March 07, 2014 (Pokljuka, SLO) – Canada’s Rosanna Crawford placed 17th at 1:17.4 with two penalties in the 7.5km Sprint behind suprise winner Katharina Innerhofer from Austria who shot clean to claim her first World Cup victory. Daria Virolaynen (RUS) also shot clean taking second at 9.2 seconds back for her career-best result. In third was Nadezhda Skardino from Belarus at 12.1 seconds behind also shooting clean.

Fellow Canuck Zina Kocher was 23rd at 1:25.5/+4 followed by teammate Emma Lunder in 30th at 1:46.5/+1. The top American was Sara Studebaker in 35th at 1:57.3/+1 with Susan Dunklee in 38th at 2:03.6/+4. Canada’s Megan Heinicke placed 43rd at 2:13.8/+3 while the USA’s Annelies Cook was 79th 4:13.1/+5 and Hannah Dreissigacker was 84th at 6:17.4/+8.

The wind made for challenging conditions on the range but the top three were able to persevere and take charge. “I won today and it’s great for the women’s biathlon in Austria, because we train as hard as the men. I hope we will continue like this,” Innerhofer told biathlonworld.com

Full results here.