Tag Archive | "Ivan Tcherezov"

Germany’s Peiffer Wins Men’s Presque Isle IBU 10km Sprint

Tags: , , , ,


February 04, 2011 (Presque Isle, Maine) – Arnd Peiffer of Germany dominated the men’s 10km sprint this morning by shooting clean and skiing to a 25:28 victory over Martin Fourcade of France. Fourcade had one standing penalty that left him 15.9 seconds behind his German rival. Third went to Ivan Tcherezov of Russia, who also shot clean, but finished 36.6 seconds back.

First Win Since January 2010
Tarjei Boe (NOR) and Tcherezov were early starters and in the lead group until Fourcade at number 47 and Peiffer at number 54 started. It was easily discernable that these two would be battling for the lead after both shot clean in prone and were well ahead of the field. Fourcade had his chance to win the competition when he came to standing first. However he missed one shot and although skiing well, could only win if Peiffer who was skiing at about the same speed missed a standing shot.

That was not to be as Peiffer shot clean very fast and left the stadium with a 22.4-second bulge over Fourcade. Although Peiffer slowed a bit over the final loop, he crossed the finish line with his first victory since the Antholz sprint in January 2010. He was well aware of the battle for first place with Fourcade. “I knew that I had to hit every single shot; it was great pressure but it came out okay.”

Early in the season, the German men were struggling, but the recent success of Michael Greis and now Peiffer shows that the team is on the upswing. He commented, “We had two people in the top eight today – Christoph Stephan was 7th. We have a good relay after winning in Antholz and Oberhof. I think we are a better team than last year.”

Today was the fourth time that the Olympic silver medalist Fourcade finished in second place this season. “It is okay now, because I won in Antholz.”

Tcherezov is the top Russian man at this stage of the season. Like many of the athletes, he has struggled a bit with the long trip to Presque Isle, yet made the podium. “I am very pleased with my results. But my body says I should be sleeping, but I had to be out on the tracks today.”

US and Canadian athletes were well off the mark set by Peiffer, although several shot well, while being considerably slower on the tracks. Lowell Bailey of Lake Placid, NY finished 25th, with a single standing penalty, 1:49.9 back. Bailey was among a large group of men who shot clean in prone today, as the light breeze offered little challenge in that stage.

However, he missed a standing shot and then slowed down in the final loop. His teammate Jay Hakkinen of Kasilof, Alaska shot clean today but finished 28th, 1:57.8 back. That was Hakkinen’s best result this season and his best in over a year. He missed the early part of this season after a battle with mono in the fall. He missed a good amount of training in the late fall, but now is getting into better shape.

Canadian Brendan Green was the top Canuck in 34th place. Like Hakkinen, he shot clean, but was 2:11.9 back at the finish. Jean Philippe Le Guellec continued to struggle as he missed two prone shots but cleaned standing today. He finished 40th, 2:14.4 back, with teammate Nathan Smith, with one penalty, in 43rd, 2:20.4 back. All of the Canadian and US competitors except 70th place Zach Hall qualified for Sunday’s pursuit competitions

Fourth went to the Yellow/Red Bib-wearing Tarjei Boe of Norway, with one penalty, 45.9 seconds back. He finished 7.3 seconds ahead of Carl Johan Bergman of Sweden, who also had one penalty. Markus Windisch of Italy, also shooting clean finished in a personal best sixth place, 1:04 back.

Full results HERE.

Berger Scores at IBU Men’s 10km Sprint in Ruhpolding

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


January 14, 2011 (Ruhpolding, Germany) – Norway’s Lars Berger took no prisoners as he raced to victory Friday in the 10km Sprint at the IBU World Cup in Ruhpolding. Berger, who topped the podium for the first time since 2008, earned the third no-miss race of his career to finish with a time of 23:55.1.

“It is too bad that it does not happen so often, but I had a really good feeling in the 20K the other day,” Berger told Biathlonworld.com referring to the gap in his victories, “I felt very much in control today – I shot fast but felt secure.”

France’s star competitor, Martin Fourcade, claimed 2nd, posting the same result in Wednesday’s Individual 20km competition. The 22-year-old Frenchman also had a clean shooting day, finishing 21.7 seconds behind Berger. Ivan Tcherezov (RUS) grabbed the ninth bronze of his World Cup career with a no-miss performance that left him with a time of 24:18.9.

