Olympics Recap - Biathlon
The Olympic races at San Sicario, outside Torino, were expected to be dominated by the German men and women, with Ole Einar Bjorndalen (Norway) and Raphael Poiree (France) vying for their shares of the men's medals. Unfortunately for the Norwegian and Frenchman, the Germans were simply too strong from start to finish. The very first races, the individuals, confirmed the German squad's strength. Michael Greis committed only one error to take the men's gold by more than 16 second over Bjorndalen and more than a minute over Norwegian Halvard Hanevold. Greis' victory prematurely ended the possibility that Bjorndalen would sweep the golds as he had at 2002 in Salt Lake City. The women's indivdual was won handily by Svetlana Ishmouratava (Russia), who used good shooting to dispatch her countrywoman Olga Pyvleva and German Martina Glagow. Post-race testing revealed Pyleva to have used an illicit performance enhancing drug. She was thus stripped of her medal and banned from further competition. was awarded the silver, and Russian Albina Akhatova promoted to the bronze.
Luckily, this disqualification was - with the exception of some sordid goings-on at the Austrian team accommodations - the only doping event of the games. The next events, the sprints, saw the triumph an old campaigner and an unheralded Frenchwoman. Germany's Sven Fischer, racing gloveless as always, shot flawlessly and barely outskied Hanevold to take his first individual gold medal. Norwegian Frode Andresen stablized his uneven shooting to take the bronze. Poiree finished 9th, and Bjorndalen an astounding 12th. American Jay Hakkinen, hoping to medal in the sprint, missed all five targets in his first shoot and slid all the way to 80th. In the women's race, Florence Baverel-Robert capitalized on perfect shooting to eke out a two-second win over Sweden's Anna Carin Olofsson, who had been rounding into form as the Games approached. Unknown Ukrainian Lilia Efremova took third, 6.6 seconds back. Notably, the three female medalists all started late, avoiding the snowfall that slowed early starters.
Sprint finish orders always establish the pursuit start orders, with the winner of the sprint starting first and everyone else chasing. Neither Baverel-Robert and Fischer were unable to capitalize on their leads, but German Kati Wilhelm, the season's best female biathlete, stormed up from her 7th-place starting spot to take the women's pursuit, missing only one shot and skiing a minute faster than everyone else. Martina Glagow rose even further, from 17th to 2nd, and Albina Akhatova improved one spot to take the bronze. The men's pursuit was the best biathlon race of the game, if not the best competition of the Games. Halvard Hanevold, the leader for much of the race, destroyed his chance to win by missing three shots in the third shoot. Into the gap skied Vincent Defranse of France and Ole Einar Bjorndalen, using raw ski speed to recover from a bad starting spot (12th) and weak shooting. The two men headed out from the last shoot only 6.5 seconds apart. Bjorndalen caught Defranse quickly and led going into the final kilometer. On the tricky uphill right-hand hairpin to the finishing straight, Defranse stumbled and nearly fell, but then unbelievably recovered to catch and pass Bjorndalen with mere meters to the line.
Days later, the relays confirmed what the previous races had shown: that Norway was not in its best form, that Germany and Russia were immensely strong, and that France was an up-and-comer. Those three nations shared all the medals, with France dramatically taking both bronzes. In the men's relay, the crucial action happened on the second leg. After Jay Hakkinen led the pack into the stadium after the first leg, Germany's Michael Roesch took off like a greyhound, shooting without a miss and converting a 6.3-second deficit to advantages of 24.4 seconds over the inspired (but soon to fade) Italian team and 50.1 seconds over Russia. Uncharacteristically, third-leg skier Sven Fischer shot poorly - even using all his spare rounds and taking a penalty lap - and skied slowly, but still gave a 20-second lead to anchorman Michael Greis, who nailed all his targets and skied quickly for the win. Russia's Pavel Rostovtsev and Nikolay Kruglov shot and skied well, but could not quite make up the difference on their third and fourth legs, finishing twenty seconds down for the silver. In outshooting Raphael Poiree, though, Kruglov consigned the French anchorman to a sprint finish against Sweden's Carl Johan Bergman. The Swede seemed poised to surge past Poiree when, just a few meters before the finishing line, he caught a ski and fell - an unbelievable ending to the race.
