March 03, 2013 (Oslo, NOR) – The USA’s Tim Burke had a stellar day finishing just off the podium in 4th in the men’s 15km Mass Start, as the IBU World Cup competitions at the Holmenkollen in Oslo wrapped up on Sunday.

The American, who’s hit the podium twice this season, shot well suffering only two penalties, as he turned up the heat in the second half of the race to climb from 16th to 4th place as he posted the fastest skiing time of the day.

Burke, only 2.3 seconds out of third position, was 19.1 seconds back of winner Ondrej Moravec of the Czech Republic with one penalty in 39:48.7 as second place went to Martin Fourcade of France with three penalties at 13.7s back. Germany’s Erik Lesser took home the bronze less than three seconds behind Fourcade with only one penalty.

“I am very happy with my fourth place today, but of course it was a little painful to miss out on the podium by a few seconds,” said Burke in a team release. “Our technicians did a fantastic job of getting me on some fast skis today, and I also felt very good right from the start.”

Burke went on to explain how his race unfolded.  “Going into the last loop, I was not really thinking about the podium because I thought that group was too far away. After the big climb, I noticed that I had gained a lot on that group, so I attacked with everything I had to catch up. Unfortunately, I did not have much of a sprint left in my legs after I caught the group but I am still happy with fourth.  Most importantly, I have felt great in on the skis in my last few starts so I am really looking forward to these last two weeks of racing.”

Sunday was the first World Cup win of Moravec’s career and with three podium finishes under his belt so far this year he was ecstatic with the result. “That was perfect for me; my first victory it is like a dream come true,” Moravec said in an interview with biathlonworld.com  “I tried to enjoy it all. This has been a great season for our team and I think it will continue.”

USA’s Lowell Bailey, the other North American in the men’s field, finished in 27th place with a time of 42:53.7 and six penalties.

Women’s Race
In the women’s race, Norway’s Tora Berger scored the hat-trick, going 3-for-3 in front of her home nation capturing the victory on Sunday in the women’s 12.5km Mass Start. Berger blazed the course in a time of 36:58.8 with suffering two penalties, both in the final round of shooting due to a loss of focus, to claim her 27th career win.

Second place went to Anastasiya Kuzmina at 5.4 seconds back with two penalties while 3rd went to Darya Domracheva (Belarus) at 23.3s with three penalties. There were no North American women on the start line today in Oslo.

When asked how she stayed focused on her racing while experiencing continued success, Berger told biathlonworld.com, “I get tired but try to turn off everything about biathlon when I am not in the stadium. I think that helps me recover so fast.”

Full results from today’s Men’s Mass Start can be viewed here:
http://services.biathlonresults.com/Results.aspx?RaceId=BT1213SWRLCP07SMMS

Full results from today’s Women’s Mass Start can be viewed here:
http://services.biathlonresults.com/Results.aspx?RaceId=BT1213SWRLCP07SWMS

Competition in the E.ON IBU World Cup moves to Sochi, Russia, site of the 2014 Olympic games.  Racing begins on Thursday with the Women’s 15 km Individual.