January 12, 2014 (Ruhpolding, Germany) – Clean shooting was part of Gabriela Soukalova’s (Cze) winning formula as she took home another victory from Ruhpolding winning the women’s 10km Pursuit. In second was Norway’s Tora Berger suffering one penalty just under 10s back, while Sweden’s Kaisa Makarainen grabbed third despite three penalties at 38.9 seconds behind.

Women's final podium (l-r) Berger 2nd, Soukalova 1st, Maekaeraeinen 3rd © Nordic Focus

The USA’s Susan Dunklee was the top North American in 33rd with four penalties at 3:28.7 followed by Canada’s Rosanna Crawford in 37th also with four penalties at 3:47.3. Megan Imrie (Can) finished 39th (3 penalties) while teammate Megan Heinicke was 48th (4 penalties).

Soukalova was on top of her game and shot and skied to perfection although prior to the competition she was not so sure. “Before the start, I was hoping to be in the top five. It was stressful; in the third loop, I was getting tired and tried to think about the chance to get a clean shooting. That was my one tactic,” she told Biathlonworld.com. “The most important thing is how you feel before the competitions; if you feel good and are fit, then usually it goes well.”

Women’s results here.