2004-5 Season Review

This time last year the wintersport world was extolling the ambrosial talents of Frenchman Raphael Poirée and his trusty Norwegian wife, Liv Grete.

The happy pair had dominated their respective fields on the biathlon world cup circuit, bullying their competitors into world cup submission over four-mouths of gruelling shoot-and-ski action.

How much difference a year makes... It has all seemed to go pear shaped for the seemingly untouchable Poirée pairing.

After his clean-sweep in 2003/4 Raphael was decidedly poor this year by his lofty standards, finishing in third.

"The magic was missing for Raphael," admits Patrick Winterton, Eurosport's Biathlon commentator.

"Normally, when someone has a really good season, the chances are rather slim at carrying that over to the next campaign," he explains.

This was indeed also the case for Liv Grete who, after suffering from mixed form and a severe bout of mononucleosis, decided to throw in the towel on her much-debilitated season.

Raphael and Liv Grete may well have been victims of their own sucess. The biathlon season is as much decided in the long summer months of preparation as it is over the winter of competitive action.

And after all the interminable celebrations of their incredible exploits, and the pressure piled upon them by the press, their underachievement this year can be seen as entirely natural.

This is certainly the view of Eurosport commentator, and ex pro, Mike Dixon, who claims the Raphael Poirée "has the strongest head than anyone I have seen in biathlon, and that includes Bjoerndalen. He'll be back, that's for sure."

A clear catch of the season was Germany's Sven Fischer, "Mr Consistency" himself, according to Dixon, who, having become a father last February, came back "reborn and refreshed".

Fischer, 34 this April, almost took part in every event this year, only to be cruelly sidelined for the last race of the season in Siberia due to breathing problems and an illness.

Before the last race, the unfortunate German was leading the overall standings by 35 points, but Ole Einar Bjoerndalen's second-place in the 15km Mass Start at Khanty-Mansiysk was enough to see the indefatigable Norwegian win the crystal globe by eleven points.

"There is no question that the best biathlete won at the end," underlines Winterton, but surely it was a kick in the teeth for the ever-present Fischer to lose the world cup to a comparative part-timer.

This is indeed the main talking point coming out of the season: did Fischer deserve to take the accolades more so than Bjoerndalen by virtue of his greater desire to take part in all the races?

In short, no.

Bjoerndalen did miss seven out of 27 events over the season, sometimes preferring to grace the cross-country track with his (admittedly less successful) presence in place of racing the biathlon circuit.

He nevertheless notched up twelve victories in total, including a wondrous run of seven wins in eight events. Add to that his four gold medals in the Hochfilzen world championships and you have a true clean-sweep.

Nothing can take away what Bjoerndalen accomplished - his record speaks for itself. "He has to be the all time best ever biathlete," purrs Dixon, "he is incredible and beyond belief, even better than 80s legend Frank Ullrick of Germany."

While the man from Norway still leaves room from improvement in his shooting, he is unrivaled on the track. His magical display in the 20km race at Holmenkollen is proof of the most lucid kind: Bjoerndalen out-skied the rest of the field by an unprecedented two minutes and one second!

But can Bjoerndalen he carry on this form into next season? That is surely the big point at question with the Olympic season fast approaching.

"If he repeats, in Turin, his 2002 achievement of a gold medal white-wash at Salt Lake City," elucidates Winterton, "he will be arguably the most successful winter athlete of his generation - in all disciplines."

Winterton's Eurosport collegue Dixon is more convinced about the Norwegian's chances of repeating his Olympic gold quartet. "If there is anyone in the planet who can do it, then it's him! I think it is possible."

In a similar vein to the men's competition, the women's world cup came down to an end of season photo finish, with three ladies - Kati Wilhelm, Olga Pyleva and Sandrine Bailly - fighting it out for the spoils.

The illustrious trio have been the shining lights of this winter's activity.

Germany's Wilhelm was ever-present, taking part in virtually every race, while Russia's Pyleva was a pillar of near-perfect consistency throughout the season, just losing out to Bailly at the 11th hour in Siberia.

Prior to the world championships the Frenchwoman looked unbeatable. "Bailly's failure to pick up any medals whatsoever at Hochfilzen was the biggest surprise of the season," declares Winterton.

"It was a big disappointment for her to finish fourth three times, and never mount the podium.

"The justification for such a lapse of form is, of course, the fact that she won the overall world cup."

But things could have gone equally bad for Bailly. With just a few days of the season lingering, a languid performance in the final sprint race saw Wilhelm take the overall discipline globe by eleven points, and there was a sense that yet again Bailly might end her year empty handed.

"But she was the best skier on form, and her ability was never in doubt. Yes, she hit a psychological block around the world championships, but she returned," declares Winterton.

A tired 13th place in the final mass start race of the season - despite the radiant Wilhelm's victory that day - was enough to secure glory after and the out-of-sorts and quiescent Pyleva slipped to a disappointing 18th.

Mention must also go out to Uschi Disl who completely dominated the early stages of the season. The German finished in fifth overall with three world cup victories and two world championship golds - the first of her career.

With the fat lady singing and everyone encumbered by dense fatigue, Bailly edged the crown by 14 points over Wilhelm and 17 over Pyleva, who eventually finished third.

Asked about the prospects for next season Patrick Winterton is backing young Norwegian pair Linda Troerhom and Gro Istad Kristiansen to make the step up to the centre-stage after impressive seasons.

The Eurosport commentator also earmarks the Chinese ladies whose strong skiing was a highlight of the season.

"They have yet to bag a world cup victory but if the likes of Xianying Liu and Yingchao Kong learn to shoot they can easily win Olympic medals," he says. "One more year and they might be ready."

Kong finished second behind Bailly twice in Pokljuka, while Liu would have grabbed that elusive first world cup win for China had she not slipped up with just 300 metres to go at Ruhpolding, allowing Pyleva to take the 10 km pursuit by a mere second.

As for Mike Dixon, he feels that Olena Zubrilova of Belarus - 7th overall - will come good for the Olympics. He also expects great things from the promising Maldovian Natalia Levtchenkova.

The 26-year old is her nation's only competitors in the sport and finished this year in 42nd place on just 87 points.

But if the circuit's second best shot - after France's Florence Bavarel-Robert - works on her skiing over the summer, next year could mark her break-through season.