March 12, 2019 (Ostersund, SWE) – Canada’s Emma Lunder led the North Americans finishing 26th in the women’s 15km individual race at the IBU Biathlon World Championships in Ostersund. Susan Dunklee was the top American in 30th.

Lunder suffered two penalties as Sweden’s hometown girl Hanna Oeberg shot clean to win her first IBU Worlds gold. Italy’s Lisa Vittozzi also shot clean to win silver for her first individual world championship medal at 23.6 seconds back. Justine Braisaz of France, with one penalty, won the bronze at 32.5 seconds behind Oeberg.

The USA’s Joanne Reid was close behind Dunklee in 32nd at 4:11.7 behind and also with three penalties on the range. Her efforts earned her a berth at Sunday’s 30-woman mass start race mark her first career mass start competition.

“After several races in blizzard conditions, Ostersund treated us to a sunny gem of a day,” said Dunklee who had three penalties on the shooting range. “We still had tricky, changing winds though. On the range, I took a little extra time than normal because I was monitoring the wind flags between shots. The highlight of the day was hearing after the race that Joanne earned a spot in her first mass start.”

Results here.