India | UK | US

PREVIEW: Bjoerndalen seeks immortality - Neuner more glory

Posted : Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:39:27 GMT
By : DPA
Category : Sports
News Alerts by Email ( click here )
Sports News | Home
Hamburg - Ole Einar Bjoerndalen seeks winter sport immortality and Magdalena Neuner can raise her glamour girl image when the biathlon World Cup season starts on Wednesday. The Norwegian Bjoerndalen, 34, enters the campaign with 81 World Cup wins in biathlon and another one in cross-country skiing which is just four shy of Ingemar Stenmark's 86 triumphs in alpine skiing.

Bjoerndalen has 25 races from Wednesday's sprint in Ostersund, Sweden, until the March 29 mass start race in the Russian venue of Khanty Mansiysk to become the most successful athlete in winter sport World Cup history.

He also has 18 relay wins for a career total 100 World Cup victories, five Olympic golds and 10 world titles, and is the defending World Cup champion after lifting the trophy for the fourth time last season.

More silverware looms when the biathlon worlds come to Asia for the first time, February 14-22 in the South Korean resort of Pyeong Chang. These races also count for the World Cup, which also stops for test events at the ski slopes and shooting range for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.

But Bjoerndalen may not be at his best on Wednesday as his pre-season training was disrupted for two weeks by a gastro-intestinal infection.

"I estimate that I have lost 10 per cent of my endurance due to the infection. You lose a lot when you don't train," he told the Norwegian Dagbladet daily.

"But regardless this should not impact the world championships in Korea in February, if there are no new interruptions."

The veteran needs to be at his best to get the five wins required to move past Stenmark as there are plenty of rivals around in his own camp and elsewhere.

Compatriot Emil Hegle Svendson beat Bjoerndalen for two world titles in Ostersund last season, the strong Germans boast three-time Olympic champion and 2007 World Cup champ Michael Greis, and the Russians are led by World Cup runner-up Dmitri Yaroshenko.

Germany and Russia also have plenty of depth on the women's side where Neuner is the defending World Cup champion and the sport's new star at the age of 21.

The popular Neuner has six world titles and 11 World Cup wins, is Germany's Sportswoman of the Year, making millions through endorsements and aims to use the season to improve her shooting skills ahead of her next big goal, medals at the 2010 Olympics.

"I am very motivated and can't wait to compete again," said Neuner.

Copyright DPA

Share/Save/Bookmark

Article : PREVIEW: Bjoerndalen seeks immortality - Neuner more glory
Print this article
Email this article

Stay Updated
News gadget on your Google homepage
Subscribe to a news feed in Google Reader


Related News

Bolt heads five-man shortlist for athletics award
Monte Carlo - Three-time sprint world champion Usain Bolt of Jamaica heads a shortlist of five men vying for the World Athlete of the Year award from the ruling body IAAF. Bolt, winner of the prestigious award last year, lowered his own world records...

Serena Williams tops season-ending rankings
Hamburg - Serena Williams takes the women's world number one rankings into 2010 as she topped this year's final list issued by the WTA on Monday. Williams regained first place from injured Dinara Safina last week and leads the way with 9,075 points f...

Real Madrid and Portugal go to war over Cristiano Ronaldo
Madrid - Real Madrid and the Portuguese football federation have gone to war over Cristiano Ronaldo. On Sunday, Portugal national manager Carlos Queiroz announced that he was calling up the winger for next week's World Cup playoffs against Bosnia-Her...

Federer stays top in ATP list, Djokovic closes in on second place
Hamburg - Roger Federer enjoyed another week atop the men's tennis rankings issued on Monday by the ATP, while the man who beat him in the Basle final, Novak Djokovic, closed in on second place. Federer took 10,340 points into this week's Paris Maste...

Tokyo plans to bid for 2020 Olympics
Tokyo - Tokyo is planning to apply to host the 2020 Olympics, the city's governor, Shintaro Ishihara, said Monday. Japan's capital applied for the 2016 games but lost out to Rio de Janeiro in the International Olympic Committee vote in early October....

Tiger fever grips Australia
Sydney - It's a measure of his pulling power that Tiger Woods is earning 10 times more just for teeing off in the Australian Masters than he would if the tournament ends with the golf god's trademark fist-pump victory celebration. But an appearance f...

Sevilla recover third place on comeback win over Villarreal - Summary
Madrid - Sevilla recovered third place in the Spanish league on Sunday with an eventful 3-2 home win over lively Villarreal, with two goals from Brazilian hitman Luis Fabiano. Sevilla now have 22 points from 10 games, one point more than Valencia, wh...

Have your Say
Name
Email
Subject
Your Comment

Enter Verification code
 
  

 

 

More Sports News click here
Follow The Earth Times
Subscribe to RSS Follow Earth Times on TwitterNews by email
Share/Save/Bookmark

 
 



 
Subscribe to free Earthtimes
News Alerts by Email Click here
For RSS Feeds Click here
or Create your own RSS

Add to Google Toolbar
Breaking News
Press Releases

 


The Earth Times
News Category

© 2009 www.earthtimes.org, The Earth Times, All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy
Earth Times accept no responsibility or liability either directly or indirectly for views or opinions expressed in articles or comments.