Tag: biathlon

olympic sports, winter sports

Sochi recap: Biathlon, women’s pursuit

Posted on by Beau Dure

The USA’s Susan Dunklee got up as high as fourth, but biathlon stars Darya Domracheva and Tora Berger showed their class with powerful performances to take the top two places in the pursuit, with the bronze reserved for a long-serving veteran.

Date: 11-Feb

Sport: Biathlon

Event: Women’s pursuit (10k, start order determined by finish in the sprint earlier in the Games)

Medalists: Darya Domracheva (Belarus), Tora Berger (Norway), Teja Gregorin (Slovenia)

SportsMyriad projections: Tora Berger (Norway), Gabriela Soukalova (Czech Republic), Valj Semerenko (Ukraine)

How U.S. fared: Susan Dunklee was only 42 seconds back at the start after her strong 14th-place finish in the sprint. Sara Studebaker started 44th, 1:53 back. Annelies Cook started 53rd, 2:17 back.

Dunklee shot cleanly at the first stage and passed a couple of contenders, including Tora Berger. She was 10th after the first shoot and got as high as sixth before missing one of second-stage shots to fall back. She latched onto the contenders, though, and shot cleanly again at the third stage to move back into sixth. At the 6.9k mark, she was a stunning fourth. The official stats feed briefly showed her cleaning the final shooting stage, but no — she missed three, then fell back to 18th.

Studebaker missed three at the first shoot, then settled down to miss only two more and finished 51st. Cook also missed five on the day and finished 54th.

What happened: Darya Domracheva and Tora Berger had a bit of work to do from the start, taking the course a little more than 30 seconds behind sprint winner Anastasia Kuzmina.

And Kuzmina stayed away from the start. She took time on her fifth shot at the first stage, but she converted all five. So did most of the skiers behind her.

Domracheva reeled in Kuzmina through the second lap, then capitalized when Kuzmina missed. The Belarus skier took the lead, with France’s Anais Bescond and Italy’s Dorothea Weirer in pursuit. Kuzmina dropped to fourth. Berger shot cleanly but was content to be in a chase pack along with Gabriela Soukalova, who was making a charge after a disappointing sprint.

The first standing shoot separated the contenders. Domracheva came in, calmly knocked down all five, then skied away before the others had even started shooting. Kuzmina shot cleanly and was alone in second. Then came a pack of four, including expected contenders Berger, Soukalova and Ukraine’s Valj Semerenko … and the USA’s Susan Dunklee?

Domracheva left an opening in the final shooting stage, missing one shot. But she was hardly the only one to miss. Kuzmina missed. Berger missed. Soukalova missed. Dunklee missed three times.

Of the contenders, only Valj Semerenko emerged from the final shoot unscathed. But she was 36.6 seconds behind Domracheva, and she faded off the podium on the final lap.

Berger charged quickly into second position. Soukalova also was charging but had two more skiers to catch.

Domracheva was on a virtual victory lap by that point. She had time to soak in the roars as she skied to the finish with the flag of Belarus in hand.

Berger was easily in second. Third place went to veteran Teja Gregorin — a four-time Olympian (one cross-country, three biathlon) getting her first medal. Soukalova, Semerenko and Kuzmina followed.

Full results

 

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olympic sports, winter sports

Sochi recap: Biathlon, men’s pursuit

Posted on by Beau Dure

Did Ole Einar Bjoerndalen claim the record for all-time Winter Olympic medals? Not quite. Not yet. It was Martin Fourcade’s day to remind everyone of his consistent excellence, and a fellow Frenchman held off OBE for a surprising bronze.

Date: 10-Feb

Sport: Biathlon

Event: Men’s pursuit (12k) – 60 skiers start in order based on how they fared in the sprint. First across the finish line is the winner.

Medalists: Martin Fourcade (France), Ondrej Moravec (Czech Republic), Jean Guillaume Beatrix (France)

SportsMyriad projections: Martin Fourcade (France), Emil Hegle Svendsen (Norway), Anton Shipulin (Russia)

How U.S. fared: They didn’t have great start positions after the sprint. Tim Burke started 19th, 50 seconds back. He was nearly in the mix after missing just one of his first 15 shots, but he missed again on the last stage and sank to 22nd. Lowell Bailey scattered three misses and placed 38th. Leif Nordgren missed three at the first shooting stage, two at the next and one more at each of the standing stages on his way to 53rd place.

What happened: The margins from the sprint were razor-thin — the top eight started within 15 seconds of each other, so OBE’s advantage was negligible. The favorites caught up quickly and came in for the first shooting stage in a pack.

OBE shot quickly and cleanly. So did Anton Shipulin (Russia) and Canadian surprise JP Le Guellec. Martin Fourcade (France) took his time but shot cleanly, then zipped past OBE on the skis. The pack stayed together, but Fourcade seemed to be making a point.

At the second stage, Le Guellec mowed down all five in no time, taking off with a stunning lead. Fourcade again took his time and got all five. OBE did not, missing his last shot. Shipulin, whose sister Anastasia Kuzmina won gold for Slovakia in the women’s sprint, missed twice. The lead group was down to four – Le Guellec, Fourcade, Dominik Landertinger (Austria) and Jaroslav Soukup (Czech Republic).

Le Guellec tried to pull away, and he paid for it, wiping out on a tight turn that had claimed several skiers earlier. He fell not just behind the leaders but behind a small chase pack as well.

