2019–20 season – real biathlon

Shooting Efficiency comparison: First trimester 2019–20 vs. First trimester 2020–21

Posted on 2021-01-07 | by

Following up on my last post on skiing speed, this is a comparison of overall shooting quality between trimester 1 of last season and trimester 1 this winter. Shooting Efficiency is an attempt to combine shooting accuracy and shooting time. For more details how it’s calculated, see here.

If you can’t find a specific athlete, you can always look up the complete World Cup field (also available per trimester) for the ongoing season (as well as all previous seasons) here:

2020–21 Shooting Efficiency: Men | Women

Note: Only athletes with at least 4 non-team races in trimester 1 of both the previous and the current season are included in the tables below. Shooting Efficiency is an overall shooting score, combining shooting accuracy and shooting time. It is the theoretical average time an athlete loses through shooting (based on hit rate, range time and potential penalty loops)

Men

Erik Lesser is the most improved shooter among regular starters, losing 2:06.6 min in a theoretical sprint at the range. He has always been fast, which hasn’t changed this year, however, his accuracy is currently at a career high (87.9%). Simon Eder is the best shooter overall (incredible 96.4% hit rate), also much improved over last year. Sturla Holm Lægreid isn’t far behind (1:56.2 min) – he doesn’t show up in the table, because his first World Cup race was in March. Johannes Thingnes Bø has been struggling with his shooting so far, his accuracy is down 4.2% (albeit on a very high level), plus he shoots 2.0s slower.

Changes in Shooting Efficiency compared to 2019–20 | World Cup Trimester 1

No	Family Name	Given Name	Nation	Races	Hit Rate	Range Time	Penalty Loop	Time Loss Sprint	Change
No	Family Name	Given Name	Nation	Races	Hit Rate	Range Time	Penalty Loop	Time Loss Sprint	Change
1	Lesser	Erik	GER	9	87.86	50.0	21.9	2:06.6	-35.1
2	Guigonnat	Antonin	FRA	9	90.71	52.7	22.9	2:06.6	-21.5
3	Strolia	Vytautas	LTU	7	80.00	55.0	22.9	2:35.7	-21.4
4	Eder	Simon	AUT	9	96.43	49.3	23.1	1:46.9	-19.4
5	Samuelsson	Sebastian	SWE	9	89.29	53.3	21.3	2:09.4	-16.6
6	Hasilla	Tomas	SVK	6	77.50	53.7	23.8	2:40.9	-14.2
7	Moravec	Ondrej	CZE	9	87.14	50.6	22.7	2:10.3	-13.8
8	Ponsiluoma	Martin	SWE	9	81.43	50.1	21.4	2:20.0	-11.4
9	Nelin	Jesper	SWE	9	75.71	53.3	21.7	2:39.3	-11.2
10	Krcmar	Michal	CZE	9	90.00	53.6	21.4	2:08.5	-10.3
11	Weger	Benjamin	SUI	9	86.43	52.6	22.5	2:15.8	-9.0
