February 17, 2009 (Pyeong Chang, Korea) – Norway’s Ole Einar Bjoerndalen has won a record 13th Biathlon World Championships gold medal Tuesday in Pyeong Chang, Korea in the 20km Individual race. In the post race press conference Bjoerndalen had this to say about his race, “I’m in really good shape. But I was luck to win. It’s a very hard track here and it’s hard to shoot. I had fantastic skis today, so that’s why I won. I was 100% sure there was no chance for gold today, maybe for a third place.”

In second behind the Norwegian was Christoph Stephan of Germany, followed by Jakov Fak of Croatia. The USA’s Tim Burke had a career day sitting in 6th place until the final round of shooting where two misses shots bumped him back to 14th with 2 minutes of penalty time giving him three missed shots in total. However, Bjoerndalen was the only one with three misses in the top eight further showing his incredible skiing ability. Lowell Bailey (USA) was 22nd, Robin Clegg (Can) was 39th, Jeremy Teela (USA) 44th, Jean Philippe Leguellec (Can) 51st, Scott Perras (Can) 107th, and Jay Hakkinen (USA) did not finish.

Complete results available here

US Biathlon Release

Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY) missed two shots in his final stage of shooting and finished 14th in this afternoon’s 20K Individual competition at the Biathlon World Championships. Going into the final shooting stage, Burke was in sixth place. “I am so nervous, I cannot look” said coach Per Nilsson who knew that clean shooting would put Burke on the podium. But the third and fifth targets did not fall and though Burke skied well in the final 4 km before the finish there was no way to make up for the two minutes of penalty time from his misses, finishing 14th, 1:57.9 behind Ole Einar Björndalen of Norway, who won his third Championship of the week and a record 13th Biathlon World Championship. Second went to Christoph Stephan of Germany, with one penalty, 14.1 seconds back. Surprising with a Bronze medal was 21-year-old Jakov Fak of Croatia, with one penalty, 17.1 seconds back.

At the finish, Burke was frustrated, but optimistic. “I feel like a guy climbing a ladder and when I get to the top, I keep missing the final rung. If I would have missed a shot in the first stage and then two more in the second stage, instead of two in the final stage, I would feel much better. However, I know that I am going to hit those someday and get the big result. I am skiing well now, so it will happen. And, I have two more chances this week, in the Mass Start and the Relay.”

Burke’s teammate, Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY) matched his result from the Pursuit competition, with another 22nd place finish. He finished 2:38.3 back with two penalties. Bailey actually surprised himself. “I woke up this morning with stomach cramps. During the second loop today, I was thinking about stopping, especially if I shot poorly. Then I thought that this is World Championships and I came here to race and hung in. I felt terrible skiing all day. Every time I came into shoot, I just wanted to lie down on the mat and go to sleep. All that said, I am not complaining, I am happy with my race. I just wish I felt better today.” Later Bailey became even happier, when the start list for the 15 km Mass Start was announced – a race that includes only the top 30 athletes from the World Championships. Bailey scored bib 30!! That will give him another chance in a four stage shooting race.

Jeremy Teela (Anchorage, AK) had one of his best days of the season today finishing 44th, with four penalties, 4:20.4 back.

The Women’s 15K Individual, the next competition, is scheduled for Wednesday, starting at 18:15 local time (4:15 AM EST). Starting for the US Team are the following athletes: Carolyn Bramante (Duluth, MN), Lanny and Tracy Barnes (Durango, CO), and Haley Johnson (Lake Placid, NY).