Biathlon can rightly be called the most popular sport. Many skiers pick up a gun. Only hockey can be the only competitor. As winter approaches, all fans are interested in the question of when the biathlon begins. A few years ago, the biathlon season began in the last week of November with three races for men and women, the first of which was individual, it is also classic.
The beginning of a new season
Now everything has changed a little, and the first race is a mixed relay, which opens the biathlon season. The relay takes place on Sunday, then the athletes have two days of rest, and on Wednesday individual races begin. In 2015, the season began on November 30 in the Swedish town of Ostersund, as always.
Everyone begins to talk about where the seventh and eighth stages will be held, when the biathlon begins. This time, the International Biathlon Union included two overseas stages in the World Cup program. The seventh stage was held in Canmore, Canada, and the eighth took place in Pres Isles, United States of America. Problems arose already at the first North American stage. Canadian experts could not make a normal broadcast of the competition.
Unexpected changes
If everyone got used to frequent changes of the seventh and eighth stages, since they change almost every year, then in recent years, spectators and organizers of the competitions have begun to get used to the fact that the second and third stages can also be transferred.
It often happened that either Pokljuka could not accept the race because of the weather, then the Austrian Hochfilzen refused the stage because of the “non-biathlon” weather. This did not happen last season. However, the trouble came, from where they did not wait. The sixth stage, which traditionally takes place in the German Oberhof, was moved to Ruhpolding. Thus, two consecutive World Cup stages were held in Bavaria.
The sixth stage was scheduled - in the Italian Antholz, and the final - in Khanty-Mansiysk, where for the umpteenth time the audience was the last to watch the biathlon 2015-2016. The World Cup began on February 29 and lasted until mid-March. The last race took place on March 13, 2016. Also, from February 22 to February 28, 20016, fans of this winter sport could watch the European Championship.
Overall fight
Competitions in women were again very stubborn. As in the 2014-2015 season, the gap between the first and second places was not very large. Gabriela Koukalova scored 1106 points, and Marie Doren-Aber - 43 points less. Why this sport is one of the best, once again showed biathlon 2015-2016. Marie Doren-Aber made an amazing return, as she became the world champion immediately after returning to the big sport after she gave birth to a baby.
Fourcade's next triumph
Everyone expects that when the biathlon begins, one of the athletes is trying to challenge Martin Fourcade. But once again this did not happen. The Frenchman was again head and shoulders stronger than all his rivals, which are difficult to call competitors. Another interesting French athlete also appeared - Cantin Fillon Mayet, who showed that biathlon is developing rapidly in France.
Fourcade once again went to the World Cup, which was ahead of his closest pursuer in the person of Johannes Be by more than 300 points, and Fillon Maye took the twelfth line in the overall standings. The representative of the Russian Federation Anton Shipulin was slightly behind the Norwegian . The fourth and fifth places went to two Simons: the German Shemp and the Austrian Eder, respectively.
Fourcade was able to win his fifth Big Globe in a row last season. In the 2016-2017 season, everything goes to the fact that the Frenchman will be able to win the sixth Globe. Prior to this, not a single biathlete in the entire history of the competition was able to achieve such an achievement.
By mid-January 2017, Fourcade had about 300 points in the overall standings from his main pursuers: Shipulin and Shemp. Six stages took place in the new season, there are still three stages and the World Cup, and the intrigue has already died.
World Cup preparation
When biathlon begins, all athletes and coaches begin to think about how to reach their peak form at the time of the World Cup. Someone misses the race, as Ole Einar Bjoerndalen does, others - even entire stages. Often, the disease makes adjustments to the preparatory process.
German athlete Laura Dahlmeier is one of the most talented and promising. However, the young German woman cannot fully concentrate on the fight in the World Cup due to the fact that she is susceptible to diseases, therefore she skips many races and stages, she does not count the points important for the fight in the overall standings. But this is biathlon. The season is long, so all coaching staff and the athletes themselves need to develop the right tactics and strategy in order to be in good shape in important races and to minimize losses in case of poor physical condition.
In the 2016/17 season, Dahlmeier also missed several races, however, before the World Cup, which begins on February 9, 2017 in Austria, she still remains the leader in the overall standings, but her advantage over Gabriela Koukalova and Kaisa Makaryaynen is not as big as Fourcade. Therefore, in women's competitions, the struggle is just beginning.