Canada’s Marc-Andre Bedard posted the top North American result with a 44th-place finish. The former Olympian shot clean for a time of 25:59.6 while team mate Brenden Green finished close behind, hitting 9 of 10 targets to finish 48th. Scott Perras took 54th place with two misses and a time of 26:21.5, and Jean-Phillipe Le Guellec missed a pair of targets in the final lap to finish 74th.

Lowell Bailey lead the US team again making 7 of his 10 shots to finish 50th, less than two minutes out of a podium spot. Tim Burke, a Lake Placid native who is still struggling to regain his form from last season, missed four shots and finished with a time of 26:22.6, putting him in 56th. Three-time Olympian Jeremy Teela took 58th place after hitting 7 of 10, and Leif Nordgren missed a pair of shots in each stage to finish 64th with a time of 26:34.5.

The conditions on Friday at Ruhpolding’s new arena were an improvement on Thursday’s rain trodden course, though the warm temperature hovered around 10˚C, making the course slow once again for the racers.

Full results HERE.

Results (brief)
1. Lars Berger, NOR (0+0) 23:55.1
2. Martin Fourcade, FRA (0+0) 24:16.8
3. Ivan Tcherezov, RUS (0+0) 24:18.9

44. Marc-Andre Bedard, CAN (0+0) 25:59.6
48. Brenden Green, CAN (0+1) 26:08.6
50. Lowell Bailey, USA (1+2) 26:09.6
54. Scott Perras, CAN (1+1) 26:21.5
56. Tim Burke, USA (1+3) 26:22.6
58. Jeremy Teela, USA (1+2) 26:29
64. Leif Nordgren, USA (2+2) 26:34.5
74. Jean-Phillipe LeGuellec, CAN (0+2) 27:00.9

Boe Takes IBU Men’s 15km Mass Start – Canada’s Le Guellec 20th

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


January 10, 2011 (Oberhof, Germany) – Canada’s Jean-Philippe Le Guellec followed up his 16th place effort in Friday’s sprint by placing 20th in the men’s 15km Mass Start on Sunday, the final event of IBU WCup round #4 in Oberhof, Germany, won by Norway’s Tarjei Boe.

Le Guellec, a two-time Olympian, had a day to remember in the shooting range, coming away with just one miss in four trips through the stadium. “That was one heck of a hard race. The conditions were super soft and the snow was wet in places,” said Le Guellec in a Biathlon Canada release, “I had nothing left in my legs, but it was a great day for shooting. I established a tactic in training yesterday that worked well today.”

Canadian teammate Brendan Green also followed up a strong sprint race with a 25th place effort on Sunday, finishing with a time of 42:11.1 after missing a pair of targets. No Americans qualified for the men’s mass start as only the top 30 skiers advanced from the previous races.

Norway placed two skiers on the podium with Boe scoring his fourth race of the season, and Emile Hegle Svedsen capturing second with 3 misses and a time of 35:55.4. Ivan Tcherezov of Russia rounded out the top three with a pair of misses on his way to finishing with a time of 39:55.4.

Boe, who also won this week’s sprint competition, helped to strengthen his grip on the yellow leader’s bib, awarded to the best biathlete in the world. The 23 year-old Norwegian showed poise on the final lap, after missing a shot in the last shooting stage of the day.

“Usually, you do not win a mass start with a penalty in the final stage. But I had a strategy going into that stage,” said Boe, according to the IBU report, “I knew I had to shoot fast, so that if I missed one I could get around the loop before the others. I missed the first shot and just went on. The last one took some mental strength, because I knew the victory depended on hitting it.”

Full results HERE.

Results (Brief)

1. Tarjei Boe, NOR (0+1+0+1) 39:51.3
2. Emile Hegle Svedsen, NOR (1+0+2+0) 39:53.7
3. Ivan Tcherezov, RUS (0+0+1+1) 39:55.4
4. Martin Fourcade, FRA (0+1+0+1) 40:05.6
5. Michael Greis, GER (1+0+1+1) 40:10.4

20. Jean-Philippe Le Guellec, CAN (0+0+0+1) 41:41.7
25. Brenden Green, CAN (0+1+1+0) 42:11.1