March 13, 2010 (Kontiolahti, Finland) – Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, N.Y.) had a solid 22nd

place finish in the men’s 10km Sprint won by Ivan Tcherezov of Russia with Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) in second and Martin Fourcade (FRA) in 3rd. Jean-Philippe Le Guellec lead the Canadian men in 31st to qualify for the pursuit on Sunday along with Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY) in 38th. Burke is currently 11th overall and hopes to finish his historic 2009-10 season with a top-10 ranking.

Darya Domracheva (BLR) won the women’s 7.5km sprint as Canada’s women lead by Zina Kocher in 20th, reached a major goal with all four women qualifying for the pursuit for the first time ever. Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID) finished in 58th place with just one miss at the shooting range to qualify for Sunday’s Pursuit.

“As a team we reached a few milestones today and that is something we are very proud of,” said Kocher, who created a nude calendar last year as a fundraiser with her four teammates. “I think we are continuing to progress, and we are starting to see that bold, beautiful biathlon girl power.”

Full women’s results here.
Full men’s results here.

With files from Biathlon Canada and US Biathlon.