January 10, 2010 (Oberhof, Germany) – Returning to form, Andrea Henkel (GER), showed steady nerves with clean shooting in final standing session, to win the women’s 12.5km Mass Start Biathlon World Cup in Oberhof on Sunday. It was Henkel’s first victory and first podium of the season (in an individual competition), and it brought the raucous Oberhof crowd to life.

She shot 18/20 with a time of 40:53 to best World Cup overall leader, Helena Jonsson (SWE) who finished 23seconds behind Henkel because of a missed shot at the last shooting stage. The podium was completed by Tora Berger (NOR) who shot clean until the final stage, missed two, and came in +40.3seconds.

Zina Kocher, the lone Canadian competing in the event, finished 25th, shooting 11/20, at 4:11.9 down to the Henkel.

After the top six finishers, many of the competitors had an unusually high number of missed shots. Although the weather was mild with moderate breezes and only a small amount of light snow falling, Jonsson commented, “The wind was shifting a lot. On my first standing stage, I actually had to stop after the third shot and wait for the wind to settle.”

The IBU World Cup continues next week in Rhupolding, GER.

Women’s full results here.
Women’s Overall World Cup rankings here.

Results (brief)

1. Andrea Henkel (GER) 1+1+0+0 / T2, 40:53.6
2. Helena Johnsson (SWE) 0+1+0+1 / T2, +23.4
3. Tora Berger (NOR) 0+0+0+2 / T2, +40.3
4. Martina Beck (GER) 0+2+1+0 / T3, +41.45.0
5. Vita Semerenko (UKR) 0+1+1+0 / T2, +41.47.9

25. Zina Kocher (CAN) 1+2+3+3 / T9, +4:11.9

Overall after nine of 25 events (brief)

1. Helena Jonsson (SWE) 450 points
2. Anna-Carin Olofsson-Zidek (SWE) 352
3. Sleptsova Svetlana (RUS) 337
4. Kati Wilhelm (GER) 282
5. Olga Medvedtseva (RUS) 268

24. Zina Kocher (CAN)
64. Haley Johnson (USA)