12	Ermits	Kalev	EST	8	76.67	53.3	22.9	2:39.9	-8.4
13	Garanichev	Evgeniy	RUS	5	93.75	52.0	24.4	1:59.2	-6.2
14	Dombrovski	Karol	LTU	7	87.00	56.6	22.7	2:22.7	-5.6
15	Sinapov	Anton	BUL	6	80.00	51.5	24.7	2:32.4	-5.2
16	Hofer	Lukas	ITA	9	82.86	51.5	20.0	2:17.4	-5.1
17	Fak	Jakov	SLO	9	92.14	51.7	21.4	2:00.3	-2.0
18	Doll	Benedikt	GER	9	87.14	50.8	22.0	2:09.9	-1.7
19	Fillon Maillet	Quentin	FRA	9	92.14	50.1	21.6	1:57.3	-1.0
20	Christiansen	Vetle Sjaastad	NOR	9	90.00	53.6	21.8	2:09.0	-0.4
21	Femling	Peppe	SWE	8	81.67	50.1	22.5	2:21.5	-0.1
22	Nordgren	Leif	USA	6	81.25	53.7	24.1	2:32.6	-0.0
23	Pryma	Artem	UKR	8	80.00	50.9	23.1	2:28.1	+1.4
24	Latypov	Eduard	RUS	9	85.00	55.1	21.9	2:22.9	+1.8
25	Bormolini	Thomas	ITA	5	87.14	52.9	21.8	2:13.8	+1.9
26	Hiidensalo	Olli	FIN	6	76.25	55.7	23.1	2:46.1	+2.1
27	Claude	Fabien	FRA	9	80.00	50.9	21.0	2:23.8	+2.5
28	Rastorgujevs	Andrejs	LAT	8	80.83	53.7	21.4	2:28.4	+3.5
29	Doherty	Sean	USA	8	80.00	52.1	22.7	2:29.5	+5.4
30	Jacquelin	Emilien	FRA	9	90.00	49.2	20.4	1:58.7	+6.1
31	Gow	Scott	CAN	6	76.25	50.7	23.6	2:37.5	+6.2
32	Eberhard	Julian	AUT	8	78.33	52.3	21.6	2:31.3	+6.5
33	Pidruchnyi	Dmytro	UKR	8	80.00	49.2	22.5	2:23.5	+9.2
34	Yaliotnau	Raman	BLR	7	69.00	54.2	22.9	2:59.6	+9.6
35	Peiffer	Arnd	GER	7	90.00	52.4	21.9	2:06.6	+10.6
36	Dale	Johannes	NOR	9	87.14	56.3	22.2	2:21.0	+11.1
37	Seppala	Tero	FIN	8	78.33	53.4	21.5	2:33.3	+11.4
38	Desthieux	Simon	FRA	9	83.57	51.6	21.5	2:18.7	+11.6
39	Dovzan	Miha	SLO	6	86.25	49.4	24.1	2:11.8	+11.9
40	Tkalenko	Ruslan	UKR	5	76.67	49.4	22.7	2:31.7	+13.0
41	Kuehn	Johannes	GER	8	80.00	56.0	20.7	2:33.4	+13.1
42	Leitner	Felix	AUT	7	84.00	58.2	22.6	2:32.6	+13.3
43	Iliev	Vladimir	BUL	6	75.00	54.5	22.0	2:44.2	+13.4
44	Bjoentegaard	Erlend	NOR	5	85.71	55.7	20.9	2:21.1	+14.7
45	Vaclavik	Adam	CZE	6	73.75	56.1	23.5	2:54.0	+14.8
46	Bocharnikov	Sergey	BLR	8	80.83	53.4	24.8	2:34.3	+16.4
47	Guzik	Grzegorz	POL	7	72.00	52.4	22.7	2:48.5	+17.4
48	Windisch	Dominik	ITA	5	75.71	55.2	20.9	2:41.1	+17.6
49	Trsan	Rok	SLO	6	85.56	49.8	23.4	2:13.4	+18.0
50	Eliseev	Matvey	RUS	9	90.00	49.7	22.5	2:01.8	+18.5
51	Boe	Tarjei	NOR	9	85.71	53.5	20.6	2:16.4	+18.8
52	Boe	Johannes Thingnes	NOR	9	87.86	52.0	21.3	2:09.8	+20.8
53	Langer	Thierry	BEL	7	81.00	54.5	22.3	2:31.5	+23.5
54	Dudchenko	Anton	UKR	6	80.00	55.3	24.4	2:39.6	+25.9
55	Claude	Florent	BEL	6	77.50	58.5	21.8	2:46.2	+29.5
56	Bauer	Klemen	SLO	7	74.00	49.9	23.2	2:40.1	+30.4
57	Loginov	Alexander	RUS	9	85.00	51.7	22.4	2:16.9	+30.8
58	Stvrtecky	Jakub	CZE	7	64.00	58.8	21.7	3:15.7	+38.8

