January 15, 2011 (Ruhpolding, Germany) – Just a day after Lars Berger won the IBU World Cup Sprint in Ruhpolding, his sister, Tora, followed suit, capturing gold in the Women’s 7.5km Sprint event on Saturday. The Berger duo became the first siblings in the history of biathlon to win the same event at the same World Cup.

“I was pretty impressed with my brother yesterday. He did a really good job in standing shooting – it was really exciting,” Berger said in a Biathlonworld.com interview, “So I had to do it on the same level today. We may have won the same competition in a Norwegian Cup at one time, but this is the first time in a World Cup.”

Berger won her second event of the season in front of a boisterous crowd of 21,000 fans, shooting clean for a time of 20:33.3. Germany’s Andrea Henkel, who medaled for the fourth consecutive race on Saturday, took home the silver after a 10 for 10 performance in the shooting range. Henkel finished just 1.1 seconds behind the Norwegian winner.

Magdalena Nuener, also from Germany, missed just one target to claim the final podium spot, finishing in a time of 20:49.1

Sara Studebaker topped the North Americans with a 32nd place finish in which she shot clean in both stages. Just seven seconds behind was fellow US teammate Laura Spector, who hit 9 of her 10 targets to finish 36th. Haley Johnson missed just one shot in her first lap to grab 44th place with a time of 22:55.0.

Zina Kocher put in the best Canadian result with a 53rd place effort in which she hit 7 of 10 targets for a time of 23:22.5. Rosanna Crawford, whose sister, Chandra, is a top national team xc ski skier on the World Cup circuit, had a perfect day in the range and skied to a 57th place finish. Second year World Cup competitor Melanie Schultz also had a perfect shooting day, placing 71st with a time of 24:01.1.

The weather conditions for Saturday’s event were by far the best yet seen in Ruhpolding. The absence of rain and wind made for a firmer course and straightforward shooting.

Full Results HERE.

Results (brief)

1. Tora Berger, NOR (0+0) 20:33.3
2. Andrea Henkel, GER, (0+0) 20:34.4
3. Magdalena Neuner, GER (0+1) 20:49.1

32. Sara Studebaker, USA (0+0) 22:35.3
36. Laura Spector, USA (1+0) 22:42.1
44. Haley Johnson, USA (1+0) 22:55.0
53. Zina Kocher, CAN (1+2) 23:25.5
57. Rosanna Crawford, CAN (0+0) 23:32.0
71. Melanie Schultz,  CAN (0+0) 24:01.1