the lap Martin F is passing the traffic with apparent ease; at both the next splits he’s gaining time - here we go, Fourcade is fastest at the finish at present, 18 seconds up on Eberhard (both 10/10), with Svendsen in 3rd, also clear. Back down the tracks, where it is now snowing harder, Lowell Bailey is at S2, and probably going well enough for a top 10, but he’s missed his 10th target;  Arnd Peiffer is clear though and could make it to the podium, just! Best German so far, at the finish, is Simon Schempp, (0,1) who is in 4th but +52.8 on Fourcade, despite just 1 penalty loop. I don’t know what times the commentators are looking at but Peiffer has more than 3 seconds to make up on EHS for a podium, more like 12 and I can’t see that happening. At S2 Willeitner has gone clear there, pity about the 1 miss in the prone. Arnd Peiffer (0,0) is at the finish – into 4th and just 1 second ahead of Schempp (0,1) in 5th – podium confirmed as Martin F, Julian Eberhard and Svendsen. Malyshko (0,0) 6th, ahead of Pidruchnyi (0,0); OEB (0,1) in 8th, ahead of Landertinger (0,1) and Birkeland (0,0). JoBø (1,0) ended up 37th, so presumably not fully fit yet? Guess who was fastest round the course – Martin Fourcade, just over 20 seconds better than Doll, then Eberhard, L’Abee-Lund, Shipulin and Svendsen.

Women’s 7.5 Km Sprint, Ruhpolding 14 Jan: Well, let’s hope the weather is better than it was for the FIS events – both downhills cancelled! Actually it doesn’t look much better –snow falling here too, but at least here they aren’t doing really silly speeds downhill – might have some exciting corners here though. Nice to see Miri still in the squad, although apparently she has only, ever, shot clear twice in her entire World Cup career (although her coaches say she is very accurate in practice)! Snow seems to have eased off a bit; Miri is on the tracks, and fast – so is Fialkova, who has just gone clear at S1. Miri also clear at S1 – shots a bit spread over the targets but all down! Vittozzi has just gone faster than Miri at 1.4 Km; she’s clear at S1 too and just fastest there at present. Fialkova at S2, but she’s missed 2 there; back at the 1.4 Km split Akimova has gone fastest ahead of Aymonier. Miri at S2 and the wind has got up a bit – missed the first 2 and the last – 3 misses in all! Aymonier was very lucky with her last shot at S1, somehow it did go down; Podchufarova clear, so is Akimova and she leads after S1. Franzi Hildebrand now fastest at 1.4 Km; at S2 Glazyrina (1,0) is fastest; Vittozzi has cleared all 10 and she now leads after S2. At S1 Dasha is clear, just adrift of Akimova’s time; Franzi H is clear and faster than both of them. Birkeland has missed 4 in S1; Miri has flown on the final lap and is currently second. Franziska Preuß has missed 2 at S1, but Kaisa is clear and fastest after S1 by 16 seconds – again a little lucky with one target! Akimova has missed 1 at S2; Glazyrina currently leading at the finish – Vittozzi has taken that away. Current state: at S1 it’s Kaisa, Franzi H and Akimova; after S2 it’s Franzi H (0,0), Domracheva (0,1) and Akimova (0,1); finish – Vittozzi (0,0), Glazyrina (1,0) and Kuzmina (1,1). At S1 Laura Dahlmeier is clear and out 2nd, behind Kaisa – who has just cleared at S2, out 35.2 ahead of Hildebrand! Hinz has missed 2 at S2. Great run by Franzi H (0,0) who is currently leading at the finish ahead of Dasha (0,1) and Akimova (0,1) – good speed but it won’t be enough to stop Kaisa! Amazing – Kaisa is in and almost a full minute faster than Franzi H; she’s fastest round the course so far too, no surprise! Back at S2 Laura D has gone 10/10 but she’s 25.3 slower than Kaisa; Gabi Koukalová clear at S1 – slower than Kaisa, just a bit better than Laura. MDH clear at S1, faster than Gabi but breathing very hard! Gabi in for S2; long wait for the last shot but it’s 10/10 and she’s 12 seconds faster than Laura there. Hanna Öberg is 10/10 and going well too, currently 5th at S2 although she is over a minute back. Update – S1 Kaisa, MDH, Gabi; S2 – Kaisa, Gabi, Laura D; finish Kaisa, Gabi (+22.0), Laura D (+30.1) – all 10/10. I don’t think Patrick can count, or else he’s looking at a different data stream; Gabi lost time on Laura from 6.4 Km to the finish, but had enough in hand! Back at S2 MDH has missed 1, Doro W is 10/10; both in touch still. MDH comes in 4th; Doro is losing a little time to Marie DH on the last lap – into 5th, just ahead of Franzi H. Bescond is 10/10 but marginally slower at S2 than MDH despite the latter’s penalty; track probably getting slower too, with the fresh snow. So, Kaisa takes a very well deserved win; Gabi 2nd and Laura 3rd. MDH 4th ahead of Doro W and Franzi H. Öberg 7th then Vishnevskaya, Bescond and Gwizdon. Franzi Preuß hasn’t recovered fully I think – 2 misses in S1, but over 2 minutes back; Dasha in 13th. Best Norwegian Olsbu in 17th, best Russian Akimova in 15th. Kaisa still fastest round the course, ahead of MDH, Gabi K, Laura, Yuliia Dzhima and Justine Braisaz.

Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit, 15 Jan: Lots of snow in Ruhpolding today, but as this is a pursuit the conditions will be pretty much the same for everyone, although the first 10 might be skiing on softer snow on lap 1! Eberhard has his sight cover open at the start; let’s hope he doesn’t try to blow down it from the barrel end! There are some good gaps at the front, but a big group chasing, all very close. Martin Fourcade is in for his first prone – wind quite light – Schempp has just skied into the back of Peiffer and both have fallen, very careless! Anyway, Martin F clear and out, Eberhard has missed 3. Svendsen is clear and out 2nd; Peiffer and Schempp clear but they’ve lost maybe 15 seconds in that fall. Order at present – Martin F, EHS (+46.9), Landertinger, Schempp, Malyshko, Peiffer. Fourcade back in for S2 – he’s missed targets 3 and 5; 2 loops to do. Svendsen is clear again, and out 2nd +8.5. Garanichev is 10/10 too and out 3rd just ahead of Shipulin, then Landertinger, Schempp and Peiffer. The penalty loop is quite slow with all the new snow. OEB has missed 3 so far, so has QFM and a few others – Lukas Hofer has missed 5! At 6.1 Km EHS is now 11.1 behind; Garanichev and Shipulin keeping the gap fairly steady – chasers close behind Anton S. Now, Martin F is in for the first standing shoot – he’s missed number 4, one more loop; EHS is clear, so are Shipulin and Malyshko; out EHS, Fourcade (+0.5), Shipulin, Malyshko, Peiffer and Schempp (+9.7); then Krcmar (+29.4) leading the chasing pack. Fourcade has pulled away a little on the lap, but that’s sometimes a dangerous thing to do. Final shoot – Fourcade has cleared, EHS also clear but rest of the leaders missing – out Martin F, EHS (+14.3), Shipulin (1 miss here), Peiffer (1), Krcmar (20/20), Mesotitch (20/20). Schempp has missed 2 at S4 and is 10th. On the last lap Fourcade has pulled out more time on Svendsen; quite a scrap for 2nd/3rd. At 11.4 Km it’s Martin F, EHS (+23.4), Shipulin (+30.5), Krcmar (+34.3), Peiffer (+36.4). Martin Fourcade (0,2,1,0) wins again, Svendsen (0,0,0,0) 2nd and Krcmar (0,0,0,0) has taken 3rd – his first career podium. Then Shipulin, Peiffer and Landertinger. Major gains by Krcmar (29 to 3), Shipulin (24 – 4), Bjøntegaard (21 – 8), Rastorgujevs (22 – 10), Windisch (43 – 11) and JoBø (37 – 15), among others. Going the other way – Eberhard (2 – 13), Malyshko (6 – 14), OEB (8 – 34), Birkeland (10 – 36) and Bischl (16 – 48). Lukas Hofer fastest round the course from Doll and Iliev.

Women’s 10 Km Pursuit: I think the snow might have eased? Dasha is not starting – not well apparently. Kaisa is away, with a 22 second lead over Gabi Koukalová; it’s extended to 29.4 by 0.9 Km – MDH has had a fall which will have cost her time; rifle looks OK? Kaisa in for S1 – nice group and clear; Laura D and Gabi are missing – 2 each! Next group in – Doro clear, MDH and Franzi H have missed 1 each. Kaisa leads with just over a minute to Doro, Gabi & Laura another 17 seconds or so back. Susan Dunklee has missed 3 in the first prone! At the next split MDH is up with Gabi and Laura. Kaisa is back for her second prone – lovely shooting and she’s clear again. No one in the range as she leaves – Doro next in, but in company; Doro fast and also clear, Laura and Gabi clear, so is MDH this time. Out – Kaisa, Doro (+1:09.5), Laura, Gabi, MDH and Franzi H. Right – Kaisa in for the first standing shoot – 4th shot well off, her first miss today. She’s out of the penalty loop before anyone else is settled on the range; MDH has missed 1, so have Laura and Doro – Gabi clear. Out Kaisa, Gabi (+1:00.4), Hanna Öberg, Doro W, MDH, Laura and Franzi H. Kaisa is in for S4 – she’s cleared the lot this time, despite getting the shakes! Gabi clear and out second; chasing pack have all missed at least 1, Franzi H has missed 2. So Kaisa can cruise to the win, Gabi comfortable in 2nd, but we should have a good scrap for 3rd between MDH, Öberg, Laura D and possibly Doro. Kaisa (0,0,1,0) gets the double, Koukalová (2,0,0,0) in 2nd, MDH (1,0,1,1) in 3rd despite the early fall. Laura D (2,0,1,1) in 4th ahead of Öberg and Eva Puskarčíková , Doro 7th. Well, gainers include Puskarčíková (14 to 6), Chevalier (18 – 8), Preuß (31 – 14), Hammerschmidt (39 – 17), Varvynets (52 – 20) and Bendika (47 – 25). Going backwards, Franzi H (6 – 18), Eckhoff (19 – 31), Magnusson (16 – 38) Bescond (9 – 41) and Dzhima (11 – 43). Laura Dahlmeier fastest round the course, although of course Kaisa slowed on the final lap. Much against my expectations, the men’s race was more interesting!

Women’s 15 Km Individual Antholz-Anterselva 19 Jan: So, today, back to the old scheme of 1 minute added to course time per target missed! That should favour the good shooters over the faster skiers. There doesn’t seem to be live coverage on Eurosport (more blasted [restrained choice of word] tennis and snooker). Interesting that the IBU live broadcast is, this time, embargoed in France & Poland! Doesn’t seem to be a commentary on the IBU feed today, so I may watch the highlights later, if Eurosport get round to showing them, to see what Pat & Mike reckon – race is on, Kaisa Mäkäräinen first away. As far as I am aware Franzi Preuß is sick again and not racing, and I don’t think Miri Gössner is here either; back on course, at the first split Marte Olsbu has gone through a couple seconds faster than Kaisa! Mari Laukkanen is even faster, and Doro has just gone a little better than that; Kaisa at S1 and clear! Oh dear, Olsbu has missed 3 – pushing too hard early on? Lisa Theresa Hauser in for S1, good look around, slight adjustment to the sights and she’s clear too; Laukkanen also clear and faster than the Austrian. Doro has missed her second target; Glazyrina clear but Vanessa Hinz has also missed 1 (her fifth). Darya Usanova was quick, but she’s missed 2 at S1; back along the track Gabi Koukalová is now fastest at 1.9 Km. Drat – Laura Dahlmeier has also missed one at S1 – we now have Patrick and Mike on the IBU feed. Apparently the wind conditions are a bit tricky today, and it’s cold! Kaisa is at S2 (standing) – and she’s missed 3 there; Olsbu has missed 2 more – at S1 Gabi has also missed 1. Tang is currently best at S2, with just 1 miss. Ransom and Sloof have joined the 5/5 at S1 group – Marie Dorin Habert is also clear. Laukkanen has missed 2 at S2, but Hauser is the first to go clear here. Doro has missed 1 at S2, Hinz clear here; Justine Braisaz has missed 1 at S1 – so has Franzi H. Laura Dahlmeier has missed 1 at S2, but she leaves only a couple seconds behind Tang. Darya Domracheva clear at S1 and almost up with Kaisa’s time – it does look windy on the range! Gabi has missed 1 more at S2, but she’s faster here than Laura D; Eva Puskarčíková  has cleared 10/10 and leads after S2. Kaisa and Marte Olsbu both clear at S3, so is Tang; at S2 MDH has missed 2 – Hauser has got 15/15! Doro W has missed 1 at each shoot so far, but after S3 she’s ahead of Kaisa. Vanessa Hinz has missed 1 more at S3, but she’s faster than Laukkanen; Franzi H clear at S2, but lost a little with the drills. Laura D has cleared at S3; Maren Hammerschmidt clear at S1, but Dasha has missed 4 at S2 (not sure the Blues Brothers at full volume helped). Gabi has missed another 2 at S3, Kaisa has missed 1 in her final standing shoot but Eva P is 15/15 and faster than Hauser! Hinz making up time on Hauser, but they still have 1 shoot to go; Lucie Charvátová fastest after S1, where she was clear (of course!). Maren H has missed 2 at S2 – it’s getting very gusty on the range. Hauser has missed 2 in her last stand shoot; Doro 3 more (that’s 6 in all). Interesting, Hinz has missed 1 more (3 in all) but she’s ahead of Hauser after S4 and 1:14.4 ahead of Kaisa who is on 4 misses. Laura D is in, and the wind has dropped – she’s clear here (1,1,0,0) and out over 1 minute up on Hinz. Charvátová has missed 1 at S2, but still in touch. Gabi (1,1,2,2) out after S4; Eva Puskarčíková  has missed 3 (0,0,0,3); MDH (0,0,2,0) clear at S4 and leaves in 2nd, but +33.7 on Laura D’s time. MDH is losing time to Laura on the lap, but she’s splitting the Germans – now, back at S4 Anais Chevalier (0,1,0,0) is out in the lead 19.8 faster than Laura D but obviously skiing more slowly; Olga Podchufarova is 15/15 and just 6.5 seconds off Eva P’s time there. This is exciting – at 13.6 Km Chevalier’s advantage has dropped from 19.8 to 7.6 seconds; at 13.9 it’s just 3.4! At S4 Maren Hammerschmidt (0,2,0,0) is in 4th, just ahead of Hinz. Anais Chevalier has just missed it – she is in 2nd, + 3.8 seconds back – currently Dahlmeier, Chevalier, MDH, Hinz, Hojnisz (1,1,0,1) and Franzi H (1,0,1,1). Olga Podchufarova has missed 2 at S4, she leaves 5th, 4.6 seconds ahead of Hinz, who has 1 more miss. Back at the finish Maren H has gone 4th, but at S4 Runggaldier (0,1,0,0) is out 3rd, with a good margin over MDH. Podchufarova into 7th, just ahead of Franzi H – here comes Alexia Runggaldier, she gets 3rd just 9 seconds ahead of MDH. Everyone through S3 now; doesn’t look as though the podium will change now – Laura Dahlmeier wins from Anais Chevalier and Alexia Runggaldier. MDH in 4th ahead of Maren H and Vanessa Hinz, then Hojnisz, Podchufarova, Franzi H and Lisa Hauser. Nadine Horchler in in 19th position, so 5 Germans in the top 20 (3 in the top 6); Kaisa ended up 15th, Gabi 24th and Dasha 27th – pretty sure that gets Laura back in yellow? Fastest round the course, Laura D, Gabi, Braisaz, Laukkanen, Dasha and Hinz! Final lap times – best Mari Laukkanen, who was marginally faster than Laura.

Men’s 20 Km Individual – 20 Jan: Missed this live, so hoping Eurosport can squeeze in a repeat somewhere in a glut of tennis, French rugby and African football (and endless adverts). Well, it’s on, but rather too compressed for a real idea of how the race unfolded – Benedikt Doll the early leader after S1, from Peiffer and Semenov. JoBø missing 2 at the first shoot – I can’t access the full data center once the race is over, just the results, must be a way, surely? Martin Fourcade clear at S1 and leading by 9.6; Peiffer has missed 1 at S2, but Landertinger is clear there; behind (10/10) QFM’s time though. Schempp clear at S1 but out 3rd, behind Fourcade and Doll; Shipulin shooting very quickly at S1 and clear too – out 2nd. Peiffer in for S3 – clear, but QFM has missed 1; meanwhile Lesser at S1 is also clear. Shipulin clear at S2, Schempp has missed 1. Bjørndalen has also cleared 10/10, and in touch after S2, as is Semenov, who has just become the first 15/15! QFM (0,0,1) in for S4 and he’s missed his first shot, and the last too! Martin F has missed 1 at S2 and is in for S3 – he’s missed his third shot. Schempp clear at S3, but Landertinger (0,0,1) has missed 3 more at S4. Shipulin and OEB have both missed 1 at S3. Semenov has missed his final shot; Birkeland (1,0,0) has cleared at S4, Tsvetkov was 15/15 but he has also missed 1 at S4 – same for Krcmar. Martin F clear at S4 (0,1,1,0) and faster than Semenov (0,0,0,1). Schempp in for S4 – he has also missed 1 (0,1,0,1). Krasimir Anev (0,1,0,0) is at the finish and leads at the present; Shipulin (0,0,1,0) is clear at S4 and 44.4 faster than Martin F! JoBø (2,0,0,0) has finished (coming in 5th) and Sergey Semenov is also at the finish, and he takes the lead. Back on his final lap Fourcade is flying, but almost certainly not enough to beat Anton Shipulin – at S4 Tsvetkov has also missed his final shot! Martin Fourcade is at the finish and he is currently leading Semenov by 15.8 seconds, despite 1 more miss. Schempp in, currently 3rd, with 2 misses. Anton Shipulin is over the line and 41 seconds ahead of Fourcade! OEB in, and he’s 4th, just ahead of Schempp; Tsvetkov in 7th; good day for the Russians! That was just about it – Anton Shipulin wins, from Martin Fourcade and Sergey Semenov. OEB in 4th ahead of Schempp, Anev, Tsvetkov, Krcmar, Peiffer and Lowell Bailey. Interesting race!

Women’s 12.5 Km Mass Start: No live coverage (again) as Eurosport continues its love affair with non winter sports, and I can’t see the men’s relay in the schedule either! Race is on, but at present we have no commentary on the IBU video feed. Looks like Kaisa is leading away from Franzi Hildebrand, a Russian (Akimova!) up to 3rd, but it’s early in the race. At 2.1 Km it’s Laura Dahlmeier from Kaisa, Akimova, Braisaz and Selina Gasparin; in for S1 – Kaisa and Laura have missed , so have Gabi and MDH! Maren H, Franzi H and Laura all have one miss – so have Gabi and Anais Bescond (all about 30 seconds back); Kaisa and MDH 2 each, Aymonier 3. Susan Dunklee leads away from Akimova, Eva Puskarčíková, Doro Wierer and Vanessa Hinz – all clear at S1. Odd that the USA strip looks a bit like the Russian one from a distance! In for S2 – Akimova is clear again and leads out, but the chasing pack are missing – Alexia Runggaldier still clear and out 2nd, Laura D clear this time and 3rd ahead of Doro (1 miss here), Maren Hammerschmidt (1,0), Nadine Horchler (0,0) and Vanessa Hinz (0,1). Dunklee missed 2, MDH clear this time, as is Kaisa, Gabi has missed 1 more. Tatiana Akimova is still leading but Laura D, at 7.1 Km, has closed to 1.5 seconds – timing a bit odd as it’s lagging – looks like Doro 3rd ahead of Maren H, Runggaldier and Kaisa. In for S3 – Akimova has missed 2, but Laura D is clear and leads out, 19.3 ahead of Horchler (15/15) with Anna Magnusson (SWE; 1,0,0) up to 3rd. Kaia Wøien Nicolaisen (NOR, 0,0,0) 4th ahead of Kaisa and Gabi (both clear in the first stand), all very close. Eva Puskarčíková missed 1, and Doro 2, as has Maren H. On the lap Laura is clear; at 9.6 Km she’s 30 seconds ahead of Kaisa, with Gabi just 2.8 further back; Horchler 4th ahead of Braisaz and Franzi H. Last shoot – Laura has missed her first, and second – rest down. Gabi clear (rats), so is Nadine Horchler (20/20). Out Gabi Koukalová, Horchler, Magnusson (19/20); then Laura (+16.3), Alexia R and Nicolaisen (20/20). Maren H has missed 2 here. MDH has racked up 4 misses in all but is still 9th, with Kaisa who has just 3 misses – rumour has it that she has had a stomach bug. At 11.1 Km Horchler has closed on Gabi, and Laura has pulled back 5 seconds and is up to 3rd. MDH is now 7th, just 22.1 back but Kaisa is in front of her! The camera work today is awful – too many distance shots! At 12.1 Gabi still leads but Nadine is +0.6 and Laura +3.3; even more amazing, Kaisa is 4th at +9.6, and MDH 5th +11.9! What a finish – Nadine Horchler (0,0,0,0) has outsprinted Gabi – she wins, and Laura Dahlmeier (1,0,0,2) passes Koukalová (1,1,0,0) on the last section to get 2nd despite 3 misses, Gabi 3rd ahead of Kaisa (2,0,0,1), MDH (2,0,2,0) and Alexia Runggaldier (0,0,1,0). Magnusson gets 7th ahead of Hinz and Nicolaisen. No surprise that Kaisa Mäkäräinen was fastest (what stomach upset?) around the course, ahead of Laura D and Marie Dorin Habert. Susan Dunklee ended up in 24th, with 5 misses (0,2,2,1). Aymonier had 11 misses (3,3,1,4) in all – not a good day for her. Sadly I missed the eventual Eurosport coverage (not live!!!!) - I would have liked to see that final lap again

