January 18, 2015 (Ruhpolding, Germany) – Germany Simon Schempp gave local fans in Ruhpolding the win they were hoping for when he emerged as the victor of a 3-up photo finish sprint to the line in the men’s 15km Mass Start, out-lunging Quentin Fillon Maillet (Fra) for the gold with Michal Slesingr (Czech Republic) taking home the bronze. All three shot clean setting up the exciting finale to the weekend of racing.

Five leaders emerged after the final standing session including Emil Hegle Svendsen and teammate Ole Einar Björndalen both from Norway and each with one penalty. Maillet was at the front looking hungry for the win but Schempp and Slesingr challenged as they hit the finishing lanes with a well-timed lunge by Schempp giving him the win.

Canada’s Brendan Green continued his hot hand on the range, shooting clean for the third-straight race to finish a solid 18th on the day at 57.1s behind the winner. The USA’s Lowell Bailey finished 28th with three penalties at 2:25.1 back.

“This is the first time I’ve had been clean shooting throughout an entire World Cup. Each shot this week has felt solid, which is a really good feeling for sure. To finish the week 40/40 is an awesome bonus,” said Green. “No matter what, you need some luck to be able to do that, but I feel like this week I’ve been able to put into action a few elements that I was working hard on throughout my training over the Christmas break.”

“The shooting conditions were great which made it an extremely tight race. To be in the mix today you really couldn’t afford more than one miss,” said Green, who added course conditions were more pleasant today, but yesterday’s snow made it challenging and inconsistent to ski on. “I did my best to ski smooth and relaxed. Mass start races are more intense and exciting to race, but in general, my focus was similar to any other race.”

Full results here.