December 02, 2012 (Ostersund, SWE) – Norway’s Tora Berger is now three-for-three as she won the women’s 10km pursuit today in Ostersund, Sweden. Berger, who won Olympic gold in the 15km individual at Vancouver 2010, claimed her third straight victory of the 2012/13 season with a time of 31:01.9 and one penalty.

Thirty seconds back was Belarus’ star Darya Domracheva, who also suffered one penalty.  In third place was the clean shooting German Andrea Henkel at 52 seconds back. As in the men’s race cold temperatures and humidity made it challenging for the women to keep their hands warm

Canada’s Zina Kocher, who had a solid 10th in the women’s sprint, had a challenging day on the range where she missed a total of six shots, dropping her to 37th place overall at 34:47.6. It was definitely not the race Kocher was aiming for.

“I was excited for the Pursuit, and thought I would feel strong again today. But actually I felt pretty tanked when I started and today turned into a real struggle,” Kocher explained to SkiTrax. “I concentrated on keeping the same focus I had yesterday for solid shooting and was hoping for more energy to push into the top 8. But I just didn’t have it today.”

Also in the mix was American Susan Dunklee who posted a 39th place finish at 3:54 behind Berger. “I was happy to be able to move up a few places out there today and there is still lots of room for improvement in the upcoming races, especially on the range,” said Dunklee in a team release.

“I could hear my teammates cheering for me loudly at the top of one of the hills and can’t wait to rock the relay with them in Hochfilzen next week,” she added.

The other North American in the field today included Canadian Rosanna Crawford who finished in 58th suffering five penalties. The IBU WCup racing continues next week as the E.ON World Cup Biathlon moves to sunny Hochfilzen Austria for round two.

Full results HERE.