January 20 (Antholz, Italy) – USA’s Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY) had the13th fastest ski time and jumped from 26th in the 10km Sprint on Friday to 16th in the 12.5km Pursuit competition on Saturday. He finished 1:57.2 behind winner Bjorn Ferry of Sweden in 32:46. Nicolay Kruglov of Russia was second at 26.5 seconds with German star Michael Greis in third at 28.7 seconds back.

Canada’s 22-year-old Jean-Philippe LeGuellec of Shannon, Que. placed 31st at 3:16.1 while the USA’s Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, AK) finished 41st, at 4:15.8 back and Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY) had one prone penalty, but five in standing to finish 49th, 4:51.8 back. Burke jumped from 51st in the Overall World Cup rankings to 41st place while teammate Hakkinen is in 34th in the rankings.

In the Women’s 10km Pursuit, Germany’s Juliane Doll picked up her second victory in 29:54. American Haley Johnson (Lake Placid, NY) was 19th at 6:33.4 sec., Caitlin Compton (Minneapolis, MN) with ten penalties finished in finished 25th at 8:16.8 back, while Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID) was 29th, with five penalties at 9:21.8 back. Canada’s Sandra Keith from Calgary finished in 40th at 4:25.1

In the following video, US Biathlon Wax Technician Andreas Emslander discusses the steps he goes through in preparing skis on race days.