News: Winter 2007 - 2008

01 Feb 08 - WORLD & EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP SELECTION - Obertilliach

The GBR Selection Committee met into the small hours to finalise the teams for the forthcoming World Championships in Ostersund SWE 08 -17 Feb 08 and European Championships Nove Mesteo CZE 20 -25 Feb 08.

15 Dec 07 Poklujka SLO - ILLNESS HITS GBR RELAY HOPES

Marcel LAPONDER will have to wait a little longer to make his GBR debut as he has gone down with a virus and misses tomorrow's Relay. Fortunately Steve HILL is recovering fast, so GBR should still be able to field a team, thus allowing Si BURKE to make his WC debut. Fingers crossed!

But, whatever, you will need to get the result from the IBU Live Results as the BBU office is now closed until Wed 19 Dec.

There was a Poklujka "lucky dip" today in the Sprint as the wind was not at all favourable to the athletes, but Ole Einar BJOERNDALEN NOR (0-1), who else? coped, and was victorious in the Men's race where Lee JACKSON, with a 1-3 shoot could only finish 86th, albeit with an 18%. This gives him 93rd place on the IBU Points list which means he is not in the "Top 85" of athletes who automatically qualify for the next three World Cups. However after Nations' quotas are checked out, he could still be in the Top 85 of right; if not GBR will have a "wild card" start place in the next round of WC beginning in Oberhof GER on 03 Jan 08.

Men:  Result     Nations Cup   IBU Pts

Adele WALKER (0-3) was 84th today and finished the pre-season rankings in 113 place, with Emma FOWLER in 106. This also means that the GBR women will continue to have a "wild card" after Christmas.

Women:  Result     Nations Cup   IBU Pts

In a wonderful piece of self promotion for UK Sport, the Chair Sue Campbell, has announced "Mission 2012 and the Creation of Champions" .

It must be the time of year, because the announcement claims that the Government has doubled the UK Sport Budget after 2005 -  Mission 2012 claims to be "an approach which seeks to ensure that the sports in which we invest are on the right track by examining how they are doing in three dimensions: athlete performance; systems and leadership; and the overall ‘climate’ of the performance programme".

Note the words "in which we invest". As as been reported here before, they do not invest in Biathlon which still receives £ 0 (other than a few hundred Pounds to support attendance at IBU Congress!). We would love to be able to support the three dimensions - even the "overall climate", if we knew what that implied. Oh, and winter sports is mentioned in this announcement, or at least the dates 2014 and 2018 are; once!

As we say, it must be that time of year.

At long last the UK will have a NADO which is truly independent of UK Sport. This is a move that many NGBs have been pressing for many years, and which is fully supported by the BOA. It is promised that "more details on the new NADO will follow in the New Year, with it being fully operational well before 2012."

In truth UK Sport have been leaders in many procedural anti doping matters, but their role in anti doping as well as funding UK Sport (but not to biathlon!) has long been questioned

UK Sport Announcement     WADA & BOA Comment

Lee JACKSON (0-2-2-2) and Emma FOWLER (0-1-1-2) struggled in the high altitude and cold weather of the beautiful Slovenian venue of Poklujka today. There were surprise winners in both events after the long term leaders (Bjoerndalen and Neuner) missed 4, thus clear shots Emil Hegle Svendsen NOR in the men's race and Russia's Ekaterina Iourieva scored first career victories today.

We owe Emma an apology for originally listing her (below, 20 Nov) as a Cpl; she is of course a Sergeant!

Men:    Indiv   Women:   Indiv

Photos today from Poklujka of Emma & Jacko supplied by Archie Gemmell - many thanks!

Marcel LAPONDER from 35 Engr Regt has had a few months to remember. Granted a British Passport in August, the 29 year old South African born soldier has followed  this with selection for the World Cup Relay this Sunday in Poklujka, after just three European Cups. 

Almost as impressive is the late call up of 37 year old Si BURKE to replace Steve HILL who is ill and unable to race until after Christmas. BURKE who only made his international debut in the European Championships in February said "I know it is December, but it really is Christmas coming true!".

