December 12, 2009 (Hochfilzen, Austria) – The USA’s Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY) claimed 10th in the men’s 12.5km pursuit on Saturday in Hochfilzen, Austria won by Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen who missed one shot on his way to victory in 34:36. Burke had a clean first round of shooting and two misses overall in the second and last shoot rounds having a strong finish as he passed Italy’s Christian De Lorenzi.

Then Burke was passed by Norway’s Lars Berger, a double champion in cross-country skiing but Burke was able to stay behind Berger and ski with him to the finish. “When he passed me I just stayed behind him and skied with him. It felt pretty good that I was able to do so,” said Burke. Jaime Robb from Edmonton was the top Canadian in 55th.

Watch video clips of the men’s race here.

Canada’s Zina Kocher placed 21st in the women’s 10km pursuit with a time of 36:42.3 and missed a total of five shots in four shooting bouts as Sweden’s top biathlete, Helena Jonsson, only missed one shot to post the win in 34:09.1.

“I am happy with the progress I have made this week and I do feel like I’m on track,” said Kocher. “I need to continue to focus on my ski speed, work on that shooting, and really bring it together.” Megan Imrie, a 22 year old from Falcon Lake, Man. also battled the wind and missed seven shots on her way to 50th with a time of 41:16.8.

Women’s 10km Pursuit results h here.
Men’s 10km Pursuit results here.