December 6, 2004 – Robin Clegg hovered on the edge of a top-30 finish in the opening 12.5 kilometre pursuit of the Biathlon World Cup season in Beitostolen, Norway.

The 27-year-old from Ottawa finished 42nd, exhibiting exceptional racing skills Saturday despite a mediocre shooting score. Clegg crossed the finish line with a time of 35 minutes 08:07 seconds, hitting 15 of his 20 targets.

“My skiing times were well into the top-30 and although I ran into some difficulty with shooting, the way I skied today shows quite a bit of promise,” said the Canadian Biathlon Team veteran after completing his first World Cup pursuit of the season. “I think when it comes down to it I am relieved to come out of the first World Cup in decent shape, and I am looking forward to improving my standings with each upcoming race.”

Clegg, who has been focusing getting the kinks out of his shooting skills during the opening competition of the season, is confident the two elements – skiing and shooting – will soon mold together.

“My physical shape is coming into form and now I am just looking for better results in the shooting range,” said the 2002 Olympian.

Leading the pack in the men’s 12.5 kilometre pursuit loaded with 59 of the world’s top biathlon athletes was Sven Fischer of Germany who set the leading mark at 31:15:9, hitting all but one of his 20 targets. Russia’s Nikolay Kruglov grabbed the silver medal at 31:19:8, with two shooting errors, while teammate Sergei Rozhkov rounded out the top three to take bronze with a time of 31:19.9, also missing just two targets.

The Canadian Biathlon Team will head to Holmenkollen, Norway, December 9-12, for the second leg on the World Cup circuit.

Men’s Top-5 and Canadian Results (12.5 kilometre pursuit):

1. Sven Fischer, GER, 31:15:9;

2. Nikolay Kruglov, RUS, 31:19:8;

3. Sergei Rozhkov, RUS, 31:19:9;

4. Vincent Defrasne, FRA, 31:29:6;

5. Raphael Poiree, FRA, 31:52:3.

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42. Robin Clegg, Ottawa, 35:08:07.