Men’s 4 x 7.5 km Relay, 21 Jan: Interesting idea to have a Mass Start and a Relay in this configuration – it reverses tomorrow! Again, no live coverage, and no commentary on the IBU video (which again is specialising in long distance shots for rather too much of the time). Russia off quickly; at 2.1 Km Tsvetkov leads from Lesser, Anev (BUL) and Simon Fourcade (no Martin in the relay again today), but the top 10 are only 4.1 seconds apart. First shoot – lots of clean shooting with no spares needed; Zahkna (EST) leads out ahead of Tsvetkov, Lesser, Finello (SUI), Anev and Lusa (LAT). Bailey, Birkeland and Mesotitch among those needing 1 spare, Stenersen (SWE) and Moravec among those using 2, Korea on the penalty loop. At 3.6 Km it’s still close, 6.8 between the top 10; next split it’s just 4.6 seconds. In for the first standing shoot – Tsvetkov clear and out in the lead ahead of Savitskiy (KAZ), Birkeland and Lesser, Erik needed 2 spares here! Dominik Windisch is up to 5th, ahead of Lowell Bailey - 15.9 between the top 10 as they leave the range, and it’s 20.6 at the next split. Erik Lesser is really moving at present, hope he hasn’t gone too early! Someone has lost a contact lens on the range, but I couldn’t see who – imagine putting it back with gloves on in the middle of the shoot! Exchange 1 – Russia lead out from Germany (+0.3) and Italy (+5.4) – good work by Lesser and Windisch! Norway 4th, France 7th – still only Korea who have done a penalty loop. At the next split Garanichev leads from Doll and L’Abee-Lund – quite a pace at the front where a group of 6 have broken away (3.8 between them), Claude (FRA) is in touch and then there’s a gap of 16 seconds or so to the chasing pack. At 2.1 Km it’s L’Abee-Lund, Garanichev, and Doll; in for S3 – Montello (ITA) clear and first out, ahead of L’A-L, Nordgren (USA), Podkorytov (KAZ), Doll and Garanichev (3 spares); Lithuania doing 2 penalty loops, so are Romania; Latvia doing 1. No huge gaps at the front at the next split; in for S4 and Garanichev is clear and out, ahead of Grossegger (AUT, also clear; +11.4) and Nordgren (1 spare); then Doll (1), Podkorytov (clear) and Montello (1). L’Abee-Lund needed 3 spares, as did Claude. Doll pulling a bit back on Garanichev at the next split; the Russian still has about 8 seconds in hand though – next split and L’A-L is past Doll, Grossegger still in touch. Exchange 2 – Russia lead from Norway (+4.7) and Germany (+5.7); AUT +12.6, SUI + 21.1 & ITA + 21.6. Just 37.8 between the top 10; I see the Czechs have now done 2 penalty loops. At the first split of this leg Malyshko leads JoBø and Arnd Peiffer, these three opening up a little gap – at 2.1 Km they are about 20 seconds clear of Desthieux, Waeger (AUT) and Dolder (SUI). S5 – Peiffer clear and out, ahead of JoBø (1 spare), Malyshko (2); then Dolder, Semakov (UKR) and Desthieux. (+41.5). Estonia have 1 loop to do, looks like Italy do too, I think Korea are out. Bø is back with Peiffer on the lap, good gap back to Malyshko (+15), and another gap to Semakov and Dolder. S6 – Bø clear, Peiffer needs 1 spare – Bø out in the lead, then Peiffer (+6.0), Malyshko (2 spares, +34.4) Waeger (clear, +50.4) and Semakov (1; + 52.3). Dolder seems to be on the penalty loop, so is Oblak (SLO). JoBø is pulling away nicely from Arnd on the lap; the gap is 16.3 at 7.1 Km. Exchange 3 and Bø is obviously back on form as the gap to Germany is now +17.7; now, how is Svendsen today? Russia 3rd (+55.7), then UKR/FRA/USA (+1:07.3). Canada have also done 2 penalty loops, and Poland 1. Schempp has lost a couple more seconds at the next split, but has pulled them back at 2.1 Km; QFM up to 3rd ahead of Sean Doherty and Anton Babikov – all very close for that group . Last prone shoot – EHS breathing very hard but he’s clear; so is Schempp and he’s gained 5 more seconds. Pidruchnyi (UKR) and Babikov also clear and out almost together; QFM clear and in touch with them, Doherty needs 1 spare and has Landertinger on his tail. Quite a battle for third at present, but we still have the final standing shoot to upset things! Svendsen is in for that shoot – he has missed 2 but clears with spares; Schempp needs just 1 – out EHS, Simon Schempp (+0.3) and Pidruchnyi (clear again, +39.0). Babikov just 0.7 behind Pidruchnyi with Doherty in 6th about 14 seconds further back. QFM has had a nightmare and is on the penalty loop. At 6.1 Km EHS v Schempp is pretty steady, Pidruchnyi and Babikov fighting for the final podium place, and 5 seconds closer to the leaders. This might be getting a bit tactical at the front, meanwhile I think Babikov might have broken Pidruchnyi? It’s sprint for the line time – photo finish for the win – Germany (0+7) get it by 0.1, Norway (0+9) 2nd and Russia (0+9) comfortably in 3rd. Ukraine 4th, Austria 5th and USA in a very useful 6th place. France ended up 7th despite a penalty loop, finishing ahead of Switzerland, Sweden and Italy. Poland, Lithuania, Japan, Romania, Latvia and Korea all lapped.

IBU Open European Championships – Duszniki Zdrój – Men’s 20 Km Individual, 25 Jan: I see Eurosport have this listed as a “sprint”, but at least they are covering this live! A curious mix of very familiar names and many that are new to me as I tend not to follow the IBU series – 116 starters today. Currently Jaroslav Soukup leads after S1; Shopin has just gone faster. Conditions pretty good, especially with the light wind dying away; Krasimir Anev at S1 – out 2nd at present. Antonin Guigonnat (FRA) through S2 and 10/10; Soukup has missed 1 here but he is still faster leaving the range. Andrejs Rastorgujevs through S1 and clear – almost 4 seconds faster at S1 than Shopin, who has just gone clear at S2, leading by 29.7 at present. Volkov and Jaquelin (FRA) also clear at S2 and 2nd/3rd respectively. Anev (BUL) has also cleared at S2 and leads there at present. The early start numbers are at S3; Soukup has missed 2 more – fastest at present here is Bjøntegaard – just been replaced by Sergey Bocharnikov (BLR), who is 15/15. Meanwhile Rastorgujevs has missed 1 at S2, Anev is clear at S3 and leads from Volkov, who has also cleared all 15 so far. At that stage I had to go out, but looking at the datacenter later, I can see that Krasimir Anev cleared all 20 – given he seemed to be skiing well too I thought that might have given him the win, but Alexander Loginov (1,0,0,0)was the fastest man on the course, and must have also shot faster, so that despite the one minute penalty he took the win by 11.4 seconds! Volkov missed 1 at S4, and of the later starters Malyshko (0,1,0,0) is looking fast while Slepov has also cleared all 20 and has ski speed too. In the end Loginov wins from Anev with Alexey Slepov 3rd. Shopin 4th ahead of Volkov and Malyshko – 5 Russians in the top 6, just as the row over the McLaren report reignites!

Women’s 15 Km Individual 25 Jan: Joined a little late; with Karo Horchler (sister Nadine is a DNS) leading after S1, from Gerekova (SVK) and Dreissigacker (USA); Gwizdon has just gone better! Karo also clear at S2. Back at S1 Svetlana Mironova (RUS) is clear and fastest there, 6.3 ahead of Anastasiya Merkushnya (UKR) and Katharina Innerhofer (AUT). Svetlana Sleptsova also clear at S1, and even faster than Mironova. At S2 Magdalena Gwizdon is 10/10 and fastest there; Karo Horchler has just cleared at S3 as well! Miri and Denise Herrmann are both (2,1) after S2; Innerhofer has missed 1 at S2, but is still only 32.5 slower than Gwizdon’s time. Mironova has just cleared at S2, and she’s 56.8 faster than Horchler. Gwizdon has just missed 1 at S3; Merkushnya has missed 1 at S2 – Herrmann is at S3, she’s (2,1,1). Yuliya Zhuravok has 10/10 but a little off the pace, however Elisabeth Högberg is also 10/10 and 3rd after S2 at present. Back at S1 Daria Virolaynen (RUS) is clear and 5th; Irina Starykh (RUS) also clear and into 3rd. Karo Horchler is 20/20; Sleptsova has missed 1 at S2. Mironova has missed 1 at S3, but is still faster than Horchler! Gwizdon (0,0,1,1) has missed 1 at S4; Sleptsova clear at S3 and fractionally faster than Mironova with Merkushnya 3rd fastest here. Högberg is now 15/15 and just 3.9 behind the two Russians. Virolaynen has missed 2 at S2, but Starykh is clear and 2nd there. Interesting that both Loginov and Starykh have been banned for doping in the past! Mironova is out after S4, now (0,0,1,1) and in 2nd behind Horchler; Merkushnya (0,1,0,0) has just gone into the lead here despite her miss; Sleptsova (0,1,0,0) has gone even faster. What a surprise, Starykh clear at S3 and fast; over a minute ahead of Sleptsova (who has a one minute penalty added). At the finish Mironova has just gone ahead of Horchler by 0.3, having taken over 2 minutes out of the latter’s time! Merkushnya takes over the lead, but Sleptsova is ahead back at the 14.1 Km split.  So, at the finish at present; Sleptsova is now in first place, ahead of Merkushnya and Mironova, but she lost 6.8 seconds to the Ukrainian over the last 900 metres! Starykh is losing a little time as she comes in for S4; Högberg has just gone clear at S4, faster than Horchler too. Well, that’s it over – Starykh clear at S4 too – both races today won by people back from a doping ban! No wonder Susan Dunklee is getting quite vocal about the McLaren report! Results: Irina Starykh (RUS) wins from Sleptsova (RUS) and Merkushnya (UKR); Högberg 4th ahead of Mironova (RUS) and Karo Horchler. Innerhofer lost out as her shooting got worse (0,1,1,3). Looks like Denise Herrmann (2,1,1,2) was fastest around the course by a good margin, ahead of Mironova, Sleptsova and Starykh.

IBU Open European Championships – Duszniki Zdrój – Men’s 10 Km Sprint, 27 Jan: If, like me, you wondered where Duszniki Zdrój is, it’s in Poland – Google maps says “ is a spa town in the Klodzko Valley on the Bystrzyca River in Kłodzko County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship”. Which translates as “near the Czech border” maybe 120 Km from Prague. Anyway, a large field for the men’s sprint -  125 starters so it will take over an hour to get everyone over the start line; Eurosport have cut Mike off in mid-sentence to go to adverts! The local weather is cool but clear, and the graphic says the wind is 126 Km/h!! Actually it looks pretty calm; Florian Graf should have been fist away but apparently he’s not well so Lucas Fratzscher gets the spot instead. We have an Australian here, Daniel Walker, but I don’t see any GB athletes – there isn’t a Union Flag in the favourites list! First 2 into S1 have both missed their first 2 shots, and there’s no wind; Arwidson has missed just his first, Gjesbakk has cleared all 5. Loginov has started – he’s only done 4 IBU races since his ban expired, and he’s won all of them – trying for his 5th today. Andrejs Rastorgujevs is fastest at 2.2 Km at present; Fredrik Gjesbakk best after S1 at present – however, Rastorgujevs has cleared all 5 and he’s 13 seconds faster. Shooting at S1 isn’t brilliant – just 4 of 15 have cleared all 5; Femling (SWE) has missed 4, so has Guzik (POL). Loginov clear at S1, and shooting quickly – he’s 15 seconds slower than Rastorgujevs at present. Gjesbakk has missed 1 at S2; no one 10/10 after S2 at present; Jaroslav Soukup has also missed 1 here; Rastorgujevs has missed 2, but he’s still fastest so far! At S1 Rastorgujevs leads, from Aristide Begue (FRA) and Gjesbakk. Ah, Krasimir Anev (BUL) has just gone 10/10 but so has Loginov; Anev 5.1 seconds behind the Russian after S2; Tomas Krupcik (CZE) also 10/10 and 3rd after S2 at present. Iliev (BUL) and Begue both clear at S1 and 2nd/3rd respectively. Vladimir Iliev (BUL) has missed 1 at S2 – he’s skiing fast but is 4.1 behind Loginov as he leaves the range. At the finish Loginov (0,0) leads at present from Anev (0,0) and Rastorgujevs (0,2). Begue has also cleared 10/10; he left S2 16.1 behind Loginov but the gap is +31.6 at 9 Km – he’s lost 30 seconds to the Russian by the finish. Now, Vladimir Iliev has gone well to 9 Km, he’s 7 seconds ahead of Loginov there! Alexey Volkov also 10/10 and he’s 4th behind Loginov, Iliev and Anev after S2. Great – Iliev is through the finish and 4.9 ahead of Loginov – Bulgaria currently 1st and 3rd. Volkov losing a bit of time on the final lap, 5th at present. Back at S2 Vetle Sjastad Christiansen (NOR) is 10/10 but 21.3 off the pace. That’s about half the field finished – Iliev leads from Loginov and Anev; Rastorgujevs still 4th ahead of Volkov and Krupcik. Best German so far is Philipp Nawrath in 7th. Fastest round the course, Andrejs Rastorgujevs, just ahead of Iliev (+1.3); Volkov best on the range. Sad – Oleksander Zhyrnyi (UKR) has missed his 10th; Varabei (BLR) was looking in touch but he’s missed 4 at S2. And, that’s the way it stayed – Christiansen got into 8th but the best of the later starters was Malyshko in 18th place. Good on Iliev, a good day for Bulgaria!

Women’s 7.5 Km Sprint: Not live as there is so much on today (Eurosport are covering the men’s downhill at GAP, which is an “extra” day) so data and IBU video feed. I see Nadine Horchler is racing today – she is 2nd away. Early starters are at S1 – Högberg clear and fastest ahead of Nadine and Karo Horchler; Latuilliere has missed 2 and Innerhofer 3. Anna Nikulina (RUS) is now fastest at S1, but just 11 of 94 starters have shot so far! Julia Simon (FRA) also clear and in touch; so is she of the impressive name - Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold (NOR); Magdalena Gwizdon is also clear at S1 and leads after her prone shoot. Nadine Horchler is clear at S2; Högberg has missed 2; Karo H out 2nd and also 10/10. Julia Simon is looking quick but she has missed 1 at S2 and is 25.8 behind Nadine. Anna Nikulina is better – clear and just 7 seconds back on the German; just faster than Karo. Now, this could be interesting – the very fast Denise Herrmann is clear at S1! Gwizdon has missed 1 at S2, but is still away ahead of Karo; Vitková fast but has missed 1 at S1; Nicole Gontier (0,1) is out after S2 in 5th, +13.9. Looks like Nikulina is losing time to Nadine H on the final lap; from +7 seconds after S2 it’s now +18.6 at 6.5 Km. Meanwhile Miri Gössner is at S1, just 1 miss; Herrmann is at S2 – she’s missed 2 but is still out 6th, +14.1 behind Nadine H. Vitková has missed 1 at S2 (1,1) but she’s fast – just +13.6. Back at S1 Yuliia Dzhima (UKR) is clear and even faster than Herrmann was there, Sleptsova now in third after the prone shoot. At the 6.5 Km split, Denise Herrmann is +8.8 against Nadine’s time and faster than Gwizdon and Vitková. Miri has missed 2 at S2; Denise H is over the finish line in 2nd, 5.5 behind the clean shooting Nadine Horchler; Gwizdon 3rd and Vitková into 4th ahead of Nikulina. However, both Dzhima and Sleptsova are clear at S2 and both are faster than Nadine! After S2 it’s Dzhima, Sleptsova (+17.5) and Nadine Horchler (+33.7); Irina Starykh clear at S1, and 4th there, +6.4. Svetlana Sleptsova is through 6.5 Km and 20.1 faster than Nadine there, so she’s lost a bit; Yuliia Dzhima is gaining though – she’s pulled a further 4 seconds out on the Russian and 8 on the German – she’s really flying! At the finish, with about half the field in, Dzhima (0,0) leads from Sleptsova (0,0) and Nadine Horchler (0,0). Starykh has missed 1 at S2 (0,1) but has almost matched the clean shooting Nadine Horchler’s time. Nice to see Annika Knoll (GER) has joined those who have cleared all 10; she’s 5th after S2. Starykh is up to 3rd at the 6.5 Km split, and is now 3rd at the finish –pity, perhaps she should have had a longer ban?! Everyone is now through S1; Bondar (UKR) was in touch there but she’s missed 3 at S2 – not sure much will change in the top 10 now. That’s the race complete - an impressive win for Yuliia Dzhima from Sleptsova and Starykh – all 10/10. Nadine H (0,0) in 4th, just ahead of Denise Herrmann (0,2) with Magdalena Gwizdon (0,1) in 6th. Knoll the fastest on the range ahead of Rieder (AUT) and Dzhima; no surprise to see Herrmann fastest round the tracks, ahead of Dzhima and Vitková.

IBU Open European Championships – Duszniki Zdrój – Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit, 28 Jan: Eurosport don’t seem to be covering this one, certainly not live –data and IBU video again! For some reason the IBU video isn’t showing the early timings – no data as the athletes go through 1.4 Km, but at 2.1 Km the data shows Loginov has closed right up to Iliev, and Rastorgujevs and Anev are together about 18 seconds back. Lead pair are in for S1 – Loginov clear, Iliev has missed 2; Rastorgujevs is shown as out second although the graphic on the data feed also shows he’s missed 5 targets – think that’s an error! After S1 it seems to be Loginov (his medicine must have arrived?) leading from Rastorgujevs (+19.4), Anev and Volkov – all clear. Iliev is 7th, +44.2. It is very quiet at times - very little background noise (apart from those disgusting horn thingies), so either the crowds aren’t cheering or they’ve frozen! Apparently it is very cold today and the tracks are quite icy. Loginov is in for S2 – clear again and out ahead of Garanichev (+30.2); Rastorgujevs has missed 1 at S2 (they have now corrected his score at S1 to show no misses) and is 3rd, close behind Garanichev, then Volkov and Nawrath. Anev has missed 1 here and is 7th; Iliev has missed 2 more and is 9th. Loginov in for S3, shooting fast, clear and out without anyone else even on the range – Volkov clear and 2nd (+53.3), Garanichev and Rastorgujevs have missed 1 each and are 3rd/4th respectively, Christiansen 5th and Iliev 6th despite 4 misses so far (2,2,0). Nawrath has missed 2 here and is 9th – very boring race so far! At 9.6 Km Loginov is 53 seconds clear; Rastorgujevs is just ahead of Garanichev, with Volkov and Christiansen (henceforth VSC) chasing. Loginov in for his final shoot – he has missed 1 but still leads by 30 seconds – Garanichev 2nd ahead of Volkov; Andrejs Rastorgujevs has missed 2 here and is 4th ahead of Anev and VSC. Alex Loginov (0,0,0,1) is cruising gently round the final lap to his second gold of the championships; Evgeniy Garanichev (0,0,1,0) 2nd, ahead of Rastorgujevs (0,1,1,2) – delighted to see him on the podium! Volkov 4th ahead of Anev and VSC (0,0,0,2). Garanichev fastest on the range and Iliev fastest around the course. Gainers include Garanichev (17 to 2), Chepelin (35 to 13), Shopin (41 to 22) and Jaquelin (52 to 23). Going the other way, the list includes Iliev (1 to 11), Lessing (12 to 27), Begue (9 – 45; 2,2,1,2) and Soukup (11 – 49).

Women’s 10 Km Pursuit: Well Yuliia Dzhima has a pretty good lead, let’s see how her shooting is today – it might be a little windier than yesterday? Quite a few non starters, including Miri Gössner. Sleptsova seems to have closed a little on Dzhima while Herrmann and Vitková are up with Starykh. Dzhima is in for S1 – she’s clear and leads out ahead of Sleptsova, Starykh and Vitková – all clear too. Denise Herrmann is also clear but shooting slowly; out 5th just ahead of Nadine Horchler; Gwizdon has missed 2 here. S2 – Dzhima clear again; Sleptsova and Vitková have missed 1 each so Starykh is out 2nd, Sleptsova and Vitková 3/4 respectively ahead of Huber (NOR) and Hojnisz. Herrmann and Nadine H have missed 2 each and are about 1 minute 45 back. On the lap Yuliia is pulling out a little on Starykh; Sleptsova and Vitková keeping the gap pretty steady. First standing shoot – Dzhima has missed her last target; Starykh is clear and out just behind Yuliia, Sleptsova 3rd – Vitková has missed 1 more and is out 4th just ahead of Hojnisz; Huber has missed 2 and Herrmann 3. At present Dzhima seems to be a little faster on the tracks than the 2 chasing Russians; final shoot and Dzhima has missed 1 again; Starykh and Sleptsova both clear. Out in order Starykh, Sleptsova (+14.2), Dzhima (+14.3), then a gap to Vitková, Hojnisz and Mironova; good to see Tandrevold 20/20 and gaining places! At 9.3 Km Dzhima is past Sleptsova, but Starykh is pulling away – looks like she will get a second gold to keep up with Loginov! What a shame – Starykh (0,0,0,0) wins, once again both of today’s gold medals go to athletes just back from drugs bans. Dzhima (0,0,1,1) gets 2nd and Sleptsova (0,1,0,0) third. Veronika Vitková (0,1,1,0) in 4th, ahead of Mironova and Hojnisz. Nadine Horchler the best of the Germans in 9th. Starykh shot fastest, while Yuliia Dzhima was fastest round the course ahead of Sleptsova and Starykh. Gainers include Vitková (7 to 4), Mironova (13 to 5), Hojnisz (16 – 6), Högberg (28 – 11), Tandrevold (48 – 16), and Innerhofer (47 – 24). Going backwards, the list includes Nadine Horchler (4 to 9), Magdalena Gwizdon (6 – 15), Herrmann (5 to 19; 7 penalties), and Simon (18 – 27).