For the third shooting stage, the skiers switch to standing position, a big test. Fourcade missed one. Landertinger missed one. Soukup missed two. OBE came up with a chance to gain ground, but he missed one as well. Fourcade pulled away from Landertinger, who had a clean lead over three new contenders — the Czech Republic’s Ondrej Moravec, Austria’s Simon Eder and Germany’s Simon Schempp. All three shot cleanly at the standings stage; only Eder had a miss at all.

Lurking behind them, not out of it despite missing twice in his first 15 shots: OBE.

Fourcade sailed into the final shooting stage well ahead of Landertinger, surely set to clinch the win by shooting cleanly. The Frenchman took his time again, aimed and fired. Five down, and he pumped his fist to the crowd before taking off for his final lap. Landertinger missed twice, which meant Fourcade would have no company on what amounted to a victory lap.

Moravec also shot cleanly, going 20-for-20 on the day, and he left the range 17.1 seconds behind Fourcade. Then came a surprising Frenchman, Jean Guillaume Beatrix, then a group of about eight — including, astounding OBE, who missed yet again but was still in the mix.

Moravec gave a good chase on the last lap but was never going to catch Fourcade, who had time to wave a few times to the crowd and cameras in his last 100 meters. Behind them, Beatrix just held off OBE. The record can wait.

Quote: “I liked the race today. It was cool and funny and a lot of things happened. I was close to making a really good race today but three mistakes is a little bit too much.” – OBE

Full results

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olympic sports, winter sports

Sochi recap: Biathlon, women’s sprint

Posted on by Beau Dure

The favorites fell short, Russia picked up a solid silver, and former Russian (now Slovakian) Anastasiya Kuzmina repeated as gold medalist in a surprising biathlon sprint.

Date: 9- Feb

Sport: Biathlon

Event: Women’s sprint (7.5k)

Medalists: Anastasiya Kuzmina (Slovakia), Olga Vilukhina (Russia), Vita Semerenko (Ukraine)

SportsMyriad projections: Tora Berger (Norway), Darya Domracheva (Belarus), Gabriela Soukalova (Czech Republic)

How U.S. fared: Susan Dunklee was among the early starters and among the fastest in that group, shooting cleanly with the international feed’s cameras watching. And she was fast — through 30 skiers, she was the second-fastest through the prone shooting stage. The cameras caught up with her again on the standing shoot, and she half-laughed as she missed the last one, as if she realized she had nearly pulled off something special. She still posted the best finish ever by a U.S. woman in this event — 14th place. One miss costs skiers 20-25 seconds on a penalty loop — subtract 20 seconds from her time, and she finishes third.

Sara Studebacker missed one target and finished 44th. Annelies Cook missed two standing shots and took 53rd. They qualified for the pursuit; Hannah Dressigacker (65th, four misses) did not.

What happened: Format reminder: This is a race against the clock, with skiers starting at 30-second intervals. Two shooting stages: One prone, one standing.

And several of the early favorites missed on the easier prone stage. Look up at the projections — Berger missed one, Domracheva missed one, Soukalova missed THREE. Domracheva and Berger were in the top three among the early skiers but got bumped down through the evening.

Slovakia’s Anastasiya Kuzmina was the defending champion (and the brother of Russia’s Anton Shipulin, who just missed the podium in yesterday’s opener). She hasn’t been a consistent podium finisher in the past three years, though so surely she … oh, wait, she knocked down all 10 shots. And she was fast. She claimed the lead through 33 skiers.

While more favorites faltered, the unknowns came through. Poland’s Weronika Nowakowska-Ziemniak was briefly on the podium. Then Italy’s Karin Oberhofer grabbed second.

Russia’s Olga Vilukhina, who shot cleanly and clawed her way up the standings. The crowd roared as she came in second, 19.9 seconds back.

The late charger was Vita Semerenko, one of two V. Semerenkos competing for Ukraine. Her early split times were puzzlingly slow, but she shot cleanly and burned through the last lap. She finished 1.8 seconds behind Semerenko.

The top four finishers — Kuzmina, Vilukhina, Semerenko and Oberhofer — shot cleanly. One miss was enough to keep even the best off the podium.

Just to show how surprising this was: Here are the current World Cup sprint standings: Kuzmina 24th, Vilukhina 14th, Vita Semerenko 29th (Valj is 10th), Oberhofer 54th.

Quote: “This victory was for him, too. I hope that it inspires him for tomorrow’s pursuit. He can win.” – Kuzmina, speaking about her Russian brother, Anton Shipulin

Full results

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olympic sports, winter sports

Sochi recap: Biathlon, men’s sprint

Posted on by Beau Dure

Old man winter, 40-year-old Norwegian Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, tied the record for Winter Olympic medals with his 12th. And it’s his seventh gold. And the Sochi Games are just starting.

Date: 8- Feb

Sport: Biathlon

Event: Men’s sprint (10k)

Medalists: Ole Einar Bjoerndalen (Norway), Dominik Landertinger (Austria), Jaroslav Soukup (Czech Republic)

SportsMyriad projections: Emil Hegle Svendsen (Norway), Martin Fourcade (France), Jakov Fak (Slovenia)

How U.S. fared: Tim Burke got a bit of TV time when he came up to the first shooting stage, and he came through with five perfect shots. The cameras picked him up again on his second shoot, the more difficult standing shoot, and his second shot went wide. That took him out of medal contention and down to 19th.

