December 10, 2011 (Hochfilzen, Austria) – It was a Norwegian showdown in the men’s 12.5km pursuit in Hochfilzen this morning in the men’s 15km IBU WCup pursuit, with Emil Hegle Svendsen besting fellow countryman Tarjei Boe in a final sprint to line with a time of 33:09.0 and a winning margin of only 0.1s. It was a nailbiter, with Svendsen racking up two shooting penalties and Boe only holding one. Switzerland’s Benjamin Weger claimed third place at 4.9 seconds back and only one penalty.

The top North American result was logged by USA’s Lowell Bailey, who finished 17th. He trailed by +57.4 and amassed two penalties. Canada’s Brendan Green finished 33rd at +2:00.5 back with three penalties. Jay Hakkinen (USA) landed 45th spot with four penalties.

In the 10km women’s pursuit, Darya Domracheva (BLR) showed an impressive display of determination to snag her victory over second place, Olga Zaitseva (RUS), and third place, Magdalena Neuner (GER). Domracheva came from behind, trailing by 55s after the third shooting stage, to claim the victory on the final round. She finished her race in 29:34.4 with two penalties, while Zaitseva finished only +0.3 back with a single penalty.

Zina Kocher (CAN) scored the best North American result with a solid 23rd place, trailing by 3:09.5 and logging two penalties. Susan Dunklee (USA) finished 43rd, followed by team mate Sara Studebaker (USA) in 44th.

Men’s results HERE.
Women’s results HERE.