January 05, 2013 (Oberhof, GER) – Dense fog and rain challenged the athletes today in the men’s and women’s sprint competitions at round four of the E.ON IBU World Cup in Oberhof, Germany. Team USA athletes Sara Studebaker and Leif Nordgren showed strong shooting, shooting clean and +1, respectively.

Studebaker posted a 29th place finish in the 7.5km Sprint with a time of 23:18.1 at +2:00.9 minutes behind today’s winner Miriam Gossner of Germany with a time of 21:17.2/0 and two penalties. World Cup leader, Norway’s Tora Berger, took second with clean shooting and a time of 21:19.2 while Germany’s Andrea Henkel finished third, shooting clean as well with a time of 21:41.3.

The lone Canadian in the field, Megan Heinicke finished in 52nd place with a time of 24:09.9 1+2 while American Annelies Cook finished in 72nd. Team USA’s Susan Dunklee did not start in today’s race due to sore throat.

“Today was a solid day for me,” said Studebaker in a team release, “I was really happy to shoot so well since the conditions were really variable. I got pretty lucky with not too much wind or fog when I was on the range, and felt really relaxed about my shooting. Skiing was a little tough for me today, but I’m psyched to have such a solid result. This is a really tough course, and definitely not my favorite, but for me it’s important to have as much racing as possible going into World Champs, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow!”

American Tim Burke posted the top finish for the North American men in today’s 10km Pursuit, finishing 26th with a time of 26:24.3 (1+1) at 1:16.4 behind Russia’s Dmitry Malyshko. The victory was Malyshko’s first individual World Cup of his career, posting a time of 25:07.9 with one penalty. His teammate, Evgenly Garanichev, finished second in 25:20.5 (1+0) and Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen placed third with a time of 25:21.0 (0+1).

“Today was not such a great race for me,” said Burke. “I had two penalties and my feeling on the skis was just OK. I think I will need a few more races to get back into the swing of things after the Christmas break. I am definitely paying the price a bit for traveling home for Christmas, but I am confident that I will be back when it counts at the World Champs.”

Burke’s teammate Leif Nordgren finished 36th with a time of 26:48, and one penalty in standing while fellow American Lowell Bailey finished 51st.  Canadian’s Jean Phillippe Leguellec and Marc-Andre Bedard finished 55th and 57th, respectively, with American Russell Currier placing 64th.

Racing from Oberhof concludes on Sunday with the Men’s and Women’s Pursuit.

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