The 2006−07 Biathlon World Cup (BWC) is a multi race tournament over a season of biathlon. The season started on 29 November 2006 and will last until 18 March 2007. The World Cup is organised by the International Biathlon Union.
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Pre-season update on participants
editRetired after the previous season:
Katja Beer (GER)- Uschi Disl (GER)
Liv Grete Poirée (NOR)
Olena Zubrilova (BLR)
Changing surname due to marriage:
Nathalie Santer-Bjørndalen (BEL), nee Santer, married Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen in May 2006.- Linda Grubben (NOR), nee Tjørhom, married former head coach of the Norwegian men's team, Roger Grubben, in August 2006.
Olga Zaitseva (RUS), after marrying former summer biathlete Milan Augustin (SVK) in September 2006, planned to change her surname to his.[1]
Changing nation since the previous season:
- Alexei Aidarov changed his citizenship from Belarus to Ukraine; the change was deemed valid for World Cup purposes from January onwards, but not for the World Championships.[2]
- Nathalie Santer-Bjørndalen of Italy did not qualify for her country's team this season, but was able to participate for Belgium, the birth country of her mother.[3]
Passing over this season due to pregnancy: [4]
- Albina Akhatova (RUS)
Kateřina Holubcová (CZE)- Svetlana Ishmouratova (RUS)
- Olga Nazarova (BLR)
- Olga Zaitseva (RUS)
Planning to make this season their last:
- Nathalie Santer-Bjørndalen (BEL) [3]
Ludwig Gredler (AUT)- Ricco Groß (GER) [5]
Scores and leader bibs
edit- For the seventh successive season, the race victory gives 50 points, a 2nd place gives 46 pts, a 3rd place 43 pts, a 4th place 40 pts, a fifth place 37 pts, a 6th place 34 pts, then further decreasing by two pts down to the 15th place (16 pts), then linearly decreasing by one point down to the 30th place (see the Place/Points table on the page's upper right). Equal placings, i.e. same-time finishes (ties) give an equal number of points.
- The sum of all WC points of the season, minus the score from a predetermined number of events (say, 3) give the biathlete's accumulated WC score (naturally, the races chosen to be eliminated from the total will be those with the lowest scores). Biathletes with an equal number of accumulated points are ranked by number of victories, 2nd places, 3rd places, and so on, in practice reducing the possibility of ties to just about nil.
- In addition to the Total WC score as described above, the points from races in each separate single-biathlete format—Individual, Sprint, Pursuit, and Mass start—accumulate toward separate scores with associated "sub-Cups" to be won. See the main Biathlon article for a detailed description of the race formats.
- In any given race, the biathlete with the highest accumulated Total WC score before the race wears a yellow number bib. The leader of the specific race format wears a red bib. If the same biathlete leads both the Total and the specific format's World Cup, a combined yellow-and-red bib is worn. In the first races of the season, the winners of the previous season's Cups wear the associated bibs.
- There are also two multi-biathlete Cups to be won, namely the Relay and Nation Cups. The scores of the Relay races are awarded to each nation's team in the same manner as in the single-biathlete Cups. No leader bibs are worn during the Relays. For the Nation Cup, the combined scores of all the biathletes of each nation in the Individual and Sprint races, as well as the Relay scores, are accumulated.
WC meet results with intermediate Top 10 WC standings
editWC 1, Östersund, Sweden, 29 Nov–3 Dec
editIn the men's events, Ole Einar Bjørndalen won all three races, a week after beating the specialist cross-country skiers at a World Cup meet in Gällivare. Dmitri Iarochenko (men's sprint and pursuit), Irina Malgina, Liv Kjersti Eikeland and Zina Kocher (all women's individual) all entered the World Cup podium for the first time in their careers, with Kocher becoming the first Canadian to place on the podium in ten years. Neither of the three women impressed in the sprint and pursuit races, though, and Andrea Henkel led the women's Cup after three races, just ahead of sprint winner Magdalena Gwizdoń and pursuit winner Linda Grubben. In the men's overall standings, Michael Greis was second after two third places, while Iarochenko's two runner-up spots put him in second place.