Women

Suvi Minkkinen is the most improved among women – she had a horrible December 2019, where she only managed to hit 66.0% of her targets. World Cup leader, Marte Olsbu Røiseland, is currently 11.9% more accurate than during trimester 1 last season. The results for Hanna Öberg (best shot overall) haven’t changed much, neither has the efficiency of Dorothea Wierer; her problems are almost exclusively skiing-related. Denise Herrmann is roughly 10s faster overall at the range (but in a sprint her 1.5% slower skiing loses her almost twice as much on the tracks).

Changes in Shooting Efficiency compared to 2019–20 | World Cup Trimester 1

No	Family Name	Given Name	Nation	Races	Hit Rate	Range Time	Penalty Loop	Time Loss Sprint	Change
No	Family Name	Given Name	Nation	Races	Hit Rate	Range Time	Penalty Loop	Time Loss Sprint	Change
1	Minkkinen	Suvi	FIN	7	85.00	52.7	25.9	2:24.3	-46.1
2	Frolina	Anna	KOR	6	76.25	55.7	25.7	2:52.4	-42.3
3	Kadeva	Daniela	BUL	5	85.00	54.9	27.1	2:30.4	-32.0
4	Kocergina	Natalja	LTU	5	80.00	57.1	26.8	2:47.8	-31.1
5	Dunklee	Susan	USA	8	78.33	55.8	26.2	2:48.4	-28.2
6	Roeiseland	Marte Olsbu	NOR	9	88.57	52.2	23.9	2:11.8	-26.8
7	Reid	Joanne	USA	6	83.75	1:00.7	25.1	2:42.1	-20.3
8	Colombo	Caroline	FRA	8	81.67	54.4	25.5	2:35.6	-19.1
9	Tomingas	Tuuli	EST	7	83.00	58.0	25.3	2:39.0	-17.2
10	Tachizaki	Fuyuko	JPN	8	85.00	59.2	25.9	2:37.2	-16.2
11	Alimbekava	Dzinara	BLR	9	90.00	54.7	24.0	2:13.4	-15.4
12	Lunder	Emma	CAN	9	91.43	52.5	25.1	2:06.6	-14.2
13	Cadurisch	Irene	SUI	6	82.50	49.5	25.8	2:24.3	-13.4
14	Oeberg	Elvira	SWE	9	86.43	53.4	24.5	2:20.1	-13.0
15	Semerenko	Valentina	UKR	5	90.00	52.8	25.6	2:11.2	-11.6
16	Herrmann	Denise	GER	9	83.57	54.2	23.7	2:27.4	-10.4
17	Klemencic	Polona	SLO	6	75.00	56.7	25.9	2:58.1	-9.0
18	Hinz	Vanessa	GER	7	86.00	55.1	25.4	2:25.7	-8.6
19	Schwaiger	Julia	AUT	7	87.00	56.7	25.3	2:26.3	-8.0
20	Knotten	Karoline Offigstad	NOR	9	91.43	51.1	25.5	2:04.0	-7.8
21	Lescinskaite	Gabriele	LTU	5	85.00	1:01.1	25.7	2:40.7	-6.7
22	Oeberg	Hanna	SWE	9	90.00	49.6	24.3	2:03.5	-5.1
23	Davidova	Marketa	CZE	9	82.14	57.1	24.0	2:37.0	-4.4
24	Kryuko	Iryna	BLR	7	91.25	1:00.3	25.2	2:22.6	-3.6
25	Braisaz-Bouchet	Justine	FRA	9	80.71	56.6	22.9	2:37.5	-2.7
26	Wierer	Dorothea	ITA	9	91.43	51.3	24.5	2:03.6	-1.2
27	Hojnisz-Starega	Monika	POL	6	86.67	55.7	25.1	2:24.8	-1.1
28	Gasparin	Elisa	SUI	7	82.00	53.1	25.1	2:31.3	-0.3
29	Egan	Clare	USA	9	85.00	59.2	24.3	2:34.8	+2.1
30	Haecki	Lena	SUI	8	79.17	50.3	24.9	2:32.6	+2.8
31	Mironova	Svetlana	RUS	6	78.75	55.4	24.6	2:43.0	+4.9
32	Todorova	Milena	BUL	8	76.67	56.8	24.7	2:51.2	+5.7
33	Gasparin	Aita	SUI	7	84.00	53.7	26.2	2:29.3	+7.4
34	Hauser	Lisa Theresa	AUT	9	84.29	53.6	23.4	2:24.1	+7.9
35	Bescond	Anais	FRA	9	82.86	57.8	23.6	2:36.1	+8.0
36	Simon	Julia	FRA	9	82.86	50.1	24.8	2:22.7	+8.6
37	Brorsson	Mona	SWE	8	85.83	54.4	24.8	2:24.0	+8.8
38	Sola	Hanna	BLR	8	70.77	52.9	24.3	2:56.8	+9.0
39	Vittozzi	Lisa	ITA	9	82.14	54.3	23.9	2:31.3	+9.9
40	Preuss	Franziska	GER	9	86.43	51.8	23.6	2:15.7	+10.7
41	Eckhoff	Tiril	NOR	9	84.29	55.7	23.7	2:28.5	+11.0
42	Beaudry	Sarah	CAN	7	78.00	52.6	26.4	2:43.4	+13.2
43	Sanfilippo	Federica	ITA	5	75.71	58.4	25.6	2:58.9	+13.2
44	Zuk	Kamila	POL	7	78.00	1:01.1	25.7	2:58.7	+14.0
45	Eder	Mari	FIN	6	73.75	1:01.7	24.9	3:08.7	+14.1
46	Tandrevold	Ingrid Landmark	NOR	9	85.71	56.4	23.8	2:26.8	+14.2
47	Oja	Regina	EST	5	71.67	53.7	24.5	2:56.9	+14.4
48	Puskarcikova	Eva	CZE	7	80.00	51.3	27.4	2:37.3	+14.4
49	Jislova	Jessica	CZE	7	78.00	57.2	25.9	2:51.4	+15.6
50	Gasparin	Selina	SUI	6	75.00	58.0	24.4	2:57.0	+15.7
51	Blashko	Darya	UKR	9	92.14	56.9	26.0	2:14.1	+17.0
52	Persson	Linn	SWE	9	85.00	54.3	24.6	2:25.5	+19.9
53	Dzhima	Yuliia	UKR	7	86.00	56.9	25.2	2:29.0	+20.1
54	Voronina	Tamara	RUS	5	84.00	52.2	26.6	2:27.1	+21.2
55	Pidhrushna	Olena	UKR	5	84.29	55.7	26.5	2:33.0	+21.2
56	Zbylut	Kinga	POL	7	74.00	56.7	24.7	2:57.6	+24.1
57	Charvatova	Lucie	CZE	7	63.75	52.1	23.9	3:10.9	+28.1
58	Talihaerm	Johanna	EST	6	76.25	1:00.8	26.3	3:03.9	+31.3
59	Chevalier	Chloe	FRA	8	79.17	58.8	24.5	2:48.7	+32.6
60	Innerhofer	Katharina	AUT	8	65.83	55.6	23.9	3:12.8	+38.0

Ski speed comparison: First trimester 2019–20 vs. First trimester 2020–21

Posted on 2021-01-05 | by

real biathlon | 2 Comments

In the past, I often compared changes in ski speed to the entire previous season, which might be slightly deceiving, especially at the beginning of a season. Some athletes start particularly strong before Christmas, others might do better late in a season, when parts of the field are already tired. Potentially, it’s a better idea to only compare the same World Cup period. Here I did this specifically for World Cup trimester 1 (roughly December 2019 vs. December 2020).