Lowell Bailey missed one shot at each stage and wound up 35th. Leif Nordgren shot cleanly, a nice accomplishment for the first-time Olympian, and placed 45th.

Russell Currier had the fun distinction of being the last skier to start. Less fun: He missed four shots in prone. He did clear the standing stage and passed a skier who started ahead of him, finishing 61st.

What happened: Quick reminder of the format: This is a race against the clock, with skiers taking to the course at 30-second intervals. The head-to-head races come later. There are two shooting stages in this race — one prone, one standing.

Bjoerndalen, the sentimental favorite to win his 35,882th medal in his 479th Olympics, went through quickly but missed one shot on the standing stage.

But others faltered. Russian favorite Evgeny Ustyugov was out of the top three after the first 15 skiers finished. Fellow Norwegian Emil Hegle Svendsen missed a standing shot and never recovered. French powerhouse Martin Fourcade missed a prone shot and recovered to clean the standing, still lagging a few seconds behind the pace Bjoerndalen set.

Bjoerndalen, who started 24th, took over the clubhouse lead from Austria’s Dominik Landertinger by 1.3 seconds. Fourcade (starting 39th) could never be counted out, but when he finished, he was only third. Then he was immediately bumped out of the medals by the Czech Republic’s Jaroslav Soukup. Landertinger and Soukup shot cleanly.

Russia’s Anton Shipulin blew through the first several checkpoints rather quickly, but a miss at the standing stage meant the home crowd wasn’t going to see a winner. He flew hard at the finish, seeing the time he had to beat, but came across in agony in fourth place.

Canada’s J.P. Le Guellec, who occasionally surprises on the World Cup circuit, actually came through the second shooting faster then Bjoerndalen. He couldn’t zip through the last lap as quickly but finished a very strong fifth.

The last real hope was Italy’s Lukas Hofer. But he threw one shot wide, and on this day, that was enough.

Quote: “I always forget that (I’m 40). I feel like I’m 20.” – Ole Einar Bjoerndalen

Full results

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medal projections, olympic sports, winter sports

2014 medal projections: Jan. 14 update

Posted on by Beau Dure

Time for a few tweaks given the results (and untimely injuries) of late — and when you add it all up, we have a new leader:

Alpine skiing: Lindsey Vonn’s absence shakes things up a bit and pretty well insures the USA won’t come near its total of eight medals in 2010. Ted Ligety (third overall) and Mikaela Shiffrin are still favorites, and Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal (second overall; downhill and super-G leader) is still as dominant as ever.

Changes:

  • Men’s downhill: Erik Guay (CAN) up to silver, Klaus Kröll (AUT) down to considered, Adrien Theaux (FRA) up to considered
  • Men’s giant slalom: Alexis Pinturault (FRA) up to bronze, Manfred Moelgg (ITA) down to considered
  • Men’s slalom: Mario Matt (AUT) up to silver, Ivica Kostelic (CRO) down to considered
  • Men’s combined: Pinturault up to gold, Ligety up to silver, Svindal up to bronze, Kostelic down to considered
  • Women’s downhill: Vonn out, Maria Hoefl-Riesch (GER) up to gold, Tina Maze (SLO) up to silver, Tina Weirather (LIE) up to bronze, Marianne Kaufmann-Abderhalden (SUI) up to considered
  • Women’s super-G: Vonn out, Anna Fenninger (AUT) up to gold, Tina Maze (SLO) down to silver, Lara Gut (SUI) up to bronze, Julia Mancuso (USA) down to considered
  • Women’s giant slalom: Jessica Lindell-Vikarby (SWE) up to considered
  • Women’s slalom: My medal picks are currently 1-2-4 in the World Cup standings. They’ll stay put.

Biathlon: Andreas Birnbacher (Germany) has been sick, so we won’t knock him out of the projections just yet. Not too many surprises on the men’s side, though France’s relay team needs to improve. The surprise in the women’s competition is the Czech Republic’s Gabriela Soukalova, who’s leading the World Cup standings. France’s Marie Dorin Habert has a ruptured tendon in her ankle, so we’ll remove her from consideration.

Changes:

  • Women’s sprint: Soukalova (CZE) up to bronze, Olena Pidrushna (UKR) down to considered
  • Women’s pursuit: Soukalova up to silver, Valj Semerenko (UKR) up to bronze, Andrea Henkel (GER) and Pidrushna down to considered

Bobsled: The early-season races in North America have skewed the current standings toward the U.S. and Canadian teams. The men haven’t done as well in Europe. Manuel Machata isn’t getting many opportunities for Germany, and Latvia’s Oskars Melbardis isn’t in great form.

Changes:

  • Men’s two-man and four-man: Drop Machata from considered
  • Women’s: Elana Meyers (USA) up to silver, Sandra Kiriasis (GER) down to bronze, Cathleen Martini (GER) down to considered, Jamie Greubel (USA) up to considered

Cross-country skiing: Dario Cologna (SUI) is trying to come back from ankle surgery. We’ll leave him in for now. A couple of other skiers have skipped the odd World Cup event or the entire Tour de Ski, so the World Cup standings from this season aren’t that meaningful. One surprise: American Simi Hamilton won a freestyle sprint.