Ironically his mentor and friend "JC" McBride is now serving in South Africa, but we bet he finds a Eurosport TV somewhere to watch the Relay on Sunday at 10:00 GMT. (That's if the snooker which was shown on British Eurosport today instead of the Women's Sprint does not take priority!). The UK schedules show some more Live Biathlon this week, but there seem to be some gaps. All races will be shown LIVE on European Eurosport (which is still available via analogue satellite in the UK!)

Although there is still one Open European Cup event before Christmas (in Bansko BUL), the GBR athletes will not be competing and are staying in Obertilliach to train. Conditions are good and it is also an excellent chance to thoroughly get to know the courses before the British & Army Championships, which start there on 26 Jan 08.

Pete BEYER (28 Engr Regt) reinforced his claim for selection for the World Junior Championships, which means he would miss the British Champs, whilst Marcel LAPONDER (35 Engr Regt) led the way for the Senior Men. Amanda LIGHTFOOT (AGC) continued to impress in the Junior Women's competition.

Men:   Indiv   Sprint   OEC Pts    Junior Men:   Indiv   Sprint   OEC Pts

Women:   Sprint    OEC Pts    Junior Women:   Sprint   OEC Pts

Paul WHIBLEY (0-1) from 28 Engr Regt made a long awaited World Cup debut in the Relay at Hochfilzen on Sunday; it was probably one he would prefer to forget. As the snow thickened and the wind blew harder he set off in last place  and, sadly never looked like pulling it back. Lee JACKSON (0-0) came out of the first shoot in 8th place, only to hand over to Kevin KANE (0-0) in 20th. By the time Steve HILL (0-1),  started GBR was down to 22nd and Whibs stayed there.

After a great Sprint the week before, Lee JACKSON (1-1) finished outside the Pursuit starters in 85th, but his excellent percentage of 12.11% gives an indication of just how hard it is to keep in the Top 60. Emma FOWLER (1-2) was just a shade off the pace for an Olympic Qualifier at 20.14%.

Men Sprint    Men Relay    Women Sprint 

Just 800 days left until the Opening of the XXI Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

Will you be in Whistler (centre for Biathlon) as an athlete or supporter?!

Ole Einar BJOERNDALEN NOR (0-0) stormed the 72nd victory of his career in the opening Sprint, but for GBR the hero was Lee JACKSON (also 0-0) who finished  55th , just 9% behind and who will be the first British male to start in the Pursuit (tomorrow) since marc WALKER in 2005. Jacko also became the first British athlete to gain a BOA Olympic Qualifier in 2 season. Alas, this winter is does not count for Vancouver, but is the corner being turned?

Good shooting from Kevin KANE and Steve HILL helped GBR to jump 80 points ahead of Kazakhstan in the Nations Cup, thus holding on to last season's 22nd place.

Results   Pursuit

Sprint    Nations Cup after 2 events    IBU World Cup Points  for the NQS (The "Top 90")

Nothing spectacular at Torsby today where the GBR athletes learnt a bit more about the realities of back to back international racing in the first Pursuits of the season.

Results:  

Junior Women     Junior Women OEC Pts     Women    Women OEC Pts   

Junior Men   Junior Men OEC Pts   Men   Men OEC Pts

GBR's Emma FOWLER confirmed her No 1 slot in the GBR team when she finished 88th in the WC 1 Sprint  this afternoon. Shooting 0-1 she was under 15% behind the winner, but such is the quality of the field that although a few years ago this would have meant a top half of the field placing, she was only 88th. Under the new IBU WC Points System this gave her 19 points to add to the 11 from yesterday's Individual. Alas this puts her into 97th place, which means that she misses out on an automatic  start place for WC 2 & 3. However as Adele WALKER is also below the magic 90th position (currently lying in 104th place with 10 points), Emma will be the GBR "Wild Card" at next week's World Cup in Hochfilzen AUT.

