January 21, 2013 (New Gloucester, ME) – US Biathlon‘s  International Competition Committee is pleased to announce the 2013 World Championships Team.  Team USA will travel to Nove Mesto, Czech Republic for the IBU World Championships Biathlon, which opens with the mixed relay on February 7th.  A complete event schedule and links to the 2013 World Championships can be found HERE. Congratulations, and good luck Team USA.

2013 US Biathlon World Championships Team

Men
– Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY)
– Tim Burke (Paul Smits, NY)
– Russell Currier (Stockholm, ME)
– Leif Nordgren (Marine, MN)

Women
– Annelies Cook (Saranac Lake, NY)
– Hannah Dreissigacker ( Morrisville, VT)
– Susan Dunklee (Barton, VT)
– Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID)

2013 IBU World Championships Biathlon, Nove Mesto, CZE
– 07 Feb – 11:30 – Mixed 2×6+2×7.5 km Relay
– 09 Feb – 07:00 – Men 10 km Sprint
– 09 Feb – 10:15 – Women 7.5 km Sprint
– 10 Feb – 07:00 – Men 12.5 km Pursuit
– 10 Feb – 10:15 – Women 10 km Pursuit
– 13 Feb – 11:15 – Women 15 km Individual
– 14 Feb – 11:15 – Men 20 km Individual
– 15 Feb – 11:15 – Women 4×6 km Relay
– 16 Feb – 09:15 – Men 4×7.5 km Relay
– 17 Feb – 06:00 – Women 12.5 km Mass Start
– 17 Feb – 09:00 – Men 15 km Mass Start

December 18, 2012 (New Gloucester, ME) – The International Competition Committee of US Biathlon met today and would like to announce the women’s and men’s teams for World Cup 4 in Oberhof, GER, Jan. 1-6, and IBU Cup 4 in Otepää, EST, Jan. 4-6, 2013.

World Cup 4
Women:
– Susan Dunklee (Barton, VT)
– Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID)
– Annelies Cook (Saranac Lake, NY) – discretionary selection based on ranking as the 3rd women in WC points and second fastest ski times.

Men:
– Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY)
– Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY)
– Russell Currier (Stockholm, ME)
– Leif Nordgren (Marine, MN) – discretionary selection based on two top 60 WC finishes and fourth best skiing among the World Cup team members

IBU Cup 4
Women:
– Lanny Barnes (Durango, CO) – from World Cup qualification
– Tracy Barnes (Durango, CO) – from Nov/Dec IBU Cup qualification
– Hannah Dreissigacker (Craftsbury, Vermont) – IBU Cup trials winner
– Katrina Howe (Gilford, New Hampshire) – discretionary selection from IBU Cup trials*

Men:
– Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, AK) – from World Cup qualification
– Jeremy Teela (Heber City, UT)- from Nov/Dec IBU Cup qualification
– Bill Bowler (Wausau, Wisconsin) – IBU Cup trials winner
– Wynn Roberts (Battle Lake, MN) – discretionary selection from IBU Cup trials*

* Due to US Biathlon financial constraints participation by the additional athletes selected by discretion from the IBU Cup trials will be on a self-pay basis.

December 13, 2012 (Pokljuka, Slovenia) – US Biathlon’s Tim Burke (USA) placed just outside the medals in fourth spot for a superb performance shooting clean in the men’s 10km sprint at round 3 of the IBU World Cup in Pokljukain, SLO today. Local star Jakov Fak (SLO) took the win on home turf, besting rivals Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) and Martin Fourcade (FRA) to the delight of Slovenian fans.

“I am really happy with today’s result,” said Burke in a team release. “Of course it would have been nice to find a few more seconds to get onto the podium, but I really did everything I could out there today so I am very happy with that. I felt very solid on the shooting range today.

“I was able to execute the techniques that I have been working on in practice. I am still missing my top gear on the skis, but hopefully that will show up at World Championships in February. Now I am looking forward to Saturdays Pursuit. I will be starting only 15 seconds behind first place so everything is still possible!”

Fak posted a time of 24:41.7 and a spotless shooting record to nab the victory by a mere 0.8s over Svendsen, who suffered a penalty on the second round of shooting. Fourcade finished 6.1s behind after shooting clean in both rounds. Burke who also shot clean finished 15.2s back.

Scott Perras was the fastest Canuck on the day, sprinting into 34th place, with Lowell Bailey (USA) close behind in 36th. Other North American results include Scott Gow (CAN) in a tie for 50th, Jean Philippe LeGuellec (CAN) in 83rd, Russell Currier (USA) in 89th, and Jay Hakkinen (USA) in 92nd.

Results
1. Jakov Fak (SLO) 24:41.7
2. Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) 0.8
3. Martin Fourcade (FRA) 6.1

4. Tim Burke (USA) 15.2

Full results HERE.

March 01, 2012 (Rupholding, Germany) – The 2012 IBU World Championships open Mar. 1 in Ruhpolding, Germany with the 2×6+2×7.5 km Mixed Relay featuring a team of two women & two men. Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID), Susan Dunklee (Barton, VT), Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY) and Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY) will start for Team USA.

“The team arrived here in Ruhpolding on Monday after our final preparation in Ridaun, Italy. We think that we have done everything we can now, and everybody is looking forward to the start of the races ,” said US Biathlon Head Coach Per Nilsson. “The team has had an up-going trend in January and February, which we wanted due to the late date for the World Championships, so we know that we have a good capacity. The key is to continue to stay with the routine that every athlete has. They should just do the normal work and focus on things that they can impact. Then we will have some good results over the next 10 days.”

