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Published December 8, 2010Well, the first World Cup #1 week has come to completion. On the whole a terrible start for the Canadian Team. Fortunately, JP Leguellec had a great finish in the Sprint – 19th and then finished 13th in the Pursuit. It was incredibly unfortunate that it was only 1 out of 6 athletes on our team that qualified for the Pursuit. But if you are a biathlon follower, you will have noticed that biathlon is a complex sport with many aspects that need to be just right! I had a very bad and frozen to death, sprint race finishing 84th with 2 misses prone, 3 standing. It was an incredibly cold day… – 19.8*C with 85% humidity, and although I wore 2 thick layers of long underwear, I was an ice block when I crossed the finish line. Apparently, -20 in Sweden feels like -35 in Canmore… it was that devilish humidity!
So I was rather bitter on Sunday when it was my 28th birthday and I was “suppose” to be racing the Pursuit and instead had to watch it from the sidelines! I was not happy about that! Nevertheless, it was incredible to watch my Finnish friend Kaisa Mäkäräinen shoot 20/20 almost effortlessly and have an outstanding 1:23 min leading win. The weekend actually turned out to be a lot of fun as I had the chance to enjoy other aspects of life. My old teammate Sandra Keith came to Ostersund for the weekend and we were able to catch up over coffee, celebrate both of our birthdays, go for a ski together and spend the afternoon shopping and browsing at the Christmas market. It’s unfortunate I’m on the road away from home until the end of January because between clothes and wonderful Christmas decorations (like this wicked straw horse with a spikey mane – I’m telling you it was an awesome xmas decoration!) I could have purchased A LOT!
After a long travel day Monday, we made it to Austria and wow is it great to be here. Not saying Sweden is a bad place. But after the parasite outbreak in the water (successfully made it through without catching the bug), and the -20 and high humidity temperatures, I am very happy to have felt the heat of the sun and hot during training today. We will see what the weekend forecast brings. I have heard that it is to snow 70cm!
More to come as the week unfolds. I’m off to enjoy a wonderful cappucino. Auf Wiedersehen!
Media Release 15km
Published December 3, 2010December 2, 2010
Canadians Finish Mid-Field at Biathlon World Cup Season-Opener in Sweden
—Zina Kocher finishes mid-field to post top Canadian women’s result—
ÖSTERSUND, Swe.—Zina Kocher led Canada’s team of biathletes at the World Cup season-opener in Östersund, Sweden.
The Red Deer, Alta. native led a trio of Canadian women in Wednesday’s 15-kilometre individual start competition after finishing in the middle of the pack, finishing in 49th spot at 50:58.1.
“This was not the result I was hoping for, but it is only day one of competition and now at least the jitters are gone,” said Kocher, who is a two-time Olympian. “My engine hasn’t quite kicked in it seems, so hoping today will kick start it for the next few weeks. However, I focused my shooting on making it count and that seemed to work out well today with only three misses”
Shooting is more important in the individual competition, with its one-minute penalty, than the other disciplines which have a penalty loop of 150 metres – which takes about 25 to 30 seconds to ski. The individual is the longest in skiing distance of all biathlon competitions, and has four bouts of shooting. Men will start the individual by skiing four kilometres and then arrive at the shooting station, continuing the sequence until they have shot four times, with a four kilometre ski loop between bouts. Women will follow the same procedure, with slightly shorter ski loops for the 15 kilometre competition.
Sweden’s Anna Carin Zidek, the wife of Canadian wax technician Tom Zidek, shot clean to win the gold medal with a time of 45:26.1. Marie Laure Brunet, of France, locked up the silver at 45:35.0, while Sweden’s Helena Ekholm missed only two shots en route to claiming the bronze at 46:08.8.
Two other Canadian women also suited up for Canada. Rosanna Crawford, of Canmore, Alta., finished 69th at 52:30.8, while Megan Imrie, of Falcon Lake, Man., was 83rd (54:33.6).
Meanwhile, Jean-Philippe Le Guellec kicked off the season with a 57th place result. Le Guellec missed four shots en route to clocking a time of 1:01:02.3.
“Of course this race doesn’t come close to what I’m aiming for this season,” said Le Guellec. “I’m focused on more top-10 finishes, and ultimately getting closer to the podium. “I’m not disappointed though. The skis were fast and my shooting was alright. The goal is to peak for the World Championships so hopefully things will pick up.”
Norway grabbed the top two spots on the podium. Emil Hegle Svendsen captured the gold medal with a time of 55:07.7, while Ole Einar Bjoerndalen skied to the silver spot on the podium at 55:26.8. Martin Fourcade, of France, was third at 55:45.5.
Two other Canadian men also hit the start line. Brendan Green, of Hay River, N.W.T., was 65th (1:01:47.0), while Calgary’s Nathan Smith was 88th (1:05:27.4).
Canada’s biathlon squad will take aim on the worlds’ best during throughout the weekend in the men’s and women’s sprint and pursuit competitions. Live race action can be viewed atwww.biathlonworld.com.
Biathlon Canada, the governing body for biathlon in the country, oversees the Canadian Championships, Eastern and Western Canadian Championships, and the North American Cups held in Canada. The organization’s mandate is to provide national level programs for the continuous development of biathlon athletes from the grassroots to the elite level. For more information on Biathlon Canada, please visit their Web site at www.biathloncanada.ca.
Complete Results and Live Race Action Can Be Viewed at www.biathlonworld.com
Men’s Top-Five Results:
1.Emil Hegle Svendsen, NOR, (0+1+0+1), 55:07.7; 2. Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, NOR, (0+0+0+2), 55:26.8; 3. Martin Fourcade, FRA, (0+1+0+0), 55:45.5; 4. Tarjei Boe, NOR, (1+0+1+0), 56:08.5; 5. Tomasz Sikora, POL, (1+0+0+0), 56:15.0.
Canadian Results:
57. Jean-Philippe Le Guellec, Shannon, Que., (2+0+1+1), 1:01:02.3; 65. Brendan Green, Hay River, N.W.T., (1+1+2+1), 1:01:47.0; 88. Nathan Smith, Calgary, (2+1+1+3), 1:05:27.4.
Women Top-Five Results:
1. Anna Carin Zidek, SWE, (0+0+0+0), 45:26.1; 2. Marie Laure Brunet, FRA, (1+0+0+0), 45:35.0; 3. Helena Ekholm, SWE, 46:08.8; 4. Valj Semerenko, UKR, (0+1+0+1), 46:25.2; 5. Iana Romanova, RUS, (0+0+0+0), 46:35.9
Canadian Results:
49. Zina Kocher, Red Deer, Alta., (0+2+0+1), 50:58.1; 69. Rosanna Crawford, Canmore, Alta., (0+1+1+0), 52:30.8; 83. Megan Imrie, Falcon Lake, Man., (2+1+0+3), 54:33.6.