Total WC standings at the end of WC 1
editStandings from the previous WC season shown in parentheses.
| Men | Women | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. (1.) |  Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) |
150 | 1. (7.) |  Andrea Henkel (GER) |
104 | |
| 2.(10.) | Michael Greis (GER) |
114 | 2.(35.) |  Magdalena Gwizdoń (POL) |
103 | |
| 3.(61.) |  Dmitri Iarochenko (RUS) |
112 | 3.(14.) | Linda Grubben (NOR) |
102 | |
| 4. (2.) |  Raphaël Poirée (FRA) |
101 | 4.(22.) | Tora Berger (NOR) |
96 | |
| 5.(15.) | Ivan Tcherezov (RUS) |
84 | 5. (1.) | Kati Wilhelm (GER) |
94 | |
| 6.(13.) | Maxim Tchoudov (RUS) |
78 | 6. (2.) |  Anna Carin Olofsson (SWE) |
81 | |
| 7.(21.) | Sergei Rozhkov (RUS) |
77 | 7. (3.) | Martina Glagow (GER) |
80 | |
| 8. (7.) | Halvard Hanevold (NOR) |
70 | 8. (4.) | Sandrine Bailly (FRA) |
79 | |
| 9.(25.) | Björn Ferry (SWE) |
70 | 9. (−) | Sabrina Buchholz (GER) |
68 | |
| 10.(3.) | Sven Fischer (GER) |
69 | 10.(−) | Tatiana Moiseeva (RUS) |
60 | |
WC 2, Hochfilzen, Austria, 8–10 Dec
editWorld Cup leaders Bjørndalen and Henkel were unbeaten in Friday's sprint and Saturday's pursuit races, both basing their victories on quick skiing and good shooting. Bjørndalen finished over two minutes ahead in the men's pursuit race, the largest win margin of the season, but did not take part in the relay as Norway finished fifth. In the sprint, Matthias Simmen became the first Swiss to reach the podium with third place, but he fell out of the podium in the pursuit, where Iarochenko rallied to his third second place in four races. He then helped Russia on their way to a relay victory ahead of Germany and France, while the Norwegian team without Bjørndalen finished fifth.
In the women's competition, Gwizdoń finished second behind Henkel in the sprint to remain in the lead in the sprint Cup, but fell down to fourth in the overall standings after a poor pursuit race. Linda Grubben advanced to second place in the overall standings after second place in the pursuit, and remained in the lead in the pursuit Cup, before taking Norway to third place in the relay on the final stage. Russia's Natalia Guseva beat Kati Wilhelm in the final sprint for the line, after 19-year-old Magdalena Neuner had missed four times on the standing shoot on the third leg of the relay.
Total WC standings at the end of WC 2
editIndividual biathletes:
Standings from the previous WC meet shown in brackets.
| Men | Women | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. (1.) | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) |
250 | 1. (1.) | Andrea Henkel (GER) |
204 | |
| 2. (3.) | Dmitri Iarochenko (RUS) |
192 | 2. (3.) | Linda Grubben (NOR) |
178 | |
| 3. (2.) | Michael Greis (GER) |
180 | 3. (5.) | Kati Wilhelm (GER) |
174 | |
| 4. (5.) | Ivan Tcherezov (RUS) |
164 | 4. (2.) | Magdalena Gwizdoń (POL) |
171 | |
| 5.(11.) |  Friedrich Pinter (AUT) |
141 | 5. (6.) | Anna Carin Olofsson (SWE) |
150 | |
| 6.(13.) | Andreas Birnbacher (GER) |
125 | 6. (7.) | Martina Glagow (GER) |
133 | |
| 7. (7.) | Sergei Rozhkov (RUS) |
118 | 7.(13.) |  Kong Yingchao (CHN) |
126 | |
| 8.(10.) | Sven Fischer (GER) |
117 | 8. (4.) | Tora Berger (NOR) |
117 | |
| 9. (9.) | Björn Ferry (SWE) |
111 | 9. (8.) | Sandrine Bailly (FRA) |
107 | |
| 10.(4.) | Raphaël Poirée (FRA) |
101 | 10.(16.) | Dong Xue (CHN) |
102 | |
Relay teams:
Standings from the previous WC season shown in brackets.
| Men | Women | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. (2.) | Russia |
50 | 1. (1.) | Russia |
50 | |
| 2. (1.) | Germany |
46 | 2. (2.) | Germany |
46 | |
| 3. (3.) | France |
43 | 3. (4.) | Norway |
43 | |
| 4. (6.) | Austria |
40 | 4.(20.) | Sweden |
40 | |
| 5. (4.) | Norway |
37 | 5. (3.) | France |
37 | |
WC 3, Osrblie, Slovakia (→Hochfilzen), 13–17 Dec
editThis WC meet was moved to Hochfilzen due to warm weather and lack of snow in Osrblie. For the same reason, the men's Individual competition was changed to a Sprint, which could be arranged on the smaller 3.3 km loop. Despite the move, all events were arranged by the Osrblie staff.
World Cup leader Ole Einar Bjørndalen did not take part, instead competing in the cross-country skiing World Cup, and lost his overall World Cup lead despite remaining unbeaten this season. Also absent was Linda Grubben, who before the WC 3 races was ranked no. 2 in the women's World Cup.
