January 16, 2015 (Ruhpolding, Germany) – Canada’s Megan Heinicke earned a personal-best 11th in the women’s 7.5km Sprint with one penalty at the IBU Biathlon World Cup in Rupholding, Germany on Friday. Norway’s Fanny Welle-Strand Horn (NOR) bested Darya Domracheva (BLR) by 3.4s in what was her first World Cup victory as Tiril Eckhoff (NOR) powered to the bronze medal.

Megan Heinicke (CAN) © Nordic Focus

“This was one of my strongest skiing performances ever.  I simply felt strong and there is nothing more fun than fighting hard when you feel strong,” said Heinicke, 26, who had great skis on the wet and slushy conditions. “Shooting wise I had been trying out some keywords and those were all I wanted to think about on the range. I have just been slowly getting more confident on the range. It is always great when the skiing and the shooting come together on the same day.

“I was really hoping to stay in 10th, but 11th is a new personal best and I am really pleased with the result,” added Heinicke. “I am really motivated by having several personal bests this season and I feel like the return of my self-confidence is good for me. I am planning to keep racing with the same determined, task-oriented approach, and who knows what can happen. I certainly wasn’t expecting these results to come this year.”

Susan Dunklee (USA) © Nordic Focus

The USA’s Susan Dunklee (USA) finished 26th, also with one penalty at 1:44 back. Zina Kocher (CAN) finished 48th, Annelies Cook (USA) was 52nd, Audrey Vaillancourt (CAN) was 68th, Hannah Dreissigacker (USA) 77th, and Julia Ranson (CAN) finished 81st. Canada’s Rosanna Crawford (CAN) did not start.

“I had a great shooting day and I found the mental zone where I felt happy and psyched to be racing,” said Dunklee. “While the end result today doesn’t look particularly special, I think it was one of my best performances of the season so far. And having those pieces come together well is a huge confidence booster going forward.”

Hanah Dreissigacker (USA) © Nordic Focus

Conditions were perfect for the competition, yet athletes struggled to shoot clean. Mari Laukkanen (FIN) took the early lead, cleaning prone, but taking one standing penalty. She would finish fifth. Domracheva shot clean, but required one spare.

Podium (l-r) Domracheva 2nd, Horn 1st, Eckhoff 3rd © Nordic Focus

Despite a few seconds lost, it looked like Domracheva would keep her advantage, but Eckhoff made a strong last charge, and despite one penalty, almost came within reach of the Belorussian. Horn was next, mastering the prone stage to take the lead, followed by a perfect standing stage, and exiting with an 8s lead and defending her advantage to the finish.

Results here.