December 02, 2012 (Ostersund, Sweden) – Canadian Zina Kocher, inspired by teammate Le Guellec’s golden performance earlier in the day on Saturday, notched her first top ten finish of the 2012-13 season in the women’s 7.5 km sprint.

“It actually took me a long time to calm down before the start of my own race to focus in what I needed to do,” Kocher told SkiTrax.  “It was just such an incredible day for the team.”

Inspired Kocher finishes 10th in Women's Sprint © Manzoni/NordicFocus

“I have been focused on keeping a consistent shooting time in prone and carrying my good rhythm in training into the race,” said Kocher following the individual event earlier this week. “I know that I can be in the top-10, and on the podium, with 90 per cent shooting accuracy. It’s a possibility every race and I know it. History was made today though. I was screaming at the TV watching JP. What a day!”

Tora Berger of Norway took the victory in 21:34.0 with one penalty while the Ukraine’s Olena Pidhrushna with one miss as well placed 2nd. Olga Vilukhina of Russia with the same record on the range grabbed the bronze.

The USA’s Susan Dunklee also qualified for Sunday’s pursuit by finishing in 43rd.  “I felt more like my normal self in the race tonight; I stood on the start line and thought to myself this is what I am good at and this is what I like to do,” said Dunklee in a team release. “I was having fun with the challenge of racing…and the highlight was sticking with Tora Berger for the entire second loop.  The shooting will come at some point too. I am looking forward to tomorrow.”

Joining Kocher and Dunklee for the women’s 10km pursuit on Sunday is Canadian Rosanna Crawford with her 54th place result in the sprint.

Full results HERE.