February 18, 2016 (Lillehammer, Norway) – The Youth Olympic Games continued in Lillehammer, Norway with strong results from Team USA in the cross-country Sprint, new Biathlon Single Mixed Relay and the cross-country 5/10km FR competitions.

Hannah Halvorsen was 6th in the 1.3k sprint CL at the Winter YOG Lillehammer © YIS IOC

Day 5 – February 16 – Cross Country Sprint CL

The second event of the Youth Olympic Winter Games was a 1.3k classic sprint where USA’s Hannah Halvorsen (Truckee, CA) and Hunter Wonders (Anchorage, AK) finished sixth and 15th, respectively.

“We had ideal conditions for a classic sprint, cold hard tracks and sunshine,” said coach Adam St. Pierre. “Hannah and Hunter both moved up from their qualification positions and had two very good results. We are looking forward to racing again on Thursday with the longer skate races.”

Winners of the Ladies' Cross-Country Cross Free Final 1st place Moa Lundgren SWE 2nd Place Johanna Hagstroem SWE and 3rd place Laura Chamiot Mitral FRA celebrate together at the Winter Youth Olympic Games, Lillehammer Norway, 13 February 2016. © YIS/IOC

In the women’s sprint, Sweden’s Johanna Hagstroem dominated the sprints all the way through to the finals. Hagstroem stole first from Russia’s Yuliya Petrova by just 2.40 seconds, followed by Norway’s Martine Engebretsen who finished third.

Halvorsen started out the day strong, qualifying 13th and advancing to the quarterfinals. After winning her quarterfinal heat, Halvorsen moved on to the semifinals and then advanced to the finals where she finished sixth overall. In the final heat, Halvorsen was up against the girls who qualified first, second, sixth, fifth and seventh which made for a very competitive heat.

“Today was a really fun race for a bunch of reasons,”  Halvorsen said. “Both Hunter and I had great races and family alongside the course to cheer us on. I appreciate all the hard work the coaches have put in for us and I am pumped to for our next race on Thursday!”

Winners of the Cross-Country Skiing Men's Sprint Classic 1st Thomas Helland Larsen NOR 2nd Magnus Kim KOR 3rd Vebjoern Hegdal NOR during the Winter Youth Olympic Games, Lillehammer Norway, 16 February 2016. © YIS/IOC

In the men’s sprint, Norway’s Thomas Larsen edged Korea’s Magnus Kim for first by 0.33 seconds followed by Norway’s Vebjoern Hegdal who finished third.

Wonders was able to advance to the quarterfinal heats after qualifying 29th. In the quarterfinal heats Wonders narrowly missed advancing to the semifinals after a photo finish against Czech Republic’s Adam Matous for second. Unfortunately, Matous lunged a little further, taking Wonders out from advancing to the semifinals.

Levi Nadlersmith racing in sprint qualifying at the 1.3k CL sprints at the YOG in Lillehammer © CCC

Canadians Annika Richardson and Levi Nadlersmith both finished 33rd in qualifying and therefore didn’t manage to advance to their respective quarter-finals. Neither athlete felt they were able to put in their best performances and are looking to improve their placings in Thursday’s skate event.

Annika Richardson at the YOG © CCC

Results

Women
1. Johanna Hagstroem (SWE)
2. Yuliya Petrova (RUS)
3. Martine Engebretsen (NOR)

6. Hannah Halvorsen (USA)
33. Annika Richardson (CAN)

Men
1. Thomas Larsen (NOR)
2. Magnus Kim (KOR)
3. Vebjoern Hegdal (NOR)

15. Hunter Wonders (USA)
33. Levi Nadlersmith (CAN)

Full women’s results here.
Full men’s results here.

Day 6 – February 17 – Biathlon Single Mixed Relay

The American duo of Vasek Cervenka (Grand Rapids, Minn.) and Chloe Levins (Rutland, Vt.) placed a strong sixth among the 27-team field in Wednesday’s single mixed relay at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer. Their time of 42 minutes and 29.2 seconds was just 53.8 seconds behind the time of gold medalist China.

Vasnek Cervenka (USA) in the mixed relay. © USST

The U.S. team used a combined eight spare rounds and had one penalty. Both Levins and Cervenka used four spare rounds apiece, with Cervenka drawing the lone penalty in the final standing stage. The U.S. team was in second place when Levins made the final exchange to Cervenka, but the lone penalty cost them any hopes of a place on the podium.

“Chloe and Vasek did a very disciplined relay,” said U.S. Coach Jean Paquet. “They were in the running for the podium until the last shooting where Vasek did a penalty. Otherwise that was a truly good relay as only the Swiss shot better than us. Both skied very well and we had good glide on the skis.”

