Madshus racers shine in both the short and the long runs, bagging hardware and podiums both at the U23 World Championships and the IBU Biathlon World Cup.
At the U23 World Championships in Alamaty, Kazakhstan, Madshus cross-country skier Barbro Kvaale (NOR) sweeps up the medals. On Thursday, Kvaale earned the gold medal in the women’s 10km freestyle event, and continued with silver in the 7.5km+7.5km skiathlon on Saturday.
Kvaale also placed 7th in the opening classic sprint on Tuesday.
Straight to the Podium on First Attempt
Madshus biathlete Marte Olsbu helped Norway to second place in the first-ever single mixed relay World Cup this weekend.
The single mixed relay brings a new dimension to the sport for both the teams and fans.
“We wanted to present one more team event where nations with only one good male and female athlete could have a strong chance for top rankings,” said Borut Nunar, who is the IBU World Cup Race Director.
A team consists of a woman and a man, with the woman skiing 6K and the man skiing 7.5K.
“This is an attractive, short biathlon competition, with short loops and each athlete shooting four times,” Nunar said.
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The format for the new relay competition is as follows:
Each team competing in the single mixed relay is comprised of one woman and one man.
The woman starts and after shooting both prone and standing tags off to the man in a hand-over area located just after the penalty loop. The male competitor then shoots both prone and standing and tags off to the same woman again. Each competitor on the team completes four bouts of shooting and the associated ski loops.
After the final bout of shooting by the male competitor he skis the 1.5 km course and goes to the finish.
Lapped competitors will be stopped when they pass the penalty loop timing point after being lapped. The penalty loop for this competition is 75 meters in length. All other rules and procedures for relays apply to the single mixed relay.
Pre-Worlds next
The IBU World Cup now moves to Holmenkollen (NOR) for the next World Cup round. This event also serves as the Pre-World Championships, as Holmenkollen is hosting the 2016 IBU World Championships next year.
Madshus biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen (NOR) is sitting out this week’s races in favor of training at altitude, which is a step to prepare for the 2015 IBU World Championships in Kontiolahti (FIN) on March 3-15. Both Bjoerndalen and fellow Madshus biathlete Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) are preselected for the Norwegian National team squad racing at the IBU World Championships in Finland.