Dmitri Iarochenko also missed one of the sprint races with a fever, allowing Michael Greis to take second place after his win. Though he only finished ninth in the second sprint race, he took over the lead in the overall and sprint Cups. Both races were close, with Greis winning by 3.5 seconds in the first race before Raphaël Poirée won the second race by nine tenths of a second, taking his first victory of the season. In the relay, Halvard Hanevold of Norway beat Nikolay Kruglov of Russia on the final lap to take the victory for Norway, who had missed four more shots than the Russians.
In the women's events, Andrea Henkel extended her overall lead after first place in the individual and third place in the sprint, taking the lead in both distance cups as well. Anna-Carin Olofsson won the sprint by a 30-second margin, her first win of the season, while Oksana Khvostenko placed third, entering the podium for the first time in eight years. Despite having three skiers in the top four of the World Cup, Germany suffered three penalty loops in the relay through Katrin Apel, and finished fourth behind France, Russia and China.
Total WC standings at the end of WC 3
editIndividual biathletes:
Standings from the previous WC meet shown in brackets.
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Relay teams:
Standings from the previous WC meet shown in brackets.
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WC 4, Oberhof, Germany, 3–7 Jan
editAfter Christmas and the World Team Challenge in Veltins-Arena, the World Cup restarted with floodlighted relay events in Oberhof. Women's relay cup leaders Russia suffered four penalty loops and finished sixth in strong winds on Wednesday, allowing France to take the relay cup lead despite missing five of eight shots on the final shooting. In the men's event, Russia and Germany distanced the other teams by over a minute after two legs, with Russia winning out after better shooting to take an 11-point lead in the relay cup.
Sprint competitions were held on Friday and Saturday: the German women filled the podium for the first of four occasions this season, with 19-year-old Magdalena Neuner winning her first competition despite two missed shots. Sprint and overall cup leader Andrea Henkel finished second with one missed shot, and though she fell down to ninth place in the pursuit she remained with a 76-point lead in the overall cup. Linda Grubben took her second pursuit win of the season and had a 29-point lead in the pursuit Cup.
In the men's event, Nikolay Kruglov, ranked 15th before the race, won the sprint and pursuit events to take his first podium placings since the 2004–05 season. Dmitri Iarochenko and Maxim Tchoudov completed the all-Russian podium in the pursuit, and Iarochenko's second place allowed him to take the pursuit lead and World Cup second place from Ole Einar Bjørndalen, who was defeated for the first time this season with a 30th place in the sprint. Michael Greis remained in the lead of the sprint and overall cups after his second place in the sprint race.
Total WC standings at the end of WC 4
editIndividual biathletes:
Standings from the previous WC meet shown in brackets.
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Relay teams:
Standings from the previous WC meet shown in brackets.
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WC 5, Ruhpolding, Germany, 10–14 Jan
editMany German biathletes were down with a cold; World Cup leaders Henkel and Greis, as well as last season's Mass start Cup winner Martina Glagow, missed the first two races due to this, allowing Anna Carin Olofsson to take the leader's bib in the women's competition. Sven Fischer was out with a bruised rib.[6]
Like in Oberhof, the meet started with relays on Wednesday and Thursday. Russia won their second women's relay to go level with France in the relay cup standings, after shooting one miss, while Ole Einar Bjørndalen took Norway to a win in the men's relay to advance to second in the men's standings despite trailing after the final shoot. It was to be a good weekend for the Norwegian biathletes. On Saturday, Bjørndalen, Halvard Hanevold and Emil Hegle Svendsen repeated the Russians' feat from Oberhof by finishing first, second and third in the sprint, and Bjørndalen took over the Overall Cup lead. Bjørndalen then finished ahead of Svendsen and Christoph Sumann in the first mass start of the season, making five of the six podium places of the weekend Norwegian.
In the women's events, Anna Carin Olofsson enjoyed her best weekend of the season, winning the mass start despite four misses of 20 shots after beating Kati Wilhelm by 20 seconds in the final lap, and finishing second to Sandrine Bailly in the sprint. Bailly took her only World Cup victory of the season, advancing from sixth to fifth due to Glagow's illness, while Henkel, Wilhelm and Grubben were all within one win of Olofsson.
Total WC standings at the end of WC 5
editIndividual biathletes:
Standings from the previous WC meet shown in brackets.
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Relay teams:
Standings from the previous WC meet shown in brackets.
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WC 6, Pokljuka, Slovenia, 17–21 Jan
editNo Asian nations were present at the meet, with the 2007 Asian Winter Games starting in Changchun the following weekend. Overall WC leader after WC 5, Ole Einar Bjørndalen, spent the week at home in South Tirol, practicing for the upcoming World Championships, and though Michael Greis did not place in the top ten in any of the races, he passed Bjørndalen by 10 points in the overall men's standings.
A number of athletes made it onto the podium for the first time of the season. Tatiana Moiseeva, Alexander Wolf, Natalya Sokolova, Vincent Defrasne and Tadeja Brankovič had all failed to place on the podium before, but now took nine of eighteen podium places.