I used the percentage back from the top 30 median for this. Comparisons against the entire field are problematic this year, because of temporary rule changes (each National Federation can register two athletes who have not fulfilled the qualification criteria). That makes the whole field slightly slower.

If you can’t find a specific athlete, you can always look up the complete World Cup field (also available per trimester) for the ongoing season (as well as all previous seasons) here:

Ski speed: Men | Women

Note: Only athletes with at least 5 non-team races in trimester 1 of both the previous and the current season are included in the tables below. “Back from Top30 median” is the percentage back from each race’s top 30 median Course Time (arithmetic mean per season).

Men

Martin Ponsiluoma and Sebastian Samuelsson are the most improved overall. Both lowered their average ski rank by at least 24 positions, plus they are skiing 3.5% and 3.0% faster respectively (compared to their speed last December). Veteran Jakov Fak (his 15th World Cup season) is currently on his best ski form in 5 years. World Cup leader, Johannes Thingnes Bø, is very close to his level from last December (he is slightly ahead).

Quentin Fillon Maillet started the season as one of the favorites, but he is not at his peak form yet; his hit rate is at a career high right now, but his speed has declined a lot compared to December 2019 (average ski rank almost doubled). For this pre-Christmas period, Germany and France have only one athlete each who improved season-to-season: Erik Lesser (only started in 4 races in December 2019) and Fabien Claude, respectively.

Changes in Ski Speed compared to 2019–20 season | World Cup Trimester 1

No	Family Name	Given Name	Nation	Races	Ski Rank (avg)	Change	back from Top30 median (in %)	Change
No	Family Name	Given Name	Nation	Races	Ski Rank (avg)	Change	back from Top30 median (in %)	Change
1	Ponsiluoma	Martin	SWE	9	5.7	-24.3	-1.66	-3.49
2	Samuelsson	Sebastian	SWE	9	8.2	-25.9	-1.13	-2.99
3	Latypov	Eduard	RUS	9	18.9	-26.3	+0.40	-2.78
4	Bocharnikov	Sergey	BLR	8	27.5	-21.8	+1.06	-2.49
5	Fak	Jakov	SLO	9	20.0	-17.5	+0.46	-1.84
6	Christiansen	Vetle Sjaastad	NOR	9	13.3	-12.8	-0.63	-1.67
7	Dale	Johannes	NOR	9	6.1	-8.9	-1.97	-1.61
8	Langer	Thierry	BEL	7	51.7	-8.7	+3.72	-1.48
9	Nelin	Jesper	SWE	9	12.2	-14.2	-0.44	-1.44
10	Dombrovski	Karol	LTU	7	61.1	-11.5	+4.84	-1.40
11	Doherty	Sean	USA	8	49.6	-11.7	+3.64	-1.17
12	Eliseev	Matvey	RUS	9	35.8	+4.3	+2.15	-1.14
13	Weger	Benjamin	SUI	9	20.2	-7.8	+0.58	-0.87
14	Loginov	Alexander	RUS	9	13.7	-5.9	-0.25	-0.76
15	Guzik	Grzegorz	POL	7	56.4	-11.2	+4.29	-0.73
16	Nordgren	Leif	USA	6	51.8	-3.3	+3.60	-0.67
17	Garanichev	Evgeniy	RUS	5	33.8	-8.2	+2.27	-0.60
18	Trsan	Rok	SLO	6	67.0	-12.8	+5.98	-0.41
19	Boe	Johannes Thingnes	NOR	9	2.4	-2.1	-2.66	-0.24
20	Vaclavik	Adam	CZE	6	43.8	-1.0	+2.78	-0.22
21	Pryma	Artem	UKR	8	36.0	+1.0	+2.13	-0.13
22	Claude	Fabien	FRA	9	10.2	-1.8	-0.68	-0.13
23	Dovzan	Miha	SLO	6	78.7	+2.5	+7.08	-0.13
24	Hiidensalo	Olli	FIN	6	47.3	-0.7	+3.27	-0.12
25	Boe	Tarjei	NOR	9	4.6	-1.4	-1.79	-0.08
26	Guigonnat	Antonin	FRA	9	31.0	+1.7	+1.60	+0.06
27	Femling	Peppe	SWE	8	51.9	-2.1	+3.65	+0.11
28	Bormolini	Thomas	ITA	5	44.4	+2.0	+2.75	+0.15
29	Bjoentegaard	Erlend	NOR	5	12.6	+0.5	-0.43	+0.19
30	Peiffer	Arnd	GER	7	18.0	+2.2	+0.17	+0.20
31	Jacquelin	Emilien	FRA	9	10.2	+0.9	-0.81	+0.22
32	Stvrtecky	Jakub	CZE	7	33.0	+4.0	+1.69	+0.23
33	Seppala	Tero	FIN	8	30.3	+4.8	+1.39	+0.31
34	Bauer	Klemen	SLO	7	47.9	-0.9	+4.05	+0.33
35	Rastorgujevs	Andrejs	LAT	8	20.6	+4.1	+0.49	+0.54
36	Krcmar	Michal	CZE	9	32.1	+9.7	+1.59	+0.57
37	Hofer	Lukas	ITA	9	13.3	+1.8	-0.25	+0.62
38	Dudchenko	Anton	UKR	6	60.2	+7.3	+4.55	+0.75
39	Eder	Simon	AUT	9	39.2	+6.2	+2.58	+0.78
40	Leitner	Felix	AUT	7	36.4	+8.4	+2.00	+0.79
41	Claude	Florent	BEL	6	46.0	+14.3	+3.05	+0.79
42	Doll	Benedikt	GER	9	16.0	+5.6	+0.00	+0.84
43	Sinapov	Anton	BUL	6	68.2	-1.3	+6.13	+0.91
44	Strolia	Vytautas	LTU	7	49.4	+5.6	+3.83	+0.94
45	Fillon Maillet	Quentin	FRA	9	11.0	+4.1	-0.64	+1.28
46	Windisch	Dominik	ITA	5	34.4	+13.7	+1.87	+1.46
47	Eberhard	Julian	AUT	8	21.6	+10.8	+0.70	+1.51
48	Ermits	Kalev	EST	8	58.0	+10.0	+4.88	+1.67
49	Kuehn	Johannes	GER	8	21.6	+14.3	+0.57	+1.74
50	Pidruchnyi	Dmytro	UKR	8	43.5	+20.9	+2.99	+1.82
51	Desthieux	Simon	FRA	9	19.6	+11.0	+0.45	+1.98
52	Tkalenko	Ruslan	UKR	5	75.4	+20.4	+6.16	+2.22
53	Iliev	Vladimir	BUL	6	41.8	+23.3	+2.61	+2.39

