January 08, 2016 (Ruhpolding, Germany) – American Susan Dunklee was just out of the top 10 placing 11th with one penalty in the women’s 7.5km Sprint today in Ruhpolding as Franziska Hildebrand (GER) won on home soil with perfect shooting. In the men’s 1okm race Canada’s Nathan Smith (CAN) finished 15th with two missed targets while Johannes Thingnes Boe (NOR) took home the victory also with clean shooting.

“The first races of the new year are often challenging for me after the long holiday break and the stress of transatlantic travel,” said Dunklee. “However, this week I’ve been feeling relaxed and adjusting to jet lag remarkably well. I didn’t try to do anything special today, just to use the same approach as always and see what happened. Things came together well and I’ve got a great start position for tomorrow.”

The women’s competition came down to the wire with second place, Gabriela Soukalova (CZE), finishing a mere 0.3s behind Hildebrand and Kaisa Makarainen (FIN) 2.3s back for the bronze. The top three all shot clean. Dunklee trailed the leader by 45s.

The men’s race wasn’t quite as tight, although it was still close as Tarjei Boe (NOR) finished only 3s behind his brother. Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) made it a Norwegian sweep, taking third place at 7.6s back, and shooting error-free like his podium mates. Smith trailed first place by just under a minute while Tim Burke (USA) was the top American in 18th.

Results

Women
1. Franziska Hildebrand (GER) 19:46.5
2. Gabriela Soukalova (CZE) +0.3
3. Kaisa Makarainen (FIN) +2.3

11. Susan Dunklee (USA) +45.0
43. Annelies Cook (USA) +1:47.0
49. Julia Ransom (CAN) +2:02.1
55. Sarah Beaudry (CAN) +2:23.0
74. Clare Egan (USA) +3:08.6
76. Zina Kocher (CAN) +3:10.7

Full results here.

Men
1. Johannes Thingnes Boe (NOR) 21:57.5
2. Tarjei Boe (NOR) +3.0
3. Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) +7.6

15. Nathan Smith (CAN) +59.9
18. Tim Burke (USA) +1:01.3
33. Lowell Bailey (USA) +1:30.4
34. Christian Gow (CAN) +1:32
47. Scott Gow (CAN) +1:48.1
55. Macx Davies (CAN) +1:53.5
72. Scott Perras (CAN) +2:27.5

Full results here.