December 17, 2009 (Pokljuka, SLO) – On a perfect morning, in front of a small crowd of schoolchildren, USBA’s Haley Johnson led the North American women placing 21st in the 15km event at the IBU World Cup in Pokljuka, Slovenia.

Her performance was the best result for the U.S. women this season, and the Top 30 finish also served as her direct qualification for the U.S. Olympic Team. Johnson became emotional when seeing her result at the finish. “I made it”, said Johnson after the race. “I made it. Unbelievable!”

Megan Tandy of Canada led her team finishing in 35th posting her career-best result. Their teammates finished – 39th Zina Kocher (CAN), 56th Megan Imrie (CAN), 63rd Lanny Barnes (USA), 67th Sarah Studebaker (USA), and 80th Sandra Keith (CAN).

Johnson skied strong and shot clean at the range, but missed a target in her final round. “I probably did not drink enough and I somehow was sweating and couldn’t see that last target, so I just shot somewhere”, she explained. Ranking 16th, she left the shooting range unaware of her standing in the competition. “The team on the track didn’t tell me how I did, so I was wondering, if I could be in a good position. That’s normally the time when team manager Bernd Eisenbichler doesn’t give me any hints, just to be sure that I am not under too much pressure at the last shooting!”

Meanwhile, Sweden’s Helena Jonsson and Anna Carin Olofsson-Zidek showed their mastery of the sport. Johnsson shot a clean 20/20, and Olofsson missed just one, and with a one-minute penalty finished just 22.6 seconds down. Slovak Anastasia Kuzmina also missed one shot and finished just five seconds behind Olofsson for the final spot on the podium.

On the last lap, Eisenbichler let Johnson know her status. “I tried to go faster to stay up front there, but I just couldn’t. I was just empty and probably skied slower than the laps before,” said Johnson. When she crossed the finish line, Johnson couldn’t stop shaking. “It is nice to know that you gave everything and did not end up in a 70th place or something like that, “ she said after the race. “With that result, it even feels good to be so empty.”

Full results here.

Results (brief)

1. Helena Jonsson (Swe) 43:04.1 0.0
2. Anna Carin Olofsson-Zidek (Swe) 22.6
3. Anastasiya Kuzmina (Svk) 27.3
4. Iana Romanova (Rus) 48.8
5. Andrea Henkel (Ger) 49.3
6. Bogaliy-Titovets (Rus) 1:25.4
7. Olga Medvedtseva (Rus) 1:34.4
8. Valj Semerenko (Ukr) 1:36.6
9. Teja Gregorin (Slo) 2:06.6
10. Marie Dorin (Fra) 2:15.9

21. Haley Johnson (USA) 3:41.8
35. Megan Tandy (Can) 47:32.6
39. Zina Kocher (Can) 4:33.1
56. Megan Imrie (Can) 6:12.2
63. Lanny Barnes (USA) 6:19.7
67. Sara Studebaker (USA) 6:41.0
80. Sandra Keith (Can) 7:27.4