December 14, 2011 (Obertilliach, Austria) – Russia won an exciting mixed relay today in 1:14:47.9 closely followed by Norway, 25.7 seconds back and Italy, 26.9 seconds back. Russia had three penalties and six spare rounds, Norway used six spare rounds and Italy needed eleven.

Italy surprised everyone in this first IBU Cup mixed relay – 2x6km+2×7.5km. Lead-off leg Roberta Fiandino shot clean, handing off to Federica Sanfilippo in first position. Sanfilippo commented, “I was very nervous to run in first place and started way too fast. That’s also why I needed all three spares in prone. The second lap was much better, I was not as nervous anymore and the standing shooting was also better… We are all really happy with the result today.”

Three Penalties
Sanfilippo let the fast Russian Ekaterina Shumilova go by, with the Russians having a almost a one-minute lead at the handoff to Sergey Klyachin. Klyachin  managed to extend his lead, but in standing, he needed all of this lead to stay in front as he picked up three penalties. Italian Rene Laurent Vuillermoz was close to him by then and the competition was wide open once again. From behind,

Norwegian Jan Olav Gjermundshaug came from behind, edged closer. The battle continued as Germany, Canada and France tried to close the gap and leave the rest of the field behind.

Everything Normal
Russian Victor Vasilyev stayed in front on the last leg securing first place with two confident shooting bouts. He was the last leg for the Russians at the IBU OECH in February in Ridnaun; back then his nerves kicked in. Not today, though, in the finish he explained that he had not been nervous and everything was normal.

Tactics on the Last Lap
Behind him, Norwegian Henrik L’Abee-Lund closed the gap to Pietro Dutto from Italy. L’Abee-Lund commented, “The last lap was hard and there were a lot of tactics going on. He was a little slow on the last uphill and I thought it was because he was tired. But I could not get control until the last few meters before the finish.”

Canada 4th
Fourth place went to the Canadian team, another surprise today. Scott Gow left the shooting range just behind Erik Lesser of Germany, was able to pass him and even put some distance between them on the last lap. The German team in general had a bad day with both women accumulating a penalty. Sixth place went to France.

Full results HERE.