March 11, 2012 (Ruhpolding, GER) – The low hanging clouds and light rain did not to hamper Tora Berger’s performance, as the Norwegian skied a near perfect race to claim her 2nd individual gold medal and 4th medal of the IBU World Championships in a time of 35:41 with one shooting penalty – she won medals in both Relays, gold (mixed) and bronze (women’s).

The talented Berger finished eight seconds ahead of the silver medalist, Marie Laure Brunet of France, and 13 seconds ahead of the 2011 overall WCupwinner, Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen.  Like Berger, both Brunet and Mäkäräinen suffered one shooting penalty.

Two North American women qualified for the women’s Mass Start on Sunday. American Susan Dunklee, coming off her stellar 15km Individual result, finished her championships placing a strong 16th with only one penalty as well, at 1:28 behind Berger. Top Canadian Zina Kocher became the first Canuck to contest an IBU World Championship mass start but had a tougher time on the range with four penalties placing 23rd at 2:30 off the pace.

“I felt more tired today and was not skiing as smoothly and snappy as I had earlier in the week,” Kocher told SkiTrax. “The weather and soft snow made it feel even more of a slog out there.

“Shooting was very important today due to the conditions. It was a day that needed a 90% shooting for a top result because it was a perfectly calm day. I lost the main pack after the one miss in the first prone, and this cost me a few places,” she added.

While there is room for improvement, Kocher is satisfied with her results as, “…these World Championships have been my best ever in terms of consistency and placing in the top 26 every race (18th, 26th, 26th and 23rd). And it’s the first time I’ve ever made a World Championship mass start – a first for a Canadian woman.”

World Cup leader Magdalena Neuner (GER) had

a surprisingly poor day with six penalties ending up 10th while Darya Domracheva (BLR) also shot poorly suffering five penalties but regrouped to finish 5th overall.

Berger lead the race early as she was among the top 11 skiers who left the stadium after going through the first round of shooting clean, and she continued to push the pace despite the challenging conditions. With the air temperature a plus 4 degrees Celsius and the light rain, the track was very difficult due to the rain. Some spots were very soft while others were hard and almost icy, making it tricky to balance and transfer weight.

Coming into the final shooting round it was Mäkäräinen and Brunet at the front, but they both faltered with one shooting penalty while Berger went through clean and started the final loop in front, with Mäkäräinen and Brunet close behind.

“I was sure that I was second but found out quickly as I left the shooting range that I was first,” Berger said in a biathlonworld.com interview.  “On the last loop, I had no plan, I was very tired today and just tried to do my best. I knew I had to fight on that last loop.” Berger sits third in the overall standings.

As the 2012 IBU World Championships came to a close, athletes will soon begin their preparation to compete in the final World Cup of the season starting on March 13th in Khanty-Mansiysk, RUS.

Full results HERE.