January 22, 2016 (Antholz-Anterselma, Italy) – The USA’s Tim Burke logged a solid 17th place result as the top North American in the men’s IBU 10k World Cup sprint in Antholz-Anterselma, Italy today, which was won by German’s Simon Schempp. Maxim Tvetkov (RUS) and Tarjei Boe (NOR) finished second and third, respectively. The top three all shot clean on what was a perfect day for shooting with no wind and clear skies. In an upset, race favourite and World Cup leader Martin Fourcade (FRA) logged two penalties, which quickly took him out of the running.

Tim Burke © Nordic Focus file photo

Burke received only one penalty on his way to his strong finish. His teammate, Lowell Bailey (USA) finished 32nd with two missed shots. Leif Nordgren (USA) was 43rd, Brendan Green (CAN) was the top Canuck in 45th, Sean Doherty (USA) was 49th, Nathan Smith (CAN) 58th, Macx Davies (CAN) finished 69th, Christian Gow (CAN) placed 86th, and Scott Gow (CAN) ranked 94th.

“I am really happy with how I executed my race today,” said Burke. “I wanted to be aggressive right from the start and to really push in the range and I was able to do that. Although this was not one of my best results, I think this was one of my best performances in a sprint race. Unfortunately, I think we made a mistake with my ski selection today and you can’t get away with that in a field this competitive. We will do everything to make sure that does not happen again tomorrow. The finishing times stayed really close so it should make for an exciting pursuit tomorrow.”

Results

1. Simon Schempp (GER) 23:01.2
2. Maxim Tvetkov (RUS) +5.8
3. Tarjei Boe (NOR) +10.8

17. Tim Burke (USA) +49.6
32. Lowell Bailey (USA) +1:15.4
43. Leif Nordgren (USA) +1:30.2
45. Brendan Green (CAN) +1:32.2
49. Sean Doherty (USA) +1:40.5
58. Nathan Smith (CAN) +1:50.5
69. Macx Davies (CAN) +2:15.1
86. Christian Gow (CAN) +2:35.5
94. Scott Gow (CAN) +3:05.1

Full results here.