IBU Open European Championships – Duszniki Zdrój – Single Mixed Relay, 29 Jan: Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold leading off for Norway, I can’t see who is leading in the early stages yet (small picture and low sun) but she’s opening out a fair gap. It’s Vitková and she’s clear at S1; she leads out ahead of Virolaynen (+4.7), Andersson (SWE), Simon and Knoll with ILT 6th. Innerhofer has used 1 spare and poor Gontier is doing 3 penalty loops! Belarus and Serbia have 1 loop each to do, Mongolia 2. In for S2 and Vitková needs 1 spare, which lets the clean shooting Krystyna Guzik past her; ILT in 3rd ahead of Knoll, Innerhofer and Varvynets (UKR); Andersson needed 2 spares here and is 7th, just ahead of Virolaynen (also 2 spares). At Exchange 1 it’s Poland, Czechs, Norway, Germany, Austria and Ukraine. In for S3 already and Krupcik (CZE) leads out, ahead of Grzegorz Guzik (very much a family affair for the Poles today!), Dorfer and Christiansen. Garanichev in 7th, almost 21 seconds back. However, at S4 Garanichev is clear and leads out ahead of Christiansen (NOR), Arwidson (SWE) Krupcik and Dorfer; Guzik 2 spares and down to 7th.  At Exchange 2 it’s now Russia, Norway, Sweden, Czechs, Germany and Austria. In for S5; Virolaynen is clear and leads out from Vitková, Innerhofer, ILT (+10.2) and Knoll (+23.7); I seem to have missed Julia Simon doing a penalty loop on leg 1.  S6 and Vitková is clear and leads out; Virolaynen needs 2 spares and is 2nd (+21.2), ILT 3rd, Guzik 4th; Knoll used all 3 spares and she’s 7th. Final exchange – Czechs, Russia, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Austria. Last prone shoot – leading 2 both need spares and it’s Christiansen who leads out, ahead of Garanichev (2 spares, +2.1), Guzik, Komatz (AUT) and Arwidson. Krupcik has had a disaster and after 2 penalty loops the Czechs are 6th, +25.5. Coming in towards the last shoot Garanichev is past VSC with Guzik losing a little time. Garanichev has missed his last target but cleared with 1 spare and he leads out; VSC seems to have used all his spares but he’s out 2nd (+15.8) just ahead of Guzik. Then it’s Arwidson, Dotsenko (UKR) and Dorfer. I can’t see Russia losing this one, and VSC seems to be opening a little from Guzik. At the finish Russia (Virolaynen and Garanichev; 0+7) win ahead of Norway (ILT and VSC; 0+7) and Poland (Guziks x 2; 0+5). Then Ukraine, Austria (despite a penalty loop) and Germany. Poor Tomáš Krupčík (CZE) isn’t going to be popular; a lead of 21.2 at the final exchange then 5 spares and 2 penalty loops and just 8th at the finish – it’s a hard sport!

Mixed Relay: The Russian team look to be hard to beat today – Starykh, Sleptsova, Volkov, and Loginov! Race is on – the noisy things I was trying to remember the name of are vuvuzelas – always get them mixed up with Veronika Velez-Zuzulova! At 1 Km it’s Starykh ahead of Poliakova (SVK) and Rieder (AUT), then Varcin, Nadine Horchler and Meinen (SUI). In for S1 – Yordanova (BUL) very quick and clear – she leads out from Starykh, Rieder, Talvitie (FIN) and Erdal (NOR); Horchler has used all 3 spares, so has Poliakova; Varcin and Meinen 2 each. Starcevic (CRO) has done 3 penalty loops. Just 16.5 seconds between the top 10 as they leave the range. On the lap it looks like Starykh now leads, ahead of Merkushyna (UKR) – at S2 Merkushyna is clear and she leads out ahead of Rieder, Starykh (1 spare), Maka (POL) and Yordanova. Nadine H has used 2 more spares and is 14th, +52.4! Heading to the exchange Merkushyna and Starykh have opened a gap; the Russian in the lead and she is pulling away - really flying up the hill. Exchange 1 – Russia lead, then Ukraine (+9.4) and Norway (+36.9). Austria a close 4th with Poland also in touch. Good work by Erdal to get up to 3rd, gaining 5 places after the range. France down in 12th despite only using 3 spares. In for S3 – Sleptsova clear and away first; Yuliia Dzhima used 2 spares and seemed to have trouble feeding 1 of them but she’s out 2nd, +21.9 with Huber (NOR) 3rd, +35.2. Nice to see Högberg 4th, just ahead of Jislova (CZE) and Hoffman (AUT). Dzhima is closing a little on the lap, with Huber and Högberg having a good scrap for 3rd. The 2 leaders are now quite well clear, heading for S4 – Sleptsova needs 1 spare  but she leads out; Dzhima having snags and she’s on the penalty loop. Högberg clear and out 2nd (+29.3) ahead of Huber, Dzhima and Karo Horchler (2 spares here). Russia miles clear as they head for the next exchange; Högberg holding on to 2nd. At the change-over it’s Russia, Sweden (+30.9), Ukraine, Norway, Bulgaria and Germany. Ukraine, Poland and Belarus all doing 1 penalty loop on this leg; Croatia seem not to have made it to Exchange 1. On the lap Volkov has pulled out a little on Soderhielm (SWE) with Bjøntegaard 3rd. In for S5 – Volkov has used 1 spare but is out before the Swede has settled. Soderhielm clear and out 2nd (+35.2) ahead of Zhyrnyi (UKR), Gerdzhikov (BUL) and Bjøntegaard, who has used all 3 spares. S6 – Volkov clear and away; very impressive, fast shooting! Zhyrnyi also clear and out 2nd, Sweden in trouble and will have to do 2 penalty loops. Rees (GER) has also had a bad shoot and has 1 loop to do. As they head out of the range it’s Volkov leading by 45.8 seconds from Zhyrnyi, Bjøntegaard , Gerdzhikov, Soukup and Hasilla (SVK). Last exchange and Russia lead by 48.8 from Ukraine with Norway 3rd. I reckon Loginov could do 2 penalty loops and still cruise home! Bulgaria 4th, then CZE/SVK/AUT/FRA/SWE/GER. At the next split Loginov is over a minute clear – this is getting boring! He’s in for the last prone shoot – he’s on his last spare but it’s got the target down at last! My data feed has gone offline and won’t come back! Loginov still leads comfortably from Tkalenko (UKR) and Gjesbakk (NOR) and he’s pulling away on the lap. Final shoot – Loginov clear and away, Tkalenko 2nd +49.3 and Gjesbakk 3rd +55.3. Kristejn (CZE) in 4th but I very much doubt if he can make up enough to get on the podium, even with the enthusiastic encouragement of what sounds like an American coach! Iliev is past Kristejn on the lap; Russia (0+6) cruise to the win, Gjesbakk has managed to nick 2nd for Norway (0+9) ahead of Ukraine (1+6), then Iliev for Bulgaria (0+11), the Czech Republic (0+11) and Germany (1+11). Not the most exciting race ever, but an impressive display by the Russians.

Thanks for all your race recaps BleausardV2.

It's been a very exciting biathlon season so far.  I thought the idea of one athlete been dominant would be boring but seeing Martin Fourcade in all his glory this season has been absolutely fantastic.  I hope he can keep this going right through the World Championships, it would be great to see him pick up a few golds. I think JBoe seems to be coming back into form and could be a threat, also I wouldn't write off Shipulin, Schempp and Pfieffer to nab a title and of course there is always OEB.

The Ladies has been much closer this season but I think Dahlemeier will come out on top.  I hope that Kaisa has a good world championship, I would love to see her win the World Cup but I don't think she has the consistency over a full season to do so. Koukalova and MDH are also threats, I have been disappointed with Weirer this season she hasn't pushed forward in the way I had hoped. It's funny how the Germans have turned things round after a poor Sochi, they certainly are the strongest nation now.

It was interesting in the European Championships to see two Russians returning from drug bans deliver two very strong performances.  I wonder will they be on the World Championship team? It's a tricky position for the Russians, I wonder what do the other athletes and nations make of it.  I'm still not convinced we will see the Russian in Pyeongchang, McLaren has uncovered a lot of unpleasant details.

Don't normally comment on Junior or IBU Cup races, but there are a few interesting points!

OECH Individual 2 Feb: A win for clean shooting Anna Weidel in the woman’s race, with the men’s event going to Igor Malinovskii. IBU report HERE
Sprints IBU Cup 3 Feb: Great win for Denise Herrmann (her second in IBU Cup events) from Daria Virolaynen (RUS)  and Paulina Fialková (SVK); Annika Kroll 4th. Men’s race won by Alexey Volkov, ahead of Fredrik Gjesbakk (NOR) and Dmitry Malyshko. A lot of focus here on Tarjei Bø making his return to competition; two misses but fast skiing got him 6th place. IBU report HERE.

IBU Cup – Pursuits 4 Feb: Women’s 10 Km – Doesn’t seem to be any video coverage of the events today, even on the IBU site! Paulina Fialková among those not starting today. At S1 Denise Herrmann has missed 2 and leaves the range 2nd, 15.9 behind the clean shooting Virolaynen; Annika Knoll also clear and currently 3rd. After S2, Daria V is still clear and leading, Denise H has missed 1 more (2,1) and is now 39.7 back with Kaisheva (RUS) 10/10 and in 3rd. Knoll has missed 1 and is 5th behind Lea Johanidesova (CZE), but Annika is over a minute back on the leader. S3 and Virolaynen has missed 1 but she still leads from Johanidesova and Kaisheva; Uslugina (RUS) 4th ahead of Karo Horchler; Denise H has missed another 2 (2,1,2) and is 5th over a minute back. I see Anika Knoll is now (0,1,1) which seems a little odd given her recent shooting. Final shoot and Virolaynen (0,0,1,1) leads from Johanidesova (0,0,0,0; +10.1) and Kaisheva (0,0,0,1) – amazingly Denise Herrmann is clear here (2,1,2,0) and just 35.7 back in 4th! Daria Virolaynen cruises to the win, Lea Johanidesova is 2nd and Denise H has managed to pull up to 3rd despite 5 misses! Marion Deigentesch next best German in 6th, with no penalties. Johanidesova a gainer, going from 9th to 2nd; list also includes  Deigentesch (14 – 6), Slivko (RUS, 21 – 11) and Hoffmann (AUT, 38 – 21). Other way list includes Knoll (4 – 9), Huber (8-13) and Gontier (12 – 23). Not sure the IBU data is correct but for course total time it shows Denise Herrmann as fastest (no quibble there) but the margin to second fastest (Daria V) is shown as +5:16.8, which seems a bit excessive?  (Ah, I’m reading total, not pursuit only).
Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit: Well, Alexey Volkov seems to be on form – clear at S1 and 10.2 ahead of Fredrik Gjesbakk and one Tarjei Bø – all clear, but Malyshko has missed 3 here and dropped from 3rd to 14th. After S2 Volkov is just 2.6 ahead of Bø with Kristoffer Skjelvik (NOR) 3rd, all 10/10. Timur Makhambetov (RUS) and Gjesbakk (+3.7) also close but there is then over 20 seconds to Kazar (SVK) in 6th. Poor Malyshko has missed 2 more! Good shooting at S3 – Volkov still clear and just in the lead from Skjelvik and Makhambetov (+0.5) – all 15/15. Bø has missed 2 but is still 4th ahead of Gjesbakk who missed 1. Jaroslav Soukup (2,0,0) is up from 14th to 8th, despite the early misses. Dmitry Malyshko has gone clear here, but is almost 2 minutes back. On the lap Skjelvik has gone through 9.4 Km ahead of Makhambetov and Volkov; Soukup is closing on Dorfer. Interesting; final shoot and Skjelvik is 20/20 and away clear; the 2 Russians have both missed 1 but are just ahead of Bø who was clear this time; Dorfer has missed 2 , and so has Soukup! At 11.6 Km Skjelvik leads Tarjei Bø by 25.9, with Makhambetov 3rd (+27.9); Volkov is dropping back and is +40.1 – he’s lost a good 16 seconds here. I think Skjelvik has this in the bag, but there seems to be a good fight for 2nd and 3rd. Skjelvik does win, with Bø just edging Makhambetov on the line (+14.5 to +14.6!). Volkov 4th ahead of Gjesbakk and Kazar – good day for Norway, with 3 in the top 6. Good gains by Skjelvik (7 to 1st), Kazar (10 to 6) and Nawrath (30 – 18) among others. Volkov went from 1st to 4th; Malyshko (3 – 10), Christiansen (8 – 15) and Slepov (13 – 21) among those also losing ground. Malyshko fastest around the course, ahead of Volkov and Bø. The IBU report on these races is HERE

Junior OECH Sprints 4 Feb: Quite a few clear at S1, and now we are getting some 10/10 results. After S2 the early leader is Dzinara Alimbekava (BLR) who, with 2 penalties, is still ahead of Kristina Skjevdal (NOR). Megan Bankes (CAN) the new leader at S2, but the Czechs and Russians are coming? Marketa Davidova (CZE) now best at S2 ahead of Valeriia Vasnetcova (RUS) and Kamila Zuk (POL), but there are a lot to come yet! None of whom have made any difference! Davidova wins from Vasnetcova and Zuk (all 1 penalty) – locals very happy! Men’s race won by Nikita Porshnev (RUS; 0,1) ahead of Sebastian Trixl (AUT; 0.1) and Anton Dudchenko (UKR; 0,0). Best German David Zobel (0,1) in 4th – Erik Weick (1,2) managed 7th despite the penalties. There is a full IBU report available here

Nove Mesto JOECH Pursuits: Just a quick update – women’s race won by Marketa Davidova (CZE; 0,2,2,2) who despite a massive 6 penalty loops still managed to retain her start number from the sprint! Megan Bankes (CAN; 0,0,1,1) went from 7th at the start to 2nd, with Ksenia Zhuzhgova (RUS; 1.0.0.0) 3rd. Good gains by Natalia Ushkina (RUS; 17 to 5) and Anna Weidel (GER; 23 – 8), amongst others. Going the other way the list includes Kamila Zuk (3 to 12) and Valeriia Vasnetcova (2 – 21; 5 penalties, and she started only 17.8 behind Davidova!) In the men’s race, sprint winner Porshnev missed 2 in the first prone shoot, as did Zobel of Germany, among others. After S1 the order was Dudchenko (UKR), Zemlicka (CZE) and Rivail (FRA). At S2 Porshnev missed 2 more, as did Zobel; order after that shoot Zemlicka, Santoro (CZE – up from 17 at the start!) and Prochazka (CZE); the locals will be hoping it stays that way! Best German after that shoot Danilo Reithmüller, up from 10th; Trixl (AUT) who started 2nd is now 19th after a total of 5 misses (3,2). First standing shoot – Zemlicka has missed 1 but leads out ahead of Santora (15/15) with Dudchenko and Prochazka (both 1 miss) about 20 seconds back; Reithmüller has also missed 1 but is now 1:13.7 back, in 11th! Last shoot – Milan Zemlicka has missed 1 more but, like Davidova, he seems able to get away with the odd miss (6 in her case, though) and still leads; Dudchenko clear this time and +22.5, ahead of Santora (1 miss here). Somehow Porshnev (2,2,1,3) is 11th and Trixl (3,2,1,2) 15th! On the lap Santora has passed Dudchenko, while Porshnev and Trixl are also gaining places despite the effects of 8 penalty laps each! Milan Zemlicka wins, with Ondrej Santora in 2nd (after starting 17th) – great day for the Czechs especially with Davidova winning the women’s race! Anton Dudchenko in 3rd with Vasilii Tomshin (RUS) 4th (and started 14th). Other gainers include Rivail (11 – 5), Cottet Puinel (18 – 7), Stvrtecky (19 – 8) and Streltsov (29 – 18). Going the other way, list includes Porshnev (1 – 9), Trixl (2 - 12), Weick (7 – 15) and Zobel (4 – 17)
The IBU report is HERE

Sadly Franzi Preuß won't be at the World Championships; she isn't well and needs to recover from the last bout of flu at Ruhpolding! I also understand (just, my German seems to be getting even worse) that Miri Gössner will be out for the rest of the season - she has apparently got some inflammation behind the sinus that will require surgery to cure (I think). Rats!

World Championships – Hochfilzen; Mixed Relay 9 Feb: Well, first of all there appears to be a new drug story – Austrian police have apparently found a stash of illegal drugs (or medication, reports vary) in accommodation used by some of the Kazakhstan team. I haven’t seen an English language version  of this story yet, so I may not have got all the info. On a happier note, the various countries seem to be taking the mixed relay quite seriously – strong teams from Norway, Germany, Russia (including Loginov!) and France (including Martin Fourcade); Czechs also in with a chance – too close to call today, I think! Weather looks good , air temperature just above freezing and winds very light. Two x 6 Km legs for the women and then 2 x 7.5 Km for the men. Olsbu away quickly and she’s opened a slight gap; Vanessa Hinz second with Chevalier 3rd, but it’s very close – pack hasn’t split and Olsbu has eased back on her pace. The Kazak team are running; no mention from the commentary team of any problems. In for S1 and Hinz leads out from Vittozzi and Chevalier, then Skardino, Puskarčíková  and Podchufarova – all clear. Hauser has used 2 spares, Olsbu and Öberg among those needing 1, Ransom (CAN) needed all 3 – can’t see any penalty loops. Vittozzi into the lead on the lap, her skis are running really well; Olsbu has pulled back some time after a slow first shoot. S2 already – Vittozzi has dropped a magazine but it hasn’t worried her, she’s clear and out in the lead, ahead of Hauser and Olsbu – Hinz used 2 spares and leaves 4th ahead of Chevalier and Podchufarova. Poor Eva Puskarčíková (CZE) has done 2 penalty loops; Romania and Lithuania have 1 loop each. Exchange 1 – Italy lead (just) from Norway, Austria, USA (Susan Dunklee going fast as she sued 4 spares in all), Finland and Germany. Doro Wierer leads but  Tiril Eckhoff is right on her heels with Kaisa Mäkäräinen, Laura Dahlmeier and Marie DH close behind. Here we go – S3; Doro and Laura have missed already! MDH clear and leads out, ahead of Doro (1 spare), Laura D (2) and Kaisa (2); Tiril Eckhoff is on the penalty loop – just 1 luckily! Belarus have 2 loops to do, Hartweger (AUT) 1 loop; Gabi Koukalová clear and gaining places. Ah, apparently all the Kazak team have been tested; police and WADA involved in the raid. S4 – leading 3 have missed a couple each. Doro W leads out, ahead of MDH and Dahlmeier (2 spares each shoot!); Akimova up to 4th and the Russians have only used 1 spare so far. USA on the penalty loop, so are Poland, Slovenia and Bulgaria. Second exchange – Laura has really closed down the leaders so Germany lead out, fractionally ahead of France with Italy +3.8. Finland 4th ahead of Russia and Sweden. The Czechs are up to 8th, +41.8, despite those 2 loops, with Norway 9th less than a second back. Arnd Peiffer leads from QFM, Lukas Hofer and Alex Loginov (speaking of drugs bans!); JoBø has pulled back a good bit of time already. In for S5 – Hofer has missed, so has QFM – Arnd is clear and leads out, Hofer and QFM have used a spare each but out in 2/3 Loginov clear and fast in 4th ahead of Gronman (FIN) and Nelin (SWE); Bø clear and 7th – took him a little while to settle for that prone. Lukas Hofer has closed down on Peiffer, but Loginov hasn’t made up any time yet. S6 – Peiffer clear and away, Hofer has cleared (slowly) and out 2nd but QFM has had to do a loop, so has Bø; Loginov needed all 3 spares. After S6 it’s Peiffer, Hofer (+19.9), QFM (+51.9), Gronman (+54.1) and Loginov (+57.0). Moravec has got the Czechs up to 6th, +57.6. Last exchange – Germany away first, then Italy (+21.2), France (+46.5), Russia and the Czechs! Martin F is dancing up the hill – amazing! Last prone shoot; Simon Schempp clear and away, Windisch also clear but he might have left his glasses on the range? Shipulin up to 3rd and out just ahead of Fourcade, Pidruchnyi (UKR) 5th just ahead of Krcmar (CZE). EHS clear and in 7th, +1:01.3. On the lap Martin F has tucked in behind Anton Shipulin – last shoot of this event; wind seems to have picked up a little? Schempp needs 1 spare but he’s out. Martin F has shot very fast and accurately – he’s out 2nd (+17.9) just ahead of Shipulin; Windisch (2 spares?) 4th, +31.6.  Final lap – Fourcade and Shipulin are closing a little, the Frenchman still tucked in at 6.1 Km, but then he passes Shipulin. At 6.4 Km Fourcade is just 10.9 back on Schempp, but the pace seems to be slowing again – quite a fight for silver and bronze! Germany (0+7) win the first gold of the championship; Martin F (FRA, 1+8) cuts across Shipulin (RUS, 0+4) and gets silver, Russia 3rd. No love lost between Fourcade and Shipulin it seems! Italy in 4th ahead of Ukraine and Sweden. The Czechs were 7th, just ahead of Norway – both having done 2 penalty loops. Kazaks in 11th, pending the results of their tests! Martin F apparently pushed Loginov at the final exchange - although some say that Loginov impeded him? I think he also made a protest at the flower ceremony about Russia, and Loginov in particular!

