February 05, 2016 (Canmore, AB) – Canada’s Julia Ransom kept her cool on a gusty day, dropping all of her targets to match her personal best with a 19th-place finish as the top North American in the women’s 7.5km Sprint on home snow on day 2 of the IBU World Cup 7 in Canmore, Alta.

Gale winds couldn’t keep Ransom from being swept away by the excitement of a home world cup as the boisterous Kelowna native seized the moment on a challenging day that saw only seven other women shoot clean.

One of the seven was Olena Pidhrushna of Ukraine who completed her return to competition with a victory in 19:56.9 after sitting out last season. Poland’s Krystyna Guzik also shot clean at 7.5 seconds back while third place went to Italy’s Dorothea Wierer with one penalty at 12.4 seconds back.

The day ended with four other North American’s in the points: Hannah Driessigacker (USA) in 28th, Susan Dunklee (USA) 35th, and Sara Beaudry (Can) with a personal best of 38th. Matching her personal best of 19th place, Ransom was the top Canadian of the day

“I had all my loved ones here, I was so excited I could barely contain myself at the start,” said Ransom with a smile and clearly pumped about her performance. “Today the home-field advantage played in my favour, and definitely helped a lot – I felt loved.”

On the heels of her birthday celebration Ransom’s focus on the range was high. Warm weather in Canmore often arrives with wild chinook winds, which showed their strength in the first half of the field’s extreme shooting conditions. Athletes were routinely choosing lanes 29 and 30 in hopes the berm would block the wind for standing shooting.

As is the case with wind, a calm window would present itself now and then. It was your lucky day if you were shooting in that moment. As the race progressed, the wind died slightly. Ransom knew that shooting was the key to success today.

“Shooting went well, I didn’t have a hurricane like some girls, which was nice, but I did have wind in prone.” Skiing into the range, having seen many of the leaders with prone misses, Ransom said she was so prepared, she was almost over prepared.

“I was like either go left three, or right three, left three, or right three. Then I saw the wind flags, and went right three! And away I went. I felt prepared.”

The crowds today were even more lively than they were for yesterday’s men’s sprint race. Canadian flags were flapping wildly in the hands of every cheering child, and whom were doubly excited by hot chocolate and cookies provided by the race organizers. The odd flag was ripped away by the wind and would go flying across the stadium before the race. It added to the chaotic feeling of the weather. Ransom had a unique race preparation with her teammates and family yesterday.

“I had a birthday yesterday, so I popped a bottle of wine, and had some cake to get that momentum going,” she shared.

Ransom wasn’t the only one with a laid back approach to the event. American Driessigacker cracked the top 30 today and has been enjoying the picturesque surroundings, and the feeling of being nearly at home.

“I love it here. I’m very affected by beauty I think. I’m just happy when I get to see different race venues.”

Driessigacker has not had the season she’s liked, so this result was what she was looking for going into World Championships a couple weeks from now.

“I’m really happy with my race, I’ve had a rough season, so this is by far my best result this year.” As for her strategy for the wind, she relied on her training and as every experienced athlete knows, a little bit of luck never hurts.

“I’ve been practicing in prone. I had a good no-wind zero which gave me the confidence to look at the flags and decide where to adjust. I had a little bit of wind, but not too much, so I felt like I got kind of lucky.”

With fast ski conditions prevailing over the last two races, there’s now a chance of snow in the forecast for the Mass Start on Saturday. North Americans will have a few racers to cheer for, with Nathan Smith, Lowell Bailey, and Tim Burke in the men’s race, while Susan Dunklee is suiting up for the women.

Full results here.