February 13, 2012 (Canmore, Alberta) – It was twice lucky for two competitors on the second day of competition at the International Biathlon Union Cup race in Canmore, Alberta on Sunday. Canada’s Nathan Smith and Russia’s Marina Korovina followed their Saturday sprint victories up with another round of dominating performances on the second day of sprint races in Canada’s Rocky Mountains.

Smith, who became the first Canadian male to win a gold medal on the IBU Cup tour the previous day, won Sunday’s 10-kilometre race in a time of 25 minutes, 33.4 seconds. Two fast and clean rounds on the shooting range were the difference as the 26-year-old left everyone else fighting for second spot. “I like to shoot quick and clean,” said Smith, who spent just 1:40.1 in the range.

“His shooting speed combined with his accuracy and his good ski speed, it was a good performance and a good sign towards the world championships, where we are going next,” said Canada’s head coach Matthias Ahrens.

Second place went to Friedrich Pinter of Austria in a time of 26:14.8 at 41.4 seconds behind Smith. IBU Cup overall points leader Benedikt Doll of Germany took third in a time of 26:16.3.

Smith, a member of Canada’s World Cup squad, elected to come home and compete in his hometown this weekend rather than stay in Europe where the Canadian national team has been most of this winter. After Saturday’s victory, he admitted to wanting to get on the podium although gold wasn’t the first goal. Now he has done it twice in two days.  “I didn’t know if I had it in me to win two races in a row,” said Smith. “I just went out there and gave it my all.”

Even Smith’s head coach couldn’t contain his excitement following Sunday’s victory. “It was more than expected,” said Ahrens. “I expected he would do well and get a podium, but for him to win twice, that’s something to be extremely proud about.”

As for the race for second, Pinter, who held the lead early in Saturday’s race only to stumble on the range, improved on his showing by two spots.

“It was better than yesterday, shooting was better, running was better,” said the Austrian, who had one miss Sunday and two on Saturday. “I am totally happy about being on the podium today.” Still he spent 2:25.0 on the range, almost 46 seconds longer than Smith.

It was even worse for Doll, who struggled with his shooting throughout the weekend. On Saturday, he had five misses and would finish 10th. On Sunday, three misses more than offset the 20 seconds quicker he was on skis over Smith.

“In standing, making two mistakes, I tried everything, but it won’t work,” said Doll. “Skiing here is really good. The track, I love it, so it’s a pity that my shooting is so bad when my skiing is so good. I’ve got two more chances to get on the top, I will try for it.”

Saturday’s silver medallist Sergey Klyachin of Russia could do no better than ninth on Sunday with a time of 26:54.6 while Martin Eng of Norway in a time of 26:23.5 slipped to fourth on Sunday after finishing third the previous day.

The Canadian men’s performance was also bolstered by a strong showing from Marc-Andrea Bedard of Valcartier, Quebec, who went from 15th on Saturday to seventh on Sunday with a time of 26:43.6.

The top American was again Jeremy Teela. The 35-year-old from Heber, Utah finished 13th in 27:06.7. On Saturday he was 11th.

Women’s Race

In the women’s race, cloudy skies had replaced the brilliant sunshine from Saturday, and the conditions seemed to take their toll on the field.

Korovina won the women’s 7.5km sprint in a time of 21:40.3, but that was almost 36 seconds slower than the winning time she posted the previous day. “It’s a really hard course,” said Korovina. “I just want to do my best here. It is always my goal to win, so I am quite happy to get the results I have had this weekend.”

Maren Hammerschmidt of Germany placed second in 21:55.4 with Canada’s Yolaine Oddou third in 21:56.7

Hammerschmidt missed four targets on Saturday and finished 19th but shot clean on Sunday while Oddou, from Val Belair, Quebec, moved up to a podium position after a ninth-place finish Saturday.

“I shot good, so I am happy,” said Oddou, who had only one miss on Sunday and two on the first-day’s sprint. “I felt better on skis yesterday, but it was still good today.”

The top American was Lanny Barnes of Durango, Colo., finishing in a tie for fourth place with Canadian Megan Heinicke, who lives year-round in Germany, in a time of 22:15.4.

Barnes had finished 12th on Saturday and was determined to improve on that standing.

“I was a bit disappointed in the race (Saturday) with the missed shot in prone,” said Barnes. “You can’t afford to miss on a day like that with perfect conditions and I also felt like I skied to conservatively on the first loop. The great thing was we had another opportunity on the same course and same race format to give it another go today (Sunday).

“I went out harder today on the fist loop and tried to keep up that pace throughout the race. I cleaned prone and kept getting good splits out on the course and decided to try and go for it in standing. I came in a little too hard and missed my first shot, but resettled and knocked down the last four.

“After I skied my penalty loop I was suprised to get a split that despite my miss, I was still in the race. I hammered hard on the last loop and finished in third, but was bummed eventually by the Russian winner. I was happy with the result, but feel there is definitely room for improvement.”

Other North Americans finishing in the top 10 were hometown girl Rosanna Crawford in 2:41.2 and Laura Spector of Lennox, Mass., in 10th in 22:42.0.

The IBU Cup in Canmore continues later this week with an individual time trial on Wednesday and another sprint race on Thursday.

Women’s results HERE.
Men’s results HERE.