Meanwhile - the Kazak saga. There is now a translation of the Austrian statement on the IBU site - you can access it HERE

World Championships – Hochfilzen; Women’s 7.5 Km Sprint, 10 Feb: And the doping saga continues – the IBU have provisionally suspended Ekaterina Glazyrina, based on the McLaren report “They [the IBU Executive Board] decided to provisionally suspend Ekaterina Glazyrina with immediate effect from February 10, 2017, pending the IBU determination of whether or not the athlete has committed an anti-doping Rule violation”.  Glazyrina will be replaced by  Uslugina in today’s sprint; what does provisional mean though?! Anyway, back to the actual racing – some discussion about which the best start group is, and how conditions might favour early/late starters. Germans are going quite late (Laura D 64th); also Gabi goes 96th, Marte Olsbu 94th and Tiril Eckhoff last; French have MDH early (and she’s actually drawn start number 1), and Kaisa and Doro are also away in the first 10. There is a feeling that the track will get faster later; but today is warmer than yesterday! MDH is in for S1; she’s missed the 4th target. Kuzmina clear though; Kaisa fast but she’s missed her first and fifth. Susan Dunklee has also missed 1; Doro W has also missed her first and 5th. Baiba Bendika (LAT) goes clear; Vishnevskaya (KAZ) has missed 3, but that might not matter? Justine Braisaz is also fast into the range, but she has missed 2 – if you lip read French you might see that the coach isn’t happy!! Mari Laukkanen has also missed 3; Kuzmina in for her standing shoot, 9/10; MDH clear in the stand but she’s +13.8 on the Slovakian’s time. Anais Chevalier is clear at S1, and it’s a fair time. Kaisa Mäkäräinen in for S2; all clear this time. The wind is picking up a little, I think; Dunklee is out of S2, but (1,2).  At S1 at present it’s Kuzmina, Chevalier and Usanova (KAZ). Irina Uslugina is the first to go 10/10; MDH is closing on Kuzmina’s time over the final lap. Darya Domracheva is fast through the first split time; MDH is ahead of Kuzmina at the finish. Anais Chevalier is also 10/10 and that was quick – just 12.8 seconds to her first shot at S2! Ah, Usanova has missed 3 at S2; Federica Sanfilippo also 10/10 – order after S2 at present is Chevalier, Sanfilippo and Kuzmina. Dasha has just gone clear at S1; Maren Hammerschmidt has missed her first, and the next 2 – disappointing! Celia Aymonier is clear at S1 but took a while to get the first shot away; Dasha has missed 3 at S2. At the finish the current standings are Chevalier (0,0), Sanfilippo (0,0) and MDH (1,0). Akimova has missed her 9th; Hinz clear at S1, but +16.6. Franzi H has missed 1 at S1; Laura Dahlmeier is clear (good grouping too) but +5.1. Vittozzi clear too at S1 and in touch; commentary team reckon the track is getting a bit slower! Vanessa Hinz is 10/10 and 3rd after S2; Franzi H is clear here too – pity about the miss in prone. Yippee – Laura D also 10/10 and out of S2 10.5 ahead of Chevalier; however a lot of names to come. Vittozzi is also 10/10 and slightly better than Sanfilippo!  Vanessa H has finished 3rd, MDH off the provisional podium. Laura D dancing up the hill, and passing traffic all the way. That’s Tiril Eckhoff starting – the whole field is away – Laura D is over the finish and 21.1 faster than Chevalier. The track is moving into shade, but Marte Olsbu has missed 3 at S1; Gabi Koukalová a bit lucky with a split round and out of S1 in first. Starykh clear at S1; a few boos from the crowd! At the finish, the order is now Dahlmeier, Chevalier and Vittozzi – Eckhoff has missed 1 at S1. At 3.9 Km Gabi K is going fast and is well green; the track is icing over in patches and is getting quicker there. Gabi in for S2 – fast to get the first shot away and all down – she’s 10.5 faster than Laura D! Ah, Starykh has also missed 1 at S2; at 6.1 km Gabi has increased her lead to 12.0; back to 10.6 at 6.4 Km – at the finish it’s down to 4 seconds but that’s more than enough – gold to Koukalová, Laura D gets silver and Anais Chevalier in bronze. Lisa Vittozzi in 4th, Sanfilippo 5th and  Hinz 6th. Gabi fastest round the course, ahead of Kaisa and Laura; Tiril Eckhoff 4th, ahead of Aymonier and MDH. Let’s see what happens in the pursuit when all the main contenders have pretty much the same conditions, although I wonder how much difference that did make today?!

World Championships – Hochfilzen; Men’s 10 Km Sprint 11 Feb: Luckily the weather here is more suitable for sport than St Moritz! Löis Habert (Marie’s OH) showing us round key parts of the course; despite the possibility that the tracks might not get faster, Norway seem to be opting for later starts, perhaps hoping for a Koukalová experience! However, forecast is for warm conditions next week and wetter snow/track as a result. Tarjei Bø will be racing today; Loginov apparently isn’t. Race is on and Martin Fourcade is on the course; he’s fastest at 1.9 Km at the moment; actually, unlike yesterday, it’s looking as though the snow is cutting up and getting a little soft; at S1 Dominik Windisch has missed his first shot, Iliev has also missed 1 here – and so has Martin F! Garanichev looked good at S1 but he’s also missed 1; Eberhard has missed his 5th. Yan Savitskiy (KAZ) fastest after S1 at present, ahead of Semenov; Tomas Kaukenas (LTU) has just gone even faster! Martin F was 4th, +6.9. Dominik Landertinger has also missed 1 at S1; Iliev is clear at S2 (1,0). Martin F in for S2 and the wind is getting up a bit – he has missed his first shot again! At present he is still fastest after S2; Peiffer quick at 1.9 Km and Erik Lesser clear at S1. Garanichev clear at S2 (1,0) but 4 seconds slower than Fourcade; Eberhard has also missed 1 here, Semenov 3! No one has cleared all 10 so far! Arnd Peiffer has cleared all 5 at S1 – getting faster all the way and he’s 10.7 faster than Kaukenas, who has just missed 1 at S2. Martin Fourcade is flying – through the finish in first place. QFM having a bad day (1,3) and so is Erik Lesser (0,3); Schempp has missed 1 at S1. Christian Gow (CAN) seems to be the first 10/10; Arnd Peiffer has missed 2 at S2, but is still close to Garanichev’s time. Lovely – Simon Schempp has cleared at S2 (1,0); Shipulin has missed 1 at S1. Koiv (EST) is only the second to go 10/10 – the penalty loop is getting a lot of use and thus cutting up; it will get slower later! Meanwhile OEB is clear at S1 and out 3rd, behind Peiffer and Serafin Wiestner (SUI); Krasimir Anev clear again at S2, so he joins the 10/10 group and he’s fast too – 11.23 ahead of Fourcade as he leaves. Arnd Peiffer is losing time on the last lap, Schempp a bit better but Eberhard is also flying! Wiestner has missed 2 at S2. At the finish it’s currently Fourcade ahead of Eberhard; Schempp has lost the basket of his pole and that’s costing him a bit more time - into 3rd. Shipulin has missed 2 at S2; Anev is looking good for a podium but he’s losing a lot of time to Fourcade on the lap. OEB has missed his first at S2; Krasimir Anev (BUL) is over the finish line in 2nd! Simon Eder is shooting fast but he’s missing (1,2) too many. Bjørndalen is well in touch and the Eurosport team, are going crazy (and probably missing other events, such as Dolder going 10/10?). Benedikt Doll is clear at S1 and going fast – perhaps the track isn’t slowing too much? Tarjei Bø is in for S1, and a bit slow to settle but he’s shooting fast; OEB is losing time now. The commentators are well into the “oh, if all 10 had gone down Ole Einar would have …” – however, as this is biathlon, not cross country, the fact that all 10 didn’t go down is the whole point! At the finish the current state is Fourcade still holding on to the gold medal place, ahead of Anev and Eberhard. OEB 4th, ahead of Schempp and Garanichev. However, Lowell Bailey has cleared all 10 and is very close to Anev’s time; JoBø is clear at S1 and fast. Benedikt Doll is 10/10 and leading after S2; he has 26 seconds in hand over Fourcade but that snow is looking well chewed up. Tarjei Bø has missed 1 at S2, EHS has missed 1 at S1. Doll is really flying and he’s in shade too, at times – looking promising, and he seems to be matching Fourcade’s speed. Lowell Bailey has gone into 2nd; Doll is still inside and he’s dragging Moravec (0,1) with him. However, JoBø has also cleared all 10 and he’s 9.3 faster than Doll at S2! At the finish – Doll, M Fourcade, Bailey, Moravec, but, …. at 7.7 Km JoBø has lost 3 seconds to Doll, and at S2 Svendsen has missed his last target – exciting race! At 8.9 Km Johannes is just 3.8 ahead of Benedikt Doll’s time. Bø has lost it – by just 0.7; Doll (0,0) takes gold, JT Bø (0,0) gets silver and Martin F (1,1) bronze! Lowell Bailey 4th, ahead of Ondrej Moravec, and Krasimir Anev. OEB 8th and Schempp 9th. Martin Fourcade fastest round the course ahead of Eberhard (+15.8!), Doll and JTB. Julian Eberhard fastest round the final lap!

World Championships – Hochfilzen; Women’s 10 Km Pursuit, 12 Feb: MDH and Kuzmina are closing on the first lap. Kaisa Mäkäräinen also making up ground. Leaders in for S1 – Gabi has a problem with the rifle and Laura is doing one penalty loop; Gabi is slow and she’s also missed 2 targets – what on earth happened? Seems to be an ejector problem? Leaving the range Laura D is leading, from Anais Chevalier, Kaisa and Aymonier – those 3 all clear at S1. MDH, Franzi H and Susan Dunklee among those missing 1, Öberg has missed 3. Koukalová is making up time, but she’s having to push hard to so; Kaisa and Dzhima also making up ground. Second prone – Laura clear; so are Gabi, Kaisa, Anais C – out Dahlmeier, Chevalier (+11.0), Kaisa (+20.3), Sanfilippo, Kuzmina and MDH. By the next split Kaisa is right up with Anais; Dasha is 10/10 and climbing; at 5.6 Km Laura leads from Gabi K (!), Kaisa, MDH and Anais C. Dasha up to 9 now from 27 at the start. First standing shoot – Laura clear and out, Kaisa clear and out 2nd ahead of Dasha (15/15!). Gabi has missed 1 more and leaves 4th, Merkushyna 5th ahead of Starykh. MDH has missed 2 here (1,0,2) and has dropped to 10th. Doro has the same number of misses and is 15th, Dunklee (1,0,1) up from 29 to 12. At 7.6 Km it’s Laura, Kaisa, Dasha and Gabi – Dasha doing well has prompted the commentary team to switch to their favourite topic – Bjørndalen! Final shoot – Laura clear and Dasha is clear again and out 2nd, Gabi 3rd. Sadly Starykh is 20/20 and 4th. Kaisa missed 1 here and is 6th; Justine Braisaz (0,1,0,0) is up from 28 to 7. At 9.6 Km Laura leads from Domracheva (who is losing ground) and Gabi – who looks almost unbelievably strong! Laura (1,0,0,0) cruises to gold, Darya (0,0,0,0; 27 to 2) gets silver and Koukalová (2,0,1,0) bronze – amazing. Starykh up from 24 to 4 (perhaps the IBU need to go for the max WADA 4 year ban?); other gainers include Braisaz (28 – 5), Doro (21 – 10), Paulina Fialková (31 – 12), Alexia Runggaldier (43 – 15) and Olsbu (54 – 16). Going backwards – Anais C (3 – 11), Vittozzi (4 – 14), Sanfilippo (5 – 17) and, sadly, Vanessa Hinz (6 – 20; 4 misses). Good race, nice to see Dasha back!

World Championships – Hochfilzen; Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit, 12 Feb: Eurosport hanging on at St Moritz instead of switching to biathlon – what are they doing? Looking at the IBU feed there seems to be some delay to the pursuit; you can hear odd comments “have we been pushed back?”, “I thought it was quarter to”. Sounds like Pat and Mike are phoning someone now! “You know what, we’re live”. The ZDF ticker says the start is 1500 CET; sure enough Eurosport knew, although it seems they forgot to tell Patrick and Mike! What I didn’t see yesterday was Svendsen at the finish – I understand he pretty much collapsed and was helped to an ambulance; not sure he will start today. Race is on, no EHS, JoBø is already past Benedikt Doll; commentators reckon that given Doll’s statistics in a 4 shoot race, he will struggle today. Doll back in front on the hill; Martin Fourcade making up time. Heading in for the first prone – Doll has missed his first shot, Bø has also missed 1 but Fourcade is clear and leads out. Doll 2nd fractionally ahead of Bø, OEB clear and 4th; Sinapov has a snag with his rifle and has had to change it. Lowell Bailey clear and 5th ahead of Moravec and Anev, Schempp clear and 8th. Looks pretty much the same at 4.1 Km; Sinapov not having a good day – after the rifle snags he’s fallen and has retired. In for S2 – Martin F clear and out, Bø and Doll have missed 1 each, OEB clear and 2nd, Bailey 3rd then Anev, Schempp and Moravec. On the lap Schempp and Bailey are closing on OEB; Fourcade going well, JoBø seems to be pulling away from Doll. Martin F is in for his first standing shoot – all 5 down, and he’s away. Bailey (1) and Schempp (2) missing; OEB clear, so is Krasimir Anev. Fourcade, OEB, Anev, Bailey, Moravec, Eberhard. Johannes has missed 1 at each shoot and is 8th, just ahead of brother Tarjei! At 9.1 Km Martin F has pulled away a little; Anev sticking with OEB, then a gap of about 14 seconds to Moravec and Bailey. Final shoot – wind up a little; Fourcade has missed his final target. OEB has missed 1, so have Anev and Moravec but Bailey is clear, so is Shipulin here (0,1,0,0). Out in order Fourcade, Bailey (+37.9), OEB, Anev (about 6 seconds back on Bjørndalen), and Johannes Bø, who might well have the speed to catch up to a podium place; he’s looking better than yesterday. Bailey dropping back; younger Bø is closing on OEB at a rate of knots. Martin F (0,0,0,1) cruises to gold, JoBø (1,1,1,0) gets silver and Bjørndalen (0,0,0,1) gets bronze from 8th at the start. Behind them Anton Shipulin (0,1,0,0) in 4th, from 21 at the start, ahead of Moravec and Bailey. Other gainers include Eder (22 to 12), Beatrix (27 – 13), Pidruchnyi (28 – 14), Semenov (41 – 15) and QFM (43 – 22) – oh, and Rösch (51 – 31). Going backwards – Doll (1 – 11), Peiffer (12 – 19), Garanichev (10 – 20), Dolder (15 – 29) and Hasilla (16 – 43).

World Championships – Hochfilzen; Women’s 15 Km Individual, 15 Feb: Missed a tiny bit at the start but nothing important. Germans favouring group 4 today, hoping for cool conditions – however the track is breaking up early on. Joanne Reid (USA) is first away and in for her first shoot; missed number 5, so that’s a full minute added to her time, meanwhile Akimova is fastest at 2 Km. Oh dear, Rosanna Crawford has missed 3 at S1; Akimova clear and she leads here at present. Mari Laukkanen is also clear and very close to the Russian’s time.  At S2 Olga Poltoranina (KAZ) has cleared again; the whole hotel search saga seems to have gone quiet recently. Back on the track Laukkanen has gone faster than Akimova at 5 Km; Gregorin is faster than both. Oops, Akimova has missed 3 at S2, Reid another 2. Mari Laukkanen has cleared all 10 so far and she’s much faster than Poltoranina. Teja Gregorin has missed 2 at S2, but Vishnevskaya (KAZ) is clear – 37.9 behind Mari’s time though. Anna Frolina (Russian by birth but now competing for Korea!) is also 10/10 but 34.4 back. Poltoranina has missed her first 2 at S3; fiddling with the sights and she’s missed 2 more. Aymonier has missed 1 at S1, but the grouping was somewhat erratic; Gabi Koukalová is on track and 3rd fastest at 2 Km. Starykh (boo, hiss) is clear at S1; Laukkanen has missed 1 at S3. Maren Hammerschmidt is the first of the Germans away, but this format doesn’t really play to her strengths. Gabi in for S1 – she’s missed her 2nd shot; Galena Vishnevskaya the only one to go 15/15 so far, but marginally slower than Mari; Frolina also 15/15 now and faster. Good start – Maren H is clear at S1; Akimova is at S4 – (0,3,0,2), but Mari Laukkanen is the one setting the target here – (0,0,1,0) and over a minute clear of second placed Kryuko. Gabi has cleared at S2; Egan (USA) is clear at S2 and in touch, Vishnevskaya has missed 1 at S4. Frolina has missed 2 at S4 but Maren H has cleared again at S2 and leads there. After S3 another “Korean”, Avvakumova is 15/15 and in the lead. MDH has missed 2 at S1, Doro W has missed 1. Back at 2 Km Kaisa is fastest, just ahead of Tiril Eckhoff, who has missed 2 at S1 (no blinders and low sun?). Kaisa clear at S1 and faster than Maren; Gabi shooting slowly at S3 but clear which puts her in the lead there at present; quite astonishing speed. Clare Egan now 15/15; Maren has missed 2 at S3. Avvakumova has cleared all 20 and leaves S4 just 0.1 behind Laukkanen. Laura D is at S1 and has missed her 3rd; Franzi H and Vanessa Hinz both clear at S1, as was Dasha. Yuliia Dzhima is 10/10 and 3rd at present; Kaisa has missed 1 there. Gabi in for her last shoot – she’s clear and just over 1 minute 15 ahead of Mari L. Clare Egan has missed 2 at S4, Franzi H has missed 1 at S2 while Maren has cleared at S4 (good for her!) – amazingly with only one more miss than Koukalová she is almost 2 minutes back – and I thought Maren is usually fast! Runggaldier is 15/15 and just 15.4 behind Gabi after S3, where Dzhima has missed 1. Koukalová has finished, 1:32.1 ahead of Laukkanen in 2nd. Maren H into 4th, +2:02.8; she is over a minute slower than the Czech which seems odd given her cross country background – I wonder if she is well, or suffered from soft snow? Laura D clear at S3 and she’s even faster than Gabi! Now, Alexia Runggaldier is 20/20 and 2nd after S4, but over a minute behind Gabi. Susan Dunklee (1,0,0) is 3rd after S3 at present; Dunja Zdouc (AUT) has just joined the 20/20 group, Laura D seems to be losing a bit of time heading for S4? At the finish it is currently Koukalová, Runggaldier and Laukkanen. Vanessa H has missed 1 in her final shoot but Laura D is clear – out 17.9 faster than Gabi. Kaisa (0,1,1,2) has finished but lies 10th; Zdouc into 8th. Back on the lap Laura D is gaining time now, and she’s tucked in behind Dasha (0,2,0,1), which might help her? Laura Dahlmeier  (1,0,0,0) has taken the gold; fantastic performance! Gabi Koukalová (1,0,0,0) gets silver, and Alexia Runggaldier (0,0,0,0) bronze. Laukkanen in 4th ahead of Avvakumova and Susan Dunklee. Then Hammerschmidt (with the same misses as Dunklee), Hinz, Dzhima and Pidhrushna. Dahlmeier fastest on course, ahead of Kaisa and Gabi; Teja Gregorin 4th! Amazingly it looks as though Celia Aymonier (1,2,0,0) is the best of the French today, in 25th. What is great to see is Amanda Lightfoot (0,1,0,0) in 32nd place, ahead of such names as Vittozzi, Chevalier, Eckhoff and MDH (admittedly she was 2,1,0,1).

