January 12, 2008 (Ruhpolding, Germany) – Hometown favorite Michael Greis delighted the usual Ruhpolding biathlon throng Saturday, shooting flawlessly to win a 10km sprint by 19.8 seconds. Germans took three of the top four places while Jay Hakkinen was 17th and Lowell Bailey 28th for the U.S. team, which was riding momentum from an eight-place finish in the relay two nights earlier. Jean-Philippe LeGuellec, of Shannon, Que., was the top Canadian male in 67th.

Greis finished with a time of 24:59.2 while Russia’s Maxim Tchoudov missed a shot from the prone in his first visit to the 50-metre range, a penalty which cost him the win. Third place went to Alexander Wolf (25:29.7), who also missed a shot.

“It was a hard race and I feel quite exhausted. I’m looking forward to go home now and rest on my couch,” said Greis, who lives in Ruhpolding. “I had super skis today. They were the basis of my success.”

World Cup leader Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway finished fourth, 41.7 second back of Greis after also missing a shot from the prone.

Hakkinen shot clean and finished in 26:22.9 while Bailey’s time was 26:26.2 with one penalty. Tim Burke, missing once from the prone and then standing, was 36th in 27:01.5. Canada’s Robin Clegg, of Ottawa, was 75th (+3:17.3), and Regina’s Scott Perras finished in 86th (+4:10.2).

“I just tried to continue the momentum that I had in the relay Thursday evening here,” Hakkinen said. “I was a little conservative skiing, so I would be okay in the shooting range and it paid off. It is still all about the shooting. I have worked hard on that recently.” Catch Hakkinen interview here.

Friday, Finland’s Kaisa Varis – who turned to biathlon after being banned for two years in 2003 for alleged doping violations in cross-country skiing – shot clean and won the women’s and 7.5km sprint by 16.0 seconds over Russian Svetlana Sleptsova. Her time in her first win was 24.09.4. Sandra Keith of Canada was 41st while Megan Imrie, of Falcon Lake, Man., was the placed 83rd.

Sunday will bring pursuit events – 10km for the women and 12.5km for men, and limited to the top 60 racers in both the men’s and women’s races.

Full results here.