Sprints began the competition programme on Wednesday and Thursday, with Anna Carin Olofsson taking over the sprint cup after winning the women's race, her third win of the season. Tatiana Moiseeva entered the podium for the first time of her career, and followed it up with a second place in the pursuit. However, Kati Wilhelm was dominant in that race, winning by nearly a minute after only one miss, and reducing the distance to Olofsson in the overall cup to nine points. In the men's sprint, Alexander Wolf took his third victory after faultless shooting, improving his shooting average of 73 % before the Pokljuka meet. Wolf also finished second to Christoph Sumann in Saturday's pursuit, as Sumann took his first World Cup win in five seasons, and Vincent Defrasne also made it to the podium for the first time of the season. He repeated the success the following day, taking second place in the mass start behind Sumann, who took over the lead in the mass start Cup.
Total WC standings at the end of WC 6
editIndividual biathletes:
Standings from the previous WC meet shown in brackets.
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World Championships, Antholz, Italy, 3–11 Feb
editAs usual in biathlon, the World Championship races counted in the World Cup; regular scores were awarded and added to the Total and format-wise rankings.
No teams from Asian nations took part during the opening weekend, since they had participated in the Asian Winter Games as recently as the friday before; the biathletes had to travel the more than 8000 km to Italy and then acclimatise themselves before being able to compete in Antholz.
Ole Einar Bjørndalen began the championships well by winning sprint and pursuit events during the first weekend, taking over the lead in the overall cup from Greis again. Andriy Deryzemlya won Ukraine's first ever medal in men's World Championships after taking bronze in the sprint, Deryzemlya's only top-nine placing all season. Silver medallist Michal Šlesingr became the fourth biathlete representing the Czech Republic to win a World Championships medal, but failed in the final lap to finish fourth in the pursuit. In the pursuit, Maxim Tchoudov and Vincent Defrasne rallied to take their first World Championships medals, after starting more than a minute behind Bjørndalen and outside the top ten after the sprint.
In the women's events, Magdalena Neuner took two gold medals in her first two appearances at the World Championships. Despite missing two shots in the sprint, she shot quicker than Anna Carin Olofsson to pip the sprint Cup leader to the gold medal by two seconds, and stayed in the lead throughout the pursuit despite four misses. Linda Grubben advanced from 18th place to silver medal in the pursuit, and led that cup with three events to go, but after the mass start Grubben announced her retirement and effectively forfeited her chances to win the pursuit cup.
The individual and mixed relay events were held in midweek. Raphaël Poirée, who had picked up eighth and sixth place in the sprint and pursuit, now shot 20 targets to win the individual event for men for his eighth World Championship gold, despite Greis and Šlesingr both skiing more than a minute quicker. Linda Grubben won the women's event the following day, as Olofsson was the fastest once again but missed four times. However, Olofsson did get a gold medal the following day, as Sweden won the only mixed relay of the season despite 13 misses.
Relays and mass starts were held on the weekend. It was to be Germany's weekend; they took seven of a possible eight medals, with only Raphaël Poirée sneaking in for bronze in the men's mass start. Andrea Henkel, Martina Glagow and Kati Wilhelm won the medals in the women's mass start then the gold in the relay, ahead of France who thus just won the relay cup, while the men's team had to settle for bronze after Bjørndalen outshot Greis on the final shooting. Both teams finished over a minute behind Russia, who only used one extra shot, and won the relay cup.
Bjørndalen and Greis were tied in the overall men's standings after this event, but Bjørndalen would skip the Lahti meet to participate in the World Nordic Ski Championships. In the women's cup, Olofsson still led Wilhelm by 20 points.
Total WC standings at the end of the BWCH
editIndividual biathletes:
Standings from the previous WC meet shown in brackets.
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(* Linda Grubben's final score, as she retired immediately after the World Championships.)
Relay teams:
Final standings. Standings from the previous WC meet shown in brackets.
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- ^ Olga Zaitseva – Russian biathlete marries Slovakian, biathlonworld.com, by Ivor Lehotan, IBU, 17 October 2006
- ^ Aidarov nun für die Ukraine (in German), Biathlon-Online, by Petra Adámková, czech-biathlon.com, 15 October 2006
- ^ a b Chatlog: Nathalie Santer-Bjoerndalen, biathlonworld.com, by Tom Klein (ed.), ZDF digital productions, 4 January 2007
- ^ Von Babys und Schwangeren... (in German), Biathlon-Online, 4 January 2007
- ^ Hitzer und Groß mit neuem Web-Auftritt (in German), Biathlon-Online, 11 January 2007
- ^ Fischer und Greis pausieren (in German), ARD sport, 10 January 2007