February 11, 2016 (Presque Isle, Maine) – While the day belonged to Johannes Thingnes Boe of Norway, local fans were stoked to see three Americans in the top 20 in the men’s 10km Sprint for an outstanding day led by Sean Doherty, who lived up to his billing as the most decorated junior of all time with a 13th-place finish. His teammate Lowell Bailey was solid in fifteenth while Tim Burke was 20th.

Russia’s Anton Shipulin, who is having an outstanding year and also shot clean, powered his way into second while current World Cup leader, Martin Fourcade from France, suffered a penalty in standing as he claimed the final podium spot.

“It’s kind of a weighty title and I feel like I should live up to it more,” commented Doherty, who was clean prone and had one miss standing. “I am very happy with the result today.”

Boe was fresh for today’s competition as he did not race in Canmore, and with strong shooting took the victory in Presque Isle on day one. Not having to travel the 4,300km from Canmore or deal with the altitude seemed to be a wise choice, as his first lap time of 7:26.4 paced the field and propelled him into first place from the outset.

Despite some swirling winds, he shot clean in prone and then sprinted out to the third fastest second trip around the course to build a 27.7-second cushion over Shipulin. Clean shooting in standing saw Boe deliver another blazing lap to land on the top step of the podium.

The sprint win marked his eighth world cup sprint victory. When asked about his success, Boe acknowledged the shortcomings he usually experiences on the range. “The sprint has only two shootings, so I have a better chance because there are less targets to miss,” he explained. When asked how he liked the venue, Boe was complimentary, “The venue is nice. The range has a lot of sun here. It was not so cold and the wind is good. I like it here.”

Shipulin is also having an outstanding year but was unable to close the gap on Boe. “I am not 100% here with the travelling across Canada,” he explained. “I was here ten years ago and I know the course. It was good here.”

Fourcade went out strong and was the early leader on the course but his one missed target made all the difference. “Boe shot clean and shot fast,” explained Forcade. “He is the one to beat here.” German Erik Lesser shot clean and pulled out a fourth-place finish, while Swiss countrymen Serafin Wiestner and Benjamin Weger came away with fifth and sixth places respectively.

“It was a tricky race today with patches of ice on some of the corners, and a difficult approach,” said Bailey who cleaned in prone but missed one standing as well, yet he was pleased with the team effort. “I can’t remember the last time we had three men in the top 20. Tomorrow should be fun.”

Burke missed one shot prone and one standing which likely cost him significant placement. “I felt pretty good on the ski course today but two penalties is a bit too much.” Fellow American Leif Nordgren just missed qualifying for the mass start with a sixty-fifth place finish.

Canadian Scott Perras will represent his county on Friday, having secured a spot via his forty-eighth place finish. Despite one miss each standing and prone, Perras skied well. He will go out 2:36 after Boe in the pursuit.

Other Canadian finishers were Carsen Campbell in seventy-eighth, Matthew Newmann in eighty-second, and Matthew Hudek in eighty-eighth. Campbell only had one miss, while Newman had three and Hudek had two.

Results here.