THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE INTERNATIONAL BIATHLON ...

IBU EVENTS IBU VERANSTALTUNGENMany Goodbyes afterthe Olympic SeasonViele Abschiede nachder Olympiasaisonathletes and officials from other nations; and at the finishline there seemed to be more tears flowing than champagne.It was Magdalena Neuner who was the one celebratinghaving scored 933 points to win the Women’s Overall WorldCup for the second time after 2008. A furious final third tothe World Cup season and the most successful phase ofher career allowed Simone Hauswald to score 854 pointsand finish second. She had attributed her extraordinaryhat-trick of victories in Oslo to finding the harmony of body,mind and soul and bids the biathlon circuit farewell at thepinnacle of her career. She had ended the 2008-2009 seasonin ninth place. The winner of last year’s Women’s OverallWorld Cup, Helena Jonsson, completed the podium.The Men’s Mass Start competition saw the veteran HalvardHanevold put on a performance similar that of Baillyand end an impressive career with astounding final lapthat had spectator’s on the edge of their seats and sawe.on Ruhrgas IBU World Cup Biathlonhim storm from fifth to thirdthus securing the final placeon the podium. DominikLandertinger from Austriasecured his first World Cupvictory after the 2009 WCHgold medal in Pyeongchang,his greatest feat to date.Arnd Peiffer added anotherpodium finish to his WorldCup season with a positivesecond place finish on theday and third place in thefinal standings of the MassStart World Cup, only twopoints behind second-placedEmil Hegle Svendsen. Thecrystal globe in this disciplinewent to Olympic goldmedalist Evgeny Ustygovfrom Russia.Emil Hegle Svendsenscored 828 to take the Men’sOverall World Cup, aftertwice finishing third in 2008 and 2009. Second place wentto Christoph Sumann, who scored 813 points in what wasthe charismatic 34-year-old’s best season to date and thebest performance ever by an Austrian in this prestigiouscompetition. Ivan Tcherezov from Russian completed thepodium in third.The final competition of the biathlon season would be theMixed Relay World Championship on the Sunday. Unlike inthe past, the teams all sent their best athletes to the start;however, there was simply no stopping the German teamof Simone Hauswald, in the last IBU competition of her career,Magdalena Neuner, Simon Schempp and Arnd Peifferas they ran away with the title. Hauswald opened up a clearlead on the first leg that none of her teammates would relinquish.Arnd Peiffer crossed the finish line in firstplace for the German team one minute and24 seconds ahead of the Norwegianteam. Like the Germans,the Norwegians, with AnnChristin Flatland, Tora9Khanty-mansiysk rus23.03. – 28.03.201044 biathlonworld The official Magazine of the IBU 20 I 2010