Women

Among regular starters, Dzinara Alimbekava is by far the most improved, 5.0% faster than last season (plus her average ski rank is now an incredible 44.8 positions lower!). Lisa Theresa Hauser and Franziska Preuß stood out more for their (fast) shooting in the past, but they are both among the top 15 skiers at the moment. Hauser’s transformation is particularly remarkable (over 2% faster than any of her previous 7 seasons), Preuß was close to this level before (five years ago).

World Cup leader and overall fastest skier, Marte Olsbu Røiseland, is missing in the table below, because she only appeared in 4 races in December 2019. She is actually slower compared to her speed at the start of the 2019–20 season (+0.5%). Last year’s top skier, Denise Herrmann, is struggling to get going; her average ski rank in trimester 1 last season was 4.5, now it’s 8.3. Dorothea Wierer was the 9th fastest skier last season, now she’s ranked 23rd.

Changes in Ski Speed compared to 2019–20 season | World Cup Trimester 1

No	Family Name	Given Name	Nation	Races	Ski Rank (avg)	Change	back from Top30 median (in %)	Change
No	Family Name	Given Name	Nation	Races	Ski Rank (avg)	Change	back from Top30 median (in %)	Change
1	Alimbekava	Dzinara	BLR	9	14.2	-44.8	-0.33	-5.02
2	Beaudry	Sarah	CAN	7	58.9	-21.1	+4.54	-4.11
3	Chevalier	Chloe	FRA	8	22.6	-34.7	+0.99	-3.25
4	Blashko	Darya	UKR	9	43.9	-12.1	+3.64	-2.65
5	Hauser	Lisa Theresa	AUT	9	12.7	-24.0	-0.36	-2.47
6	Oeberg	Elvira	SWE	9	6.7	-12.3	-1.64	-2.33
7	Preuss	Franziska	GER	9	12.1	-8.4	-0.56	-1.01
8	Gasparin	Elisa	SUI	7	45.6	-9.2	+3.09	-0.99
9	Schwaiger	Julia	AUT	7	42.9	-8.7	+2.89	-0.94
10	Egan	Clare	USA	9	28.1	-8.7	+1.25	-0.93
11	Bescond	Anais	FRA	9	16.0	-10.5	+0.16	-0.85
12	Knotten	Karoline Offigstad	NOR	9	32.9	-3.7	+1.89	-0.79
13	Cadurisch	Irene	SUI	6	67.2	-2.8	+6.03	-0.53
14	Oeberg	Hanna	SWE	9	12.0	-1.8	-0.72	-0.49
15	Colombo	Caroline	FRA	8	28.4	-5.5	+1.43	-0.41
16	Tandrevold	Ingrid Landmark	NOR	9	7.1	-4.6	-1.28	-0.29
17	Persson	Linn	SWE	9	19.3	-3.1	+0.33	-0.28
18	Lunder	Emma	CAN	9	37.1	-3.7	+2.41	-0.26
19	Gasparin	Selina	SUI	6	19.7	-1.7	+0.44	-0.14
20	Gasparin	Aita	SUI	7	47.6	+5.1	+3.48	-0.06
21	Davidova	Marketa	CZE	9	6.9	-1.1	-1.43	-0.02
22	Charvatova	Lucie	CZE	7	22.8	+1.1	+0.84	+0.08
23	Jislova	Jessica	CZE	7	52.0	+3.5	+3.77	+0.16
24	Simon	Julia	FRA	9	19.3	+5.6	-0.15	+0.17
25	Voronina	Tamara	RUS	5	68.8	+7.4	+5.44	+0.23
26	Talihaerm	Johanna	EST	6	55.7	+0.2	+4.88	+0.30
27	Brorsson	Mona	SWE	8	28.9	+2.7	+1.55	+0.35
28	Innerhofer	Katharina	AUT	8	21.8	+1.4	+0.83	+0.39
29	Braisaz-Bouchet	Justine	FRA	9	5.8	-0.2	-1.62	+0.48
30	Zuk	Kamila	POL	7	34.9	+6.9	+1.99	+0.58
31	Eckhoff	Tiril	NOR	9	5.6	+1.3	-1.94	+0.73
32	Vittozzi	Lisa	ITA	9	31.4	+8.0	+1.82	+0.84
33	Oja	Regina	EST	5	76.0	+11.0	+6.70	+0.89
34	Kryuko	Iryna	BLR	7	37.5	+11.8	+2.20	+1.02
35	Herrmann	Denise	GER	9	8.3	+3.8	-1.25	+1.09
36	Zbylut	Kinga	POL	7	61.4	+8.9	+5.21	+1.25
37	Tachizaki	Fuyuko	JPN	8	48.3	+7.5	+3.91	+1.33
38	Eder	Mari	FIN	6	18.7	+7.2	+0.30	+1.35
39	Kocergina	Natalja	LTU	5	83.0	+14.0	+7.64	+1.35
40	Wierer	Dorothea	ITA	9	21.1	+12.0	+0.61	+1.66
41	Hinz	Vanessa	GER	7	45.0	+17.0	+3.03	+1.77