Changes: 

  • Women’s sprint: Denise Herrman (GER) and Ingvild Flugstad Østberg (NOR) up to considered

Figure skating: Most of the pre-Sochi competition is complete aside from the European Championships this week, so the projections won’t change much. The Four Continents will only have a couple of Olympians in action. But qualification and national championships have made things interesting. Ashley Wagner placed fourth, and her inclusion is mildly controversial. Evgeni Plushenko on the fringe of Russia’s plans, Japan’s Miki Ando retired after missing out an Olympic berth, and projected gold medalist Mao Asada was third in Japan’s championships. At least defending gold medalist Yuna Kim won handily in South Korea after skipping the Grand Prix season. Gracie Gold’s score from U.S. Championships would be the highest in the world this year, but would international judges be as generous?

Changes:

  • Women’s: Gracie Gold (USA) considered. Miki Ando (Japan) out. Considered list now specifying the likely Russian skaters: Adelina Sotnikova and Julia Lipnitskaia

Freestyle skiing: The X Games and World Cup events may still shake things up.

Changes in aerials

  • Men: 2010 World Cup champion Anton Kusnhir (BLR) missed the 2012-13 season and has come back with a win in Deer Valley and another podium. Countryman Alexei Grishin, the 2010 gold medalist, is making a comeback and was third in Deer Valley. They’re up to considered.
  • Women: We’ll see who makes China and Australia teams. USA’s Ashley Caldwell and Emily Cook up to considered.

Changes in moguls

  • Men: Medal contenders are 1-2-3 in World Cup. No change.
  • Women: No change, though Miki Ito (JPN) is trying to come back from a knee injury.

Changes in skicross

  • Men: Dave Duncan (CAN) up to silver, Andreas Matt (AUT) up to bronze, Chris Del Bosco (CAN) down to considered, Filip Flisar (SLO) down to considered
  • Women: Katrin Mueller (SUI) up to considered

Changes in slopestyle

  • Men: Waiting for U.S. team announcement to shake things up.
  • Women: Kaya Turski (CAN) is fighting a knee injury. Devin Logan (USA) up to considered

Changes in halfpipe

  • Men: Watching health of Torin Yater-Wallace (USA). Justin Dorey (CAN) up to considered.
  • Women: Roz Groenewoud (CAN) had — you guessed it — knee surgery. We’ll see how she recovers. Devin Logan (USA) up to considered — yes, in two events

Luge: They’ve run seven of nine World Cup events this season, so that should be enough to give us a clearer picture. Still a whole lot of Germany.

Changes

  • Men: David Möller (GER) up to silver, Dominik Fischnaller (ITA) up to bronze, Andi Langenhan (GER) down to considered, Chris Mazdzer (USA) up to considered
  • Women, doubles, relay: No change

Nordic combined: Most medal contenders are having solid seasons, particularly World Cup leader Eric Frenzel (GER) and Jason Lamy-Chappuis (FRA).

Changes

  • Normal hill: Mikko Kokslien (NOR) up to bronze, Bernhard Gruber (AUT) down to considered

Short-track speedskating: No change. We’ll keep an eye on the Euro championships and make sure all the picks are healthy, but the major pre-Sochi competitions are long complete.

Skeleton: Feeling a little more bullish on Matt Antoine (USA) but not quite moving him up into the medals.

Changes

  • Men: Tomass Dukurs (LAT) up to bronze, Frank Rommel (GER) down to considered
  • Women: Shelley Rudman (GBR) up to bronze, Marion Thees (GER) down to considered

Ski jumping: He used to look like Harry Potter. Then he looked like Trevor Horn. Now he’s back — Salt Lake/Vancouver champion Simon Ammann (SUI) was third in the Four Hills. And 40something Japanese jumper Noriaki Kasai is fourth in the World Cup. In women’s, we’re still holding out hope for the rehabbing Sarah Hendrickson (USA).

Changes

  • Men’s large hill: Simon Ammann (SUI) up to bronze, Noriaki Kasai (JPN) up to considered, Anders Jacobsen (NOR) down to considered
  • Women’s: Irina Avvakumova (RUS) up to bronze, Carina Vogt (GER) up to considered, Coline Mattel (FRA) down to considered

Snowboarding: Just did the picks 14 days ago; no point in changing anything until after the X Games.

Speedskating: These picks were also recent, and the European Allround Championships didn’t give us any reason to change.

No changes in curling or ice hockey, and no changes are likely unless we have a sudden wave of injuries or other changes.

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medal projections, olympic sports, winter sports

2014 medal projections: Biathlon

Posted on by Beau Dure

Updated Jan. 14; minor updates Jan. 21 and Feb. 5

Will the USA finally break through? How many more targets will Ole Einar Bjoerndalen hit? Will Americans finally watch one of the most dramatic sports in the Games?

Here we go …

INDIVIDUAL (the least telegenic one, in which they race the clock and add 1 minutes for every missed shot)

Men (20k)

Gold: Martin Fourcade (France)
Silver: Dominik Landertinger (Austria)
Bronze: Emil Hegle Svendsen (Norway)

Also considered: Andreas Birnbacher (Germany), Tim Burke (USA), Bjorn Ferry (Sweden), Jakob Fak (Slovenia), Simon Fourcade (France), Fredrik Lindstrom (Sweden), Ondrej Moravec (Czech Republic),

World Cup 2013-14 top 8 (so far, only two events): Svendsen, Simon Eder (Austria), Evgeny Ustyugov (Russia), Alexey Volkov (Russia), Christian de Lorenzi (Italy), S. Fourcade, M. Fourcade, Daniel Boehm (Germany)

World Cup 2012-13 top 8: M. Fourcade, Birnbacher, Burke, Landertinger, Moravec, Ferry, Lindstrom, Lukas Hofer (Italy)

2013 World Championship top 8: M. Fourcade, Burke, Lindstrom, Moravec, Ferry, S. Fourcade, Hofer, Birnbacher

2010 Olympic medalists: Svendsen, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen (Norway), Sergey Novikov (Belarus) — the latter two tied for silver at 48 minutes, 32.0 seconds.

