RobtheAggie

Short Individual on right now. Early in the race, Nilsson and Runghaldier leading the pack. Still a long way to go.

Yup.

I agree that it was a very strange race for lots of reasons. Does the IBU need Germans to be good for money and sponsors reasons? It seems so. Dunklee for the US finally had a good day. 14th place, no idea if she will make the mass start.

I was looking forward to Poland, but no snow is a problem. That list you posted has a lot of WC experience.

Do these work?

So the two day trial at Arber finished today. One the women's side: Hallie Grossman (South Burlington, Vt.) and Emily Dreissigacker (Morrisville, Vt.) will race in the IBU World Cups at Oberhof, Ruhpolding, Germany and Pokljuka, Slovakia. One the men's side: Paul Schommer (Appleton, Wis.) and Jake Brown (Saint Paul, Minn.) who have both made the podium in the IBU Cup this season have been named to the WC team. That makes the following in the next 4 IBU Cup spots: The U.S. women's roster for the next four IBU Cup events will consist of Deedra Irwin (Pulaski, Wis.), Joanne Reid (Grand Junction, Colo.), Kelsey Dickinson (Winthrop, Wash.) and Maddie Phaneuf (Old Forge, N.Y.). The men's IBU Cup team will be Max Durtschi (Ketchum, Idaho), Alex Howe (Gilford, N.H.), Travis Cooper (Kenai, Alaska) and Lars Hammernes Leopold (Truckee, Calif.). Raleigh Goessling (Duluth, Minn.) will serve as the team's first alternate.

Sorry for the delay in some of these results: AlpenCup #2 from Valdidentro, Italy 14 December - full results here Women Sprint Martina Zappa - Italy (2000) 26:50 0-0 Selina Gurschler - Italy (2000) 27:10 1-0 Marielle Progin - Switzerland (1998) 27:41 0-0 Men's Sprint Nicola Romanin - Italy (1994) 26:55 1-1 Luca Ghiglione - Italy (1996) 27:08 1-2 Simon Leitgeb - Italy (1997) 27:25 0-1 There was an Irish biathlete, Brian Kennedy, who was scheduled to start, but did not race. 15 December - full results here Women's Sprint Martina Zappa - Italy (1998) 25:32 0-1 Sara Cesco Fabbro - Italy (1998) 25:42 1-1 Linda Witschi - Switzerland (2000) 26:11 0-0 Men's Sprint Luca Ghiglione - Italy (1996) 25:34 0-0 Nicola Romanin - Italy (1994) 25:45 2-1 Simon Leitgeb - Italy (1997) 26:01

A few thoughts about the first three weekends: Surprises: Tiril Eckhoff - I doubt anyone saw her success coming. Swiss Women - The best season that I can remember is a long time French Teams - Very deep on both sides. As I mentioned earlier, it is odd to see in a sprint finish French men overtake Martin Fourcade. Disappointments: US teams - 9 total athletes - 36 total world cup points, ouch! Benny Weger - While the Swiss women have done well, the men have not. German Women - Although they did better at Le Grand Bonnard, their first two weekends were really poor. I am looking forward to seeing the racing this weekend.

So lack of snow has caused concerns once again in Oberhof.

Russian biathlete Olga Podchufarova has applied for Slovenian citizenship and if she gets the go-ahead and the procedure is fast-tracked, she could come out of retirement to compete for Slovenia at the upcoming Pokljuka World Cup Biathlon in late January.

The US has announced that only 4 have automatically qualified for the next two races. U.S. women's : Clare Egan (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) Susan Dunklee (Barton, Vt.). U.S. men: Sean Doherty (Center Conway, N.H.) Leif Nordgren (Hinesburg, Vt.) The rest of the nominations for the opening World Cup events of 2020 will be determined by the International Team Selection Trials taking place Jan. 6-7, in Arber, Germany. At the conclusion of those trials, additional athletes will be named to the World Cups 4-5 as well as the teams competing at IBU Cups 4-7. Athletes competing at the International Team Selection Trials on the women's side are Emily Dreissigacker (Morrisville, Vt.), Joanne Reid (Grand Junction, Colo.), Hallie Grossman (South Burlington, Vt.), Kelsey Dickinson (Winthrop, Wash.), Maddie Phaneuf (Old Forge, N.Y.) and Deedra Irwin (Pulaski, Wis.). Competing in the men's trials will be Alex Howe (Gilford, N.H.), Jake Brown (Saint Paul, Minn.), Travis Cooper (Kenai, Alaska), Lars Hammernes Leopold (Truckee, Calif.), Paul Schommer (Appleton, Wis.), Max Durtschi (Ketchum, Idaho) and Raleigh Goessling (Duluth, Minn.). This has been a very disappointing season on the World Cup so far for the US. There have been good individual moments on the IBU Cup.

US announces their Jr Worlds squad. Female Junior World Championship Team Chloe Levins (Rutland, Vt./USBA Junior National Team) Ariana Woods (Bozeman, Mont./Crosscut Mountain Sports Center) Emma Stertz (Grand Rapids, Minn./College of Saint Scholastica) Female Youth World Championship Team Helen Wilson (Eagle River, Alaska/Anchorage Biathlon Club) Lina Farra (Heber City, Utah/Team Soldier Hollow) Kaisa Bosek (Alexandria, Minn./Minnesota Biathlon Wolfpack) Eva Weymuller (Winthrop, Wash./Methow Valley Biathlon) Male Junior World Championship Team Lars Hammernes Leopold (Truckee, Calif./Asker Ski Club) Garrett Beckrich (Grand Rapids, Minn./Mt. Itasca Biathlon/USBA Junior National Team) Vaclav Cervenka (Grand Rapids, Minn./U.S. National Guard/USBA Junior National Team) Eli Nielsen (Stehekin, Wash./Crosscut Biathlon) Male Youth World Championship Team Bjorn Westervelt (Stowe, Vt./Craftsbury Biathlon) Maxime Germain (Anchorage, Alaska/Anchorage Biathlon Club) Timothy Cobb (Westford, Vt./Ethan Allen Biathlon/Mansfield Nordic) Sam Stertz (Grand Rapids, Minn./Mt. Itasca Biathlon)

Great day of racing and amazing crowds!

Mixed relay is cancelled. Snow must have not recovered. Too bad that the weather was so poor.

This has been three races to forget from on individual standpoint for the US. I think between all 9 who have raced, they collectively has less than 20 points. A few decent results in relays, but not much. If a miracle happens and one of them wins the pursuit, very very unlikely, they might get into the mass start.

Baserga continues a great run of form and wins the pursuit with two misses.

29 teams as in the single mixed relay. 12 were lapped. Congrats to Belgium who finished 6th !

Do they have lights there?

Love seeing the two Swiss on the podium. Also loved to see some good shooting from lesser known athletes. Australia had one who went, 0-0, Latvia had one who went 1-0. Yes, ski speed was not as fast, but good for them.

Paul Schommer is in 2, and I am not sure anyone who is still on the course is fast enough. Andersen of Norway looks to be the sprint winner.

Glad for Doll. Do you think Germany needs to be relevant for Biathlon to be profitable? I am thinking TV, sponsors, etc. I love the finish, slight downhill. They can fly into the finish.

I did not realise Bo was going to miss all three. Wow, if wins, that would be amazing. The US switches Jake Brown and Travis Cooper between the IBU Cup and the World Cup.

Meinen had a chance at the win, but missed shot #20. Too bad.

And, as I posted that, she misses two more.

Once again, there are some late starters that should keep this interesting until the end. Skottheim is only 20 sec back, despite one muss after 2nd shooting.