In the women's relay, Russia dominated with flawless shooting (its third and fourth racers, Olga Zaitseva and Albina Akhatova, didn't even need to use their spare rounds to shoot clean) and fast skis, taking the gold by 50 seconds over Germany. Behind them, the French overcame a ridiculously bad lead leg to put anchorwoman Sandrine Bailly within a half-minute of Belarussian Olena Zubrilova. Both women shot well, even going clean on the last shoot, but Bailly's great ski speed allowed her to pass Zubrilova early in the final lap and zoom to the bronze.
The final event of the Games, the mass start, fittingly capped the German festival. After the thirty-starter field thinned, it became clear that the women's race would come down to a Swede and two Germans. In the third shoot, Anna Carin Olofsson exploited a missed shot by Kati Wilhelm to take a 24-second lead that she carried into the last session on the range. There, the Swede missed one shot and the German hit them all, narrowing the gap to about 10 seconds. Usually one of the fastest skiers, this time Wilhelm could not catch the inspired Olofsson, who took the win won by almost 20 seconds. Behind them both, the German veteran Uschi Diesel overcame three misses to win the bronze, her first-ever Olympic gold.
The men's mass start was even closer. So comfortable in the mad scramble of the mass-start event, Ole Einar Bjorndalen took control of the race early, skiing 20 seconds clear of his nearest chasers, Michael Greis (Germany) and Tomasz Sikora (Poland). But then the Biathlon King abdicated, missing one shot on the third shoot and two on the fourth and pemitting Greis and Sikora to relegate him to third. Sikora missed a shot on his final shoot, while Greis cleared, setting up a frenzied chase up and down the San Sicario hills. Clearly in command of all of his skills, Greis attacked again and again, and finally shook Sikora as they entered the stadium, taking his third gold of the games. Bjorndalen cut his deficit to the leading pair, but had to settle for third.
Greis's victory and the medals of Wilhelm and Disl brought Germany's total to an astounding eleven: 5 golds, 4 silvers, and 2 bronzes. In their shadow, a good number of nations also took medals, bespeaking the increasing diversity and quality of the biathlon competition. Norway collected six medals, but no golds, while Russia took 2 golds, 1 silver, and 2 bronzes. France took two surprising golds in the sprints and two bronzes in the relays. Poland and Ukraine each took one medal. With this hardware pocketed, the racers headed off to Pokljuka, Slovenia, for the rest of the World Cup - including tight races for most of the discipline and overall titles.
Luckily, this disqualification was - with the exception of some sordid goings-on at the Austrian team accommodations - the only doping event of the games. The next events, the sprints, saw the triumph an old campaigner and an unheralded Frenchwoman. Germany's Sven Fischer, racing gloveless as always, shot flawlessly and barely outskied Hanevold to take his first individual gold medal. Norwegian Frode Andresen stablized his uneven shooting to take the bronze. Poiree finished 9th, and Bjorndalen an astounding 12th. American Jay Hakkinen, hoping to medal in the sprint, missed all five targets in his first shoot and slid all the way to 80th. In the women's race, Florence Baverel-Robert capitalized on perfect shooting to eke out a two-second win over Sweden's Anna Carin Olofsson, who had been rounding into form as the Games approached. Unknown Ukrainian Lilia Efremova took third, 6.6 seconds back. Notably, the three female medalists all started late, avoiding the snowfall that slowed early starters.
Sprint finish orders always establish the pursuit start orders, with the winner of the sprint starting first and everyone else chasing. Neither Baverel-Robert and Fischer were unable to capitalize on their leads, but German Kati Wilhelm, the season's best female biathlete, stormed up from her 7th-place starting spot to take the women's pursuit, missing only one shot and skiing a minute faster than everyone else. Martina Glagow rose even further, from 17th to 2nd, and Albina Akhatova improved one spot to take the bronze. The men's pursuit was the best biathlon race of the game, if not the best competition of the Games. Halvard Hanevold, the leader for much of the race, destroyed his chance to win by missing three shots in the third shoot. Into the gap skied Vincent Defranse of France and Ole Einar Bjorndalen, using raw ski speed to recover from a bad starting spot (12th) and weak shooting. The two men headed out from the last shoot only 6.5 seconds apart. Bjorndalen caught Defranse quickly and led going into the final kilometer. On the tricky uphill right-hand hairpin to the finishing straight, Defranse stumbled and nearly fell, but then unbelievably recovered to catch and pass Bjorndalen with mere meters to the line.