IBU World Cup Points Women for the NQS (The "Top 90")

Our favourite German athlete Martina GLAGOW made it a double for Germany as she followed her victory in yesterday's 15 km Individual with a second victory today in the 10 km Sprint. She was just 0.3 secs ahead of team mate Kati WILHELM who was the same distance ahead of Tora BERGER NOR. With 5 athletes in the Top 9, the German women have struck a rich vein of form, but none so rich as Martina whose father Martin is once again the GBR wax technician. Emma FOWLER came 88th and Adele WALKER 101 for GBR.

Results   Nations Cup

3 Graduates from the National Development Squad and the British Biathlon Academy run by Gordon Seaton at East Grange Biathlon Centre made their international debut today in the 7.5 km Sprint in less than favourable snow conditions at OEC 2 in Torsby SWE.

Amanda LIGHTFOOT (1-2) came a very promising 31st in the Junior Women's race. This is only her second season on snow, and she is the first Junior female to represent GBR since Gillian SOWDEN in 2001.

Although Leah COXON (1-2) and Anna BARKER (1-3) filled the last two slots, their percentage behind the winner of 25% was better than average for a first race and amazingly they were only 90 seconds short of a World Cup Qualifier. Well done!

Results:  Junior Women   Women   IBU Points:  Junior Women   Women

Shooting a 0-1 in today's Sprint allowed Marcel LAPONDER to become the leading GBR male in the rather indifferent conditions at Torsby. He finished 60th, seven ahead of Si BURKE (0-2) as the pair of them recorded another World Cup Qualifier. Had Rob CHUDLEY not missed 5 he would almost certainly have joined the qualifiers, but he is edging ever closer.

Pete BEYER reverted to the Junior race and with a 0-3 finished 31st. Andy McCANN had a bit of a reality check on the range after his good shooting last week, as did Shane CLASH in the Senior race.

Results:  Junior Men   Men    IBU Points:  Junior Men   Men

Familiar names took the honours at the season's opening World Cup in Kontiolahti today. Triple Olympic Silver Medallist Martina GLAGOW GER shot clear to take the Women's 15 km and Olympic Pursuit Champion Vincent DEFRANSE FRA did the same in the Men's 20 km. The Russians look like they will give anyone a run for their money this season whilst the Chinese men have shot up the results list from 18th last year to 6th place in the Nation's Cup.

GBR kept their 22nd place as debutant Steve HILL missed only 3 targets in his first ever 20 km to finish 111, two ahead of Kevin KANE who had a disappointing final shoot.  Star of the show for GBR was Lee JACKSON (0-2-0-1) who put a mixed summer behind him to finish in 83rd out of the 120 starters.

Results   Nations Cup

The IBU has introduced a New Qualifying System (NQS) from the start of this season. It has certainly not met with universal approval and will be reviewed at the end of the Season, and at at the IBU Congress in Prague in Sep 08.

The original draft proposed in May 07 was, quite frankly, ridiculous and GBR led the way in protesting against it. The final version of Sep 07 is better, but not much. GBR proposed a number of further amendments and as a result of our efforts Nations that do not have a WC qualifier can race one "Wild Card" per race, and the number of start places in the EC has risen to 7.

The main points of the NQS are:

• After WC 1 the Top 90 athletes based on a new IBU Points system scored on the results of the Individual & Sprint will be qualified to race in WC 2 & 3.
• Any Nation with no athlete in the Top 90 will be entitled to race a "Wild Card".
• After WC 3 the Top 85 WC athletes based on IBU points remain on the WC start list for the next three WCs. The European Cup, re-named "Open European Cup" (OEC) will also have a points system and the top 8 athletes will be promoted to WC - subject to their Nation not having more athletes starting in WC than allowed by their quota. (This is based on the previous season's Nations Cup. GBR has a quota of 3 men and 2 women.) This means that an athlete in the "middle" of the OEC rankings could be promoted to WC, however the Wild Card remains.
• After WC 6 only the Top 80 athletes in the WC remain with a further 3 promoted from OEC, regardless of quota. The Wild Card remains.
• The best athletes will now start towards the end of the field in Group 3, which should make for far better viewing for both TV and the live audience at the venue.
• The NQS applies to both Men & Women

More detail appears in a News Release on the IBU website, but it has lost some clarity its translation from Norwegian to German to English!

