RobtheAggie

Interesting quote from IBU President - "We are the International Biathlon Union, so we have to look at how we can become a worldwide sport," he said. "We are currently very Europe-focused. The Olympics are in China and we need to look at how we can take advantage of this. We are already discussing with the Chinese biathlon federation how to have long-term development in China. We need to look at development across Asia and North America. We need to take this a step further and develop a strategy on this." I would love to see a dedicated IBU CUP series in Asia and North America. Not to replace the IBU CUP, but on the next level down. I know in NA there is already a series, like in Russia and Norway. Elevate the NORAM series into a formal IBU series. Give it more visibility. Start something in Asia with a race in the following venues: Korea - Pyongchang Japan - Nagano China - Zhangjiakou Kazahkistan - NZ and Australia could host as well, just in the opposite season. Give it visibility on the IBU website. Visibility is the key. I would love if the IBU Calendar would show much more than simply the World Cup, IBU Cup, and Youth/Junior and the Euro Championship. I would love to at least see a small write up/results about the 3rd tier of the sport. But I have always been a sucker for the little guy.

Ole is back in the news after an interview with Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

Ukrainian biathlete Maria Kruchova has retired from the team. She married Alexander Loginov

That is too bad. To they really have a better shot with cross country over biathlon?

Interesting news here: Anton Shipulin has announced that he was offered illegal stimulants. According to him, he turned it down. Ekaterina Ivanovna Glazyrina supposedly owes the IBU money from events that she won money in, but was DQ for them. She has not returned the money yet.

Henrik L'Abee-Lund has announced his retirement at the age of 33.

OK, so now this source is talking about Anders Byström as the new Sweden manager. He previously was skidskyttelandslagets, I have no idea what that is, but it sounds cool.

Martin Foucade is hosting a Nordic Festival in Annecy - seems to be gathering some big names. Scheduled to compete are - Johannes Thingnes Bø, Benedikt Doll, Quentin Fillon-Maillet, Dorothea Wierer and Finland's Kaisa Mäkäräinen. Lucas Yokhannes is the new coach of Sweden IBU Calendar is out including start times for races.

Pretty nice and funny description of what Biathlon is.

Yulia Dzhima has announced that she had isues with Mono through the season. That might explain her results in the latter part of the season.

US Biathlon already announced their levels for the 2019-2020 seasons Women: Clare Egan Susan Dunklee Joanne Reid Emily Dressigacker Men: Sean Doherty Leif Nordgren Jake Brown B Team - IBU Cup Travis Cooper Max Durtschi Alex Howe Paul Schoomer Hallie Grossman Deedra Irwin Chloe Levins No real surprises. I do like seeing Levins on the IBU circuit.

That is why I love this website. All sorts of info! Do many nations outside of South America show up, I guess do some nations use it to prep for the winter?

I thought this might be a good idea to contain all of the discussions between the seasons here. Russia is looking at their cross-country ski team to see if anyone wants to try biathlon. The article I read was specific about the German women's team as an example. An idea. What about a South American Championship in July? It would give teams a chance to get on snow and check their progress. Have it about three weeks prior to the roller ski championship.

I did not know about that blog, real fun read. A few personnel changes Canada is looking for a new head coach and Operations Coordinator as longtime coach Matthias Ahrens of 14 years, has left. Finland is looking to fill the role of Head of Service - more details here. Anyone want to apply simply to say that you applied for a job in Finland in biathlon?

So i came across this in discussion about the 2026 Olympic bid for Italy. It is talking about the bobsled/luge/skeleton track in Cortina, but there was this nugget: “We are very clear that there are enough tracks around the globe, and the two federations are very clear as well,” IOC Executive Director Christophe Dubi said at a stop in the South Tyrol community of Rasen-Antholz Tuesday, where he was inspecting the new biathlon venue." Are they looking to build a new course in Antholz? EDIT:: Looks like they were visiting Antholz to see the new stadium being built for the World Championships next season, not a new course.

One more, Ukraine and their coach have parted ways. They have expressed a desire to have a more "Ukrainian coach" instead of the Russian one they had.

And Simon Fourcade is coming back...at least he announced it here But it was only a April fools joke. See this one. US National - Susan Dunklee won 3 gold medals, Sean Doherty won 2.

It would make four, but Peru is not listed on the IBU list. Hmm, neither is Mexico.

A few more interesting tidbits of information: US is rebuilding the biathlon and nordic skiing facility in Lake Placid, along with hiring recently retired Tim Burke and Lowell Bailey to help with the National Teams. In addition the most interesting piece from this article was this tidbit - "the sport’s global leaders are warming up to the idea of a World Cup mini-tour that might include Lake Placid, Utah and Canmore, Alberta." Claire Egan is not going to retire. She was so frustrated after the last Olympics, that she almost retired and eventually agreed to one additional season. She has now decided to come back for more. And one buried in this article about Biathlon in Montana - Head Coach Rob Rosser served 21 years in the army and was an Olympian in the biathlon in 1998. Olympic coach Andy Liebner, a veteran based out of Michigan who coaches Mexico and Peru’s biathletes, also helps with the training. Who knew that Peru had a biathlon team. I had guessed that Mexico did, but Peru, that makes two is South America! EDIT - Actually there are quite a few countries that have a biathlon federation - see this list. https://www.biathlonworld.com/about-ibu/member-federations/

Soo lots of interesting discussion points in the press. I did not know it, but India held their Biathlon national championships! That would be great to see them on the IBU Cup. Russuan Anti-Doping Agency has reported that there were only 16 cases of suspected doping for 2018, whereas 57 from 2017. Valentina and Vita Semerenko will be back for at lest one more year. It seems like there was serious tension this year with the team. Krasimir Anev talks to the Bulgarian press - does not like the future of the sport from his country. Laura Dahlmeier is weighting on retiring or not. She gave an interview with ARD radio where she said she will decide in the next month or so.

I think that both Doherty and Egan next season can be top 20. Dunklee could, if she regains some consistency, top 30 is more likely. As stated above, better than expected on the women's side, about what was expected on the men's side.

From an American perspective the growth of Clair Egan and Joanna Reid were great surprises. Susan Dunklee had a very inconsistent season. By finishing 13th in the Nations Cup, they will be able to have 4 in each race, this should help. Now there is some good younger athletes, but I doubt that Dunklee and Egan will still be racing when they get to the IBU World Cup. On the men's side, the retirement of Lowell Bailey and Tim Burke were always going to cause a massive drop off. They dropped from 13th to 15th in the Nations Cup, but they missed the two athletes who is they shot well, had the ski speed to both be in the top 10. Sean Doherty finished in 25th overall, with Nordgren in 57th. Doherty finished the season with some good results, possibly a sign of his potential and realty getting closer. Jake Brown did ok, Max Durtschi as well. For the team to improve, Doherty needs to become a top 20 athlete, Nordgren top 40, and two more need to develop into legitimate contenders for top 60.

Last week of the season, Sprint, Pursuit and Mass Start. The Women's overall is up for grabs, the most interesting race of the weekend. I also wonder how many of the top names will take the week off. I would expect all of the Norwegians to compete.

Mass Start 60 Highlights - That is a lot of people, it looks like the flow is not too bad though.

Three great jobs by the US Women, then the let down. Reid, Egan have both shot well over the past week. 9th place with 2 penalty loops. Top 10, so I should be happy right? The men finish in 19th only a few seconds ahead of Lithuania. 2+12 is not going to do a lot.