December 06, 2010 (Östersund, Sweden) – The World Cup in Östersund, Sweden finished with Ole Einar Bjoerndalen (NOR) taking top spot in the men’s 12.5km pursuit, followed by Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) in second place and Jakov Fak (SLO) in third. Canada’s Jean-Philippe Le Guellec was the top-ranked North American in 13th, while Tim Burke posted the best US result with 32nd.

It was a great day for Le Guellec who improved significantly on his 19th position after Saturday’s sprint, missing only one shot in the final standing shooting stage. Burke started in 18th place, 1:31 behind yesterday’s winner Svendsen. Thanks to two solid prone shootings, Burke moved up to eighth, but he missed four targets in the first standing range which hurt his overall performance.

“Of course I am not satisfied with that but there are good days and bad days at the range,” said Burke. “That was a bad one and I just put it behind me and focus on the next races in Austria.”

Lowell Bailey finished 50th with four misses overall. “I felt good in the beginning, but got a bit tired in the middle of the race,” said Burke. “I’m not happy with my shooting but I will get there.”

On the women’s side, Kaisa Makarainen (FIN) continued her winning streak over to Sunday’s 10km pursuit after taking the victory in Saturday’s sprint. Miriam Gossner (GER) had to settle for second place after missing three shots as opposed to Makarainen’s perfect record. Helena Ekholm (SWE) finished in the bronze medal position. No Canadian or US women qualified for the pursuit from Saturday’s sprint.

The IBU World Cup circuit moves to Hochfilzen, Austria, the next race is Friday.

Full men’s results HERE.
Full women’s results HERE.