March 13, 2015 (Kontiolahti, FIN) – Germany proved to be unstoppable in the Women’s Relay 4x6km with Laura Dahlemeier anchoring the team for a resounding gold medal performance using six spare rounds as France’s Marie Dorin Habert out-paced Italy’s Dorothea Wierer for the silver.

Dahlemeier at the finish ©

Canada’s Megan Heinicke, Rosanna Crawford, Audrey Vaillancourt and Julia Ransom earned a stead-fast 10th place with one penalty and 10 spare rounds while Team USA’s Susan Dunklee, Hannah Dreissigacker, Annelies Cook and Clare Egan finished 12th on the day but were as high as second with Dunklee’s initial push on the first leg.

“This was a solid overall performance for this season’s team,” said Chris Lindsay, high-performance director, Biathlon Canada. “Our relay results have been all over the place and we have been changing the team members trying to get the correct feel. For the World Championships Head Coach Matthias Ahrens settled on the combination of Heinicke / Crawford / Vaillancourt / Ransom.”

Dunklee gave the USA a strong start just behind Germany’s Franziska Hildebrand, but two misses in prone saw her drop to 21st. Yet she clawed back to 7th as Poland took over the lead with Germany also faltering to 10th. With the fastest course time (15:41.2) and clean shooting in standing Dunklee tagged off to Dreissigacker in 3rd. Canada’s Heinicke was struggling behind in 14th.

Dunklee in 3rd behind Germany and Italy ©

“Nothing in the world is as thrilling as chasing down skiers when you feel like you are in top physical shape,” said Dunklee. “It’s my favorite part about the scramble leg in the relay.”

As Russia took over the lead Canada’s Crawford put their team into 10th and back into contention. Dreissigacker struggled on the range as Team USA was now in 11th place. But Crawford suffered a penalty and used three spares in standing seeing Canada drop to 13th while the US held on to 1oth just three seconds behind Norway in ninth.

Germany was now in third behind Italy as the Czech Republic surged into the lead as Russia was not able to maintain their stronghold. As the Czech’s faltered and Russia recovered Germany’s clean shooting and strong skiing put them in the lead with a 20s-margin that they would not relinquish. France in 4th was now in contention as well.

American Cook skied hard up the climb to momentarily grab eighth spot in the pack. After two misses in prone and two more in standing, the U.S. was back in 11th place as Cook tagged rookie Egan, their anchor.

Meanwhile Canada’s Vaillancourt had a stellar leg using two spares in prone, but cleaned in standing moving the Canadian squad into 8th. She dropped to 10th as she tagged Julia Ransom for the final leg.

Ransom crosses the line in 10th ©

“The effort from all the women was solid but Vaillancourt was key to pulling off the top ten as she was able to hold us in the race on the third leg. Rosanna’s penalty in her standing shooting was unfortunate but she fought hard and pushed right to the transition with Vaillancourt,” continued Lindsay.

Ransom used four spares on her way to a top-10 finish for Canada crossing the line in 1oth. The USA’s Egan cleaned in prone to put her team back in eighth but three misses in standing left her in 13th, yet she dug deep to pass Poland and claim 12th.

USA's Egan 12th ©

“It was exhilarating to clean in prone and also to ski fast enough out on the course to pass some of my competitors,” commented Egan. “I am not quite there yet, but I was very proud of myself for hitting my last shot with the spare round to stay out of the penalty loop. Overall, this was a solid day for our team.”

Dahlemeier cleaned all targets sealing the victory for Germany as double-gold medalist Dorin Habert was too strong or Italy’s Wierer to bring France the silver as Russia settled for fourth behind Italy.

Lindsay was suitably pleased as well with Canada’s 10th place result. “It was great to see this team with two younger athletes hit a top ten. I think this sets us up well for next season as we push for consistent top-8 performance in the relays,” he concluded.

Full results here.

Germany celebrates ©