World Championships – Hochfilzen; Men’s 20 Km Individual, 16 Feb: Let’s start with good news, the Kazak team have been cleared of doping charges, although the police investigation continues – the IBU press release is HERE.  Now to the race; it’s quite warm and once again there is a “is it better to go early or late” debate. Anton Shipulin is the first away; some big names in group 1 – no Tarjei Bø in the race  today though. Martin Fourcade is going 4th, so he obviously thinks early is best, but it seems some of the Norwegians disagree! Shipulin on the hill – you can see the marks where his skis are digging into the snow. No real surprise that Martin F is fastest at 2.9 Km. Shipulin is in for S1 and it’s windier now than it was when they zeroed – he’s missed 2 and so that’s 2 minutes on to his time already. Bauer has missed 3; Martin F is in – no change to his sights either and he’s missed his first. Landertinger and Birkeland are both clear at S1, Fourcade is 3rd +42.1 at the moment. Very fast shooting by Rastorgujevs, but he has also missed his first target. Semenov is clear and fastest at S1 so far. Shipulin clear at S2, and that was fast shooting –same for Martin F, and Birkeland is also clear, only 10/10 so far. Dominik Landertinger has missed 2 at S2, QFM is (1,1). Erik Lesser at S1 and he has moved his sights – all 5 down and quickly too. Chepelin has missed 2 at S2; Weger is 10/10 but Loginov has missed 3 at S1! Sergey Semenov joins the 10/10 club and he’s skiing quickly too, he leads after S2. Landertinger seems to be having a problem with his transponder slipping down onto his boot – not his day! Scott Dixon clear at S1! Now Anton Shipulin is at S3 – good shooting, and he’s clear there. Martin F is in for his second prone – he’s missed the first one this time too, (1,0,1)! Birkeland is looking very hot – it’s 10 degrees apparently – and he’s missed 1 here. Erik Lesser has missed 1 at S2 but Benny Weger has gone 15/15 – the only person to do so this far and he leaves the range 41.6 ahead of Martin F. Scott Dixon is 10/10 and 10th after S2; Semenov has missed 1 at S3. Fourcade clear at S4 – the track really is looking mushy! Birkeland clear at S4 too; I see Svendsen is back today. Schempp has missed 2 at S1, clear at S2 – Erik L clear at S3. Moravec is 10/10 and in touch; Weger has missed 1 at S4, and slow with his last shot after the miss; that drops him to 4th. Garanichev clear at S1 and faster than Semenov, who has just cleared at S4 (0,0,1,0). Shipulin sprinting for the finish, snow spraying up from his poles! OEB and JoBø away; Bjørndalen is relatively light which might help in these conditions. Simon Eder is clear at S1 and leads there; EHS has missed 1 there. Eberhard has started, the last man away today. Erik Lesser has gone clear at S4 (0,1,0,0) and 3rd; Ondrej Moravec leads after S3 and he’s 15/15. Semenov into 2nd at the finish, behind Martin F, but ahead of Shipulin. OEB and JTB are both clear at S1 – neither using a blinder. Eder has missed 1 at S2; EHS has missed his last at S2. Erik Lesser is faster than Semenov and Shipulin, into 2nd at present. Schempp clear at S4 (2,0,0,0) but off the pace. Michal Krčmář  is 15/15 and leaves the range 3rd. What a last shoot from Moravec – 20/20 and he’s 33.4 faster than Fourcade as he exits the range. Bø clear at S2 and leading there; 12.4 ahead of Semenov’s time, but OEB has missed 1. At 17.2 Km Moravec has lost only 2 seconds to Fourcade; Eder is clear at S3 and 3rd there – he’s going fast! I think Moravec might get this (JoBø permitting) – at 18.9 he still has 21.4 in hand. Yes, at the finish Ondrej Moravec is leading at the moment. Back at S4 Krčmář  is also 20/20 but not as fast as Ondrej. At present, Moravec, Fourcade, Lesser. Bø in for his second prone – he’s missed his second target, but still in touch; OEB (0,1,2). Eder has missed a second at S4 (0,1,0,1); Lowell Bailey is 15/15 and leads at S3. Bø in for S4 and he’s missed number 20 (0,0,1,1). Lowell Bailey is 20/20 and leads after S4 – he has 6.4 seconds in hand over Moravec. At 17.2 Km the gap is down to 2.8 and at 18.9 it’s only 0.1 – Bailey must have really motored on the last section because he takes the gold medal – 3.3 seconds ahead of Moravec, who gets silver. Martin Fourcade gets bronze and Erik Lesser is just off the podium, ahead of Semenov and Krčmář . Delighted for Bailey, but a shame he pushed Erik off the podium! Martin F fastest round the tracks, ahead of Eberhard, Shipulin and QFM. JT Bø ended up 8th, Simon Schempp 13th, Svendsen (1,1,1,0) 27th, Peiffer (3,1,0,0) 34th and Bjørndalen (0,1,2,1) 47th. Scott Dixon  (0,0,2,0) was 69th and Alex Gleave (1,3,2,1) 99th.

World Championships – Hochfilzen; Women’s 4 x 6 Km Relay, 17 Feb: Gloomy in Hochfilzen too – cloudy/misty with wet rain/snow; it will be slower on the tracks today. Vanessa Hinz going on leg 1 for Germany; quite a bit of discussion about why the Russians have included the underperforming Sleptsova in their team.  French have got good ski speed; Chevalier leading from Hinz; the group are bunching up on the hill – at 1.4 Km it’s Anais C, Vittozzi and Hinz – 5 seconds between the top 10. Weather getting worse, I think, as they come in for S1 – Hinz clear and fast, she leads out. Chevalier 2nd ahead of Vittozzi, Skardino (BLR), Varvynets (UKR) and Brorsson (SWE). Nicolaisen (NOR) used 2 spares and looked slow with her drills, she is out in 18th, +24.7. Anais Chevalier is looking fast on the lap, wind is a bit gusty now and changeable. S2 – a lot more misses this time; Chevalier out after 1 spare, ahead of Vittozzi (1), Hinz (2), and Podchufarova (1); Nicolaisen clear though and up to 12th; Bulgaria (Yordanova) doing a penalty loop. Jislova (CZE) the only one I can see who has used no spares – she is 6th as they leave the range. Towards the first exchange – Nicolaisen losing time on the lap; I wonder if she is well? Celia Aymonier leads out after the exchange, ahead of Sanfilippo and Maren Hammerschmidt +10.6); then POL/BLR/RUS. Norway are 18th, +1:23.4; a lot for Hilda Fenne to try and recover. S3 – Celia clear and out, Sanfilippo also clear and out 2nd, Maren used 1 spare but out 3rd (+12.4). Then Sleptsova, Hojnisz and Dzhima. Schwaiger (AUT) seemed to use 4 spares there; if that is so, probably DQ? Next standing shoot – Vittozzi (1 spare) leads out, Maren (3) 2nd ahead of Dzhima, Hojnisz and Öberg. Aymonier also used all 3 and slow to load – out 9th, +37.4; Dunklee in 11th but also needing 2 spares. Hmm -  at the first exchange Austria are listed as 0+4, after S3 they are 0+8 so that must have been 4 spares used? Schwaiger has done a loop after S4 – now 1+11. Exchange 2 – Italy lead ahead of Germany, +6.0 and Ukraine (+25.7). Then FRA/CZE/POL, Sleptsova has lost over 15 seconds on the last lap – Russia in 11th, + 1:03.3, Norway 13th – Canada have done 2 penalty loops on that leg.  At 1.1 Km Franzi H leads from Runggaldier and Braisaz, who is making up time fast. S5: Franzi H clear and away, Runggaldier needing 2 spares, out second (+25.6) ahead of Merkushyna (UKR, +31.3). Then Vitková, Mitoraj and Nilsson; Braisaz needed 3 spares and she’s 10th, over a minute back. There is now an asterisk against Austria in the data stream. Vitková is making up a place on the lap – in for S6, what did the coaches say to Franzi H? Whatever – all 5 down and a couple would have cleared the prone target! Merkushyna is clear and out 2nd (+21.7), ahead of Runggaldier, Vitková, Braisaz and Starykh; Tiril Eckhoff is on the penalty loop! Merkushyna is closing a little on Franzi H; gap to CZE/FRA/ITA and RUS. Last exchange – Braisaz has made up a massive amount. Laura D leads out for Germany, Ukraine just 9.7 back with France back to 3rd +23.7. What a lap by Merkushyna! Russia 4th, then CZE/ITA/SWE. At 1.1 Km Dahlmeier leads from Pidhrushna (+16.5),  MDH, Gabi Koukalová, Doro W and Akimova. Not sure I like the new rule that says you pull out at once if lapped – can be a long way to walk back! Laura D has missed her first – she leads out but Pidhrushna and MDH are clear and out a bit closer. Akimova is on the penalty loop; Doro Wierer ahead of Gabi after the range. MDH has got into 2nd, then Pidhrushna, Gabi and Doro – what a pack to have chasing you! Final shoot – Laura has missed 2, 2 spares used and she’s out. Dahlmeier leads from Gabi (+5.4), Pidhrushna (+8.3), MDH (+9.4), Doro and Guzik.  MDH closing a bit, huge battle behind Laura, who is pulling away. Pidhrushna’s skis are running well; Laura dancing up the hill – 600 metres to go. I don’t think Gabi’s skis are ideal for the conditions. Laura D takes gold for Germany (0+9), Olena Pidhrushna has pulled out to get silver for Ukraine (0+4) with MDH taking the final podium place and bronze for France (0+7). Czech Republic (0+6) in 4th, ahead of Italy (0+6) and Sweden (0+7). Russia (1+8) 10th, Norway (1+9) 11th.

World Championships – Hochfilzen; Men’s 4 x 7.5 Km Relay, 18 Feb: A few interesting selections – the Norwegians include Svendsen despite his recent collapse, Tarjei Bø has leg 3, handing over to JoBø; Desthieux in the French squad, Loginov out of the Russian one. I think this might be hard to predict – it’s been a hard few days! Bulgaria could be good for a surprise? We do have a GB team – 26 nations represented today! Erik Lesser on leg 1 for Germany; Volkov is the early leader from Chepelin (BLR), Hofer and Lesser – all close at 1.1 Km, just 2.5 seconds between the top 10. They are bunching up again on the hill. Rastorgujevs is away – he’s gone early, heading for S1 and he’s opened a small gap. S1 – Russia fast but have missed 1; Rastorgujevs is among those who are clear and he leads out, ahead of Erik Lesser, OEB, Mesotitch and Chepelin. Scott Dixon clear; can’t see any penalty loops yet. Rastorgujevs is flying; the track looks a bit soft at present. Lesser wide on the corner and losing places; S2 – Rastorgujevs has missed his first and third, Lowell Bailey clear this time, OEB 2 spares. Out Artem Pryma (UKR), Lesser, Anev (BUL), Bailey, Beatrix and Stenersen (SWE); LAT/BLR/CZE/LTU all on the penalty loop. Heading for the first exchange Beatrix is going well, OEB losing ground. Lesser has passed Beatrix! Exchange 1 – Benedikt Doll leads out ahead of FRA/BUL/USA/UKR/ITA. Germany have 5.4 advantage as they start leg 2. At 1.1 Km it’s Doll, QFM, Semenov, Sinapov (BUL) and Nordgren (USA). Tsvetkov making up time for Russia. S3 – Doll and QFM have both missed, EHS has missed his first. Out Doll, Nordgren, Semenov, QFM, Sinapov and Tsvetkov. Windisch and Eberhard have joined the leading group, but after the leading 8 there is a small gap – it’s closing a little as the pace eases. S4 – Doll has missed his first, QFM fast and clear, Doll is melting down but he’s got the final target with his 3rd spare – a bad stage of the race to do that. Out QFM, Windisch, Semenov, Tsvetkov, Nordgren and Eberhard. Doll is 7th, +32.7, just ahead of Svendsen. Looks like POL/KAZ/FIN have also done a loop on this leg, Varabei (BLR) has done 3 loops after S4. Exchange 2 – France lead from Italy and Ukraine. Russia 4th ahead of AUT/USA/GER (+32.8). At 1.1 Km Desthieux leads from Montello (ITA), Babikov, Eder, Semakov (UKR), Burke and Peiffer. S5 – Russia clean and fast, Desthieux has used all 3 spares. Babikov leads out ahead of Eder, Montello, Semakov and Desthieux. Then Burke, Bø, and Peiffer (2 spares). Desthieux is losing time on the early part of the lap too; Babikov and Eder pulling away. In for S6 – shot for shot, Babikov clear and away, Eder using spares, Bø on the penalty loop! Out Babikov, Eder (+8.3), Desthieux (+30.0), Montello, Semakov and Peiffer (+37.3); Tarjei in 8th but +1:23.5. Final exchange – Shipulin will be facing Landertinger and Martin F; that track is looking very cut up. Peiffer is making up time well; almost up to Desthieux and he’s just 13.8 back at the exchange. Eder’s skis look very good (can’t understand at all why he hasn’t passed the Russian); hope Landertinger’s are as good. So, final exchange Shipulin leads from Landertinger (+0.5); Desthieux did better than I expected especially given a poor shoot, so Martin F is +12.5 and Schempp +13.8; Norway 8th, +1:22.7. Germany and France closing the gap. Final prone shoot – Shipulin clear, Landertinger has missed 1, so has Schempp. Out Shipulin, Martin F (+9.9), Landertinger (+11.1), Schempp (+20.5). JoBø has used 2 spares and is now almost 2 minutes back. Lots of people slipping on the mats again today. Anton Shipulin in for his final shoot – he’s missed 1, Fourcade clear, Austria 1 miss and Schempp is clear! Out – Shipulin, Fourcade (+4.2 – that won’t please Anton), Landertinger (+19.4) and Schempp (+21.3). Landertinger is a big lad too, so the soft snow might not suit him. Shipulin is pulling away; Schempp is right behind Dominik L! At the next split Shipulin has opened the gap even more; I think Landertinger might have lost Schempp – fantastic hill! Russia (0+3) take gold (who would have bet on Anton S out skiing Martin F?), France (0+4) silver and Austria (0+10) have broken Germany (0+8) to take bronze. Italy 5th ahead of Ukraine and USA; Norway 8th. What price my “Bulgaria could be good for a surprise” – back in 9th almost 3 minutes back. GB did 3 penalty loops on leg 3 and were lapped, as were Korea, Poland and Lithuania. Some very sore people will be contesting tomorrow’s Mass Start!

World Championships – Hochfilzen; Women’s 12.5 Km Mass Start, 19 Feb: Quite interesting pre-race segment on waxing! Race is on; Darya Domracheva away fast – Marta Olsbu leads at the first split; very close at the next split, lots of tangles and Doro has lost a pole. In for the first shoot; a few misses but mostly good shooting. Out Susan Dunklee, Laura D, Akimova, Fialkova, Dasha and Sanfilippo; Gabi 7th (+7.5) – all clear. Olsbu and Kaisa among those with 1 miss; Puskarčíková, Gasparin and Hauser have missed 2 each. I wonder what the collective noun is for the coaches, gathered on the hill to show their athletes the fall of shot? Dunklee pulling out a little, from Gabi, Dasha and Laura; she’s slowed a bit coming in for S2 – Dunklee clears and that’s fast shooting; Dasha has missed 3, Eckhoff 2, Franzi H 2, Vanessa Hinz 3 and I think she stumbled too. Out, Dunklee, Laura, Gabi, then Sanfilippo, MDH and Doro (mow with matching poles!). Top 8 are 10/10. First standing shoot – Dunklee shooting fast again; Laura, Gabi and MDH also clear but Sanfilippo has missed 3. Out Dunklee, Dahlmeier, Koukalová, ,MDH, Runggaldier, Wierer. Leading 4 have a bit of a gap; Dunklee is flying, her skis look good too! Final shoot – Dunklee has cleared the lot and that’s quick shooting again, Laura is clear, Gabi and MDH have missed 1 each, so has Doro. Out Dunklee, Laura D (+5.1), Dzhima (+26.6), Gabi, MDH and Teja Gregorin. Now, how much did the relay take out of them all? Gabi is back up to 3rd, ahead of Dzhima and Gregorin; at 11.6 Laura leads, Susan D +3.5; Gabi 3rd but Kaisa is hunting her down. Laura Dahlmeier (0,0,0,0) is away – she gets her 6th medal, 5 of them gold! Susan Dunklee (0,0,0,0) silver and Kaisa Mäkäräinen (1,0,0,0) takes a well-deserved bronze. Gabi (0,0,0,1) in 4th, ahead of Gregorin (0,1,0,0), Dzhima (0,1,0,0), MDH (0,0,0,1) and Doro (0,0,1,1). Runggaldier (9th) and Vittozzi (11th) also shot he perfect score. Dasha ended up 19th with 4 misses, Braisaz (1,1,2,5) in 28th. I think Franzi H is exhausted, over 3 minutes back with just 2 misses – it’s been a long championships! Kaisa fastest round the course, ahead of Eckhoff and Gregorin. No real surprise that Susan Dunklee was best on range time – the new US shooting coach really is earning his money!

Men’s 15 Km Mass Start, 19 Feb: I can’t help feeling that after the relay yesterday, there are going to be some very fatigued people out there today! Quite a demanding course too, especially as it’s a bit warm. Race is on; Susan Dunklee in the commentary box – apparently this is her first 20/20 in competition? Julian Eberhard setting the early pace, Landertinger and Shipulin just behind, Doll and Martin Fourcade well to the fore too. Coming in for S1 – Shipulin first to strike and he leads out. Lowell Bailey in 2nd, then Eder , Landertinger, Garanichev and Schempp – all clear. Both Fourcade and OEB have missed 1, but JoBø is clear. On the lap Landertinger and Eder are leading, Shipulin, Garanichev and Bailey close, then Doll, Schempp and Peiffer – top 10 only 4 seconds apart, Fourcade has made up almost 12 seconds. Second shoot – prone 2; all close, Landertinger and Bailey fast, Shipulin has missed 1, QFM and OEB have missed 2. Bailey leads away from Landertinger and Eder, then Doll, Schempp and Garanichev, Fourcade clear this time and 8th. Just 9.1 separates the top 10; however OEB (1,2), Eberhard (1,2) Svendsen (1,2), QFM (1,2). At present Tarjei is just ahead of Johannes – both clear – Johannes is past on the lap. Still all very close coming in for S3; Fourcade up to 3rd. Doll has missed his first and one more, Lesser has missed 3; Simon Eder leads out, from Bailey, Fourcade, Schempp, Landertinger and Peiffer. JoBø is 7th ahead of Krasimir Anev – all 15/15 except for Fourcade. EHS has missed 2 more, I don’t think he’s recovered from that collapse. I’m amazed that Landertinger has anything in his legs after that hill yesterday – he’s 2nd at 10.6 Km. Final shoot – group of 6 in almost together – Eder has cleared 5 very quickly, Landertinger has missed 2, so has Fourcade!! Eder is out first, Schempp close behind. Lowell Bailey also 20/20 but +16.8 with JoBø is only about 9 seconds behind. Anton Shipulin 5th ahead of Anev. Bø is past Bailey; Schempp has been here before, but this is a different Austrian! At 13.2 Km it’s Eder, Schempp (+0.4) and JoBø (+12.0). Schempp past by 13.6, Bø is now 9.6 back. Bø is making up ground at a rate of knots, has he pushed too hard? Simon Schempp is comfortable – JoBø is into 2nd but Eder has good skis. Schempp (0,0,0,0) takes the gold for a German double in the Mass Start. Johannes Thingnes Bø (0,0,0,1) gets silver ahead of Simon Eder (0,0,0,0) – all very, very tired! Anton Shipulin (0,1,1,0) in 4th ahead of Martin Fourcade (1,0,0,2) and Lowell Bailey (0,0,0,0). Good effort by Freddie Lindström to get 8th, ahead of Doll and Peiffer (2 misses each). OEB ended up 23rd with 3 misses and Svendsen 28th with 5 misses. Fourcade fastest round the course ahead of JoBø and Eberhard; Eder best on the range ahead of Shipulin and Bailey. That’s it for Hochfilzen – Germany at the top of the medal table with 7 gold (5 of those from Laura), 1 silver, 0 bronze; ahead of France (1,2,4), Czech Republic (1,2,1) and USA (1,1,0); Russia 5th, ahead of Norway, Belarus, Ukraine and Austria, Italy & Finland had 1 bronze each and tied in 10th place

PyeongChang (or PYC, for ease of typing), Women’s 7.5 Km Sprint – 2 Mar: Under floodlights; looks cold – everyone well wrapped up, but apparently only minus 1?! Race is on; Maren Hammerschmidt the first away. Again, the late starters are betting that the tracks will get colder and faster later – let’s see! Just Patrick on commentary today as Mike Dixon is at the Nordic Worlds in Finland! That’s a long climb to the first split time point; looks a tough course. A cheer as one of the Russian “Koreans” starts, but there doesn’t seem to be a huge crowd; Maren H is at S1 and she’s missed 1 and 3; Akimova has missed her 3rd. Yuliia Dzhima has cleared S1 and she’s fastest there at present – ahead of Raikova (KAZ) and Akimova; Gerekova (SVK) has just gone 5.9 faster; bad start for Teja Gregorin with 3 misses at S1. Magdalena Gwizdon is clear at S1 and just behind Gerekova. Anna Frolina (of, ahem, Korea) has missed 1, almost no reaction from the crowd – disappointing. Laura D is in for S1, going quite early in the start list – looked slightly slow shooting but clear and she leads by 20.2! Dzhima is clear at S2 as well and leading by 25.9; Maren has missed 1 more there. Tiril Eckhoff fastest through 1.6 Km; Gerekova has missed her 10th shot. Back at S1 Anais Bescond is clear and 2nd, just ahead of Hauser. Gwizdon is 10/10 as well; bit slower than Dzhima though. Tiril a bit slow to settle at S1 but then good and clear – she leads! Franzi H has cleared S2 and is just 2.6 back on Dzhima; Laura D is 10/10 and well clear at present. Back at S1 Darya Domracheva is clear and 3rd, ahead of Bescond – Dunklee is also clear and just ahead of Dasha. At the finish Maren H (2,1) was leading, but Dzhima (0,0) has taken over – Maren still faster than Raikova (0,0)! Anais Bescond has missed 1 at S2; Franzi H is 2nd for the moment. Tiril Eckhoff has also cleared all 10; she’s 2.9 behind Laura as she leaves the range. Laura is at the finish and just over a minute ahead of Yuliia! Gabi has started but for the moment it’s Tiril’s split times that I’ll be looking at; Dasha has missed 2 at S2, Susan Dunklee has missed 1. At 5.7 Km Tiril is now +4.4; at 6.6 Km it’s out to +10.1. Some suggestion that Gabi and MDH don’t have the best ski preparation? Denise Herrmann shooting slowly at S1; missed the 4th. Tiril is over the finish – 2nd and +8.4. Gabi Koukalová is at S1 – bit slow and she’s missed her 3rd shot; +41.7 as she leaves the penalty loop –that’s a slow loop, but I don’t think it’s just so for Gabi. Back at 1.6 Km Kaisa Mäkäräinen is flying! MDH has gone clear at S1; she’s 3rd there behind Eckhoff and Dahlmeier. Kaisa in for her prone shoot – that’s pretty quick and it’s accurate too – out just 0.1 behind Tiril’s time. Denise Herrmann has missed her 10th as well, and she seems off the pace a little as well; Doro W at S1 and she’s missed her 5th. Gabi has missed her first at S2; Fenne has missed 2 at S1 and Elisa Gasparin has fallen. I missed it (not on the video coverage??) but Olsbu has missed 1 at S1; good for Anna Magnusson, but she’s missed her 10th. MDH at S2 – she looks tired and there is a bit of rifle movement but she’s 10/10 – good effort! She’s out 3rd, +19.6, and just ahead of Anais Chevalier (also 0,0). That’s a pity, Kaisa has missed 2 at S2; back at 1.6 Km Celia Aymonier is in touch. Now, that’s more like it – Doro W clear at S2 and that was quick! Sadly 1 miss at S1 has cost her and she isn’t quite on the pace either - +54.8 after S2. Gabi (1,1) is over the finish, currently 16th, +1:43.4 – not like her at all. Aymonier has missed 1 at S1 – situation there is Tiril Eckhoff, Kaisa, Laura, MDH and Susan Dunklee – no sign of any late challenge there and maybe the wind is a bit stronger too? Mona Brorsson (0,0) into joint 8th at present with Anais Bescond (0,1). Where has MDH gone – she’s on the data feed leaving S2, +19.6, but doesn’t appear at 5.7 Km?  That’s a win for Laura Dahlmeier, ahead of Tiril Eckhoff (+8.4) and Anais Chevalier (+41.6) – all 10/10. Kaisa (0,2) in 4th, ahead of Susan Dunklee (0,1) and Yuliia Dzhima (0,0). Franzi H in 7th and I still can’t see any mention of MDH – not sure Patrick has mentioned it either; it seems she withdrew from the final lap - illness? That, of course, means she misses out on not just a possible podium but also the pursuit – very sad. Laura fastest round the course, ahead of Kaisa and Tiril. Kaisa now leads the sprint standings ahead of Laura with Gabi down to 3rd. Tiril looking happy to be back on the podium – what are those rather odd little models they are handing out to the podium winners?

