December 15, 2016 (Nove Mesto, Czech Republic) – Calgary’s Scott Gow shot clean and posted a career-best 18th in the men’s 10km Sprint at the BMW IBU World Cup 3 in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic on Thursday. Gow was 46.5 seconds behind winner Martin Fourcade (Fra) who had one penalty in standing to become the first man ever to win all three sprints before the holiday break. He was followed by clean-shooting Anton Shipulin (Rus) a close 1.6 seconds behind in second. Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen also missed one target for third place at 6.4 seconds behind Fourcade.

Scott Gow © John Gibson

“It feels great to achieve the second top-20 result of my career,” said Gow, who also finished 18th last year in the individual race at the World Championships where he was part of Canada’s historic medal-winning relay squad.

American Lowell Bailey placed 20th with one penalty at 47.5 seconds behind the Fourcade. “I was happy that my ski speed bounced back from last week,” said Bailey, who had the eighth-fastest course time on the third and final loop.

“This is a challenging course, with some monster extended climbs and challenging downhills,” added Bailey. “It’s also a difficult range in that you have a long approach with little rest before the shooting. I took my time in prone, which definitely cost me a few places, but I knew it was windy and I had to take a little bit of extra time to adjust for that. All in all, I’m happy with the result and looking forward to the pursuit on Saturday.”

Lowell Bailey © Nordic Focus

Gow has been on a steady progression up the standings bouncing back after a disappointing opening week on the World Cup this year.

“My goal was to try and replicate my performance from last week in Pokljuka,” said Gow, 26. “I am very pleased to have shot clean, again, and to have a decent ski time. Being in this group with the top-20 means that I’m finishing among the sport’s elite. That feels good knowing that I have the potential to compete with the best when I’m performing well. The shooting conditions were perfect today. There was almost zero wind in the range which made things relatively easy.”

Gow noted that the range approach in Nove Mesto requires a bit of effort forcing athletes to ski through the long stadium entry. “It was important for me to make sure I didn’t ski too hard into the range and lose control of sights and rifle stability. The snow pack (on the course) was inconsistent – some parts were firm and others soft and sugary – so I spent a lot of time today trying to find the firmest snow to ski to maintain my speed,” he added.

Men's Sprint podium © Nordic Focus

Fourcade was happy with his milestone victory commenting, “In five sprints, I did not miss any targets, so I think this is the reason why I missed today. All the journalists told me that when I hit the first 2 standing I thought 7 for 7; here comes another 10 for 10: then I missed the 8th. It was an advantage knowing the time of my opponents…I know how good these guys are on the last lap”.​

Canada’s Brendan Green missed one shot in each of his two rounds on the range to finish 54th while American Russell Currier was 55th matched Green on the range. Fellow Canuck Macx Davies also had two missed shots finishing 74th. Tim Burke (USA) was ill and did not start.

The World Cup continues on Friday with the women’s 7.5 kilometre race.

Results here.