February 13, 2012 (Kontiolahti, FIN) – Canada’s Zina Kocher skied her way to a 9th-place finish in the women’s 10km pursuit on Sunday despite tough wind conditions. Suffering four penalties, Kocher was still able to pass three rivals on the final ski leg to break into the top ten.

“Definitely a good confidence booster to be back in the top 10,” Kocher told SkiTrax post-race. “FINALLY is how it feels as it has taken some patience this season. The opportunity has been there at numerous competitions this year and I’ve been close to breaking through the top 10.”

Kocher attributes her improved result over yesterday’s sprint race with her ability to push to the end. “Today skiing was great, especially my last lap as I passed three athletes in the final loop,” explained the Canadian Olympian. “With a few less misses there was opportunity for at least a top 8.”

Kocher is happy with her result as it builds good momentum going forward. “With the wind conditions, I did a decent job and I’m satisfied with the weekend, leading into the World Championships.”

Topping the podium today before a partisan crowd was Kaisa Mäkäräinen of Finland who took the win in her home stadium as second went to Germany’s Magdalena Neuner while Belarus’ Darya Domracheva rounded out the podium in 3rd.

Mäkäräinen said it was up to her to take the win from Neuner today. “I was motivated and especially focused. I knew that Magdalena would be tough to beat, but I had to concentrate on what I was doing,” she said in a Biathlonworld.com interview.

“I could not do anything that would affect what she did. It was a good day for me, I was a bit tired on the tracks, but I was especially good on the shooting range.”

Two other North American women competed on Sunday as Sara Studebaker finished in 36th position while fellow American Annelies Cook finishing one lap down.

Training camps are up next for most athletes, honing their fitness for the next major event, the IBU World Championships in Ruhpolding (GER) with competition starting on March 1st, 2012.

Full results HERE.