PyeongChang, Men’s 10 Km Sprint – 3 Mar: Going back to yesterday, apparently MDH was withdrawn by the coaches – reason vary a little (depending what you read) but there are suggestions that continuing would have left her like Svendsen when he collapsed at the finish recently? Hope she recovers soon. Anyway, today is another day (or evening) of relatively small crowds; looks slightly windy and the snow conditions may well be hard for the technicians to get right? Looking at the start list, neither Bø races today, Svendsen and Schempp are also ill and not racing – I don’t think they are even in Korea? Early starters at S1; no one clear at present; Semakov is the first. Lukas Hofer has shifted his sights a lot and looked good but missed his 5th; Beatrix is clear and going fast too – he leads after S1; QFM slow to settle and he’s missed 2 (looks to have a slight nosebleed too – fall?). Krupcik (CZE) clear and now fastest after S1; back at the 1.2 km mark Samuelsson (SWE) is currently fastest. Iliev has taken a while sorting his sights – shot fast but missed 1. Looking at Klemen Bauer’s race vest moving in the breeze you can see how windy it is – he’s missed 2 at S2. Dolder (SUI) has cleared at S1 and leads there; it’s annoying not to see the fall of shot! Beatrix has missed his first at S2; rest down but he’s slower than Hofer who has one more penalty – Krupcik is the first to go 10/10. Gloom – Florian Graf has missed 1 at S1; Benedikt Doll has missed 2. Lorenz Waeger (AUT) has cleared all 10 as well and is just 1.5 behind Krupcik; Arnd Peiffer is clear at S1 and fastest there. Simon Desthieux also clear at S1, and just 4.9 behind Arnd P. Tsvetkov clear at S1 but he waited about 14 seconds for his final shot; Shipulin has missed 1 there, and Graf 1 at S2. Poor Dolder has missed 3 in his standing shoot; Dominik Landertinger is 10/10 but just 8.1 faster than Windisch who has done 1 penalty loop. Interesting, Roman Rees (GER) has cleared at S1 and he’s faster than Arnd Peiffer! Arnd is now at S2 – 3 misses, no wonder he’s shaking his head! Landertinger has lost 2 seconds to Windisch at 7.9 Km; Shipulin in for S2 and it’s gusty – 2 misses. Dominik Windisch (1,0) has really gone fast on his last lap – he briefly takes the lead but Dominik Landertinger (0,0) has had a great last 900 metres and goes first. Back at S1 Artem Pryma (UKR) is clear and just 0.8 behind Rees, who is now at S2 – he’s missed his final target. Simon Eder was very fast at S1, and accurate – he is now fastest after the prone shoot. OEB has missed 1 at S1; Martin Fourcade is away, and fastest at 1.2 Km. At the finish the order is currently Landertinger, Windisch, Desthieux (0,1), Hofer (1,1) and Tsvetkov (0,0). That was fast shooting by Erik Lesser – clear and out +12.4. Martin F has missed his 3rd at S1; Artem Pryma is 10/10 and 8 seconds faster than Landertinger. Simon Eder shooting more slowly and he’s missed 2 at S2; Lowell Bailey is clear at S1 but a little off the ski pace. Speaking of ski speed – Pryma is losing time on his final lap, his 8 seconds advantage after S2 is +8.7 at 7.9 Km and +17.9 at 9.1 – he’ll be lucky to get on the provisional podium. Julian Eberhard is clear at S1 and even faster than Eder. Good last section from Pryma – he’s managed to get over the line ahead of Desthieux, having lost almost 28 seconds to Landertinger over that final lap. Simon Eder into 3rd. Back at S2 – Erik Lesser has missed 1 and Martin Fourcade another 1, but both are still in touch. However – Lowell Bailey has just gone 10/10 and he’s 15.6 seconds faster than anyone else there. Erik Lesser is flying on the last lap, but even he isn’t matching Martin F – At S2 Erik was 7.9 behind Pryma, Martin was about 18 back – by 7.9 Km Erik leads but Martin F is just 2 seconds back. At 9.1 Km Martin Fourcade leads! At the finish – Martin Fourcade (1,1) has taken the lead; Landertinger still 2nd and Erik Lesser 3rd, +4.9. However – Julian Eberhard is now 10/10 and 20.6 faster than Bailey after S2!! Lowell Bailey still fastest at 7.9 Km, but he’s losing time to Fourcade; by 9.1 Km his lead is just 2.7 – flat to the finish – good last 900 metres and Bailey has taken the lead! Good effort, but at 7.9 Km Julian Eberhard has changed a 20.6 advantage to 38.8 – amazing speed! At 9.1 Km Julian E is -44.5 so he’s going to have a good advantage in tomorrow’s pursuit! May well be that the track is a little faster today, but that takes nothing away from Eberhard’s performance – all 10 targets down and he is 40.7 faster than anyone else at the finish! Eberhard (0,0) wins, from Bailey (0,0) and Fourcade (1,1); Landertinger in 4th ahead of Lesser and Windisch. No surprise that Martin F was fastest on the course, ahead of Eberhard, Doll (2,1 –finished 20th) and Rastorgujevs ((1,1, finished 15th).

PyeongChang,  Women’s 10 Km Pursuit – 4 Mar: I’m not sure Patrick was paying attention during the sprint – I’m sure he just said it would be nice to see MDH have a good run today; as she retired from the sprint, she won’t start! Bit wet apparently but the course seems to still have considerable variations in snow condition in patches; another test for the wax technicians! Laura has just 8 seconds advantage over Tiril Eckhoff; the race is on, and that gap has already closed. Leading two in for S1 – wind fairly light and certainly a lot better than for the men’s sprint. Laura clear, but Tiril has missed 1; Chevalier clear, so is Kaisa but Susan Dunklee has missed 1; Doro W has missed 2. Gabi has also missed 1, so Laura leads from Eckhoff (+23.3) and Chevalier – Kaisa 4th ahead of Franzi H and Yuliia Dzhima. Now, Gabi has dropped a pole leaving the range – she possibly intended to  leave it and get a spare but was told by a coach to go back – however, are the coaches allowed to talk in the range area? Careless! Short loop so Laura is in for S2 already – we can see the fall of shot today – all 5 down! Eckhoff has missed her 3rd and 5th; Anais Chevalier clear again, so are Kaisa and Franzi H – Selina Gasparin has missed 3. Out in order Dahlmeier, Chevalier, Kaisa, Franzi H, Anais Bescond with Tiril 6th, +1:14.5. Kaisa up to 2nd on the loop; Olsbu and Dasha gaining places. Laura is in for S3; lucky with the first but the rest are better – 15/15 so far. Chasing pack are in – Kaisa and Anais have missed (2 and 1 respectively); Franzi H clear, so is Olsbu, so is Dasha. After S3; Laura, Franzi H (+1:04.5), Anais C, Susan Dunklee, Anais B and Tiril (1,2,1) somehow still 4th – Olsbu 15/15 and up from 24th to 7th.  Well, despite being a real fan, this is a bit boring – Laura has cleared all 20 and she’s away! Anais C has missed 2, Franzi has missed 1, so has Dunklee – Bescond and Kaisa clear this time. After S4 it’s Laura D, ahead of Bescond, Mäkäräinen and Franzi H, who is about 8 seconds behind the Frenchwoman. Franzi is losing time on the lap too – she might get caught by Dunklee and she isn’t getting closer to Anais; Kaisa through to 2nd. At the finish Laura Dahlmeier (0,0,0,0) wins, Kaisa (0,0,2,0) in 2nd and Anais Bescond (0,0,1,0) gets 3rd. Amazingly Tiril (1,2,1,1) is 4th, pipping Dunklee (1,1,0,1) in a sprint for the line. Franzi H dropping to 6th after a slow final lap. So, gainers include Bescond (8 to 3), Gabi (21 – 8), Marte Olsbu (24 – 9), Skardino (22 – 11), Dasha (20 – 13) and Starykh (55 – 20). Going backwards the list includes Anais C (3 – 12), Braisaz (10 – 21), Brorsson (9 – 22) and Hojnisz (12 – 34). Gabi fastest over the snow?

PyeongChang,  Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit – 4 Mar: Well, the men’s sprint was exciting, let’s hope this pursuit is more competitive than the women’s race; it’s a bit colder too. Anyway, even before today, Martin Fourcade has won his 6th successive big crystal globe, matching OEB’s tally! Julian Eberhard away, with 40 seconds in hand – given his ski speed that’s a fair distance!  Martin F through Lowell Bailey by the first split, but the American has tucked in behind him. Eberhard is at S1; good, fast shooting and he’s away clear. Fourcade clear but Bailey has missed 1; Landertinger and Lesser clear, so is Windisch; out from the range Eberhard, Martin F, Lesser, Landertinger and Eder, all clear. Eberhard has missed his 2nd and 5th at S2; Fourcade clear and out; Eder and Landertinger clear, Lesser has missed 1, Bailey clear this time; Fourcade leads with Simon Eder only 6,8 behind in 2nd, then Landertinger, Eberhard and Bailey (+21.0). Anton Shipulin is up from 23rd to 6th! At the next split Eberhard is back up to 2nd; the other 2 Austrians are with him and they are holding about 10 seconds back on Martin. In now for the first standing shoot – Martin F clear, as are the 3 chasing Austrians and Shipulin; Doll and Lesser have missed 1 each. After S3 it’s Fourcade, Eder, Eberhard and Landertinger (+16.7), then Shipulin, Hofer and Simon Fourcade (up from 22nd). Martin F is building up speed; Julian E back to 2nd; OEB is making up places too. Final shoot – Martin is clear again, Eder has missed 2, Eberhard 1 but Shipulin is 20/20 and up to 2nd as they leave the range. Martin F leads, ahead of Anton Shipulin (+28.5) and Eberhard (+37.0) – a gap back to Eder, Garanichev and Desthieux. I doubt if the order will change; Martin Fourcade (0,0,0,0) wins again, Anton Shipulin (0,0,0,0) up from 23rd to 2nd and Julian Eberhard 3rd despite his 3 misses (0,2,0,1). Simon Eder in 4th, then Garanichev (up from 9th) and Desthieux (from 11th). Other gainers include Benedikt Doll (20 to 8), Babikov (41 – 15), L’Abee-Lund (38 – 17), Bocharnikov (BLR, 30 – 18) and OEB (26 – 19; 2 misses at S4 spoilt his charge). Losing ground the list includes Lowell Bailey (2 to 9), Erik Lesser (5 – 13), Windisch (6 – 22), Rees (13 – 23), Wiestner (7 – 26) and Pryma (10 – 33).

Addition: Congratulations to Amanda Lightfoot, who finished 27th in the IBU Cup 7.5 Km Sprint at Kontiolahti, 1 miss prone, 1 in stand (without which she would have been 4th, although of course that's missing the point of biathlon a bit!). Anyway, she was +1:30.5 and gets a start in tomorrow's pursuit. Fifteenth fastest ski time today too! Russia took all the podium places - Virolaynen, Shumilova and Slivko.

PyeongChang,  Women’s 4 x 6 Km Relay – 5 Mar: Not sure I’m too confident about the German team today – Laura is being rested (on Doctor’s advice, if I read it correctly, no Hinz or Franzi P either) so it’s all the Hs – Herrmann, Horchler, Hammerschmidt and Hildebrand – Nadine Horchler leading off. Looking at the world rankings of that quartet, and remembering how much time Franzi H lost on her final lap yesterday, doesn’t exactly inspire confidence – I’d love to see them prove me wrong! First split – Varvynets (UKR) is setting a good pace, ahead of Anais Chevalier, Horchler, Vittozzi and Selina Gasparin. S1 – Germany clear but a bit slow; Gasparin on the penalty loop. Out Akimova, Raikova (KAZ) Vittozzi – all no spares. Then Fialkova (1), Varvynets (1), Horchler (0) and Chevalier (2). That is quite a climb – better camera angles today perhaps because that looks really tough! The track also looks very wet in patches; back in for S2. Vittozzi was going well but having snags with the last one; lots of misses here, Akimova using 2 spares. Anais Chevalier is clear this time and she leads out, ahead of Varvynets and Nicolaisen (both clear this time). Vittozzi 4th after using all 3 spares, then Horchler (1), Fialkova (3) and Hauser (0, but 3 at S1) – Clare Egan (USA) on the penalty loop and Lithuania are doing 2. Rosanna Crawford is going well , 10th after S2 but she’s gaining places well. Exchange 1 – France (Bescond) just in the lead, Canada (Ransom) up to 2nd (massive effort from Crawford), then Germany (Hammerschmidt), Italy (Sanfilippo), Slovakia (another Fialkova) and Ukraine (Dzhima). Norway (Fenne) in 7, Russia (Mironova)11 and USA (Dunklee) now 19th. In for S3 – wind might be a little easier – Ransom clear, Italy and Austria in trouble. Maren Hammerschmidt (1 spare) leads out, ahead of Ransom (0), Bescond (1) – then Hojnisz, Fenne and Dzhima. Italy 10th after Sanfilippo used all 3 spares – Austria on the penalty loop, Bulgaria doing 2 loops. There is quite a big puddle forming on the approach to the range! S4 – Hammerschmidt uses 1 spare, Ransom 10/10, Bescond 2 spares, Fenne in trouble, and she now has a penalty loop, to do as does Fialkova. Russia (Mironova) are also on the loop. Out Maren H, Julia Ransom, Anais Bescond; then Dzhima, Puskarčíková  and Hojnisz. Exchange 2 – Germany (Denise Herrmann) lead out ahead of France (Braisaz), Canada (Tandy), Ukraine (Valj Semerenko), the Czechs (Charvátová) and Poland (Mitoraj). Tiril Eckhoff is going for Norway (+1:10.0 at the exchange). Quite a pace from Herrmann; in for S5 – Denise clear. Canada also clear and Megan Tandy is out 2nd ahead of Justine Braisaz. Tiril has been going very fast on the lap but has missed her first 2 shots – 2 spares does the trick and she’s out 9th, but +1:24.2. On the lap Braisaz has passed Tandy, Eckhoff has made up a little. Next standing shoot – Herrmann has missed 2 and she’s going to be on a penalty loop! Justine uses just 1 spare and leads out, Denise 2nd +17.2 despite the loop, Tandy 3rd. Then Semerenko, Runggaldier and Nilsson (SWE). Tiril just 1 spare and up to 7th, +46.1. Czechs have done a loop too, so have Poland. Denise has pulled a little back, Tiril closing on Megan. Final exchange – France (Aymonier) lead from Germany (Franzi H), Norway (Olsbu), Canada (Lunder), Italy (Doro Wierer) and Sweden (Magnusson). Gabi away 8th, +1:02.7. Amazing that two of the top three teams have done a penalty loop! Final prone – Celia A has missed  her first; Franzi (1 spare) is away first, ahead of Celia A (2), Doro (0), Marte (2), Anna Magnusson (1) and Gabi (0). Aymonier is closing on Franzi H, Doro losing time. Last shoot – Franzi v Celia; Franzi H is clear! Aymonier will be doing at least 1 loop, no it’s 2! Anna M is clear and out 2nd, but with Marte Olsbu, Doro and Gabi K close behind! What a surprise, poor Anna is losing ground – at 4.7 Km Franzi is clear, then NOR/ITA/CZE – very close for the podium places! Franzi H has cruised to the win (that crunching noise is me, eating my hat – sorry I doubted you all!!). Massive sprint for the places – Marte Olsbu gets 2nd, beating Gabi who only just pipped a resurgent Anna Magnusson, with Doro coming in 5th. France in 6th – poor Aymonier will need some support! So Germany (1+7) win, then NOR (1+11), CZE (1+9), SWE (0+7), ITA (0+11), FRA (2+12). I think my “best of” must be Franzi H for that final leg – great shooting under pressure – but a mention for Anna Magnusson, for a great comeback and ditto Marte Olsbu and Tiril Eckhoff.

PyeongChang,  Men’s 4 x 7.5 Km Relay – 5 Mar: So, Lesser, Rees, Doll and Peiffer for Germany and Eurosport has gone berserk and keeps looping back on itself! Swapped browsers and I seem to be back live. Tsvetkov leading the pack at present, ahead of Hofer, Christiansen, Lesser, Beatrix and Pryma; I understand the Swedes aren’t racing this one as one of the team is ill? In for S1, looks a little less windy than for the women’s start – Lesser clear, Russia and Italy slow – looks like Hofer has 2 penalty loops but the graphic showed 1 spare remaining and 3 targets still up? After S1, it’s Lesser ahead of Christiansen, Wiestner (SUI), Pryma and Bailey. Hofer is doing 3 penalty loops, Finland and Poland 1. Given my success earlier today, no predictions for this one! Pace has eased down so the pack have bunched up again; in for S2 with Wiestner leading, but he’s missed his first – so has Erik L. Norway are clear, but it’s Lowell Bailey who leads out ahead of Savitskiy (KAZ), Christiansen, Pryma and Kazar. Poland are doing another loop, and Belarus their first. Erik has used 2 spares and is 9th, but only +9.7. Bailey dropping back on the lap as Christiansen pulls clear; Lesser up to 5th but +12.0! At the exchange it’s Norway (OEB) who lead ahead of USA (Nordgren), Ukraine (Semenov), then KAZ/GER/SVK. Odd to see Tsvetkov losing time – he’s +1:12.8 with only 3 spares; ski preparation or illness? Simon Fourcade has gained 2 places at the next split; OEB has pulled away a bit – he’s fast here. In for  S3 – OEB has missed 2, uses 2 spares, but he’s just ahead as they leave with Nordgren (0) in 2nd ahead of Semenov (1), Podkorytov (KAZ, 0) and Simon Fourcade (1). Rees used 2 spares and he’s +33.1 in 8th. Bjørndalen is pulling out a nice lead again, about 12 seconds gained over Nordgren; he’s almost 20 seconds ahead by 4.1 Km! Semenov up to 2nd, ahead of Simon F. In for S4 and OEB can use a few spares and still lead; he’s missed his 5th, but down with 1 spare. Simon F is clear and away, KAZ and USA slow; Rees has 1 spare left and 1 target up – it’s down! So, OEB leads from Simon F (+8.0), Semenov, Nordgren and Eder. Rees 10th but over a minute back. Czechs on the penalty loop, as are Slovenia – Bulgaria doing 3! Fourcade is right up with OEB, Semenov 18.6 back. Second exchange and Norway (Vegard Gjermundshaug) just lead from France (Desthieux), then almost 20 seconds to Ukraine (Semakov), then Austria (Eberhard), Switzerland (Finello) and Canada (Smith); Germany 9th and just inside the minute. Benedikt Doll is losing a little time, Eberhard has gained a little. Next prone and the wind has shifted – more head on; Gjermundshaug is clear and leads away ahead of Desthieux (1), Semakov (1), Finello (1) and Eberhard (2). Gloom – Doll is on the penalty loop, we haven’t seen the German coach’s  face but I suspect he isn’t amused! Tracks are getting glazed; Montello has fallen. S6 – Gjermundshaug has missed his first, and the 3rd – he’s on the penalty loop! Two loops for the Swiss, Doll clear this time. Out Desthieux, Eberhard, Semakov, Gjermundshaug (+29.5), Babikov and Doll (+1:16.1). Lap times are getting quicker, so the corners are getting nastier! Final exchange; Martin F leads off, ahead of Landertinger, L’Abee-Lund, Pidruchnyi and Arnd Peiffer – Russia (Anton Shipulin) in 6th. Now – Martin F’s first prone and he’s missed 2; 2 spares and he’s away; Landertinger needs 2 as well, L’Abee-Lund clear – out in that order. Shipulin clear and out 4th, ahead of Pidruchnyi (3), and Peiffer (2). Final shoot – Martin F has missed 2 again – both off to the right – 2 spares and he’s away again. Landertinger has missed 2 but he’s away, L’Abee-Lund had a chance but he’s also using spares. Peiffer missing as well, again 2 spares. Out Martin F, Landertinger, L’A-L, Shipulin, Pidruchnyi and Peiffer. Martin F cruises to the line – France (0+10) win, Austria (0+9) get 2nd and Norway (1+8) 3rd (not bad with no EHS and neither Bø!). Russia 4th, Ukraine 5th and Germany (1+14) 6th. A disappointing day for the German men!