“The team really feels at home here in Ruhpolding. We’ve had several summer camps here, so it feels natural for them to be here,” said Bernd Eisenbichler, US Biathlon High Performance Director. “Everyone has done their work – the athletes, coaches, wax technicians, the physiotherapists – and now it’s time to go ahead and execute what we’ve been working on over the last year.”

The World Championships continue through March 11th. Ruhpolding has a 34 year history of hosting of World Cup and World Championship event. Ticket sales have reached 30,000 per day and the TV audience is expected to exceed 25 million viewers per competition.

Competition begins at 9:30 am (EST) Mar. 1 and will be webcast live HERE.
Please visit HERE for a link to the complete World Championship schedule and results.

2012 U.S. Biathlon IBU World Championship Team

Men
– Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY) – World Cup Ranking: 13th – two 5th place finishes
– Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY) – World Cup Ranking: 22nd – 6th & 8th place finishes
– Russell Currier (Stockholm, ME) – World Cup Ranking: 47th – two 6th place finishes
– Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, AK) – World Cup Ranking: 33rd – 9th & 14th place finishes
– Leif Nordgren (Marine, MN) – World Cup Ranking: 94th – 33rd & 48th place finishes

Women
– Lanny Barnes (Durango, CO) – 2nd & 4th place finishes in IBU Cup 7, Canmore
– Annelies Cook (Saranac Lake, NY) – World Cup Ranking: 76th – 33rd & 39th place finishes
– Susan Dunklee (Barton, VT) – World Cup Ranking: 48th – 17th & 27th place finishes
– Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID) – World Cup Ranking: 55th – 15th & 23rd place finishes

February 16, 2012 – Russell Currier, 24, a rising star on the US men’s biathlon squad, surprised even himself when he scored a career-best sixth place in the 10k sprint at the IBU Cup in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic last month – read more HERE. He then proved he could do it again when he matched his sixth place in Kontiolahti, Finland last weekend. It was an historic day for the entire US squad, with the team’s best showing ever in a World Cup. Lowell Bailey finished 5th, while Tim Burke placed 13th and Jay Hakkinen was 16th. SkiTrax caught up with Currier after his breakthrough results and here’s what he had to say:

The coaches and I had no idea what to expect out of the sprint race on Saturday. I came down with what I think was food poisoning the day before and wasn’t even sure if I should race. I didn’t feel 100% Saturday morning, but I was close, and with the way shooting and ski speed had been going lately, I made the call and decided to go for it.

I like the course profile in Kontiolahti. It’s very basic and has a good variety of climbs. The -15 Celsius weather wasn’t as fun. I’m not a fan of racing in a buff or with tape on the face, but I didn’t have much choice in the sprint race.

My shooting has felt good the past couple of weeks. Our coach and I worked on bringing my range times down a little bit. I was able to shave off a few seconds for the race on Saturday, which ended up making a huge difference.

Ski speed felt decent considering I had to duck out of the mixed relay the day before. I don’t know what food it was, but this is not the first time this has happened to me in Finland. I didn’t have anyone that I knew was fast around me. All I could do was break the course down into increments and do each one as best as I could. On the last loop, I only had a few splits. Hearing that I was in the top eight helped get me through the last flat section before the finish.

The whole race felt surreal. My goal was to get in the top 40. With the way I had been feeling the day before, I was just hoping to make the top 60 for a pursuit start. The whole day for the men’s team was a tremendous success. It was officially the best day the US men had ever had. I was honored to be able to say that I was part of it.

The pursuit was another good day for our team. I moved down to 23rd, but it was still a good race for me. Prone was decent with one in each stage. I would have liked to have shot a little better in standing, but I wasn’t the only one struggling with shooting that day. Pacing and tactics were much more professional in Sunday’s pursuit than the pursuit in Nove Mesto. My legs felt a little heavy and stiff so I was very surprised when I found out afterwords that I had the 10th fastest ski time.

The IBU Cup field is more competitive than ever. You could say the same thing about the WC field to, but the IBU field has taken the biggest increase the past couple of years. Biathlon is such an up and down sport it’s not always fair to compare results from day to day. I can finish a race and give a better analysis of how it went than the result list can. I’ve had a few mediocre days on the IBU and WCup circuit this season. The sprint race in Kontiolahti was just one of the very good days.

Both races this past weekend were a confidence boost for the athletes and staff. We’re not working any less hard or professionally than the Euros. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be up on the result list. The weekend was simply a good example of this and our organization as a team.

January 31, 2012 (Brezno-Osrblie, Slovakia) – Russia’s Alexey Volkov only missed one shot in the Men’s 12.5k Pursuit at the IBU Open European Championships that run Jan. 27-Feb. 2 in Slovakia to secure the win in a time of 31:48.0, +16.2 faster than second place, Serhiy Semenov (UKR). Daniel Bohm (GER) finished a further +2.3 back for the bronze medal. The top three only received one shooting penalty each.

The race within the race, however, was headlined by USA’s Leif Nordgren, who stormed from a 45th-place starting position to finish a phenomenal 21st, logging a time of 35:01.6 with only two shooting penalties. Team mate Russell Currier (USA) finished an impressive 24th despite a whopping five penalties. Mark Johnson (USA) finished 44th with two missed shots and a time of 37:39.9. No Canadian men competed.

Results HERE.