Austrians revel in relay successes Women golden, men take silver

PRESQUE ISLE – Iris Waldhuber and Anna Hufnagl waited with anticipation at the finish line as the 3×6-kilometer youth women’s relay drew to a close Thursday morning at the Nordic Heritage Ski Center.

“Wo ist sie?” the Austrians asked each other in German. “Where is she?”

Soon enough, Elisabeth Mayer pulled past the finish line, holding a fishing pole with the Austrian and Maine flags, skiing to a 2006 Biathlon Junior World Championships gold medal for a program that only started receiving funding three years ago.

“I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, this isn’t really happening,”‘ said Waldhuber, who had already won a silver medal in the pursuit. “Then my [coach] said, ‘You win! You win!’ I cried, and I was so happy, and I have such good feelings.”

While the Austrian women were the biggest surprise of Thursday’s relays, the Austrian men also fared extremely well in the youth men’s 3×7.5K, finishing second behind Russia. Alexander Ogarkov won his first world championships gold, powering the Russians in the final ski loop.

The Austrian women had a stellar shooting race, which they needed because none of their three skiers had the top time on their individual legs of the race. Each relay team has three competitors who ski three loops and complete two shooting stages in the order prone-standing.

The biathletes each have three extra bullets per shooting stage for their misses, and if they fail to hit all five targets with the extra bullets they have to complete 150-meter penalty loops.

The Austrians needed just two extra bullets overall – a remarkably low number of misses. Hufnagl didn’t miss a shot, Waldhuber missed one in the prone shooting, and Mayer missed one in the standing.

Hufnagl had only shot 66 percent through the first three races this week.

“When I came to the shooting range, I was thinking that I must do my best because after me will be Elisabeth and she needs the help,” she said through a translator.

Once Mayer got to the range, each target she hit brought a cheer from Waldhuber and Hufnagl in the cool-down area. Austrian coach Franz Berger Jr. leapt over a fence to stand with the two women and the celebration began.

The Austrians’ excitement came not only in winning the gold but also in knowing the world championship will provide a huge boost to the young program. The Austrians’ goal is to have women competing regularly in the World Cup in five years.

“For Austria it’s really big,” Berger said. “Now with the gold medal we can say in five years we want to stay in the World Cup for the women.”

Russia, which was considered a favorite going into the race because the three-person team included gold medalists in two previous races here, finished second despite 12 penalties. France was third and had 10 penalties.

Brynden Manbeck of Grand Rapids, Minn., got the U.S. into sixth place during the second leg despite four misses, but the home team had 12 penalties and wound up seventh among 11 teams.

The Austrian youth men, who train with the women, were inspired by the morning race. It was the Russian flag, however, that came across the line first Thursday afternoon.

Ogarkov needed one extra bullet in the second stage, while Dominik Landertinger of Austria shot clean, and the two left the range close position. Ogarkev skied his leg in 19:31.8 while Landertinger was 16.9 seconds slower.

“I didn’t think about that. I just did my work,” Ogarkev said of shooting side-by-side with Landertinger for the lead. “The running was very hard for me. My legs were not working well and I could not run good enough, so I think that I should [shoot] well because it will be hard for me to win in the last lap.”

Anton Shipulin led off the relay for the Russians and had them in second place behind Finland after he had three shooting penalties. Alexander Starykh, who skied the second leg, had three penalties – but with the rest of the field struggling on the range, he was able take the lead for Ogarkov.

The Austrians got a charge out of watching the women in the morning race.

“It was big motivation. We felt we could do the same,” said Daniel Salvenmoser, who skied the second leg for Austria.

Evgeny Abramenko of Bulgaria had the finish of the day, moving his team from seventh to third and holding off Erik Forsgren of Sweden at the finish line.

“I gave all that I could do, and more,” Abramenko said through a translator. “That is to say … more than 100 percent, and I did it [successfully].”

The U.S., anchored by Russell Currier of Stockholm, had 14 penalties and came in last out of the 12 teams.

Gov. John Baldacci, who was scheduled to shoot the starting gun for this morning’s 9:45 junior women’s relay, will not make it to Presque Isle due to family matters. Baldacci’s brother, Peter Baldacci, died last week.