Oberhof-ing

Representing for the stars and stripes at the Oberhof Opening Ceremonies!

That is the verb heard around the US team to describe the conditions we had this week here in Oberhof, Germany. The foggy, rainy, windy conditions that plagued, in some form or another, each race. Fortunately, the fog let up a bit for the women's sprint and we had much better conditions than the ones the men battled the day before.

It felt great to race again after a long break for the holidays. I felt very good skiing and with two penalties in standing, ended up 40th. It was a big improvement for me to be able to net points with two misses. And to top things off, Laura had a great day, ending up 19th and qualifying for the mass start! It was a great day for the US women, and everyone is looking forward to more racing.

We head off to Rupholding, Germany in the morning. World Cup 5 starts off on Wednesday with the men's individual race, and we'll race an individual on Thursday. Our team will once again be full, as Haley Johnson will join us from the IBU Cup. And in Antholz we will have a full relay team, which we're all looking forward to! Another set of world cups is off and running!

Charging up one of the (many) hills in Oberhof. Photos: Viktoria Franke