December 16, 2008 (Hochfilzen, Aut) – Strong result marks best men’s relay finish in history of biathlon program. Canada’s Jean-Philippe LeGuellec capped off the week of his life on the World Cup by leading his countrymen to a seventh-place finish in a biathlon 4 x 7.5-kilometre team relay on Sunday in Hochfilzen, Austria. Coming off his best-ever World Cup result, an eighth-place finish in Saturday’s pursuit competition, the 23-year-old LeGuellec, of Shannon, Que., along with Ottawa’s Robin Clegg, Brendan Green, of Hay River, N.W.T, and Regina’s Scott Perras, combined to post the best World Cup relay finish ever by a Canadian men’s team after clocking a combined time of one hour 27 minutes 47.17 seconds. “This was a hell of a way to end a week,” said a thrilled LeGuellec from his hotel room in Austria. “It is really satisfying to know we are all capable of
competing with the world’s best athletes.”

Riding on fast skis and a hot hand on the range, LeGuellec anchored the four-man squad that was led off by 10-year national team veteran Robin Clegg. The two-time Olympian skied the opening leg amongst the leaders despite missing four shots in his two trips to the range, and then tagged off to Scott Perras before the Canadian duo spent the final half of the race running the course cheering on their teammates.

While the opening two legs were strong, it was the performance by Brendan Green that was nothing short of remarkable. Green received the last-minute call to join up with the team from the IBU Cup, which was competing in Obertilliach, Austria. Having to deal with a closed highway due to avalanche danger, the 22-year-old arrived to Hochfilzen late last night, and was nearly perfect in his World Cup debut.

“Brendan did an absolutely incredible job out there in his first World Cup race,” said the 31-year-old Clegg, whose eighth-place finish one year ago in Slovenia was matched by LeGuellec this week as the best ever performance by a Canadian male. “This has been a long-time coming for our team. For many years I was competing out here by myself and we went years without racing a relay. Seeing the entire performance by this team is exciting. All of the guys were clutch today and you couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Canada’s best relay finish prior to Sunday was a 13th-place result last year at the same event in Austria. It was the Russian men who owned the top spot on the podium with a winning time of 1:24:22.97. The Austrians delighted the hometown crowd with a silver-medal finish at 1:26:11.08, while the team from the Ukraine claimed the bronze medal (1:27:01.50).

The US team struggled on the shooting range with four penalties and eighteen extra rounds and crossed the finish line in 15th place out of 23 teams.

Canada’s women also enjoyed a strong day where they finished 12th in
the women’s 4 x 6-kilometre relay. Zina Kocher, of Red Deer, Alta.,
Megan Imrie, of Falcon Lake, Man., Megan Tandy, of British Columbia,
and Calgary’s Sandra Keith combined to clock a time of 1:18.42.97.
The women’s race was also won by Russia in a time of 1:10:49.58.
Norway captured the silver (1:12:44.35), while France was third
(1:12:46.41).

The US women had a better day on the shooting range, but finished 16th in a field of 20 teams. The US team, with three penalties and eleven spare rounds, finished 9:12.2 behind Russia’s winning effort of 1:10:49.5.

The Canadian Biathlon Team will now head to Slovenia for the final
World Cup before holiday break.