Days later, the relays confirmed what the previous races had shown: that Norway was not in its best form, that Germany and Russia were immensely strong, and that France was an up-and-comer. Those three nations shared all the medals, with France dramatically taking both bronzes. In the men's relay, the crucial action happened on the second leg. After Jay Hakkinen led the pack into the stadium after the first leg, Germany's Michael Roesch took off like a greyhound, shooting without a miss and converting a 6.3-second deficit to advantages of 24.4 seconds over the inspired (but soon to fade) Italian team and 50.1 seconds over Russia. Uncharacteristically, third-leg skier Sven Fischer shot poorly - even using all his spare rounds and taking a penalty lap - and skied slowly, but still gave a 20-second lead to anchorman Michael Greis, who nailed all his targets and skied quickly for the win. Russia's Pavel Rostovtsev and Nikolay Kruglov shot and skied well, but could not quite make up the difference on their third and fourth legs, finishing twenty seconds down for the silver. In outshooting Raphael Poiree, though, Kruglov consigned the French anchorman to a sprint finish against Sweden's Carl Johan Bergman. The Swede seemed poised to surge past Poiree when, just a few meters before the finishing line, he caught a ski and fell - an unbelievable ending to the race.
In the women's relay, Russia dominated with flawless shooting (its third and fourth racers, Olga Zaitseva and Albina Akhatova, didn't even need to use their spare rounds to shoot clean) and fast skis, taking the gold by 50 seconds over Germany. Behind them, the French overcame a ridiculously bad lead leg to put anchorwoman Sandrine Bailly within a half-minute of Belarussian Olena Zubrilova. Both women shot well, even going clean on the last shoot, but Bailly's great ski speed allowed her to pass Zubrilova early in the final lap and zoom to the bronze.
The final event of the Games, the mass start, fittingly capped the German festival. After the thirty-starter field thinned, it became clear that the women's race would come down to a Swede and two Germans. In the third shoot, Anna Carin Olofsson exploited a missed shot by Kati Wilhelm to take a 24-second lead that she carried into the last session on the range. There, the Swede missed one shot and the German hit them all, narrowing the gap to about 10 seconds. Usually one of the fastest skiers, this time Wilhelm could not catch the inspired Olofsson, who took the win won by almost 20 seconds. Behind them both, the German veteran Uschi Diesel overcame three misses to win the bronze, her first-ever Olympic gold.
The men's mass start was even closer. So comfortable in the mad scramble of the mass-start event, Ole Einar Bjorndalen took control of the race early, skiing 20 seconds clear of his nearest chasers, Michael Greis (Germany) and Tomasz Sikora (Poland). But then the Biathlon King abdicated, missing one shot on the third shoot and two on the fourth and pemitting Greis and Sikora to relegate him to third. Sikora missed a shot on his final shoot, while Greis cleared, setting up a frenzied chase up and down the San Sicario hills. Clearly in command of all of his skills, Greis attacked again and again, and finally shook Sikora as they entered the stadium, taking his third gold of the games. Bjorndalen cut his deficit to the leading pair, but had to settle for third.
Greis's victory and the medals of Wilhelm and Disl brought Germany's total to an astounding eleven: 5 golds, 4 silvers, and 2 bronzes. In their shadow, a good number of nations also took medals, bespeaking the increasing diversity and quality of the biathlon competition. Norway collected six medals, but no golds, while Russia took 2 golds, 1 silver, and 2 bronzes. France took two surprising golds in the sprints and two bronzes in the relays. Poland and Ukraine each took one medal. With this hardware pocketed, the racers headed off to Pokljuka, Slovenia, for the rest of the World Cup - including tight races for most of the discipline and overall titles.
posted by Christopher Tassava at Wednesday, March 15, 2006
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