January 14, 2016 (Ruhpolding, Germany) – Canada’s Rosanna Crawford returned to the IBU World Cup circuit with a solid 18th-place finish and two missed targets in the women’s 15km individual start race in Ruhpolding, Germany in near perfect conditions. Italy’s Dorothea Wierer shot clean to take a decisive win in 40:19.9 over Finland’s Kaisa Makarainen at 54.8s behind with one penalty and Gabriela Soukalova, of the Czech Republic in third also with a missed target at 1:09.9 behind.

Rosanna Crawford © Nordic Focus

“My races before Christmas weren’t that great so my expectations were low. Skiing felt better than it has earlier in the year. I felt like I could start strong and keep that going better than the first three World Cups. Our skis were also good today, the techs did a good job,” said Crawford, 27, who had a slower than normal start to the season combined with being forced to extend her holiday break one extra week after getting sick.

“I set some process goals rather than result goals. I think the extra bit of rest I got from being sick, and then having some more training after skipping last week was helpful,” added Crawford. “We were luckier than the men yesterday. It was hard packed and fair conditions for the whole race. I love racing Ruhpolding. The fans are great and cheer for every country. Wherever we go we hear ‘Go Canada’ so it is a really fun atmosphere.”

American Susan Dunklee suffered five penalties to finish 50th but still qualified for Saturday’s mass start. “This sport sure knows how to keep a person humble,” said Dunklee following the race. “A mediocre range performance held me back today.”

Her teammate Joanne Reid from Boulder, Colo., competing in her first-ever World Cup, placed 72nd with four penalties, Canada’s Megan Tandy was 73rd and Clare Egan was 74th, both with four penalties.  Julia Ransom placed 78th suffering five missed targets while Annelies Cook (USA), the first athlete out of the starting gate in the 96-woman field, struggled on the range with eight penalties and finished 88th while veteran Canadian, Zina Kocher, also had a tough day shooting with nine penalties to finish 94th.

The World Cup continues on Friday in Ruhpolding with the men’s 4×7.5 kilometre relay.-

Full results here.