November 24, 2013 (Ostersund, SWE) – The Czech Republic (Vitkova/Soukalova/Vitek/Moravec) took home the mixed relay season-opener victory in windy conditions in Ostersund, Sweden on Sunday. Norway (Vitkova/Soukalova/Vitek/Moravec) fought back to claim second with the Ukraine (Pidhrushna, Semerenko,Semenov, Deryzemlya) taking third. Team Canada (Imrie, Kocher, Perras, Smith) was just out the top 10 in 11th followed by Team USA (Cook, Dunklee, Burke, Bailey) in 12th.

France was dominating but things fell apart on the final leg as Martin Fourcade got into trouble during his final standing session on the range. He missed three shots and did not use a spare round resulting in a 2-min penalty which ultimately cost him the victory and a podium finish. Fellow anchor Ondrej Moravec (CZE) was in second place at the time, saw his opportunity, and held off a charging Tarjei Boe from Norway for the win.

Team USA also fought back from 21st as Dunklee moved them up to 19th and Burke cleaned prone and standing (with two extra shots) to take them to 14th with Bailey moving the squad up two more spots to 12th. “It’s good to get the first race under us,” added Bailey. “Although it’s not the result we hoped for, it’s a solid start – something we can build on going forward.”

Full results here.