Women (15k)

Gold: Tora Berger (Norway)
Silver: Darya Domracheva (Belarus) 
Bronze: Andrea Henkel (Germany)

Also considered: Anastasiya Kuzmina (Slovakia), Kaisa Makarainen (Finland), Gabriela Soukalova (Czech Republic), Olga Zaitseva (Russia)

World Cup 2013-14 top 8 (so far): Soukalova, Domracheva, Kuzmina, Nadezhka Skardino (Belarus), Franziska Hildebrand (Germany), Marie Laure Brunet (France), Dorothea Wierer (Italy), Valj Semerenko (Ukraine)

World Cup 2012-13 top 8: Berger, Henkel, Domracheva, Zaitseva, Kuzmina, Makarainen, Gabriela Soukalova (Czech Republic), Selina Gasparin (Switzerland)

2013 World Championship top 8: Berger, Henkel, Valj Semerenko, Kuzmina, Vita Semerenko (Ukraine), Zaitseva, Ekaterina Glazyrina (Russia), Makarainen

2010 Olympic medalists: Berger, Elena Khrustaleva (Kazakhstan), Domracheva

SPRINT (the quick one that also sets up the pursuit)

Men (10k)

Gold: Emil Hegle Svendsen (Norway)
Silver: Martin Fourcade (France)
Bronze: Jakov Fak (Slovenia)

Also considered: Andreas Birnbacher (Germany), Ole Einar Bjoerndalen (Norway), Dominik Landertinger (Austria), Dmitry Malyshko (Russia), Evgeny Ustyugov (Russia)

World Cup 2013-14 top 8 (so far): M. Fourcade, Arnd Peiffer (Germany), Bjoerndalen, Simon Schempp (Germany), Landertinger, Anton Shipulin (Russia), Lukas Hofer (Italy), Svendsen (Fak missed the first two-thirds of the season so far)

World Cup 2012-13 top 8: M. Fourcade, Svendsen, Ustyugov, Fak, Simon Eder (Austria), Birnbacher, Landertinger, Malyshko

2013 World Championship top 8: Svendsen, M. Fourcade, Fak, Bjoerndalen, Malyshko, Alexis Boeuf (France), Shipulin, Fredrik Lindstrom (Sweden)

2010 Olympic medalists: Vincent Jay (France; retired), Svendsen, Fak

Women (7.5k)

Gold: Tora Berger (Norway)
Silver: Darya Domracheva (Belarus)
Bronze: Gabriela Soukalova (Czech Republic)

Also considered: Miriam Goessner (Germany), Andrea Henkel (Germany), Kaisa Makarainen (Finland), Olena Pidhrushna (Ukraine)

World Cup 2013-14 top 8 (so far): Makarainen, Berger, Selina Gasparin (Switzerland), Irina Starykh (Russia, suspended), Domracheva, Veronika Vitkova (Czech Republic), Pidrushna, Anais Bescond (France)

World Cup 2012-13 top 8: Berger, Domracheva, Goessner, Marie Dorin Habert (France), Makarainen, Soukalova, Henkel, Pidhrushna

2013 World Championship top 8: Pidhrushna, Berger, Vita Semerenko (Ukraine), Olga Zaitseva (Russia), Olga Vilukhina (Russia), Goessner, Krystyna Palka (Poland), Ann Kristin Aafedt Flatland (Norway)

2010 Olympic medalists: Anastasiya Kuzmina (Slovakia), Magdalena Neuner (Germany; retired), Marie Dorin (France; not yet Habert)

PURSUIT (the fun one in which they start in order of sprint times; first across the line wins)

Men (12.5k)

Gold: Martin Fourcade (France)
Silver: Emil Hegle Svendsen (Norway)
Bronze: Anton Shipulin (Russia)

Also considered: Dominik Landertinger (Austria), Fredrik Lindstrom (Sweden), Dmitry Malyshko (Russia), Evgeny Ustyugov (Russia), sprint contenders

World Cup 2013-14 top 8 (so far): Svendsen, Simon Schempp (Germany), M. Fourcade, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen (Norway), Simon Eder (Austria), Shipulin, Landertinger, Johannes Boe (Norway)

World Cup 2012-13 top 8: M. Fourcade, Svendsen, Shipulin, Lindstrom, Malyshko, Landertinger, Evgeniy Garanichev (Russia), Ustyugov

2013 World Championship top 8: Svendsen, M. Fourcade, Shipulin, Malyshko, Landertinger, Jakov Fak (Slovenia), Lindstrom, Alexis Boeuf (France)

2010 Olympic medalists: Bjorn Ferry (Sweden), Christoph Sumann (Austria), Vincent Jay (France; retired)

Women (10k)

Gold: Tora Berger (Norway)
Silver: Gabriela Soukalova (Czech Republic)
Bronze: Valj Semerenko (Ukraine)

Also considered: Darya Domracheva (Belarus), Andrea Henkel (Germany), Kaisa Makarainen (Finland), Olena Pidhrushna (Ukraine)

