January 24, 2010 (Antholz, Italy) – Austria’s Daniel Mesotitsch scored the victory with a winning time of 31:50.4 over Arnd Peiffer (GER) in the men’s 12.5km Pursuit event on Sunday. Canada’s Brendan Green capped off a dream week on the World Cup by posting his personal best finish with a 14th-place result at 1:15.7. Mesotitsch’s team mate Dominik Landertinger was third at 19.7s. Tim Burke, the only U.S. athlete who qualified for the men’s race, did not start saying “… we all need to get some rest. Both the mind and body are quite tired after all those racing weeks” – and begins the final phase of his pre-Olympic training.

Green, the 23-year-old biathlete from Hay River, N.W.T., was on a mission Sunday to get into the top-15 for the first time of his career. Starting 33 spots behind the leaders, he gained momentum throughout the competition while passing many of the world’s elite biathletes. “Everything seemed to come together today. The skis were really strong and I felt really relaxed on the range,” said Green. “I steadily worked my way through the field and just felt great on my skis. The wax techs did an amazing job.”

Green gained a lot of confidence earlier in the week when he finished 19th in an individual event. “That was a great result for me and gave me the confidence to help me mentally to know that I can compete with the big names,” said Green. “This was the best way to end off the World Cup before the Olympics and I am looking forward to going to race some IBU Cups over the next couple of weeks.”

Jean-Philippe Le Guellec, of Shannon, Que., was 33rd at 34:36.1, while Marc-Andre Bedard, of Valcartier, Que., was 43rd (35:11.7).

With files from Biathlon Canada.

Men’s full results here.