January 05, 2017 (Oberhof, Germany) – The USA’s Tim Burke was the top North American in 35th with two penalties in the men’s 10km Sprint amidst heavy snowfall, cold temperatures and strong winds as round 4 of the BMW IBU World Cup kicked off the new year in Oberhof, Germany.

Julian Eberhard of Austria suffered one penalty en route to capturing his first victory of the season – the second of his career. Michal Slesingr (CZE) was second with one penalty at 10.5 seconds back while Italy’s Dominik Windisch finished third at 40.3 seconds back also with one penalty.

Scott Gow was the top Canadian in 43rd with one missed target at 2:11.9 behind Eberhard. The USA’s  Russell Currier was 46th with three penalties at 2:15.1 back. Canadians Macx Davies and Brendan Green were 68th and 69th respectively while Sean Doherty (USA) made his World Cup season debut finishing 80th with three penalties at 3:20.2 off the lead.

The tough conditions meant only two of the 102 athletes shot clean. “The heavy snow and gusty wind made for a challenging race today,” said Burke.

“We were lucky that the snow stopped right before the start today, but this also made for some challenging conditions on the track throughout the race. I feel like I was lucky in prone with having little wind, but standing was a real fight with strong wind and it took me a long time to get all five shots off.”

Lowell Bailey did not compete in Oberhof as he puts in some additional training at his home in Lake Placid and will join the team next weekend in Ruhpolding.

“Overall, I was pleased with my shooting performance today considering the windy conditions,” added Burke. “Unfortunately, I am far off my normal ski shape. I had one of my best training years, so I am a bit confused as to why I have been so flat racing, but I am confident that it will eventually come around. If we continue to have strong winds here in Oberhof, Saturday’s pursuit should present some great opportunities to move up.”

Results here.