September 27, 2008 (Bessans, France) – Doug Hoover (Williamsburg, PA) finished 20th in today’s 6 km Pursuit competition, despite picking up four penalties in the final standing stage at the Summer Biathlon World Championships. The Russian team dominated the Pursuit competitions, winning nine medals, topping their seven medals in yesterday’s Sprints. All four gold medalists from the Sprint won another gold medal in today’s pursuits.

Hoover, the Assistant Track and Cross-Country Coach at Juniata College, was on his way to a top 15 finish until the final standing stage. Despite strong winds throughout the day, Hoover had only two penalties going into the final stage. In that stage, he missed four targets, resulting in four trips around the penalty loop at the high-altitude Haute Maurienne venue. Accordingly, he finished 5:49.5 behind Alexei Katrenko of Russia, who won his second gold medal, covering the 6K course in 23:01.7. Despite eight penalties, Katrenko topped teammate Sergei Balandin, with two penalties, by 16.9 seconds. Third went to Dias Keneshev of Kazakhstan, with five penalties, 53.9 seconds back. Danny Fink (Morgantown, WV) had one less penalty than Hoover today, moving up from 24th to 20th place, 6:54.9 back.

The Junior Men’s 6 km saw Anuzar Yunusov of Uzbekistan win his second gold medal in 23:21.1, with eight penalties. Anthony Rizzo (Wapwallopen, PA) finished 26th, with 14 penalties, 9:14.7 back. Russian athletes took second and third places with Rinat Gilazov 24.4 seconds back and Maxim Adiev, 1:04.4 back, with four and seven penalties, respectively.
The Russian women matched their sprint performances in the pursuit by again taking five of the six medals. In the Women’s 5 km Pursuit, the places remained the same today as yesterday, with Ekaterina Sidorenko, followed by Lubov Ermolaeva and Anastasia Kuznetsova. The winner covered the rolling 5K in 22:40.5, with seven penalties. Her teammates, with four and seven penalties respectively finished 1:49.7 and 2:34 back. Stephanie Blackstone (Everett, PA) finished 12th, with 13 penalties, 10:31.8 back.

In the Junior Women’s 5 km Pursuit, the top three repeated, just as had occurred in the women’s pursuit. Irina Maximova of Russia took first, followed by teammate Alexandra Valishina, with Vera Kalbianok of Belarus in third. All three medalists had seven penalties, with Maximova winning in 24:19.1, followed by Valishina 23.1 seconds back and Kalbianok 1:02.1 back. Molly Susla (Freeport, ME) was again the top US junior, in 19th place, with 16 penalties, 10:14.9 back, while Kaitlyn Bernard (Fort Kent, ME) finished 22nd, with 15 penalties, 11:47.4 back.

Rollerski Sprints fill Friday’s schedule, followed by Rollerski Pursuits on Saturday, with the Rollerski Mixed Relay on Sunday closing the Summer Biathlon World Championships. Visit www.biathlonworld.com for complete results in the Datacenter section.