January 09, 2016 (Ruhpolding, GER) – Canada’s Nathan Smith claimed a stellar 6th in the men’s 12.5km Pursuit race in Ruhpolding with one missed shot as Austria’s Simon Eder took the win also with a single penalty. Martin Fourcade, of France, was second with two penalties while Michal Slesingr (CZE) shot clean for the bronze.

Nathan Smith (CAN) © Nordic Focus

“I’m super happy with it. The best part is I shot clean on my last standing. I have had trouble with it a few times this year when I had the opportunity to finish in the top-six,” said Smith. “I worked on that a lot over Christmas, and I’m glad today I did that five out of five,” said Smith, who turned 30 on Christmas Day, and was 45s behind the winner.

“It was really difficult today. The snow was soft everywhere. Never had any rest because you were always working trying to maintain balance,” he added. “I wasn’t sure who was chasing me down on the last lap. I noticed in the final third it was (Johannes Thingnes). I could tell he was looking tired losing his balance a bit. I stuck behind him a bit and managed to take him at the finish.”

Americans Lowell Bailey and Tim Burke finished 22nd (at 1:45.3 behind) and 26th (2:10.1 back), respectively. Bailey moved up 11 places from his 33rd-place start position with just one penalty while Burke dropped eight positions from his 18th-place starting slot with five penalties on the range.

“Today was just one of those biathlon days that is best to forget,” said Burke after the race. “I felt solid on the ski course and the shooting range but all of my close shots ended up as penalties. I’m hoping to get a start in the mass start tomorrow and redeem myself.”

Bailey has qualified for the 30-man 15km mass start on Sunday, while Burke will have to wait until the final start list is posted to see if he earns a slot. Macx Davies (Can) finished 50th (2+0+0+2), while Canada’s Christian Gow edged out his older brother for 53rd (0+1+1+0), while Scott was one spot back (2+1+1+0) in 54th.

Dunklee © Nordic Focus

Women’s Pursuit

In the women’s 10km Pursuit  Susan Dunklee raced to her fourth top-20 finish in her last five events with a 15th-place result and three penalties. Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier took the win with one penalty as she chased down Gabriela Soukalova (Cze) and caught her near the finish for the win. Italy’s Dorothea Wierer was third with two penalties at 53.6s behind Dahlmeier.

Starting in 11th Dunklee moved up to sixth place after cleaning both prone stages. However, three missed targets during the standing stages knocked her down to 15th as she qualified for Sunday’s 12.5km mass start.

“Skiing today was all about being patient and maintaining good technique while wallowing through deep, mushy snow,” Dunklee said. “I had an exciting sprint finish with Karin Oberhofer for 15th. I won the lunge but broke my rifle stock in the process, so our team staff will have an extra project to complete before tomorrow’s mass start.”

Canadian World Cup rookie Julia Ransom was 45th with two penalties, Sarah Beaudry finished 54th with three missed targets, while Annelies Cook (USA) struggled on the range with eight penalties and finished 58th.

Men’s results here.
Women’s results here.