February 09, 2017 – The day belonged to Germany in the Mixed Relay as the IBU World Championships got underway in Hochfilzen, Austria today with France just behind at 2.2 seconds and Russia in third at 3.2 seconds behind.

Canada’s Julia Ransom, Rosanna Crawford, Brendan Green and Calgary’s Scott Gow finished 13th at 2:18.2 back using nine spare rounds while Team USA’s Susan Dunklee, Clare Egan, Lowell Bailey and Sean Doherty were 16th at 3:20.2 behind with two penalties using 13 spares.

The Championships got underway with beautiful weather, hard tracks and low wind conditions which made for a fast race. The women contested a 6km course  – three laps of the 2km track – with one standing and one prone shooting stage.

The race remained close through the two women’s legs, with Germany, France, and Italy battling at the front, and Russia, Sweden, and Finland close on their heels. The USA’s Dunklee skied a competitive scramble leg, handing off in the top 5 at only 7.6 seconds behind the leading Italian team. Ransom skied the opening leg for Canada in 18th place before handing off to Crawford who picked up three spots in the field.

“We had a gorgeous sunny and snowy start to world championships,” said Dunklee. “My skiing felt sharp and my body feels ready for these championships.”

The USA’s Egan stayed close to the leaders, helped by needing just one spare in prone, and was in sixth place exiting the range. However, three spares plus one penalty in standing knocked the US team down to 17th and out of medal contention.

The men completed three laps of the 2.5km track, also with one standing and one prone shooting stage each. As they took the course, Arnd Peiffer of Germany blew the field apart with clean shooting and fast skiing, building a 21.2-second lead over Italy in second place. Many other countries stayed in the mix fighting for third position, including France, Russia, Ukraine, Sweden, and the Czech Republic.

Canada’s Green found one more place up the standings as did Gow before crossing the finish line in 13th. The USA’s Bailey used just one spare in both prone and standing, and Doherty, after needing three extra rounds and a penalty in prone, finished strong with a clean standing stage in 16th..

The story of the day was the phenomenal performance of the Frenchman Martin Fourcade, anchoring for the French team. His teammate Quentin Fillon Maillet struggled on the range in third position, handing off to Fourcade at 46.5 seconds back from the lead. Fourcade skied a very fast first lap, shooting clean in prone, and continued his domination on the track in the second lap to enter the range alongside Italy’s Dominik Windisch and Russia’s Anton Shipulin.

Both Fourcade and Shipulin shot clean in standing, leaving the range within 20 seconds of Germany’s Simon Schempp, ahead of Windisch. Two of the strongest skiers in the field, Fourcade and Shipulin charged out of the range, but with less than a kilometer to go began playing cat-and-mouse for the silver medal. Schempp barely held off the charging Frenchman and Russian for the gold medal, while Fourcade drifted wide in the finishing lanes to edge Shipulin for the silver medal.

Results here.