There are also changes to the Olympic Qualifying System and the Nations Cup points in the season prior to a Games will no longer be the criteria for the number of athletes allowed per Nation. The total IBU points from all races (less Relay) at the two World Championships prior to the Olympic Winter Games will now be used. However although the Top 20 Nations will still receive 4 start places, this figure is cut to just one for Nations placed 21 - 25th and thereafter starts are allocated on "fill up basis".

There is still a "percentage" qualification criteria set by the IBU and IOC, so even if a Nation has a quota of 4 start places, they may only have 3 athletes qualified! All athletes in relays must be qualified as an individual. The BOA usually sets a far stricter qualifying standard than the IBU and IOC, and that will be discussed during the next 18 months.

In only his second GBR race as a Senior, Stephen HILL (0-1) recorded one of the best British results for some years on the European Cup circuit in second Sprint of the weekend at Geilo. Under 10% behind the winner he has been called up for the World Cup squad currently in Kontiolahti FIN where the first race of the season is the 20 km Individual on Thu 29 Nov. This event is LIVE on Eurosport at 09:30 GMT, as is the Women's 15 km at 12:30 GMT.

Shane CLASH returned to form to finish above Si BURKE for the first time this season. This leaves Rob CHUDLEY and Pete BEYER as non World Cup Qualified, with Pete missing qualification today by just a few seconds.

Results:   Senior Men   Junior Men    IBU Points:   Senior Men   Junior Men

Stephen HILL and, in his first ever race for GBR Marcel LAPONDER, scored a double hit by obtaining World Cup Qualifying Standards in the first European Cup race of the new season. To be accurate this competition is now called the "Open European Cup". It reflects a change in the IBU World Cup qualifying system, and we shall report more on this in a few days.

Pete BEYER made his Senior debut, although has the option of returning to the Juniors, and will be aiming to record the best ever GBR result in the World Junior Championships in Ruhpolding GER in January. Debutant Andy McCANN had a promising start to his International career. However, it could all change in the second sprint of the weekend tomorrow; it usually does!

Results:  Senior Men     Junior Men

Many congratulations go to Kevin KANE (40 Regt RA) who has been chosen as the BBU / BOA  "Athlete of the Year 2007". He follows Tom CLEMENS who won the inaugural Trophy in 2006.  Kevin was selected after making his World Cup debut in WC 1 last season, and then missing only one race in a most promising first season on the demanding World Cup circuit. He also competed in the World Championships in February.

This BOA award is given to each of the 35 Olympic sports and all recipients are invited to the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards on Sun 09 Dec. Kevin expects to be competing in the World Cup Relay at Hochfilzen on that day, so will probably have to make do with the video recording!

Lee JACKSON and Emma FOWLER were again victorious in the special GBR 15 & 12.5 km Individual races in Beitostølen today. Stepen HILL pushed Jacko all the way and there was another fine shoot by Paul WHIBLEY. Adele WALKER was just 4 seconds behind Emma, with both only missing a total of 4 targets.

Results:  Men & Women

19 Nov 07 - NEW PRESIDENT FOR WADA AND 4 YEAR BAN FOR DRUGS CHEATS

Former Australian finance minister John Fahey has been elected World Anti-Doping Agency president, taking over from Dick Pound at the end of the year.  More

A doubling of the current period of ban up to 4 years and other new anti doping measures will be introduced in the the next major re-issue of the WADA code on 01 Jan 09.  More

The GBR National Selection Races began today in Beitostølen NOR. Four women and 14 men started in the Sprint at the famous "Beitosprint" Races, and will compete again in a GBR only Individual race on Monday. Not surprisingly both races today were dominated by Norway's star athletes.

The two leading British athletes of last season, Lee JACKSON and Emma FOWLER maintained their Number One slots in today's races, but one swallow does not make a summer, even on snow, so there is a lot still to play for on Monday! Emma shot clear and was joined with a 0-0 by Paul WHIBLEY in the Men's race. The most impressive performance was by 20 year old Pete BEYER (1-0) who was the second GBR athlete home just over a minute behind Jackson.

Men's Result       Women's Result

Back to News Page