World Cup 2013-14 top 8 (so far): Makarainen, Berger, Tiril Eckhoff (Norway), Soukalova, Valj Semerenko, Irina Starykh (Russia, suspended), Domracheva, Olga Vilukhina (Russia)

World Cup 2012-13 top 8: Berger, Henkel, Marie Dorin Habert (France), Pidhrushna, Makarainen, Domracheva, Olga Vilukhina (Russia), Gabriela Soukalova (Czech Republic)

2013 World Championship top 8: Berger, Krystyna Palka (Poland), Pidhrushna, Olga Zaitseva (Russia), Ekaterina Glazyrina (Russia), Henkel, Ann Kristin Aafedt Flatland (Norway), Veronika Vitkova (Czech Republic)

2010 Olympic medalists: Magdalena Neuner (Germany; retired), Anastasiya Kuzmina (Slovakia), Marie-Laure Brunet (France)

MASS START (the crazy one in which all 30 skiers start at once)

Men (15k)

Gold: Martin Fourcade (France)
Silver: Tarjei Boe (Norway)
Bronze: Emil Hegle Svendsen (Norway)

Also considered: Andreas Birnbacher (Germany), Tim Burke (USA), Jakov Fak (Slovenia), Dominik Landertinger (Austria), Ondrej Moravec (Czech Republic), Evgeny Ustyugov (Russia),

Only one event in World Cup so far

World Cup 2012-13 top 8: M. Fourcade, Svendsen, Burke, Birnbacher, Moravec, Boe, Landertinger, Fak

2013 World Championship top 8: Boe, Shipulin, Svendsen, Moravec, Erik Lesser (Germany), Landertinger, Jean Guillaume Beatrix (France), Bjorn Ferry (Sweden)

2010 Olympic medalists: Ustyugov, M. Fourcade, Pavol Hurajt (Slovakia)

Women (12.5k)

Gold: Darya Domracheva (Belarus)
Silver: Tora Berger (Norway)
Bronze: Vita Semerenko (Ukraine)

Also considered: Kaisa Makarainen (Finland)

Only one event in World Cup so far

World Cup 2012-13 top 8: Berger, Domracheva, Vita Semerenko, Dorin Habert, Makarainen, Teja Gregorin (Slovenia), Gabriela Soukalova (Czech Republic), Miriam Goessner (Germany)

2013 World Championship top 8: Domracheva, Berger, Monika Hojnisz (Poland), Vita Semerenko, Olga Zaitseva (Russia), Goessner, Krystyna Palka (Poland), Teja Gregorin (Slovenia)

2010 Olympic medalists: Magdalena Neuner (Germany; retired), Olga Zaitseva (Russia), Simone Hauswald (Germany; retired)

RELAY (the team one)

Men

Gold: Russia
Silver: Norway
Bronze: France

Also considered: Austria, Germany, Sweden

World Cup 2013-14 top 8 (so far): Germany, Sweden, Austria, Russia, Norway, France, Czech Republic, Switzerland

World Cup 2012-13 top 8: Russia (barely ahead of …), Norway, France, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Sweden, Ukraine

2013 World Championship top 8: Norway, France, Germany, Russia, Austria, Czech Republic, Italy, Canada

2010 Olympic medalists: Norway, Austria, Russia

Women

Gold: Norway
Silver: Germany
Bronze: Russia

Also considered: France, Italy, Ukraine

World Cup 2013-14 top 8 (so far): Germany, Ukraine, Russia, Norway, France, Belarus, Canada, Italy

World Cup 2012-13 top 8: Norway, Ukraine, Germany, Russia, France, Italy, Poland, Belarus

2013 World Championship top 8: Norway, Ukraine, Italy, Russia, Germany, France, Belarus, Slovakia

2010 Olympic medalists: Russia, France, Germany

Mixed (NEW!)

Gold: Norway
Silver: Russia
Bronze: Czech Republic

Also considered: France, Italy

Only one World Cup race so far

World Cup 2012-13 top 8: Norway, Russia, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Slovenia, Germany, Slovakia

2013 World Championship top 8: Norway, France, Czech Republic, Italy, Slovenia, Russia, Slovakia, USA

2010 Olympic medalists: None

BIOS

Men

Top five, 2012-13 World Cup overall: Martin Fourcade (France, by more than 400 points), Emil Hegle Svendsen (Norway), Dominik Landertinger (Austria), Jakov Fak (Slovenia), Andreas Birnbacher (Germany)

Lowell Bailey (USA): Best season was 2011-12 — 14th overall, two fifth-place finishes for total of four top 10s.

Carl Johan Bergman (Sweden): Great year in 2011-12 — second (pursuit), third (sprint) and sixth (mass start) at World Championships, two of his three career wins (all in sprints), sixth in overall World Cup. Three-time Olympian. Mysterious dropoff last year.

Tarjei Boe (Norway): Massive breakthrough in 2010-11 — World CUp overall champion, world individual champion, one place away (fourth in mass start) from medaling in all four World Championship events. Eight World Cup/World Championship wins, plus a ton of relay medals including Olympic gold in 2010. Slipped a bit in next two years and only raced half of last season but won mass start world title in 2013.

Andreas Birnbacher (Germany): Found form in 11th and 12th World Cup years — third overall in 2011-12, fifth in 2012-13. Six World Cup wins, World Championship silver (mass start) in 2007, two fourth-place finishes in 2012 worlds.