42	Mironova	Svetlana	RUS	6	25.5	+15.1	+1.02	+1.79
43	Sanfilippo	Federica	ITA	5	50.8	+12.6	+4.02	+1.85
44	Semerenko	Valentina	UKR	5	55.5	+17.5	+4.22	+2.04
45	Pidhrushna	Olena	UKR	5	43.6	+19.0	+3.21	+2.14
46	Haecki	Lena	SUI	8	32.3	+22.7	+1.86	+2.62
47	Puskarcikova	Eva	CZE	7	52.4	+27.4	+4.42	+3.39

One thing that stands out is how well Norway and Sweden are doing (both men and women). Every athlete of those two nations either improved (often significantly), or at least managed to maintain their previous level; not a single athlete got notably worse.

Improvements season-to-season

Posted on 2020-11-18 | by

real biathlon | Leave a Comment

The new website allows you to look up basic biathlon data on your own (for different disciplines, periods, categories, etc.), so I won’t be posting too many of the regular statistical updates that I have done in the past. If you are interested in a specific statistic or ranking, you can always check out:

2019–20 Shooting hit rates: Men | Women
2019–20 Ski speed: Men | Women
2019–20 Shooting Times: Men | Women
2019–20 Range Times: Men | Women
2019–20 Shooting efficiency: Men | Women
2019–20 Overall Performance Score: Men | Women

These will be updated after each race. I thought it would still be interesting though to take one high-level look at last season’s performances. Below I listed the season-to-season changes in the Overall Performance Score of regular World Cup athletes (at least 14 races in the last two seasons).

Note: The scores are standard scores (or z-scores), indicating how many standard deviations (SD) an athlete is back from the World Cup mean (negative values indicate values better than the mean). The Total Performance Score is calculated by approximating the importance of skiing, hit rate and shooting pace using the method of least squares (for more details, see here and here), and then weighting each z-score value accordingly.

Men

Émilien Jacquelin was the most improved athlete last season, getting better in all major aspects of the sport: 5.5% higher hit rate, 1.8% faster skiing and 1.8s lower range time. Vytautas Strolia improved by the same amount, albeit on a much lower level, earning his first career top 20. They are followed by Johannes Kühn, who almost halved his average ski rank (12.3 to 6.7), and Erlend Bjøntegaard, who managed to increase his hit rate by 7.4%. On the flip side, Lukas Hofer‘s and Benjamin Weger‘s performance scores declined the most; both skiing over 1% slower; Hofer also hit 4.5% less of his targets.

Martin Fourcade ended his record-breaking career with his highest ever hit rate (91.8%), while his ski speed was almost back to his previous best (after a big decline in 2018–19): he had an average Course Time rank of 6.0 last winter – in 5 of his 7 title winning seasons his average ski rank was in the 4.5-5.0 range. The improvement of the French men really stand out (three in the top 10 below). Quentin Fillon Maillet became the second-fastest skier overall (1.5% faster). Johannes Thingnes Bø‘s ski speed declined slightly (on the highest possible level), yet he managed to set the best shooting percentage (92.1%) for a World Cup winner ever.

