December 06, 2018 (Pokljuka, Slovenia) – Scott and Christian Gow led the charge for Team Canada placing 14th and 16th respectively, each with one penalty in the Men’s 20km Individual at the IBU World Cup in Pokljuka on Thursday.

Fog on the previous day that forced a postponement, gave way to sunshine as Martin Fourcade of France, a late starter, claimed the win with clean shooting. Germany’s Johannes Kuehn raced to his career-first podium also shooting clean to finish second at 4.2 seconds back, while Austria’s Simon Eder cleaned as well for third at 19.7 seconds behind.

“Today was an excellent race and a great way to start the season. Conditions were not amazing this morning. The track was soft everywhere along the course which made the skiing feel much harder than it should,” Scott Gow told SkiTrax. “There were a few hard-packed, glazed sections but it was mostly sugar. The range on the other hand was excellent and we had perfect shooting conditions. There was a bit of wind during zero but it was completely calm for the race.

Canada has demonstrated strong shooting as the season gets underway. “Our team has placed more emphasis on shooting this year and we have been seeing some very good results come from that decision. We hired a new shooting coach who brought a new perspective to the shooting range, and everyone on the team has taken to it quite well,” shared Gow.

We caught with Christian Gow as well. “The course here is one of the easier ones on the circuit, but that doesn’t make the racing any easier. An easier course means everyone can ski that much harder during the race. The conditions were challenging today. It froze overnight, but only the top layer of snow which quickly broke down once warm-up started. The snow was a mixture of sugar and slush which made for tough skiing,” he commented.

On the team’s shooting he told us, “We started working with a new shooting coach this year and it was a really positive change for the team. Pavel brings so much expertise to the table and our whole team has really benefited from his knowledge.”

On his recent 6th place with Megan Bankes in the Single Mixed Relay he added, “The single-mixed was awesome! Really fun and fast-paced race and a great way to start off the season. I was really proud of my race and the race we put together as a team.”

Leif Nordgren was the top American in 40th with two penalties at 3:24.5 off the winning pace. “The race went pretty well today, it was a solid start, much better than I’ve had in a long time so I’m definitely happy with that,” said Nordgren. “The results were really tight around me in the finish though, so the two mistakes that I did have were quite costly.”

Results here.