Ole Einar Bjoerndalen (Norway): Five Olympics — six gold medals (including two relay), four silver medals (one relay), one bronze. Won all four golds in 2002. Eighteen World Championships (seven relays). Six World Cup overall titles, finished in the top three 12 straight years. All told, 93 World Cup/World Championships wins. So what if he’ll be 40 in Sochi and hasn’t won a non-relay World Championship medal since 2009?

Tim Burke (USA): Led the World Cup during the 2009-10 season, the first American to do so. Slid to 14th place finish and had a disappointing time in the Olympics. Not as strong the next two years but rebounded in 2012-13 to 10th place overall and a silver medal in the World Championship individual. Five World Cup/World Championship podiums, no wins yet.

Jakov Fak (Slovenia): Fourth in 2012-13 World Cup. Only three wins, but one was the World Championship individual in 2012. Also has Olympic bronze (2010 sprint) and 2013 World Championship bronze (also sprint).

Bjorn Ferry (Sweden): 2010 Olympic pursuit champion and five-time winner didn’t have great results the last two seasons but is always hanging around.

Martin Fourcade (France): Two-time defending World Cup overall champion. Also five World Championships — one in each discipline with two in pursuit — all since last Olympics. Silver in 2010 Olympic mass start. Only five years on World Cup — already has 24 wins.

Simon Fourcade (France): Martin’s older brother. Fifth overall in 2011-12. Silver in 2012 World Champion individual. Also has some relay medals with his brother and several top 10s in World Championships. Seven second-place finishes; no wins yet.

Dominik Landertinger (Austria): Third overall in 2012-13. Only two wins, but one was 2009 World Championship mass start.

Fredrik Lindstrom (Sweden): Career-best seventh overall in 2012-13. One World Cup win. Two World Championship bronze medals — 2012 mass start, 2013 individual.

Jean-Philippe Le Guellec (Canada): He won one! His World Cup sprint win in December 2012 made him the first Canadian man to reach the top five in a World Cup biathlon, let alone the top spot. Two more top 10s through the season en route to 35th overall.

Arnd Peiffer (Germany): Two very good years in 2010-11 and 2011-12, finishing fourth overall each year and winning World Championship sprint in 2011. Six career wins.

Ondrej Moravec (Czech Republic): Little to show for first seven years of World Cup competition, then moved up to 28th overall in 2011-12 and a stunning 12th in 2012-13, where he posted seven of his eight career top 10s, his first three podium finishes, his first win, and fourth-place runs in the World Championship individual and mass start.

Dmitry Malyshko (Russia): Breakout year in 2012-13, his second year on the World Cup circuit, with two wins and two second-place finishes. Eighth overall.

Anton Shipulin (Russia): Ninth in 2012-13 World Cup, down from eighth the year before. Four career wins, all in sprint and pursuit. Two medals in 2013 World Championships: Second in mass start, third in pursuit.

Emil Hegle Svendsen (Norway): Top three in World Cup six years running — first in 2009-10, second the next three years. Thirty-one wins, including five World Championships (all four disciplines, two mass starts, sprint and pursuit double in 2013) and 2010 individual gold. Also took sprint silver and relay gold in 2010 Games.

Evgeny Ustyugov (Russia): Career year in 2009-10 — fourth overall, and he got his only three career wins, including Olympic mass start gold. Also fourth in 2010 individual and second in 2011 World Championship mass start.

Women

Top five, 2012-13 World Cup overall: Tora Berger (Norway), Darya Domracheva (Belarus), Andrea Henkel (Germany), Marie Dorin Habert (France), Kaisa Makarainen (Finland)

Tora Berger (Norway): Turned the corner from good to great in the past Olympic cycle. Perhaps a surprise winner of the 2010 Olympic individual, but now dominant — runaway 2012-13 World Cup champion, four-time world champion (back-to-back individual, 2013 pursuit, 2012 mass start), no finish lower than second at the 2013 World Championships.

Darya Domracheva (Belarus): 2010 bronze individual medal, followed by two world titles (2012 pursuit, 2013 mass start) and two overall World Cup runner-up finishes.

Marie Dorin Habert (France): Had only one World Cup podium before taking bronze in the 2010 Olympic pursuit. Remained more of a top-10 finisher for a couple of years but finished fourth in overall 2012-13 World Cup with a few podium finishes. Still seeking first win. Injured and will miss the Games.

Miriam Goessner (Germany): The next wave of German biathletes, winning three times and finishing ninth overall in 2012-13, her third World Cup season.

Andrea Henkel (Germany): Won 2002 individual gold and spent the next 12 years picking up more hardware: 2005 individual world championship, 2006-07 World Cup championship and mass start world title, 2008 sprint and pursuit world title. Top eight in the overall World Cup for eight straight years, third in 2012-13. World Championship individual runner-up 2013.

Anastasiya Kuzmina (Slovakia): Broke out in 2010 Olympics: sprint gold, pursuit silver. Also reached World Championship podium in 2009 (mass start silver) and 2011 (sprint bronze). Not a consistent World Cup performer — seventh overall (five podiums) in 2012-13 is career best.

Kaisa Makarainen (Finland): Big year in 2010-11: World Cup champion, pursuit world champion, runner-up in World Championship sprint. Fourth and fifth overall in last two World Cups.

