December 17, 2011 (Hochfilzen, Austria) – In snowy conditions Canada’s Jean Philippe Le Guellec shot clean in the men’s 12.5km Pursuit to lead the North American men in 8th while the USA’s Jay Hakkinen matched LeGuellec’s stellar shooting to claim 9th as Germany’s Andi Birnbacher won a nail-biter over Norway’s Ole Einar Björndalen by two-tenths of a second. Birnbacher and Björndalen also shot clean with Simon Fourcade from France placing third on the podium only 1.3s behind.

Both Le Guellec and Hakkinen had superb days as the Canadian started in 48th while the American was 45th. For Le Guellec he matched his second best WCup finish since 2008/09 also in Hochfilzen (his best result was 7th in Anholtz-Anterselva, ITA, that same season). Hakkinen’s result was his best finish since 2007 when he was 9th in Anholtz-Anterselva and he now sits 30th overall while Le Guellec is 36th.

“It was a huge relief and confidence booster for me,” said Le Guellec in a Biathlon Canada release. “I wanted to go into the Christmas break with some good performances and I achieved that. Mentally today I didn’t want to sweat the small stuff and this gives me the confidence to know I can be there.”

“This is a great day for me I’m really happy to be back in the top- 10,” Hakkinen was quoted in US Biathlon press release. “It feels like it’s been awhile. It was finally the race wanted to race with clean shooting today and also in yesterday’s sprint, the skis were also great and the ski form was good.

“The best thing about today’s race was fighting for those top positions and even having the potential to move up even farther. It was just a great day for me,” he added.

Birnbacher credited his win to “clean shooting and perfect skis” as he earned Germany’s first podium this year. It was the legendary Björndalen’s first podium this season as well.

“I am really up here because of my shooting,” Björndalen told Biathlonworld.com. “Everything was coming together as we came to the finish. I tried in the last meter, but Andi was stronger. It was difficult today as only a small part of the track was fast, so it was hard to pass.” Björndalen’s teammate Tarjei Boe finished fourth, with three penalties, and continues to lead overall.

The USA’s Lowell Bailey was 25th and hangs on to 9th overall in the series while Leif Nordgren was 33rd. Canada’s Brendan Green finished 40th.

Full results HERE.