March 02, 2013 (Oslo Holmenkollen, NOR) – Norwegian Tora Berger delighted the hometown crowd by claiming the victory on Saturday, for the second day in a row, in a penalty-laden women’s 10km Pursuit in Oslo. Berger finished 1st with a time of 32:12.2 and an uncharacteristic four penalties.

Second was France’s Marie Darin Habert at 31.2 seconds back with a finishing time of 32:43.4 and two penalties while Slovakian Anastasiya Kuzmina matched her result in the Sprint by rounding out the podium in 3rd place with a time of 32:57.3 and four penalties.

Strong winds out of the north plagued the athletes in the range, as none of the 53 starters shot clean today. “It was not so easy to shoot; the first stage was not so bad but the last two were very difficult,” Berger told biathlonworld.com.  “On the last stage, I think I was too fast. I felt like I was under control but I was not and I missed that one shot.”

Canadian Zina Kocher was the top North American women batting from a 42nd place start position to finish 28th overall in a time of 38:08.4 with six penalties. “Considering the epic wind gusts today, it was a good chase,” commented Kocher on her Facebook page.

Other North Americans included USA’s Annelies Cook finishing in 38th place and Canadian Megan Heinicke in 42nd.

Full results here.