March 19, 2015 (Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia) – Canada’s Nathan Smith continued his stellar season taking the lead at one point in the Men’s 10km Sprint at the IBU World Cup finals finishing 5th with one penalty at 34s behind winner Martin Fourcade who shot clean.

Nathan Smith (CAN) © Nordic Focus

Second place went to local favourite Anton Shipulin of Russia, also shooting clean at 13 seconds back. Benedikt Doll of Germany scored the first podium of his career taking third at 18.3 seconds back with one penalty in a close battle with Latvia’s Andrejs Rastorgujevs at 18.6s behind.

The laid-back Smith, 29, from Calgary was in top form but not fully confident in his form. “I was a little worried coming into the week that I may be a little tired from all the racing at the World Championships, but today went really well again and it looks like I’ve recovered well,” commented Smith.

“The course was in excellent shape. I would say the best condition of the winter. There was a little wind, which is always a factor here it seems, blowing up off the tundra. Thankfully it was at a reasonable level where it didn’t seem to affect the shooting too much.”

Nathan Smith (CAN) © Nordic Focus

Leading the way for the Americans was Leif Nordgren in 21st also with one penalty. He came into the race feeling under the weather and not expecting to turn in a great performance.

“I’m really pretty surprised with this result to be honest,” said Nordgren who cleaned in prone. “I’ve had a little upper respiratory sickness come on since yesterday, so I wasn’t expecting much today. I would have been happy just to make the pursuit. Starting yesterday I could tell my nose and throat were headed in a bad direction, but it’s the last race weekend of the season, so I just told myself to go for it and see what happens.”

Leif Nordgren (USA) © Nordic Focus

Nordgren was pushed by a small group of skiers behind him and hit four of the five targets in standing. “I really like the tracks here in Khanty. I think this is my favorite race course that we ski on. I’ve had success here in the past too, so maybe that gives my mind a little strength going into each race. I will have to be strong in the mind in the coming races to have a good chance, so we will see what the weekend brings.”

Canada’s Brendan Green finished 30th with one penalty at 1:23.5 behind. The USA’s Lowell Bailey was 51st with two penalties while his teammate Tim Burke placed 55th with four missed targets.

The strong results have now officially secured the Canadian men’s squad a ninth-place finish in the overall Nation’s Cup points on the World Cup.

(l-r) Chris Lindsay, Nathan Smith, Tom Zidek © Nordic Focus

“This is a historic high finish for our men’s programs which means we will now have an additional start next season the World Cup,” said Chris Lindsay, High Performance Director, Biathlon Canada, who added that four Canadians were permitted to start a men’s World Cup this year, so next year there will  be five. “This is a very important benchmark for us as we will now be able to start five men when the World Cup makes its return home to Canmore for the first time in more than two decades.”

The Canadian Biathlon squad has enjoyed a stellar season. Smith became the first Canadian male, and only athlete since two-time Olympic champion, Myriam Bedard, to ever win a World Championship Biathlon medal last week in Finland. Along with Smith, Rosanna Crawford and Brendan Green, have also piled up a handful of top-five finishes this year for the Canadians.

Final podium © Nordic Focus

“The medal has definitely given me the confidence thinking that when I have a perfect race there’s no reason why I can’t be vying for a podium spot,” added Smith. “In biathlon not many people enjoy perfect races all the time so I think having quite a number of top-10’s under my belt this winter is something I can be proud of. It takes a combination of a lot of skill and a little luck to get on the podium on any given day.”

Full results here.