January 19, 2017 (Antholz-Anterselva, Italy) – Canada’s Emma Lunder, 25, delivered a career-best 21st in her first-ever 15km IBU World Cup individual competition, missing just one shot in four rounds of shooting despite gusty winds, as round six of the series got underway in Antholz-Anterselva, Italy.

“To finish just out of the top-20 today feels amazing and I am so happy to add this to my resume,” beamed Lunder who began the season on the IBU Cup development circuit. “This was a definite boost of much-needed confidence going into the rest of the season.”

Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier recorded two penalties to win with a time of 44:48.7. France’s Anais Chevalier challenged Dahlmeier with only one missed target but finished second at 3.8 seconds back. Local Italian favorite Alexia Runggaldier placed third with one penalty at 46 seconds behind, for her first career podium.

It was also a solid outing for Canadian Megan Tandy as the two-time Olympian finished in 33rd with four penalties while teammate Julia Ransom placed 55th also with four missed targets. Clare Egan led Team USA in 59th with six penalties and was followed by teammate Joanne Reid in 60th with six penalties as well. Susan Dunklee with eight penalties, and Maddie Phaneuf with seven penalties, finished 71st and 81st, respectively.

“I had the fastest skis I’ve ever had in my life today, and three out of four good shooting stages,” said Egan. “Unfortunately, a stupid mistake in the first standing stage foiled any chance I had at a good result. I tried to shoot through gusting wind instead of waiting until I could take a good shot. I made a strong comeback from that point on, but 59th place is hardly what I was hoping for.”

The only other time Lunder finished in the points on the World Cup came in her first ever start on the elite circuit in 2014 when she was 30th in a sprint race in Pokljuka, Slovenia. Lunder first made headlines in the international biathlon circles when she broke through with a silver medal in the sprint event when the IBU Cup circuit made its way to her hometown in 2015.

“I was extremely happy to hit 19/20 on a tough day,” said Lunder. “I was really focused on executing some new shooting cues that I’ve been working on the last few days, and I’m happy with how they worked. I had fairly consistent wind for both prone and standing, and was happy not to have any big gusts blowing around me.”

“The course was in perfect condition, and our team had really competitive skis thanks to our hardworking wax team. Today was a huge day for me on the range. There’s still work to be done on the skiing side of things, but I know I’m headed in the right direction,” she added.

The victory gave Dahlmeier an 11-point lead in the World Cup standings over Gabriela Koukalova of the Czech Republic who finished 24th on the day suffering six penalties.

Results here.