December 20, 2009 (Pokljuka, SLO) – The USA’s Tim Burke has claimed the yellow IBU World Cup leader’s bib – the man from Paul Smiths, NY has done it. The men’s World Cup 12.5km pursuit on Sunday was full of drama and Burke’s 6th place ahead of Simon Fourcade from France in 9th was enough to clinch his place in history as the first US man to lead the IBU World Cup.

Prior to Sunday’s pursuit, Christoph Sumann of Austria was leading overall, but Sumann shot himself out of the pursuit competition with eight penalties on Saturday in the Sprint, leaving the door open for Burke – read more here.

Ultimately, it was Evgeny Ustyugov (RUS) who won in a time of 34:50.9 and two penalties, ahead of the unexpected Estonian Roland Lessing in 2nd at +9.3s with no penalties, while the Austrian Simon Eder was 3rd at +10.9 with two penalties. But the French cracked, losing four places in the final kilometers and had trouble shooting (three penalties), leaving American Tim Burke a well-earned 6th place and the prize he was looking for today – the fabled yellow bib.

In the first two shooting stages Burke cleaned all ten targets with Fourcade losing time after two misses. But at the first standing stage, Burke missed two targets. “I just don’t know what happened then,” said Burke. ” It probably was a head thing, but seriously I don’t remember anymore.”

What followed then was – according to Burke – the loudest last loop ever. “I just saw yellow. I completely stopped thinking and with all my team members cheering at the track I just flew over the course,” said Burke.

With Fourcade at his heels, Burke skied in to the last shooting and missed one target. “I just saw it in his eyes. I just knew that he would get Fourcade,” said U.S. Biathlon’s High Performance Director Bernd Eisenbichler. U.S. Biathlon’s Head Coach Per Nilsson’s impression was the same,”he was on fire, that’s for sure.”

“Tim Burke taking the yellow bib today places him in the Royal Family of Biathlon,” said USBA Executive Director Max Cobb. “He is the best American biathlete ever!”

Canada’s Zina Kocher shot 20 rounds clean to come in fourth at the IBU World Cup Women’s 10km pursuit on Sunday. Svetlana Sleptsova (Rus), who also won yesterday’s sprint, scored the pursuit victory easily with a time of 34:03.2, shooting 18/20. Germany’s Magdalena Neuner, overall WC winner in 2007/08, and Anna Bogaliy-Titovets, 2nd in yesterday’s sprint, rounded out the podium, with Kocher finishing 23 seconds out of the top 3.

It was 27-year-old Kocher’s best shooting day of her life shooting 20 out of 20 for the first time in her biathlon career, en route to posting the second-best result of her career.

“I can’t believe it. Of course I wanted to get onto the podium today, but going 20 for 20 feels like winning the gold,” said Kocher. She started the day nine spots back of the leader after finishing 10th in Saturday’s sprint competition. “I focused all of my energy into being in a bubble. I kept telling myself to stay calm and breathe, and I just did my thing. I’m ecstatic.”

“I felt like it has been coming and I’ve taken a more aggressive approach last weekend,” added Kocher. “This week has filled me with confidence and faith knowing that I am back to my old self. This is an excellent Christmas present and a great way to head into January and the Olympic year.”

Megan Tandy (Can) shot 17/20 and came in 35th. The USA’s Lanny Barnes was unable to complete the race. The IBU World Cup will continue in Oberhof, Germany, January 6-10.

The World Cup will resume in early January in Oberhof, Germany. Returning to the circuit will be Norwegian Ole Einar Bjoerndalen and Emil Hegle Svendsen, who bypassed the Pokljuka events to prepare for the Olympic Games in Vancouver in February.

Watch Eurovision video highlights of both the women’s and men’s pursuit here.

Women’s 10km pursuit full results “>here.

Women’s and Men’s IBU Overall Standings here.

With files from US Biathlon and Biathlon Canada.

Results (brief)

Women

1. Svetlana Sleptsova (RUS) 0+1+0+1 34.03.2
2. MagdalenaNeuner (GER) 1+1+1+0 34:39.5
3. Anna Bogaliy-Titovets (RUS) 0+1+1+0 34:46.4
4. Zina Kocher (CAN) 0+0+0+0 35:09.7
5. Teia Gregorin (SLO) 0+1+0+0 35:31.7

35. Megan Tandy (CAN) 1+1+0+1 39:16.6
Lap Lanny Barnes (USA) 2+1++

Men

1. Evgeny Ustyugov (RUS) 0+1+1+0 34.50.9
2. Roland Lessing (EST) 0+0+0+0 35:00.2
3. Simon Eder (AUT) 1+0+0+1 35:01.8
4. Dominik LAndertinger (AUT) 2+0+2+2 35:03.5
5. Arnd Peiffer (GER) 0+0+0+1 35:03.5
6. Tim Burke (USA) 0+0+2+1 35:28.
12. Jean Phillip LeGuellec (CAN) 0+1+1+0 35:57.6
31. Jeremy Teela (USA) 0+0+1+2 37:11.7
50. Lowell Bailey (USA) 1+2+2+1 39:12.8
54. Brendan Green (CAN) 3+2+2+0 39:50.3

Overall Standings after Slovenia

Men
1. BURKE Tim USA 253
2. FOURCADE Simon FRA 246
3. SUMANN Christoph AUT 225
4. USTYUGOV Evgeny RUS 223
5. SVENDSEN Emil Hegle NOR 206
6. EDER Simon AUT 197
7. LANDERTINGER Dominik AUT 183
8. FERRY Björn SWE 171
9. BJOERNDALEN Ole Einar NOR 168
10. PEIFFER Arnd GER 167