December 16, 2006 – The holiday break could not come at a better time for Canada’s Zina Kocher, who has been on a whirlwind tour since the 2006 World Cup biathlon season began.

Kocher, of Red Deer, Alta. who won her first World Cup medal three weeks ago in Sweden, and has consistently finished among the world’s best throughout the first half of the season, was less than satisfied with her performance in the last race before the holidays, missing two targets in the women’s sprint event.

The 24-year-old completed the race in 24 minutes 23.6 seconds, resulting in a disappointing 34th- place finish.

“It was a really frustrating day,” said Kocher. “Conditions were perfect for shooting clean, but the targets just weren’t going down for me. That’s biathlon though, sometimes it’s there and sometimes it’s not.”

Sweden’s Anna Carin Olofsson was a force to be reckoned with, capturing her first win of the season and effectively ending the three-race winning streak of Germany’s Andrea Henkel. Shooting flawlessly on the range, Olofsson crossed the stopped the clock at 22:6.9, a full 32 seconds ahead of Sandrine Bailly, of France, who won the silver medal. Henkel had one miss on the range, and settled for third spot, +41.6 behind Olofsson.

“Today’s race really belonged to the best skiers,” said a frustrated Kocher. “Because so many of the top racers shot perfectly on the range, it made it really tough for a good result if you had any misses.”

Other Canadians in the race included: Sandra Keith, of Calgary in 73rd (+3:51.6), and Marie-Pierre Parent, of St-Paul de Joliette, Que. was 83rd (+4:26.1).

Canada’s World Cup team will not be competing in the team relay and will head to Italy for a week of training before the holiday break.

The next generation of Canada’s top biathletes were also in action on Friday. In men’s Europa Cup competition, Marc-André Bédard got an early Christmas present, turning in his best result of the season with a sixth-place finish, in the men’s 10-kilometre sprint event.

Narrowly missing the podium, the Quebec native shot flawlessly on the range to complete the race in 26:29.4, just 25.5 seconds behind the winner, Christoph Stephan of Germany. Teammate Sebastian Berthod claimed the silver medal, +12.7 seconds behind Stephan, while Austria’s Julian Eberhard was third +14 seconds out.

Maxime Lebouef, of Val Belair, Que. who posted his best result of the season just a week ago, was 25th on the day, just under two minutes behind the leader.

Biathlon Canada, the governing body for biathlon in the country, oversees the Canadian Championships, Eastern and Western Canadian Championships, and North American Cups held in Canada. The organization’s mandate is to provide national level programs for the continuous development of biathlon athletes from the grassroots to the elite level. For more information on Biathlon Canada, please visit their Web site at www.biathloncanada.ca on the Internet.

Complete results: www.biathlonworld.com

Women’s 7.5 km Sprint Top-Five Results:

1. Anna Carin Olofsson, SWE, 22:06.9; 2. Sandrine Bailly, FRA, +32.0; 3. Andrea Henkel, GER, +41.6; 4. Kathrin Hitzer, GER, +58.3; Tadeja Brankovic, SLO, +59.4

Canadian Results:

34. Zina Kocher, Red Deer, Alta., +2:16.7; 73. Sandra Keith, Calgary, Alta. + 3:51.6; 83. Marie-Pierre Parent, St-Paul de Joliette, Que., +4:26.1



Europa Cup Men’s 10km Sprint Results:

1. Christoph Stephan, GER, 26:03.9; 2. Sebastien Berthod, GER, +12.7; 3. Julian Eberhard, AUT, +14.0; 4. Simon Schempp, GER, +19.2; 5. Dominik Landertinger, AUT, +24.3

Canadian Results:

6. Marc-André Bédard, Valcartier, Que. +25.5; 25. Maxime Leboeuf, Val Belair, Que. +1:48.8; 46. Brendan Green, Hay River, N.W.T. +2:35.5; 51. Yannick Letailleur, Edmonton, Alta. +2:53.3; 87.Tyson Smith, Calgary, Alta. +4:12.7; 110. Dave Zurevinski, Canada, +6:07.6



Europa Cup Women’s 7.5km Sprint Results:

1. Julianne Doll, GER, 22:32.9; 2. Carolin Hennecke, GER, +11.3; 3. Susann Konig, GER, +30.6; 4. Franziska Hilderbrand, GER, +1:15.5; 5. Anais Bescond, FRA, +1:20.3

Canadian Results:

32. Megan Imrie, Falcon Lake, Man. +3:28.7; 45. Cynthia Clark, Winnipeg, Man. +4:10.8; 57. Audrey Attali, Quebec, +5:43.1; 61. Claude Godbout, Quebec, +6:15.6