December 11, 2009 (Hochfilzen, Austria) – The USA’s rising star Tim Burke placed 20th in men’s 10-kilometre sprint competition won by Ole Einar Bjoerndalen from Norway. Jay Hakkinen (US) was 38th while Edmonton’s Jaime Robb led the Canadians missing one shot in each of his two rounds of shooting to finish in 41st.

In the women’s 7.5km race Canada’s Zina Kocher of Red Deer, Alta surged to an 18th-place finish following a disappointing start in Sweden. Anna Carin Olofsson-Zidek (Swe), wife of Canadian wax technician Tom Zidek, shot clean to win the women’s sprint competition with a time of 23:10.8 while her team mate Helena Jonsson, also shot clean for the silver. Russia’s Olga Zaitseva was on the podium in third.

US Biathlon Release – 20th Place for Burke in Austria
by Viktoria Franke – December 11, 2009

It might not have been a repetition of last week’s results but given the conditions in Hochfilzen, Austria, Tim Burke still managed to show a good performance. With two penalties, Burke ranked twentieth in the end, one minute behind the leader Ole Einar Bjoerndalen from Norway. “It snowed really heavy but for a lightweight athlete like me that is not that big a problem. Others probably had a harder time on the course. I think I showed again a solid result but I still think that those two misses should not have happened. Nevertheless I am not that far away from Bjoerndalen so I really am looking forward to the pursuit tomorrow!”

Jay Hakkinen will be the second US biathlete in tomorrow’s pursuit. With one penalty and the 38th place Hakkinen still hasn’t reached his expectations but he’s confident that it will happen soon. “I need the competition practice and I feel that my confidence at the shooting range is improving by the second. The most important thing for me is to be patient and not overreact because of the results so far. The goal is to be in top form at the Olympics and that’s all that counts!”

Shooting coach Armin Auchentaller didn’t know right after the race how the misses of his athletes happened. “We still have to discuss that because all the hits were really in the center of the target but some misses were way out. I don’t think that those shooting results were influenced by the snowy conditions but I can’t really figure it out without talking to each athlete individually.”

Lowell Bailey, Jeremy Teela and Kevin Patzoldt missed the Top60 thus none of them will ski in the pursuit on Saturday. Teela explained the difficulties on the track after his race: “You had to fight so hard today to ski through the pain on the track. Especially the penalty loop was quite slow today so you lost extra time when you missed a target. Anyway, I guess we can just forget about that race. There will be better ones to look forward to!” The US women experienced the same difficulties but they are looking forward to use that extra time to prepare for the last December World Cup in Pokljuka.

Biathlon Canada Release

Canada’s Zina Kocher made a big climb in her quest to get back onto the international podium after an 18th-place finish in a World Cup sprint competition in Hochfilzen, Austria on Friday.

After a disappointing opening week in Sweden, Kocher, of Red Deer, Alta., missed just one shot in her two trips to the range while bolting around the challenging 7.5-kilometre Austrian course loaded with long, steep climbs in a time of 24 minutes 47.7 seconds.

“That was much better today and I feel like I’m back on track,” said Kocher. “I made a commitment to myself to come out, take more risks, and race to win rather than worrying about results all the time.”

Battling a slow opening lap in her first series of competitions last weekend, the 2006 Olympian made adjustments to her pre-race warm-up in hopes of bolting up the standings.

“My warm-up was way more aggressive than I have ever done before and our plan was to do that to get me a faster first lap which worked,” said Kocher. “I just told myself to let it go and go for it. I hope this start of more good results.”

The sprint event consists of athletes racing three times around the 3.3-kilometre track. Athletes enter the shooting range for set of shots in the prone position, then one set standing before the final sprint to the finish. Athletes must ski a 150-metre penalty loop immediately after shooting if they miss a target.

Sweden’s Anna Carin Olofsson-Zidek, wife to Canadian wax technician Tom Zidek, shot clean to win the women’s sprint competition with a time of 23:10.8. Sweden’s Helena Jonsson, who also was perfect in the shooting range, to win the silver medal with a time of 23:21.9. Russia’s Olga Zaitseva rounded out the women’s podium in third at 24:00.5 after missing just one shot.

Three other Canadian women also hit the start line. Megan Imrie, of Falcon Lake, Man., was 55th at 26:20.1, while Megan Tandy, of Prince George, B.C., was 111th (30:18.3), and Calgary’s Sandra Keith did not finish.

Edmonton’s Jaime Robb led the Canadians in the men’s 10-kilometre sprint competition. Robb missed one shot in each of his two rounds of shooting to finish in 41st spot with a time of 27:50.8. Brendan Green, of Hay River, N.W.T., was 55th (28:07.5), while Ottawa’s Robin Clegg was 62nd (28:21.1), and Jean-Philippe Le Guellec, of Shannon, Que., was 124th (31:09.8).

Norway’s Ole Einar Bjoerndalen won the men’s competition with a time of 26:14.0. Russia’s Nikolay Kruglov matched Bjoerndalen’s precise shot-making on the range to finish second at 26:20.7. Evegeny Ustyugov, also of Russia, missed only one shot and finished third with a time of 26:41.1.

The Canadian squad’s battle continues on Saturday with the men’s the women’s World Cup pursuit competition.

Women’s 7.5km Full Results here.
Men’s 10km Full Results here.