The Chinese team of Fangqi Meng and Zhenyu Zhu took the gold medal with two penalties and three spares in 41:35.4. The silver medal went to the home team of Norway, with one penalty and 12 spares, just 0.3 seconds back. The Russian Federation, after a photo finish, got the bronze medal with a total of three penalties and 13 spare rounds, 14.9 seconds behind China. Russia edged out the team from France in the photo finish for third place.

“Today went great,” Cervenka said. “I could not be any more proud of my teammate Chloe. She did a phenomenal job on the range and on the skis today. Chloe and I both did very well on the range in the pursuit competition and our form carried on to the relay. I have never had so much fun in a race, honestly my best racing experience I have ever had. Thanks to my parents, coaches, teammates, and wax techs for tons of support and wicked fast skis.”

Levins seemed to have an equally fun time in the race.

“Vasek and I really enjoyed the race today,” she said. “We were both able to carry some momentum from our shooting performances in the pursuit into today’s competition. Really fast skis from Robert, our wax tech, and support from the coaches on course and on the range helped us race into contention. Biathlon is similar to golf in that the main goal is to try to be in contention coming into the last stage (or round). During that last stage (or round), however, whatever happens is unpredictable. Autopilot comes on, time takes over, and whatever happens is very difficult to control. I believe that we are both very satisfied with our performances today, learned a lot, and are really excited for the regular mixed relay on Sunday!”

“We had ideal conditions for a classic sprint, cold hard tracks and sunshine. Hannah and Hunter both moved up from their qualification positions and had two very good results. We are looking forward to racing again on Thursday with the longer skate races,” said Adam St. Pierre- Youth Olympic Games U.S. Coach.

Two of Canada’s rising stars in the sport of biathlon teamed up to finish 13th in the unique single mixed relay format on Wednesday in Lillehammer, Norway.

Calgary’s Ben Churchill, who was the Canadian flag bearer at the Opening Ceremonies, and Tekarra Banser clocked a combined time of 44 minutes, 58.4 seconds in the relay event.

“Competing in the single mixed relay was exhilarating to say the least. Starting in a mass start format with 26 other countries made it tougher to focus, but I was able to get into my zone,” said Banser. “Fighting to stay with the pack on the first lap was challenging. The corners were tight and the other athletes were just as aggressive as I was. I ran into a few obstacles throughout my portion of the race, although I kept fighting to the last second and left nothing in the tank.”

Banser handed off to the steady Churchill who has been strong all week – not to mention throughout the year – in domestic racing.

“This was an excellent opportunity for us to try and do some damage among the field in a new event,” said Churchill. “It was a lot of fun to try and pace myself well through both legs, stay warm in the interim, and keep my cool mentally no matter how Tekarra was doing.”

Biathlon competition at the Youth Olympic Games wraps up on Sunday with the mixed relay. NBC Sports is airing daily highlights of the Youth Olympic Games competition.

Single mixed relay results
1. China (Meng, Zhu) 41:35.4/2+3
2. Norway (Johansen, Bucher-Johannessen) 41:35.6
3. Russia (Ponedelko, Tutmin) 41:50.3

6. USA (Levins, Cervenka) 42:29.2
13. Canada (Banser, Churchill) 44:58.4

Full results for Lillehammer Youth Olympic Games HERE.

Day 7 – February 18 – Cross Country 5/10km FR

Today was the final day of racing for cross-country athletes at the Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. On the agenda were the 10 and 5k skate races.

There were larger crowds lining the course with temperatures around -5 deg. C. and the trails were hard packed.

Canada’s Richardson changed her mental focus a bit for today’s race and it paid off with a strong 16th place result. Richardson had been on the edge of the top 10 at the halfway point of the race.

Annika Richardson © CCC

The USA’s Hannah Halvorsen, who posted a sixth place in the classic sprints, finished 17th, just behind Richardson.

The race was won by Russian skier Maya Yakunina. Chunxue Chi of China had a good result for a country that continues to develop their ski program, with silver. China had grabbed gold in the biathlon relay earlier in the week. Finland took the bronze with Rebecca Imonen.

On the men’s side, the USA’s Hunter Wonders finished off his YOG experience was his best performance yet to finish a stellar eighth place, 1:43.5 behind the winner, Magnus Kim (KOR).

Canada’s Nadlersmith had what he considered to be his best result of the Games, after being hampered by the aftermath of a cold all week. Nadlersmith finished 28th. Silver went to Norway’s Vebjoern Hegdal and Ogor Fedotov of Russia claimed bronze.

Results

Women
1. Maya Yakunina (RUS)
2. Chunxue Chi (CHN)
3. Rebecca Imonen (FIN)

16. Annika Richardson (CAN)
17. Hannah Halvorsen (USA)

Men
1. Magnus Kim (KOR)
2. Vebjoern Hegdal (NOR)
3. Ogor Fedotov (RUS)

8. Hunter Wonders (USA)
28. Levi Nadlersmith (CAN)

Full women’s results here.
Full men’s results here.