2019–20 z-Scores compared to 2018–19 | Non-Team events

No	Family Name	Given Name	Nation	Races	Ski Speed Score	Hit Rate Score	Range Time Score	Total Performance Score	Change
No	Family Name	Given Name	Nation	Races	Ski Speed Score	Hit Rate Score	Range Time Score	Total Performance Score	Change
1	Jacquelin	Emilien	FRA	20	-1.27	-0.83	-1.36	-1.15	-0.44
2	Strolia	Vytautas	LTU	14	-0.68	-0.05	0.30	-0.38	-0.44
3	Kuehn	Johannes	GER	21	-1.51	0.02	-0.17	-0.90	-0.28
4	Bjoentegaard	Erlend	NOR	18	-1.38	-0.77	-0.40	-1.08	-0.28
5	Seppala	Tero	FIN	17	-0.98	0.15	-0.55	-0.60	-0.26
6	Fourcade	Martin	FRA	21	-1.63	-1.26	-0.71	-1.41	-0.21
7	Pryma	Artem	UKR	20	-0.79	-0.53	-0.72	-0.71	-0.20
8	Fillon Maillet	Quentin	FRA	21	-1.68	-0.84	-1.05	-1.36	-0.15
9	Iliev	Vladimir	BUL	16	-1.14	0.45	-0.44	-0.60	-0.12
10	Eliseev	Matvey	RUS	20	-0.63	-0.68	-0.85	-0.67	-0.11
11	Boe	Tarjei	NOR	21	-1.50	-0.93	-0.51	-1.21	-0.09
12	Boe	Johannes Thingnes	NOR	17	-1.89	-1.30	-1.01	-1.62	-0.08
13	Guzik	Grzegorz	POL	14	-0.18	-0.19	-0.81	-0.26	-0.08
14	Krcmar	Michal	CZE	20	-0.84	-0.44	-0.59	-0.69	-0.08
15	Bormolini	Thomas	ITA	15	-0.59	-0.62	-0.47	-0.59	-0.06
16	Yaliotnau	Raman	BLR	14	-0.92	0.24	0.18	-0.46	-0.05
17	Pidruchnyi	Dmytro	UKR	19	-0.83	-0.50	-1.35	-0.80	-0.05
18	Doll	Benedikt	GER	21	-1.42	-0.26	-1.04	-1.04	-0.03
19	Claude	Florent	BEL	17	-0.58	-0.73	0.78	-0.46	-0.02
20	Fak	Jakov	SLO	20	-0.77	-1.00	-1.04	-0.87	-0.02
21	Samuelsson	Sebastian	SWE	16	-0.94	-0.22	-0.44	-0.67	-0.01
22	Christiansen	Vetle Sjaastad	NOR	21	-1.18	-0.70	-0.69	-0.98	+0.03
23	Nelin	Jesper	SWE	17	-1.05	0.00	-0.28	-0.66	+0.03
24	Loginov	Alexander	RUS	19	-1.22	-1.03	-1.15	-1.15	+0.03
25	Leitner	Felix	AUT	19	-1.00	-0.37	0.16	-0.68	+0.04
26	Bauer	Klemen	SLO	15	-0.59	-0.10	-1.46	-0.55	+0.04
27	Moravec	Ondrej	CZE	17	-0.54	-1.06	-0.71	-0.71	+0.05
28	Desthieux	Simon	FRA	21	-1.33	-0.76	-0.81	-1.10	+0.08
29	Eberhard	Julian	AUT	18	-1.35	0.24	-1.11	-0.86	+0.13
30	Garanichev	Evgeniy	RUS	16	-0.80	-0.86	-0.64	-0.80	+0.16
31	Guigonnat	Antonin	FRA	15	-0.96	-0.52	-0.72	-0.80	+0.17
32	Rastorgujevs	Andrejs	LAT	17	-1.16	0.11	-0.26	-0.68	+0.18
33	Peiffer	Arnd	GER	20	-1.15	-0.97	-0.79	-1.06	+0.18
34	Windisch	Dominik	ITA	21	-0.99	0.13	-0.04	-0.55	+0.22
35	Doherty	Sean	USA	14	-0.49	-0.33	-0.61	-0.46	+0.25
36	Eder	Simon	AUT	15	-0.67	-0.86	-1.12	-0.78	+0.28
37	Weger	Benjamin	SUI	16	-0.85	-0.34	-0.19	-0.62	+0.33
38	Hofer	Lukas	ITA	20	-1.16	0.12	-0.06	-0.65	+0.35

Women

Tang Jialin improved the most among regular starters, skiing an impressive 2.5% faster. Emma Lunder increased her hit rate from 74.3% to 82.1% and lowered her average Course Time rank by 7.4. Baiba Bendika improved virtually by the same amount, mostly thanks to skiing 1.7% faster. Not far behind was Tiril Eckhoff, who went on an incredible run of 6 wins in 8 races, in large parts thanks to a career-best hit rate (83.1%); her already high ski speed also increased slightly, however, she had been faster in 2015–16.

