March 09, 2016 (Oslo, Norway) – Canada’s Rosanna Crawford (CAN) logged a strong 14th place in the women’s 15k Individual event today at the IBU Biathlon World Championships in Oslo as France went one-two, courtesy of Dorin Habert (FRA) and Anais Bescond (FRA) with one shooting penalty apiece. Laura Dahlmeier (GER) racked up two penalties, but skied incredibly well to grab the bronze medal.

“Today was a great day. I had set for myself a realistic goal of finishing in the top-15 so I’m happy that I came away from these Championships with one,” said Crawford, who secured a spot in Sunday’s mass start with the top-30 thanks to her strong performance.

“I had some really good individuals this season so I was confident going into the race, and really just tried to shoot like I do in training, and that worked well for me today.

Three North Americans earned top-20 results, including Susan Dunklee (USA) in 18th and Julia Ransom (CAN) in 20th. “It was a great day on skis and a good but not great day in the shooting range,” said Dunklee. “I was dreaming of a little more, but this is an effort I can be proud of. I was grateful to ski around Doro (Dorothea Wierer from Italy) for the three middle laps; I think it helped both of us and made the race go by faster.”

A threatening weather forecast caused organizers to move the race start two-and-a-half hours earlier and conditions turned out to be ideal for the event with minimal wind.

The heavy hitters started towards the end of the 94-strong field and it was the final shooting stage that ultimately decided the winner, as Nadezhda Skardino (BLR) and Ekaterina Yurlova (RUS) and Gabriela Soukalova (CZE) were the first three to enter the range, yet each logged a penalty. Bescond lost her lead as she also added a minute to her time with a miss, as Dorin Habert followed suit. However, she continued to shoot quickly and hit the next four to take the lead, with 3km to go to the finish.

 

Results
1. Marie Dorin Habert (FRA) 44:02.8
2. Anais Bescond (FRA) +12.2
3. Laura Dahlmeier (GER) +1:17.8
4. Veronika Vitkova (CZE) +1:26.8
5. Gabriela Soukalova (CZE) +1:36.8

14. Rosanna Crawford (CAN) +2:15.3
18. Susan Dunklee (USA) +2:29.5
20. Julia Ransom (CAN) +2:33.5
33. Hannah Dreissigacker (USA) +3:45.2
54. Zina Kocher (CAN) +5:33.6
60. Sarah Beaudry (CAN) +6:02.3
66. Clare Egan (USA) +6:41.9
77. Annelies Cook (USA) +8:49.4

Full results here.