March 27, 2010 (Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia) – At the final individual Biathlon WCup event of the season in Russia the USA’s Tim Burke placed a respectable 16th in the men’s 15km mass start with strong skiing to offset four misses. Dominik Landertinger of Austria claimed his first WCup in 38:19.8 missing only one shot. Canada’s Le Guellec, of Shannon, Que., also had a challenging day missing four shots as well to finish 27th. Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) won the overall men’s series with 828 points while Burke lead the North Americans finishing 14th overall with 525 points, the best overall ranking ever by an American, while Le Guellec finished in 30th with 309 points.

“My skiing shape was again amazing, but four misses are definitively too much to finish up front,” said Burke. “The current level of the men’s field is amazingly high and you have to show a good shooting to be able to score a podium. Nevertheless I am satisfied with the race. It could have been a better finish, but that’s biathlon. I know what I have to work on and I am ready to come back even stronger next season.”

Germany’s Magdalena Neuner was unstoppable winning the women’s final 12.5-kilometre mass start in 36:20.0 and the overall women’s title as well with 933 points. Sandrine Bailly, of France, was second in the final event at 36:37.2, while Anastasiya Kumina, of Slovakia, rounded out the podium in third in 36:43.6. Canada’s Zina Kocher had a tough day on the range missing eight shots to post a final time of 41:27.4 in 30th. Kocher lead the North Americans in the overall standings also finishing in 30th.

Team USA had several top 20 overall World Cup overall finishes placing 10th in the Men’s Nations Cup, 20th in the Women’s Nations Cup, Burke 12th in Men’s Sprint and ninth in Individual, and eighth in Men’s Relay.

“Breakthrough is the word I would use to sum up this season for Tim Burke and US Biathlon as a whole,” said US Biathlon Executive Director Max Cobb. “With top-three World Cup performances in the 20k Individual , the 10k Sprint, and the 15k Mass Start, and a sixth place in a 12.5k Pursuit Tim Burke showed his versatility and proved that he’s a contender for the podium in every race he enters.  He lead the Overall World Cup standings in the middle of the winter and went on to finish the season with the highest rank ever achieved by an American – 14th.  Congratulations Tim and my hat is off to the staff who worked so hard to provide the coaching, physiotherapy, and ski service an athlete needs to succeed. Operation Sochi-2014 begins tomorrow.”

The Biathlon World Cup season wraps up in Russia on Sunday with the mixed relay.

With files from US Biathlon and Biathlon Canada.

Women’s full results here.
Men’s full results here.

Women’s final overall standings here.
Men’s final overall standings here.

Results (brief)

Men
1. Dominik Landertinger, AUS, (1+0+0+0), 38:19.8
2. Arnd Peiffer, GER, (0+0+0+0), 38:23.4
3. Halvard Hanevold, NOR, (0+0+0+0), 38:31.0

14. Tim Burke, USA, (0+1+1+2) 39:34.2
27. Jean-Philippe Le Guellec, CAN, (0+1+2+1) 40:54.3

Women
1. Magdalena Neuner, GER, (0+0+2+1), 36:20.0
2. Sandrine Bailly, FRA, (0+0+1+0), 36:37.2
3. Anastasiya Kumina, SVK, (0+0+0+1), 36:43.6
4. Marie Laure Brunet, FRA, (0+1+1+0), 37:09.2
5. Tora Berger, NOR, (1+0+0+1), 37:13.8.

30. Zina Kocher, CAN, (3+1+1+3), 41:27.4

Final Overall (brief)

Men

1. Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR), 828
2. Christoph Sumann (AUT), 813
3. Ivan Tcherezov (RUS), 782

14. Tim Burke, USA, 525
30. Jean-Philippe Le Guellec, CAN, 309

Women
1. Magdalena Neuner, GER, 933
2. Simone Hauswald, GER, 854
3. Helena Jonsson, SWE, 813

31. Zina Kocher, CAN, 315