And; once again congrats to Amanda Lightfoot - who started 27th in the Women's IBU Cup Pursuit in Kontiolahti today, and finished 19th (2,0,1,0)

Kontiolahti; Men’s 10 km Sprint – 10 March: Firstly great work by Scott Dixon and Amanda Lightfoot in the IBU Cup single mixed relay - finished 11th, just 0.1 off a top 10 – Amanda actually led at the first exchange!! Anyway, back to the world Cup races, and Pat and Mike are both commentating today. Florian Graf is the first away; JT Bø is fractionally slower at the first split – early days! Looks like Johannes is pacing himself; Graf is at S1 – missed his first! Krcmar is clear, so is JoBø – little slow to settle but then pretty fast; I like the graphic which shows time to first shot and also time between. Sebastian Samulesson (SWE) is skiing well, and he is also clear at S1; so far only Graf and Eliseev have missed 1. Landi has joined them; so have Semenov and Nordgren. Graf is at S2, and clear; JoBø has also cleared here and he’s 30 seconds ahead of Graf. Svendsen is clear at S1, so is Mario Dolder, who is a trifle faster – at S1 it’s JoBø, Dolder, EHS, Arnd Peiffer and Tarjei Bø. Samuelsson has missed 1 at S2; Kaukenas (LTU) is 10/10 while OEB has missed 1 at S1. Ondrej Moravec has just cleared at S1 and he’s fastest there now. Landertinger clear at S2; Shipulin has missed 1 in prone. Tarjei has missed 2 in his standing shoot – his brother has finished and he pulled out over 20 seconds on Graf on that last lap. Garanichev is clear at S1 and 2nd there at present; now, Svendsen is 10/10 and just 4.2 slower than Johannes at S2. Martin F is at S1; bit slow to first shot but he’s clear and leads out. Arnd Peiffer is 10/10 and almost level with EHS as he leaves S2, but Moravec is also 10/10 and even faster than JoBø (10.5 better, in fact). Back at S1, Andrejs Rastorgujevs is clear, and 6.1 faster than Martin F! Shipulin has missed 2 more at S2, Dolder has also missed 2 here; Bailey 10/10. Could be an upset coming – Ondrej Moravec is gaining time on Johannes at the 8.2 Km split, and EHS is also going fast! Svendsen has finished and he’s ahead of JoBø, with Peiffer 3rd – Moravec comes in to take the lead, and Martin F has just missed 1 at S2. As Martin F leaves the penalty loop he is just 5.8 behind Moravec’s time. Rastorgujevs has missed has 10th shot – pity; even so, he’s faster than EHS and pretty much up with JoBø. At 8.2 Km Martin F hasn’t made up anything (well, 0.1 if I’m being pedantic!). Simon Eder has missed 1 at S2 but he’s also in touch. At 9.3 Km, Martin F is now 2.2 behind the Czech – he’s taken the lead at the finish by just 0.6! That’s his 13th win this season. Missed it, but Eberhard missed 2 in his prone – Rastorgujevs at the finish and currently 6th; best time with a penalty so far (well, apart from that French bloke anyway). At present, Martin Fourcade leads from Moravec, Svendsen, JoBø, Peiffer and Eder, who has just pushed Andrejs down a place. Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen is also 10/10, +21.0 as he leaves the range; losing time on the lap though. Michael Rösch has just crossed the line in 10th; VSC is in too but 13th. Simon Fourcade has lost his PYC form and has missed 5 targets (4,1); looking back at S1, all starters are through and there don’t seem to be any late surprises likely – race over, top 10 unchanged. Martin F fastest round the course, ahead of Eberhard, Moravec and Rastorgujevs. Just one German (Arnd P; Rees next in 12th) in the top 10, but 3 Norwegians (OEB in 8th).

Women’s 7.5 Km Sprint, 10 March: Seems Vanessa Hinz is ill (?) and won’t start (although she is still on the start list). In fact Hinz, Tandy and Elisa Gasparin are all now listed as DNS. Justine Braisaz is away first, with Gabi Koukalová next – most of the favourites going relatively early, it seems. Race has started; Braisaz and Selina Gasparin away fast – Braisaz has missed 1 at S1, with a long delay before her last shot. Gabi is clear but 1 sounded very much like a split round; possibly lucky? Doro W also perhaps a little lucky with her final shot, but they are all down and she leads after S1 at present. MDH has started; Runggaldier is clear at S1, so is Franzi H but Laukkanen has missed her 5th. Gabi is at S2, but she’s missed 1; Kaisa has missed her first at S1, and 1 more as well. MDH at S1 – clear and that was fast shooting – out just faster than Doro! Marte Olsbu also clear and even faster; Tiril Eckhoff also clear and so is Laura Dahlmeier. Franzi H is the first to go 10/10 but she isn’t far ahead of those with 1 penalty loop completed; Anais Chevalier is 10/10 as well, and faster. Dasha in for her prone shoot – clear, but +12.2 as she leaves the range. Maren Hammerschmidt has also cleared S1, but Kaisa is (2,2) and Olsbu has also missed 2 at S2. Tiril is at S2 – a little slow but she’s 10/10 AND Laura D has missed 1 here. That gives Laura 14 seconds to make up on the Norwegian after S2. At the finish Anais Chevalier leads from Selina Gasparin and Justine Braisaz; Franzi H is in 5th despite being 10/10 – ski speed a bit down today? At 6.1 km Laura has lost a little to Eckhoff, who is flying. MDH goes into 2nd; Laura isn’t dancing up the hill like normal and she has traffic too. Tiril Eckhoff leads at present and that time looks hard to beat; Dasha is 10/10 and she might well take 2nd? Laura is over the line, but lost 4.3 seconds to Tiril on that last lap. At 6.8 Km Dasha is tied with Laura’s time – she’s into 3rd; Susan Dunklee currently 4th. Maren H (0,1) is currently 10th, just ahead of Franzi H. back at S1, Vittozzi is clear and in touch and so is Kuzmina. Starykh was possibly a threat but she’s missed 2 at S2; Anna Magnusson has just gone into 7th. Synnøve Solemdal is going well at 1.8 Km; Nadine Horchler is 10/10 but a bit off the ski pace. Lisa Vittozzi has also cleared all 10 and she’s more in touch. Solemdal has missed 1 at S1; Celia Aymonier into 5th – French currently 5, 6, 7 and 10 (Celia, Chevalier, MDH and Braisaz, respectively)! Denise Herrmann fastest at 1.8 Km; Lisa Vittozzi into 5th at the finish. Oops, Denise has missed 2 at S1 but Daria Virolaynen has just done the fastest shoot in prone – she’s 10th, +11.4 after S1. Almost under the coverage radar, Darya Usanova (KAZ) is 10/10 and 5th, +22.5 after S2. Virolaynen is 10/10 and +20.3 as she leaves S2, in 5th, and she’s making up time on Vittozzi and Dunklee on the lap. Virolaynen into 4th, just 0.1 better than Dunklee – good effort! That’s it – Tiril Eckhoff gets her first win of the season, Laura Dahlmeier 2nd and Darya Domracheva 3rd. Virolaynen in 4th, ahead of Dunklee and Vittozzi, then the 3 French women (Celia, Anais & Marie) and Anna Magnusson in 10th. Gabi ended up 13th, Usanova 14th, Maren H 16th, just ahead of Franzi H and Denise H – Kaisa down in 49th! Good news for Laura in the various globe standings! Laura was fastest, but just 1.1 ahead of Tiril with Aymonier 3rd; Denise H 5th, just ahead of Kaisa.

Kontiolahti – Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit, 11 March: Top 15 all start within 1 minute of Martin Fourcade; he starts just a second ahead of Ondre Moravec and 9 ahead of Svendsen; JoBø and Peiffer very much in touch. Race started; the graphic doesn’t show Eberhard as starting? On the lap Johannes is up with EHS and has tucked in behind; quite a pace – that hill looks nasty! Martin F coming in for S1 – Moravec still with him; Martin clear and shooting faster, Moravec also clear, so are the two leading Norwegians, Peiffer and Rastorgujevs. OEB the first to miss a target, Lapshin (now racing for Korea!) has joined him and so have Landi, Rösch and Weger – there are a few athletes doing 2 penalty laps, including Doll, Slesingr and Windisch. There are 5 DNS listed including Eberhard and Tsvetkov. At the next split Martin is 13.7 ahead; Moravec has about 8 seconds to the chasing pack. Wind is getting stronger as Martin comes in for his second prone – he’s missed his 5th! I thought Moravec had also missed but he hasn’t – maybe I was looking at the wrong graphic?  Eder, EHS and Peiffer are clear, JoBø has missed 1. Out in order Eder, Moravec Rastorgujevs (10/10!), EHS, Martin F and Arnd P. Shipulin is up from 29 to 8! Not sure what happened to OEB – he’s missed 3 at S2, and maybe JoBø isn’t at full fitness? First stand shoot – Fourcade has missed his last target – all the “leading group” have missed 1 but Arnd P is clear and he leads out, ahead of Eder, Moravec, Fourcade, Rastorgujevs and Svendsen (+14.7).  Shipulin still clear but 30 seconds back. On the lap Arnd leads but Martin F is right behind him – EHS in 6th is also well in touch – very close for the lead 6, but Arnd is dropping off the group on the wall. Final shoot – EHS leading in and both he and Fourcade have tripped going on to the mats. Martin F has missed 2; several other misses but Arnd Peiffer once again clears and he leads. Eder (0,0,1,1) in 2nd, ahead of Moravec (0,0,1,1), EHS (0,0,1,1), Martin F (0,1,1,2) and Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen (0,0,0,1). Shipulin has missed 2. Arnd seems to have a really slow set of skis, Eder already through him, EHS third and Martin F has already closed by 10 seconds. Last time up the wall – Eder, Peiffer, EHS, Moravec with Fourcade 18.2 back. Well, despite the comments about slow skis, Arnd Peiffer has won the sprint to the line! Great result for him, going from 5th to first; Eder 2nd (from 6th) and Svendsen 3rd, which is where he started. Moravec 4th, Martin F 5th, his 4 penalty loops catching up with his speed, with Lukas Hofer 6th. I see Rastorgujevs (0,0,1,3) managed 9th despite his shooting. Among the gainers – Hofer (15 to 6), Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen (13 – 8), Shipulin (29 – 10), Tarjei Bø (32 – 11), Garanichev (23 – 12), Desthieux (24 – joint 12), Docherty (44 – 18) and Doll (30 – 20). Going backwards, Fourcade (1 – 5),  Rösch (10 – 22), Landertinger (11 – 23), Bailey (16 – 27), OEB (8 – 29; 5 penalty loops), Krcmar (14 – 32) and Bauer (20 – 40).  Roman Rees again the 2nd German, in 14th.

Edit: I understand that in fact Arnd Peiffer was feeling ill during the race and had to stop (or crashed?) on that final lap to throw up, which is why the chasing pack closed up so much - not bad skis! Once recovered he felt better and won the sprint! Interesting alternative explanation whcih explains the disparity in ski speed early in the lap with enough speed to take the win?

Kontiolahti – Women’s 10 Km Pursuit, 11 March: First lap – Dasha is with Laura D, who has lost a little to Tiril Eckhoff – wind up a little on the range, certainly a bit stronger than for the men’s race. Tiril in for S1, and she’s missed number 5. Laura is clear but Dasha is missing – 2 penalty loops, MDH has missed 1, Denise Herrmann 4!  Out Eckhoff, Dahlmeier, Dunklee, Vittozzi, Virolaynen and Aymonier – all bar Tiril clear.  Kuzmina gaining places, Gabi up to 9th, Starykh is 14th from 24th.  On the lap Tiril is now tucked in behind Laura, Susan Dunklee holding them. Second prone shoot – both Tiril and Laura have missed 1! Out in order, Eckhoff, Aymonier (10/10), Dahlmeier, Chevalier, Usanova (from 14) and Koukalová (from 13). Dunklee has missed 2, Kuzmina 3. Gabi up to 4th on the lap and her ski speed is better today. In for the first standing shoot – Laura clear, Tiril has missed 2, Usanova 3. Out – Laura D, MDH (+7.1), Gabi (15/15), Anais C, Vittozzi, Aymonier (+24.1).  Here we go – final shoot – Laura clear. MDH has missed 1, Gabi 2 but Vittozzi has cleared and Lisa Hauser is 20/20. Order now Laura D (0,1,0,0), MDH (1,0,0,1; +24.2), Vittozzi (0,1,0,0), Chevalier (0,0,0,0), Hauser (0,0,0,0) and Varvynets (0,0,0,0). Dasha is back up to 7th with P Fialkova 8th and Koukalová 9th. Now, can Dasha gain a few places on the lap? At the finish, Laura Dahlmeier has cruised to another win, MDH gets 2nd and Lisa Vittozzi has held on to 3rd. Dasha gets 4th, Paulina Fialkova 5th and Hauser 6th. Gainers include – MDH (9 to 2), Fialkova (37 – 5), Hauser (29 – 6), Varvynets (33 – 7), Brorsson (25 – 12), Bescond (28 – 13) and Gregorin (46 – 20). Going backwards the list includes Dunklee (5 – 14), Eckhoff (1 – 15; 1,1,2,2 on the range), Virolaynen (4 – 17), Kuzmina (15 – 35) , Magnusson (10 – 39) and Herrmann (18 – 47; 4,0,2,1). So, MDH gets 2nd, Gabi in 10th at the end, losing points to Laura; Kaisa in 31st after 4 misses – there is a report that she has “mild flu” this week. . Maren Hammerschmidt the second German, in 16th but Franzi H had a bad day going from 17th to 33rd with 5 penalty loops. Now confirmed by the IBU – Laura Dahlmeier has won the big crystal globe after today’s result!

Kontiolahti – Single Mixed Relay (SMR), 12 March: Some arguably odd selections for this race and the more traditional relay later on. France have gone for Chevalier and Beatrix for the SMR; MDH is in the “normal relay” with Bescond, Desthieux and QFM – Martin F is resting (there are reports that he isn’t sure if he will race in Oslo). For Norway, Kaia Wøien Nicolaisen and Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen are the SMR team, leaving the “stronger (?)” performers for the relay – Tiril, Marte, EHS and JoBø. The one that really amazed me was Germany opting to put Laura Dahlmeier (apparently at her request?) in the SMR with relative newcomer Roman Rees! Their relay team is Nadine H, Maren H, Doll and Peiffer. The Czechs seem to have prioritised the SMR by entering Gabi and Ondre Moravec. USA SMR team looks good – Dunklee and Bailey! The Korean SMR team is all Russian – Frolina and Lapshin. Lots to think about – on to the race! Hopefully the cross country will finish in time – I see Bjørgen has won yet again! No GB team here – they were racing an SMR at the IBU cup. Odd to see a Kontiolahti course without the wall – despite Patrick’s enthusiasm for this format, I think if it’s supposed to be biathlon you need a testing course to get the pulse up before the shoot, otherwise it’s a shooting competition, not biathlon proper! Laura leading as they come in for S1 – wind tricky today; Chevalier has missed 2, Laura 1 but all seems to have been solved with spares, no penalty loops – out Vittozzi, Dunklee, Öberg, Hauser, Vishnevskaya and Laura D. Dunklee has fallen on the descent, very nearly a pile up! In for the first standing shoot – Laura clear, but Hauser is missing; Dunklee clear so the fall hasn’t affected her rifle/sights. Exchange 1 and Kazakhstan lead, from Germany, USA, Italy, Russia and Sweden. Long advert break and we rejoin at S3 – Italy in trouble; out Bailey, Eder, Lapshin (of Korea), Savitsky (KAZ), Rees and Stenersen. Japan doing 1 loop; Lukas Hofer is doing 3 penalty loops! Already coming in for S4; Eder has missed 1, Korea 3, Rees 2; Norway doing 1 loop, Stenersen looks to have 2 loops to do? Looks like France have fallen. Exchange 2; Austria lead then KAZ/CZE/UKR/USA/SUI, France 7th despite Beatrix having a fall, Germany 10th, +26.6. Another break and back for S5 – wind dropping? Hauser clear and out, ahead of Chevalier and Dunklee, then Gasparin, Koukalová and Dahlmeier. Last standing shoot for the women – Hauser leads in, wind picking up again. Hauser has missed her 1st, and another; France and USA also missing, but so is Laura. Russia have dome 2 loops on this leg. Out Hauser, Dunklee, Chevalier, Dahlmeier, Gasparin and Vishnevskaya (KAZ). Gabi needed all 3 spares, she hands over in 7th. At the exchange Austria still lead, ahead of USA, France, Germany and Switzerland – you can see how seriously Eurosport take this event by the long advert breaks! Eder has pulled out a good lead on the lap; 12.8 at the exchange and 21.9 going into S7 – he’s clear and away. Behind him it’s Beatrix (+21.4), Bailey, Savitsky, Rees and Pryma (UKR). Coming in for the final shoot Eder has 28.2 in hand! Group of 4 chasing, then a small gap. Simon Eder has shot really fast and he’s clear; Rees in 2nd ahead of Bailey, Beatrix Savitsky and Moravec. Longer lap this time to make up the distance, and it’s going to be tight for the remaining podium places! Bailey is closing on Rees , Beatrix a little detached but still in with a chance. Eder crosses the line, to give Austria the win. Lowell Bailey has out-sprinted Rees to get 2nd, Germany 3rd. France in 4th ahead of KAZ and CZE. Interesting that there are rumours about Lapshin being investigated for doping last month?

Kontiolahti –Mixed Relay, 12 March: Looks like this isn’t live on Eurosport? In fact, the next biathlon event there is listed as the SMR – we’ll see. So IBU video feed (no commentary) and IBU data feed, let’s see how that goes. First split is at 1.1 Km; Laukkanen leads from Akimova, Olsbu, Doro W, MDH and Brorsson – last 2 neck and neck. Just 3.5 seconds between the top 10. This lap does have the wall – good! The IBU seems fixated by the crowd and coaches – show us the skiers! In for the first prone shoot – fair bit of wind – fair bit of missing going on and Norway are in trouble. MDH clear and she leads out ahead of Varvynets (UKR), Akimova, Zdouc (AUT) and Puskarčíková (CZE), all of those clear. Olsbu has done 2 penalty loops, Romania (Piscoran) 1. Nadine Horchler is 17th after using 1 spare. On the lap MDH is 12.5 ahead of Laukkanen in 2nd. First standing shoot – MDH has missed her 3rd as the chasing pack come in, lots of spares this time. MDH (1 spare) leads out, then Varynets (0), +4.7, Doro (0 here), Tachizaki, Zdouc and P Fialkova. Horchler needed 1 more spare and is 10th, +32.4. Gasparin, Guzik and Popova (BUL) have done a loop. MDH is doing a good job on the wall – 14.3 clear of Varvynets now. Exchange 1 – France lead then UKR/SVK/ITA/FIN/USA; good lap by Fialkova. Germany in 9th, +35.1. Bescond leads at 1.1 Km, from I Fialkova, Sanfilippo, Abramova, and Reid with Maren Hammerschmidt up to 6th. Anais B in for her prone – wind looks like it’s eased? Good shooting – all down and she’s out and away; Ukraine missing – Abramova needs all 3 spares, Hammerschmidt needing a couple spares. Bescond leads out, ahead of Fialkova (+28.6), Sanfilippo, Reid, Pisareva (BLR) and Abramova. Maren is 7th, +53.1. Vitková has done a penalty loop, Magnusson has done 2. Bescond in for her 2nd shoot – high miss on the 3rd, but she’s out; Maren has cleared them all this time and she’s out 2nd! Fialkova used all 3 spares and she’s away 3rd, ahead of Abramova, Pisareva and Vitková (despite her penalty!). Sanfilippo has done a penalty loop, so has Reid and so has Tiril Eckhoff – that’s 3 for Norway so far. Next exchange – France lead, with Simon Desthieux taking this leg; well done to Maren H for getting Germany back into it – Doll away in 2nd, + 40.3. Then SVK/UKR/RUS/BLR; only Germany within a minute of the French. Semenov (UKR) is closing down Hasilla (SVK); he’s just through on the wall. Simon D in for his prone – high miss on his first, and he’s missed the 4th as well. Just 2 spares and he’s away; Doll uses 1 and he’s got the gap down to 23.6. Semenov away clear in 3rd, then Hasilla, Eliseev and Slesingr. Desthieux on the wall again – Doll has got the gap down to 15.1 but is he pushing too hard? Semenov is also closing, Eliseev up to 4th, 16 seconds back on 3rd place. Simon D has missed his 3rd, he needs 2 spares, but so does Doll. Desthieux leads out, and the gap to Doll is now 23.0, so almost all his work on the lap has gone. Semenov (1) is +37.8, ahead of Eliseev (2) and Slesingr (0). Abasheu (BLR) has 2 loops to do. Desthieux seems to have paced this well as he’s pulled out a little on the wall. Final exchange and France lead – Germany 2nd, but +25.7; a lot for Arnd to try to make up unless QFM has a crisis and Arnd doesn’t! Ukraine 3rd, then CZE/RUS/ITA. Yes – Eurosport are really showing highlights of the SMR instead of this live event! At the first split Arnd has gained nothing – the gap is the same. Pidruchnyi has lost a little, so have Krcmar and Garanichev. Gaps pretty much the same at the wall; final prone to come. QFM is in – he’s missed the 5th, but Arnd has missed his 1st! One spare each but Arnd has been faster – QFM leads but Arnd has the gap down to 13.1; Pidruchnyi (1) away third, ahead of Garanichev (0); Krcmar is on the loop but out 5th, ahead of EHS (0) – good recovery by the Norwegian men. Arnd is closing on QFM, but he’s lost a bit on the wall; Garanichev closing down Pidruchnyi. Last shoot – QFM has missed his 3rd and 4th but Arnd has also missed 2; chance missed! QFM leads, Arnd P +15.9, Pidruchnyi (1) in 3rd and with a better gap as Garanichev has used all 3 spares. Svendsen is clear again and 5th ahead of Krcmar. At 6.1 Km both Peiffer and Pidruchnyi are closing on QFM, but he was good on the wall last time. Gap was 11.6 between France and Germany, it’s the same at 6.8 after the wall! This looks pretty much settled bar a fall. Yes, France (0+9) win by 11 seconds, from Germany (0+10) and Ukraine (0+6). Russia (0+10) 4th ahead of Norway (3+8) and the Czech Republic (2+13). Some quite bad shooting today – top 4 teams had no penalty loops, but apart from them only Japan, Kazakhstan, Austria and Estonia avoided them! Great work by Norway to get 5th after 3 penalties!