One of the pre-season favorites, Lisa Vittozzi, had a winter to forget: her overall shooting percentage fell by 7.6%, while her ski speed declined roughly to its 2017–18 level. Susan Dunklee proves that aggregate data isn’t everything, winning world championship silver in one of her worst seasons statistically. Dorothea Wierer claimed her second overall title, shooting minimally worse (-0.9%), but skiing faster than ever (career-best average Course Time rank: 10.0). Kaisa Mäkäräinen ended her long World Cup career (358 individual top-level races, 3rd all time) on a slight uptick; although her hit rate stayed below 80% for a second consecutive year, she managed to improve her ski speed in her final season.

2019–20 z-Scores compared to 2018–19 | Non-Team events

No	Family Name	Given Name	Nation	Races	Ski Speed Score	Hit Rate Score	Range Time Score	Total Performance Score	Change
No	Family Name	Given Name	Nation	Races	Ski Speed Score	Hit Rate Score	Range Time Score	Total Performance Score	Change
1	Tang	Jialin	CHN	14	-0.36	-0.94	1.15	-0.35	-0.49
2	Lunder	Emma	CAN	18	-0.50	-0.57	-1.29	-0.61	-0.46
3	Bendika	Baiba	LAT	17	-0.77	-0.52	-0.88	-0.71	-0.45
4	Eckhoff	Tiril	NOR	20	-1.57	-0.67	-0.40	-1.17	-0.42
5	Braisaz	Justine	FRA	21	-1.45	0.09	-0.18	-0.85	-0.35
6	Fialkova	Ivona	SVK	16	-0.80	0.25	-0.30	-0.44	-0.33
7	Semerenko	Valentina	UKR	16	-0.70	-0.65	-0.77	-0.69	-0.30
8	Zuk	Kamila	POL	15	-1.06	0.48	0.38	-0.44	-0.28
9	Sanfilippo	Federica	ITA	15	-0.69	-0.42	0.03	-0.52	-0.26
10	Preuss	Franziska	GER	17	-0.95	-1.17	-1.40	-1.07	-0.25
11	Davidova	Marketa	CZE	20	-1.22	-0.37	0.33	-0.79	-0.23
12	Roeiseland	Marte Olsbu	NOR	14	-1.47	-0.82	-1.04	-1.23	-0.23
13	Hojnisz-Starega	Monika	POL	18	-1.09	-1.10	0.02	-0.96	-0.22
14	Tandrevold	Ingrid Landmark	NOR	21	-1.15	-0.68	-0.23	-0.90	-0.21
15	Aymonier	Celia	FRA	15	-1.42	-0.08	0.59	-0.79	-0.21
16	Makarainen	Kaisa	FIN	21	-1.56	-0.24	0.42	-0.94	-0.20
17	Gasparin	Elisa	SUI	15	-0.46	-0.47	-0.58	-0.47	-0.18
18	Herrmann	Denise	GER	21	-1.66	-0.21	-0.30	-1.07	-0.18
19	Kristejn Puskarcikova	Eva	CZE	16	-0.48	-0.64	-0.67	-0.55	-0.18
20	Zbylut	Kinga	POL	15	-0.35	-0.37	-0.35	-0.36	-0.17
21	Simon	Julia	FRA	21	-1.05	-0.24	-1.69	-0.89	-0.16
22	Haecki	Lena	SUI	18	-1.04	0.49	-1.49	-0.65	-0.15
23	Oeberg	Hanna	SWE	19	-1.14	-0.94	-1.57	-1.14	-0.14
24	Yurlova-Percht	Ekaterina	RUS	19	-0.82	-0.74	-1.01	-0.82	-0.13
25	Bescond	Anais	FRA	20	-1.03	-0.55	-0.34	-0.81	-0.11
26	Persson	Linn	SWE	18	-0.89	-0.91	-0.13	-0.81	-0.10
27	Wierer	Dorothea	ITA	21	-1.24	-0.73	-1.43	-1.11	-0.09
28	Brorsson	Mona	SWE	18	-0.80	-0.74	-0.03	-0.69	-0.06
29	Horchler	Karolin	GER	14	-0.41	-1.01	-0.59	-0.61	-0.06
30	Hauser	Lisa Theresa	AUT	18	-0.63	-0.99	-1.06	-0.78	-0.04
31	Fialkova	Paulina	SVK	19	-1.01	-0.62	-0.39	-0.83	-0.02
32	Hinz	Vanessa	GER	19	-0.85	-0.69	-0.45	-0.75	+0.01
33	Egan	Clare	USA	14	-0.79	-0.64	0.09	-0.64	+0.01
34	Oja	Regina	EST	15	-0.06	-0.29	-0.79	-0.21	+0.02
35	Kryuko	Iryna	BLR	18	-0.69	-0.69	0.06	-0.60	+0.07
36	Dunklee	Susan	USA	14	-0.72	0.20	-0.61	-0.44	+0.14
37	Vittozzi	Lisa	ITA	21	-0.92	-0.40	-0.82	-0.76	+0.24

Shooting Efficiency comparison: First trimester 2019–20 vs. First trimester 2020–21

Men

Women

Ski speed comparison: First trimester 2019–20 vs. First trimester 2020–21

Men

Women

Improvements season-to-season

Men

Women

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