Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics » Biathalon

Biathlon: Swedes enjoy Olympics boost

Bharath — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:35:28 +0000

Ruhpolding (AFP) – Sweden, led by world number one Helena Jonsson, on Friday won the last World Cup biathlon relay event to be staged before next month’s Olympic Winter Games.

Sweden clocked 1hr 17min 31sec with world and Olympic champions Russia in second spot, 16.7sec behind while Norway were third, 29.1sec off the pace.

Sweden, Russia, Germany and France are expected to be amongst the medals when the Olympic Winter Games take place in Vancouver from Feb 12-28

Biathlon: Bjorndalen looks to make history

Bharath — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:29:41 +0000

Berlin (AFP) – Norway’s Ole Einar Bjorndalen is set to underline his status as one of the history’s best biathletes if he can add to his five Olympic gold medals at the Vancouver Winter Games.

The 35-year-old won four golds at he 2002 Games in Salt Lake City to add to his first gold success in Nagano four years earlier, and he is amongst the favourites for the 20km individual race when the action starts in Whistler.

No other athlete has won more Olympic gold medals in the biathlon.

The defending World Cup champion won silver in the 20km Individual race at Salt Lake City when Germany’s Michael Greis snatched gold, but Bjorndalen is set to battle Russia’s Evgeny Ustyugov and compatriot Emil Hegle Svendsen.

Ustyugov and Svendsen have been in great form this season with Svendsen claiming both the sprint and mass start triumphs at Rupholding, Germany, last weekend ahead of his Russian rival Ustyugov.

In Whistler, as in the season-to-season World Cup, male and female biathletes will compete in five disciplines: Individual Start, Pursuit, Sprint Massed Start and Relay.

Over the shorter sprint distance, Germany’s Magdalena Neuner is a name to watch out for.

With pin-up looks, Neuner was the undisputed biathlon queen in the winter of 2007/08.

Two years ago, she won the World Cup and finished the season with six World Championship gold medals in her collection – three each from the 2007 and 2008 championships.

A back injury, and a sudden drop in accuracy, blighted the 22-year-old’s form last winter, but she seems to be hitting her stride in time for the Olympics.

Germany’s women, traditionally very strong on the biathlon circuit, have started the winter slowly leaving Sweden’s Helena Jonsson and Anna Carin Olofsson-Zidek to set the pace.

German stars like Neuner, Kati Wilhelm, Martina Beck and Simone Hauswald are all expected to contest the medals, but may have timed their bid for form too late.

Russia’s Ustyugov is one to watch in the event and is rivalling Bjorndalen’s domination of the sport.

The Russian has a reputation for excelling in the pursuit which sees the pack chasing the winner of the sprint event.

The biathletes start at intervals based on their sprint times with the winner going off first and Ustyugov is one of the world’s best.

One of the most colourful sights in biathlon is the frantic racing at the beginning of the Mass Start where the 30 best-ranked competitors begin in an arrow formation to avoid crashes.

Germany are expected to feature amongst the medals in both the mens and womens relay, while Norway’s men will lay down a challenge with both Svendsen and Bjorndalen in their ranks.

Biathlon: Vancouver 2010 ones to watch – Magdalena Neuner

Bharath — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 19:25:06 +0000

Vancouver (AFP) – Penpix of stars to watch at the February 12-28 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver:

Blonde pin-up Neuner was the darling of German sport in 2008 and although injuries have blighted her fairytale rise, she is coming back into form for Vancouver.

Having been voted Germany’s sportswoman of the year in 2007, Neuner became the queen of biathlon after just two World Cup seasons and had won six world titles by the time she finished celebrating her 21st birthday.

She won the overall World Cup title in 2008 and it seemed the biathlon world lay at her feet.

But after her successful winters of 2007 and 2008, the bubble burst in 2009 after a bout of flu while a bacterial infection has hampered her pre-season training.

She struggled at the 2009 world championships, but still came away with a silver after Germany finished second in the relay.

Despite her setbacks, Neuner still did enough to end the season fourth in the overall World Cup rankings and finished second in the sprint discipline.

Born in the German alpine region of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Neuner showed she was hitting form for Vancouver after winning the first 15km individual competition in Italy last week despite picking up three penalties on the shooting range.

The photogenic Neuner led a cleansweep for Germany in Antholz with teammate Kati Wilhelm second and Andrea Henkel third.

Her passions include knitting – making woolly hats is her speciality – and music – she plays the harp – with both hobbies inspired by family members.

But as a girl who knows how to handle a gun, she is also a licenced motorbike rider and regularly takes her father’s machine out for a spin.

Neuner will celebrate her 23rd birthday just days before the Olympic Winter Games start.