March 21, 2015 (Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia) – Canada’s Nathan Smith hit a homerun on Saturday winning the Men’s 12.5K Pursuit race in one of the heartlands of the sport at the IBU World Cup finals in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. The Calgarian is now a member of the Biathlon World Cup Champions club.

Final podium © Nordic Focus

“It is amazing. The last few weeks have been such a great way to end the season,” said Smith, 29. “It feels less surreal than last time. Winning the silver at World’s was overwhelming. But this is my first win. This is huge for me.” – post-race interview with Smith here.

Two weeks ago at the 2015 Biathlon World Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland Smith took home silver in the Men’s 10km Sprint becoming the first Canadian male to win a medal at the Biathlon worlds.

Benedikt Doll of Germany earned his second career podium finishing behind Green, with two penalties at 24 seconds back while Russia’s Anton Shipulin took third place with four penalties at 35.7 seconds behind. Just behind Shipulin was Martin Fourcade (FRA) in fourth at 40.3 seconds back, also with four penalties. Fourcade’s result sealed the World Cup overall title for the fourth year in a row and the pursuit title as well.

Starting in fifth based on Thursday’s sprint results, Smith skied comfortably at the front with Shipulin and Fourcade cleaning all targets in his first two prone rounds of shooting while taking advantage of misses by his rivals.

Nathan Smith (CAN) at the finish of his first IBU World Cup victory in the Men’s 12.5km Pursuit at the final round in Khanty-Mansiysk © Nordic Focus

Skiing with the leaders for two laps, Smith shot clean for the third straight time on the range in his first standing where he took a 15s lead. On the final standing he missed one target but Shipulin and Fourcade missed two as Smith’s lead ballooned to 37s and he never looked back.

“I was really fatigued after the World Championships but with a few days off I recovered well. I was a little nervous heading into today because of my good start position,” added Smith. “I just had a feeling today. I felt like it was going to be a good day.”

The USA’s Leif Nordgren finished 17th with three penalties followed by Lowell Bailey in 22nd with one missed target and Canada’s Brendan Green who climbed seven spots into 23rd also with one penalty. The USA’s Tim Burke finished 53rd with six penalties.

Leif Nordgren (USA) © Nordic Focus

Starting in 21st position Nordgren missed three targets in prone before settling down and cleaning all 10 targets in standing. “I am happy with where I ended up today, 17th isn’t bad, but I had an opportunity for a little more so that’s somewhat of a bummer,” said Nordgren.

“I couldn’t quite get the targets down in prone today. Three misses in prone is a little unusual. It wasn’t exactly super windy during our race so to me, three is too many. I came around in standing, though — really happy to salvage the race with 10 hits in standing.”

It has been a dream ending to a historic season for Smith who has been a model of progression over the last two years, steadily working his way up the elite international biathlon standings. He made his Olympic debut in 2014 where he chalked up three top-15 finishes, and first turned heads on the IBU Cup development circuit where he celebrated three victories and a bronze medal. He has regularly been in the top-10 and also celebrated a number of top-five finishes this year.

Jean-Philippe Le Guellec is the only other Canadian male to reach the World Cup podium. Le Guellec kicked off the 2012-13 season winning a World Cup sprint in Oestersund, Sweden. Two-time Olympic champion, Myriam Bedard, is the only other Canadian to medal at both the Biathlon World Championships and on the World Cup.

Team Canada © Nordic Focus

Smith along with Canadian teammates Brendan Green and Rosanna Crawford have all busted into the top-five this year. For most of the year the team had a game-within-the-game, taking bets as to who would strike through to their first podium. Megan Heinicke, of Prince George, B.C., has also rattled of a number of personal bests during the post-Olympic year.

“Nathan’s success today was the logical product of his incredible determination, focus, and decade of hard work. It is also the product of a system established by our national team coaches and support staff that has emphasized consistent and incremental gains,” said Chris Lindsay, high-performance director, Biathlon Canada.

“We have a team that is pushing all our athletes to ever increasing success. Nathan is the first one to have made the big break but we will see success from even more athletes in the following seasons. That’s by design,” he added.

Matthias Ahrens, Canadian Biathlon Head Coach, cheering Smith on ©

“There is definitely a mental barrier you have to cross to get onto the podium,” continued Smith. “If you keep getting top-10s it is eventually going to happen, but until you realize that goal, you don’t believe it will.

“I think drawing on those “close call” experiences helps you get there. Earlier this year in Oestersund I was in this position for a podium and missed my last three standing. I thought about Oestersund all day today. I was more mentally prepared to deal with the situation this time.

“We have four athletes that are very close to the podium. Our funding partners look at World Championships for funding,” added Smith. “This reaffirms it is not a fluke. Our program has depth. The biathletes from around the world are really excited for Canada and that is kind of cool!”

The final World Cup race of the season takes place Sunday with the mass start events.

Full results here.

With files from Biathlon Canada and US Biathlon

Smith and wax tech Tom Zidek celebrate at the finish ©

Smith with moustache ©