March 15, 2015 (Kontiolahti, Finland) – Valj Semerenko shot clean to take home the gold for the Ukraine in the Women’s 12.5km mass start on the final day of the 2015 IBU World Championships in Finland. Germany’s Franziska Preuss celebrated silver with one penalty at 6.2s back with Karin Oberhofer (Ita) claiming the bronze with two penalties at 12.6s behind.

Semerenko wins ©

Early leader Darya Domracheva (Belarus) was fourth with two penalties at 14.7s back while Czech star, Gabriela Soukalova of Republic was fifth with one penalty at 26.2s.

The USA’s Susan Dunklee finished in 20th while Canada’s Megan Heinicke finished 24th. Both suffered a miss in the first prone session while many others cleaned as Domracheva took an early lead. Dunklee suffered another miss in Shooting 2 and remained in 21st with Heinicke 22nd as she hit all targets.

Susan Dunklee © Nordic Focus

Domracheva lost her lead with two missed targets in the first standing sessions as Semerenko cleaned and took over the lead. Heinicke cleaned as well moving up to 21st as Dunklee suffered two misses and dropped to 24th.

Semerenko cleaned again the final time on the range to seal her victory as Preuss with one missed target tried in vain to catch her. Meanwhile Domracheva recovered but it was too little too late as Oberhofer held her off for the bronze.

Dunklee reclaimed some some spots and sprinted ahead of Slovenia’s Andreja Mali for 20th at 2:01 back as Heinicke cleaned again bringing Canada home in 24th at 2:22 behind the winner.

Megan Heinicke at the finish © Nordic Focus

“I wish every course had a ‘wall’ like Kontiolahti,” said Dunklee of the infamous climb on the world championship course. “I love charging up it on the last loop. Another great day on skis but I couldn’t fully capitalize on it because of a mediocre performance in the shooting range. Now, I’m happy to be done with these world championships, but looking forward to one last week of World Cup racing.”

“Megan had a great race with exceptional shooting,” said Chris Lindsay Biathlon Canada’s high-performance director. “This is a great way for her to finish off the season with multiple top-16 results; and personal bests for the World Championships. Meagan is a true role model for the younger athletes on the team, and was able to really show her potential.”

Full results here.