February 07, 2015 (Nove Mesto, CZE) – Canada’s Nathan Smith, 29, cranked out a career-best 7th-place finish in the men’s 10km sprint with clean shooting at the IBU World Cup in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic on Saturday. Smith finished just 12 seconds off the podium as Slovenia’s Jakov Fak took the win shooting clean as well.

Nathan Smith (CAN) © Nordic Focus

Germany’s Simon Schempp raced for the silver at 12.8s back, while France’s Jean Guillaume Beatrix claimed the bronze at 26s behind as all podium finishers shot clean.

Men's podium © Nordic Focus

“January was a tough month of shooting and I felt like I was hitting my head against a brick wall trying to knock the targets down,” said Smith. “Even though I was trying hard it just wasn’t happening. After the last World Cup I decided to take a week off shooting, and thought of some key points to focus on – relaxing into the position and slowing things down a touch. My skiing felt strong but I can definitely give a little more. The difference was shooting 10 for 10 today and I will try and reflect on that in the future.”

Leif Nordgren (USA) © Nordic Focus

The USA’s Leif Nordgren posted a career-best 16th with one penalty in standing for his best-ever World Cup placement at 1:04.8 behind Fak.

“Today was almost a perfect race for me,” Nordgren said. “I felt really good on the skis, a little tired from the race yesterday, but not too much to handle. With clean shooting in prone I had a lot of momentum to work with right off the bat. The miss in standing was a little deflating, but all I could do was push hard the last loop and see where I ended up.

“Leaving the range I heard I was only a few seconds behind the top 10, so that gave me a little extra fight for the last loop. We had really good skis, so I have to thank our wax techs for that. It’s a new day tomorrow and I’m excited for it. I think I have some good momentum going into tomorrow.”

Brendan Green (CAN) © Nordic Focus

Canada’s Brendan Green finished in 22nd after missing one shot in his final round of shooting while USA’s Tim Burke was 38th with three penalties. Canuck Macx Davies was 54th with one penalty and was followed by Sean Doherty (USA) in 57th who also with three penalties. Canadian Scott Gow from Calgar placed 63rd suffering two penalties. The USA’s Lowell Bailey did not compete as he recovers from illness.

“Today the top men shot amazingly well which makes for a very tough day to medal when you aren’t within the top-five or 10 skiers,” added Smith. “A medal may have been possible if I’d also had the ski of my life today, however, the odds of perfect shooting and skiing coming together are pretty low. A more likely way to grab a first podium is to put yourself in a position where you can capitalize on a day when the favourites falter.”

Full results here.