February 28, 2015 (Canmore, AB) – A super swift biathlete by day and a Starbucks barista by night, Vernon B.C.’s Emma Lunder had the race of her life to win Canada’s first medal of IBU Cup 7 at the Canmore Nordic Centre. Overcome with exhaustion and emotion, tears streamed down Lunder’s face as she embraced her mother, Kaarina Lunder, after the flower ceremony.

Canada's Emma Lunder takes second © Pam Doyle

“(My mom) has actually never seen me race in an IBU Cup before,” Lunder said. “To do it in Canmore with my mom here cheering and everyone who has supported me for the last five years I’ve lived hear, it’s amazing to do it at home.”

Lunder shot clean against an international field for the first time of her career to finish the 7.5 km sprint race in 19:51.5, five seconds behind Karolin Horchler of Germany (19:46.4). Marine Bolliet of France won bronze (19:54.4).

Karolin Horchler shoots standing to win © Pam Doyle

The 24-year-old started the race in mid pack, but slowly picked apart her opposition as the race went on. After cleaning her last bout of targets, she threw on the jets and pushed into second place. She made up 15 seconds on the leader in the final lap. “I told myself ‘Ok, you know this course better than any girl here, so just do everything you can to make up seconds,’ ” Lunder said.

Emma Lunder en route to silver © Pam Doyle

After three seasons racing on the IBU Cup, Lunder had a breakthrough race last season, when she finished 30th in a World Cup. She works part-time at Starbucks to fund her career, and her company gave her a $10,000 athlete grant this season to support her training. She and teammate Sarah Beaudry were the only two Canadian athletes to receive the grant.

Racing in front of friends and family was emotional, but Lunder kept her game face on and treat the day as ‘any other race.’ “I went into it any way I would any other IBU Cup. That helped me keep my focus through the race,” Lunder said.

Lunder moved to Canmore from Vernon B.C., and has been a member of Canada’s National ‘B’ team for one season, working with coach Richard Boruta.

Top three in the Women 7.5km Sprint © Pam Doyle

Biathlon Canada High Performance Director Chris Lindsay said he knew Lunder was capable of this result, and is pleased it came on home soil.

“This isn’t a surprise to us. Emma has been proving over the last three years that she’s on the dvp ladder of being a full member of the national team. We saw that last season on the World cup. I see this as a direct extension of that. It may have taken a little longer, but we were confident it will come,” said Lindsay.
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Lunder said she’ll try to re-focus for tomorrow’s sprint race, even as messages of support pour in from around the globe. She races at 1 p.m. Zina Kocher of Red Deer also cracked the top 20, finishing 19th.

Kocher was poised for a top 10 result, but struggled in her last bout of shooting (6/10). Melanie Schultz came out of retirement to finish 27th, followed by Erin Yungblut (29th), Claude Godbout (30th) and Leilani Tam von Burg (33rd).

Full results here.

Emma Lunder at press conference © Pam Doyle