Olena Pidhrushna (Ukraine): Sole win is 2013 World Championship sprint. Held on for third in World Championship pursuit and had two other podium finishes through the season, taking eighth overall. Only one top-5 finish through 2011-12, then nine through the 2012-13 season.

Valj Semerenko (Ukraine): Three podiums, one of the 2013 World Championship individual. Career-best World Cup year was 2010-11, placing 11th overall. Vita’s twin.

Vita Semerenko (Ukraine): Oddly, no World Cup wins yet. Three World Championship bronze medals — 2011 individual, 2012 sprint, 2013 sprint. Up to 10th overall in 2012-13 season. Valj’s twin.

Gabriela Soukalova (Czech Republic): First big year in 2012-13 — four wins among six podiums.

Olga Zaitseva (Russia): Best overall World Cup finish is fourth in 2004-05, but she has more than 45 World Cup/World Championship podiums and some big accomplishments. 2005 World Championships: sprint silver, pursuit bronze. 2009 World Championships: mass start gold, sprint and pursuit bronze. 2010 Olympics: mass start silver.

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olympic sports, winter sports

Monday Myriad, Feb. 18: Slalom and shoot

Posted on by Beau Dure

Headlines of the week:

– Ted Ligety won the giant slalom, his best event, for his third title at the Alpine skiing World Championships. Then 17-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin won the slalom. That’s four golds and a bronze for the USA in 10 individual events.

– Tim Burke took silver in the 20k individual event at biathlon’s World Championships, which were otherwise dominated by Norway (eight golds in 11 events — two individuals and two relays each for Tora Berger and Emil Hegle Svendsen).

– The Netherlands’ Sven Kramer won his sixth straight world allround speedskating title. Fellow Dutchperson Ireen Wust won her fourth overall, the last three in a row. Jonathan Kuck has the best U.S. finish, 13th.

– The MMA ladders are in the process of being updated after the weekend’s Bellator and UFC events, in which two bantamweight belts were defended.

A few links, tweets and videos on those stories and more:

http://storify.com/duresport/monday-myriad-feb-18-storify-edition

Upcoming:

– Feb. 20-24: Cycling (track), World Championships
– Feb. 21-March 3: Nordic skiing, World Championships
– Feb. 23: UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche (women’s bantamweight title)

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olympic sports, rugby, soccer

Monday Myriad, Feb. 11: Ligety, Ligety

Posted on by Beau Dure

Headlines of the weekend:

– The USA’s Ted Ligety won his second gold medal at the Alpine skiing world championships, adding the supercombined to the super-G. Super.

– Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen won the sprint and held on to win the pursuit by a few millimeters over France’s Martin Fourcade at the biathlon World Championships. You just might see a highlight clip farther down in this post. The best U.S. finish so far: Lowell Bailey moved up from 32nd to take 13th in the men’s pursuit.

– England took their second win in two matches in rugby’s Six Nations Championship. So what if it was the lowest-scoring game in Six Nations history?

– The U.S. women’s tennis team fell out of the Fed Cup. Missing Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens might have been a bit of a factor. A bit.

– Julia Clukey took second in women’s singles and the U.S. team took second in the team relay as the luge World Cup ran on U.S. ice at Lake Placid.

– Meryl Davis and Charlie White won the ice dance at figure skating’s Four Continents Championship, which drew a strong field in some events despite the upcoming World Championships being higher priority.

The TeamUSA.org wrapup has the rest of the weekend in Olympic sports. A few more things to peruse, Storify permitting:

http://storify.com/duresport/monday-myriad-feb-11-storify-version

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mind games, olympic sports, winter sports

Holiday diversions: Chess, biathlon … any curling?

Posted on by Beau Dure

This is the time of year in which work productivity is minimal, traffic and weather can be too much to bear, and the yule log is sometimes the highlight of the TV programming.

SportsMyriad sadly cannot be your all-inclusive guide to everything interesting on TV. For one thing, we don’t know what you like. But we can offer up a few items of interest if you need a December diversion aside from the mountains of soccer still available on FSC, GolTV and ESPN3:

– Chess: FIDE can’t get the world’s best players to agree on a world championship format, but several of them have turned up in the London Chess Classic: world champ Vishy Anand, world #1 Magnus Carlsen, former world champ Vladimir Kramnik, top American Hikaru Nakamura and four English players who were once or might be contenders. Carlsen lost on the first day, while Nakamura held off Anand. The fun part: They use soccer’s scoring system — 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw. Neat thing to try in a competition that often sees too much caution. Check the Day 1 recap, check each game in progress at Susan Polgar’s blog, and get live commentary (or witty dissection, if Nigel Short is involved) on the official site.

– Biathlon: Weekend sprint, pursuit and relays — unfortunately, the “late” race each day is at 8:15 a.m. ET. Live on the official site.

– Other Olympic sports: Universal Sports has figure skating’s Grand Prix final, rugby sevens, Alpine skiing and a few other events — some pay-per-view, some free.

I have not, however, been able to find any televised curling. Can’t have everything.

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olympic sports, winter sports

Biathlon team surprises

Posted on by Beau Dure

Last year, biathlete Haley Johnson got a few World Cup points. This year, she isn’t going to the World Cup or IBU Cup.

In February, Wynn Roberts got a start in the Olympics. This winter? No slot on the team.

Such is the harsh, unforgiving world of sports that don’t attract mountains of money. Most of the spots on the team were determined by trials.

Jay Hakkinen, who has had a long career with a few top 10s along the way, is taking the early part of the season off.

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