January 18, 2015 (Ruhpolding, Germany) – Darya Domracheva (Bel) claimed the women’s 12.5km Mass Start despite three penalties as her strong skiing kept her in contention in a see-saw battle on the final day in Ruhpolding. Landing second on the podium was Germany’s Franziska Preuss with two penalties at 16.5s behind, and securing third was Veronika Vitkova (Czech Republic) at 22.9s back suffering three penalties.

The USA’s Susan Dunklee shot well to put herself into podium contention sitting in fourth place just 5.9 seconds behind the leader after the third round. At the final standing stage she was in third but suffered  two penalties and finished 16th, her best placement this season at 1:11.1 back.

“My goals today were to have fun, take whatever time I needed to settle and take good shots, especially in the first prone, and be patient on skis,” said Dunklee. “On the fourth loop I left the range right behind Darya (Domracheva) and we steadily picked off people one by one. Toward the end of that loop, I looked up and suddenly realized that there were only two people ahead of me! But that is exactly where I want to be near the end of the race and I felt relaxed and comfortable heading into that final shooting.”

Canada’s Megan Heinicke, 26, missed two targets, one in prone and one in standing to finish 23rd on the day at 1:48.2 behind the winner.

Full results here.