Oslo (Holmenkollen) –Women’s 7.5 Km Sprint, 17 March: No Amanda Lightfoot today, shown as DNS on the start list, not quite sure why? Race has started on what seems to be rather warm snow; commentators (Patrick & Mark who?) suggesting an early start might help; Selina Gasparin first away and she’s at S1 – she’s missed 1. Vanessa Hinz clear, so is Gwizdon and the Pole is marginally faster; oh dear, Franzi H has missed 3! Dasha is away and fastest at 1.9 Km so far; Mari Laukkanen leads after S1 at present, Dasha has just missed her first there - and another. Braisaz slow to set up, but clear and only 2.6 slower than Laukkanen. It looks windy on the range; Anais Chevalier is not having a good day; she’s missed 3, as has Puskarčíková. MDH has missed 2 at S1; Gasparin has missed 2  at S2, so has Hinz; Gwizdon 1. Back at S1 Kaisa has also missed 3; Tiril Eckhoff is in for her prone – 2 misses, bit unlucky with split rounds. Mari Laukkanen is 10/10 and fast – Braisaz is also clear and +14.4 as she leaves the range. Paulina Fialkova was very fast in for her first shoot – where she missed 1, and she’s missed 2 more at S2. Gabi Koukalová has cleared at S1, where Vitková has just gone fastest after clearing her 5.  Current status - Susan Dunklee fastest at 1.9 Km at the moment; Vitková best at S1 and Laukkanen at S2. MDH has missed 1 at S2; still just Laukkanen and Braisaz with 10/10. Poor Anais Chevalier has missed 2 more at S2. Laura D has missed her first at S1, and 2 more – she looks a bit slow over the snow too! Tiril has missed 1 more at S2; ye gods, Susan Dunklee clear at S1 and 21.7 faster than Vitková! Anais Bescond clear at S1; out 5th fastest. Gabi is at S2 – 1 miss. Doro is at S2 – she’s missed 2 as well. Susan Dunklee has also missed 2 at S2 – that’s a possible win gone, amazing ski speed though. Ah, Runggaldier has cleared all 10 – only the third to achieve it so far; Anais Bescond has joined her! Koukalová over the finish in third, displacing Vitková! Currently Laukkanen leads with Braisaz second; Back at S2 Franzi H and Laura D have both cleared (3,0 for both). Susan Dunklee at the finish – currently 6th, just behind Olsbu; Laura D is also in, currently 22nd but that might be good enough for the small crystal globe. The podium looks like Mari Laukkanen, Justine Braisaz and Anais Bescond. Looking at the times – Tiril Eckhoff (2,1) the best with 3 penalties (+1:11.2) in 11th at the moment;  MDH (2,1) is 15th +1:24.1 but Laura Dahlmeier (3,0) is currently 25th and +1:54.8 – she’s only the 14th fastest over the snow too – maybe she’s getting tired, or last a bit of heart after the 3 misses ? Meanwhile Julia Schwaiger (AUT) is also 10/10; the wind seems to have dropped a lot! Back at S1, Katharina Innerhofer is clear and 3rd fastest; Julia Simon also clear and 6th. Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold has missed her 10th shot – fast shooting though, but her ski pace is a bit off. Innerhofer has missed 4 at S2; Julia Simon very quick to settle at S2; good shooting but again the 10th was a miss – currently she has the fastest range time. So, Mari Laukkanen (0,0) gets her first World Cup win, ahead of Justine Braisaz (0,0) and Anais Bescond (0,0). Gabi (0,1) in 4th ahead of Vitková (0,1) and Olsbu (1,0). Susan Dunklee was 7th despite 2 penalty loops, MDH (2,1) was 17th, Maren Hammerschmidt (1,1) best German in 20th, Dasha (2,1) 21st. Laura D was 31st, which must be her worst result this season; I think it might have cost her the sprint globe too? Yes, it has – Koukalová gets it, 377 to 372! Not a good day for the German women, sadly

Oslo (Holmenkollen) – Men’s 10 Km Sprint, 17 March: I understand that Simon Schempp is on the start list today; track is a little more in shade now, so should be faster.  Arnd Peiffer the first away, and he’s at S1  - unlike the German women he’s clear! Klemen Bauer clear and faster, Garanichev quicker still! Windisch has missed 2; the well known Korean, Timofey Lapshin, has missed 1, Svendsen clear and fastest so far. Freddie Lindström in for S1 – also clear, and faster than EHS too! Now here is JoBø – quick and accurate  shooting, he leads after S1. OEB has missed his 4th and 5th targets. Erik Lesser has missed his first, he adjusts his sights and clears the rest; Peiffer has missed 1 at S2. Klemen Bauer has also missed 1; Garanichev the first to go 10/10.  Semenov also clear at S2, but EHS has missed 1. Martin F is clear at S1, and just 2.5 slower than Johannes Bø. Lindström and JTB are in for S2 – Freddie has missed 1 but JoBø is clear and very fast – 18.3 quicker than Garanichev after S2. OEB clear at S2; Tarjei clear at S1. Lowell Bailey was clear at S1 but he’s missed 3 at S2. Erik Lesser is (1,1) but seems off the pace – I wonder if the Germans have got their ski prep right? Simon Schempp has missed 1 at S1 but Rees is clear. Martin F is at S2 – he’s missed 1, and he was 3 seconds behind Johannes coming into the range – add in the penalty loop and I don’t think even Fourcade can pull that back. JoBø has crossed the finish line, he leads from Landertinger (0,1; +21.5) and Semenov (0,0). Back at S1 Doll has missed 1; Tarjei Bø has missed 1 at S2. Martin F was 24.4 behind at S2; he’s just 17.0 at 8.5 Km – it’s 14.8 at 9.5 Km; he’s running out of lap! Roman Rees has missed his 10th; Martin F has crossed the line in 2nd, +13.6! Ondrej Moravec is 10/10 – he’s just crossed the finish line in 5th.  Mario Dolder is clear at S1, and in touch; Benedikt Doll (1,0) is clear at S2 but he’s slower than other athletes with 1 miss. Apparently today’s race is the last in the Nation’s Cup – between Germany and France, for the men; currently France have Fourcade (2nd), Desthieux (8), QFM (13), and Beatrix (16). Germany have Doll (9), Peiffer (11), Schempp (21), Rees (31 and Lesser (37) – not sure what the gap was at the start, whether you have to be inside a certain finish position to count, and I certainly don’t intend to try to work this out – I’ll wait for the IBU to sort it! Not all decided yet as Eberhard, Shipulin and Eder have started, although the track doesn’t seem to be getting faster, quite the reverse, perhaps?  Eberhard is at S1, and he’s clear, but 9.6 behind Johannes. Anton Shipulin clear at S1 and he’s +4.2; Eder has shot amazingly quickly but he’s missed 1. Looks like Eberhard is losing time on the lap, in for S2 – quick but he’s missed his first shot. Shipulin has also lost time to S2 – very fast and he’s 10/10. He leaves in 2nd but 14.9 down on JoBø’s time. Eder is clear at S2 and shooting so fast that the camera can’t keep up on the targets! Volkov (0,0) also very fast on the range but not skiing fast enough. Well, all 107 are over the line – Johannes Thingnes Bø wins from Martin Fourcade; all very close then – Anton Shipulin has just got 3rd, pushing Landi off the podium by 2 tenths! Semenov 5th, Tarjei Bø 6th. Volkov fastest on the range, ahead of Eder and Shipulin. Rastorgujevs fastest around the track, ahead of Landertinger and Fourcade. Update on the Nation's Cup idc (I hope).

Update: German women have won the Nations Cup and the Relay Cup (or globes, as they appear to be, despite the official title); German men have also won the Nations Cup; Relay cup to the Russian men

Oslo (Holmenkollen) –Women’s 10 Km Pursuit, 18 March: Joined this a bit late, just as Mari Laukkanen reached S2; bit lucky with one split round but she leads out; 10/10 so far. Looking back to S1 – Laukkanen was clear, but so were Gabi Koukalová and a good number of others, including Laura Dahlmeier. So, after S2 it’s Mari, Gabi (0,0), Braisaz (1,1), Sanfilippo (0,0) and Olsbu (1,0). Laura Dahlmeier is also 10/10 and up to 13th; also gaining are Starykh (15 to 7), P Fialkova (18 – 8), Hauser (22 – 10), Dasha (21 – 11) and Kaisa (27 – 12). Quick advert break and Mari L is already in for her first standing shoot – very good (especially given her recent stats), she’s clear and away. Gabi very slow on the last shot buts she’s also clear, so is Justine Braisaz. Sanfilippo has missed 3, so has Starykh; Dasha clear, Dahlmeier has missed her 15th. Out Laukkanen, Koukalová (+37.5), Braisaz, Fialkova, Olsbu and Dasha. Laura D in 11th despite the penalty, Kaisa also missed one at S3 but she’s up to 10th. MDH (1,1,1) isn’t having a perfect day – bit off form? Final shoot – wind might have eased? Mari in – she’s missed number 3 but the other 4 are down and she’s off to do her loop. Blast, Gabi also clear but Justine has missed 2; Fialkova has missed 4, Dasha 3. Hauser and Gregorin clear, Laura has missed 1 more, and so has MDH. Out Laukkanen, Koukalová (+12.8), Braisaz (over a minute back), Hauser, Olsbu and Gregorin. Good scrap a bit back between Vitková, Kaisa and Laura; Dzhima and Dasha also there. By 9.3 Km Mari is holding on – she still has 10.6 in hand although Gabi is going fast. Kaisa is gaining places, Dzhima is past Laura. Outstanding stuff – Mari Laukkanen (0,0,0,1) has done the double! Gabi (0,0,0,0) second from 4th, Justine Braisaz (1,1,0,2) in 3rd. Teja Gregorin in 4th (from 8th) but Lisa Hauser (0,0,0,0) has gone from 22 to 5, finishing just ahead of Olsbu. Photo between Kaisa and Doro for 7th (Doro from 19th, Kaisa from 27th) – the IBU say both are tied in 7th [edit – now looks like Kaisa in 7th, Doro 8th both on +1:51.2]; Laura in 9th from 31st at the start, having pulled a bit back on the final section! Other gainers include Dasha (21 – 12), Vishnevskaya (28 – 13), Vittozzi (46 – 16!) and Virolaynen (36 – 23). Those losing places include Vitková (5 to 10), Eckhoff (12 – 18), Bescond (3 – 22; 3,3,1,0 on the range), Runggaldier (11 – 25), Starykh (15 – 27), Dunklee (7 – 37; 2,1,4,3 – what on earth ..?) and Frolina (10 – 42). Today’s result gives Laura Dahlmeier the Pursuit crystal globe.

Oslo (Holmenkollen) –Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit, 18 March: Martin F has already wrapped up the Pursuit globe, so no need to worry about that today! Weather is better than forecast; supposed to rain today, but it looks just cloudy and with light winds; bit warm if anything but not humid. Good effort by Scott Dixon yesterday – he missed this pursuit by just 6 seconds! Seems OEB is not racing today – resting for the Mass Start. Looking at the first hill, the surface is quite soft; JoBø coming in for his first prone – he’s missed his 5th but Martin F has missed his first; lot of misses here! Anton Shipulin leads out, ahead of Landertinger (both clear), then JT Bø, Garanichev, Fourcade, Tarjei Bø (+30.9). A few have missed 3, Simon Fourcade and QFM among them. Anton S is at S2 – he’s clear; wind is up and Landertinger is missing – 3 penalty loops! Shipulin leads out, ahead of JoBø, Martin F, Garanichev, Eder and Eberhard. Garanichev up to 2nd on the lap – Shipulin has about 24 seconds in hand. He’s in for the first standing shoot – he’s missed his first, rest down. JoBø very fast and clear, Martin F also clear, Garanichev has missed 3. Out Bø, Fourcade, Shipulin, Moravec, Lindström (0,0,0) and Garanichev. Desthieux has just collided with Eberhard (?), but he’s the one who fell. First three very close on the lap – then about 30 seconds to the next chasers. Final shoot – Shipulin clears, both Bø and Fourcade have missed 1. Lindström has cleared all 20 and he’s out 4th. Shipulin leads and has 21 seconds on Bø and Fourcade, Freddie L about 15 more back; he looks to be the only 20/20? Shipulin has lost 6 seconds by 10.9 Km, but I can’t see him being caught. At the finish Anton Shipulin (0,0,1,0) takes the win; Martin F (1,0,0,1) is 2nd (+5.7) and JoBø (1,0,0,1) third. Freddie Lindström (who started 15th) in 4th ahead of Hofer (21 to 5) and Eberhard (10 – 6) . Other gainers include Rastorgujevs (23 – 10), Schempp (24 – 11), Krcmar (28 – 13), Windisch (40 – 15), Pryma (39 – 21) and Lesser (48 – 28). Sliding down the rankings, the list includes Landertinger (4 to 12), Tarjei Bø (6 – 14), Semenov (5 – 17), QFM (16 – 27), and Beatrix (19 – 40).

Oslo – Women’s 12.5 Km Mass Start, 19 March: Temperature hovering around zero; this course includes a rather tougher loop to get the 12.5 Km. Now, the Mass Start crystal globe is also up for grabs today; Mari Laukkanen will be racing today – she wouldn’t have qualified by world ranking but her two wins here have got her a place, albeit near the back. Race is on, Kaisa at the front early on. There is a faller; I think Celia Aymonier and her rifle isn’t looking good – she’ll need a spare. Coming in for S1; lanes as for your bib number – graphics a bit slow but Laura has missed 1. Out Susan Dunklee, Franzi H, Tiril Eckhoff, Gabi, Kaisa and Justine Braisaz; Laura is 12th, +25.1 – lots with 1 miss, MDH the only one with 2. I don’t see Aymonier’s name on the list after S1; ah, there she is, 4 misses which is no real surprise after the fall and, presumably, with a spare rifle. The tracks look fast today; the leading group of 7 are on the way in to S2 - Koukalová has missed 1 but so has Laura. Dunklee leads out again, ahead of Eckhoff, Vitková, Braisaz, Franzi H and Kaisa – all 10/10. Gabi 10th (+30.6) and Laura 20th (+49.5). I’m sure some small animal ran across the track just before 6.8 Km (see video clip below - it takes a while to start!)! Gabi up to 8th but losing a little time on the leader; Laura up to 17th with no gain or loss of time. First standing shoot -  Dunklee and Eckhoff are missing; Franzi H is clear and away - Gabi and Laura also clear but a way back. Dunklee has missed 3! Franzi H (0,0,0) leads, from Vitková (0,0,1) and Eckhoff (0,0,1) with Gabi 4th (+29.0) and Laura 9th (+45.6). On the lap Gabi has lost a tiny bit of time, Laura has gained a bit. At 9.3 Km Gabi has clawed some time back and Laura is also closer. Final shoot of the season for the women – Franzi has missed her last shot. Eckhoff and Gabi clear, but Laura has missed one! I think Koukalová might get the globe – I have no reason, but I don’t want her to do that, I’ve taken against!! Anyway, Tiril leads, just, from Koukalová, Franzi H, Vitková, Kaisa and Yuliia Dzhima. Laura 8th +42.7. Tiril is flying on the last lap; Franzi is slowing and might get caught by Vitková? Laura seems to have slowed a lot, she’s dropped to 10th at 10.9 Km. At 11.8 Km Tiril is well in the lead, Gabi +15.5, Franzi H 3rd but she has Kaisa 5.6 seconds behind her. Tiril Eckhoff (0,0,1,0) wins; she’ll get to see the King again! Koukalová (0,1,0,0) 2nd with Kaisa (0,0,1,1) 3rd. Vitková 4th, ahead of Franzi H and Mari Laukkanen. Dasha (1,0,1,0) in 8th, ahead of Laura Dahlmeier (1,1,0,1) in 9th – Koukalová gets the Mass Start globe – rats! Susan Dunklee (0,0,3,2) finished 20th. Mari Laukkanen fastest around the course ahead of Braisaz and Kaisa. Well done to Aymonier (4,0,0,2) for finishing, after that fall.

Oslo – Men’s 15 Km Mass Start, 19 March: Well, last race of the IBU World Cup this season – there is a summer event in August though. Mass Start globe still up for grabs; I’ll let the commentators and IBU sort out the possible combinations that will let either Martin F or Simon Schempp take that trophy! Race is on – steep start! At 2.4 Km it’s Eberhard, Shipulin and Hofer leading but just 5.3 between the top 10; track softer than it was for the women’s race. In for S1 – wind looks fairly light – Fourcade has a rifle problem (magazine lost??). Eberhard has missed 3, JoBø 2, Hofer 2; Eder leads out ahead of Shipulin and Bailey, then Svendsen, Schempp and Peiffer – all clear. Martin Fourcade is 18th, +21.0 after that rifle snag, although he did clear all 5. The pace isn’t too hot after the shoot, which might let Martin catch up – I suspect they are all tired! That snow is starting to look like soft icing; Fourcade is back near the front! Here we go – S2; Martin F clear, so is Shipulin, OEB has missed 1. Martin has received new magazines; was something left on the mat - glasses? Out Shipulin, Bailey, Lesser, Eder, EHS, Martin F (+3.6) – more adverts, really getting sick of the “Workplace Pension” one in particular! There is an asterisk next to Martin Fourcade’s name on the graphics so maybe he has infringed some rule re the magazines (Patrick, Asterix is a Gaul; the word is asterisk!). Leading group coming in for S3; lots of misses this time – Martin F clear and leads out, ahead of Beatrix, Slesingr, Eder, EHS and Shipulin  first 3 clear, next 3 with 1 miss here. Poor Lukas Hofer has missed 2 at each shoot. Now, Fourcade leads but might be subject to some sanction, while Schempp is 18th after 2 misses (0,1,1). On the lap Martin F is 21.0 clear – I really don’t want the final globe to be decided on a rule infringement! OEB has lost almost 30 seconds on this lap. Last shoot – Martin is a bit slow but they are all down and he leads out. Lots of missing here – Hofer is consistent if nothing else – 2 more this time; OEB has gone clear though! After S4 – Fourcade (0,0,0,0), Eder (0,0,1,0), Rastorgujevs (0,1,1,0), Beatrix, EHS, Slesingr. No one seems to know what the asterisk is for at present; nothing on the various displays and none of the commentators seem to have an idea. Might be the fact that the coach was on the firing point? Anyway, Martin F crosses the line first, Andrejs Rastorgujevs is 2nd (and could be first!) and Simon Eder 3rd. EHS currently 4th ahead of Peiffer and Slesingr. Schempp (0,1,1,1) in 20th. Not sure what happened to JoBø (2,0,1,1) – 4 misses shouldn’t leave him +4:55.6 off the winning time, surely? Sadly Eurosport coverage has shifted to ski jumping before we know what is going on with the Asterix. Looks like Martin F has won, which means he takes the Mass Start globe too – probably the right decision!   As another commentator put it, referring to Martin F: “all time shared record of 14 wins, all-time record of 22 podiums, all-time record of 1322 points, all-time record of grand slam (winning all globes for the 3rd time), all time shared record of 6th time cup win (with added bonus of all of those being in a row)”

Here’s Martin’s comment and something from the FIS website – Fourcade initially fell 21 seconds behind the field in the first prone stage after he failed to load his magazines and had to receive ammunition. This issue was discussed by the competition jury, but there was no violation of the rules. He explained, "I forgot to reload my magazine before the start. That's a huge mistake. It was a competition full of stupidness from my side."

http://video.eurosport.co.uk/biathlon/holmenkollen/2016-2017/squirrel-almost-causes-chaos-in-biathlon-race_vid965383/video.shtml

The IBU "end of season" comment and video is HERE