December 16, 2011 (Obertilliach, Austria) – Two young Calgary biathletes shocked the world by finishing third and fourth in a men’s 10-kilometre sprint competition at the IBU Biathlon Cup in Obertilliach, Austria on Friday.

Nathan Smith put his name in the history books as one of a handful of Canadian biathletes to win a medal in international racing after capturing the bronze with a time of 24 minutes, 18.1 seconds, while senior team rookie, Scott Gow, narrowly missed the podium placing fourth at 24:31.4 against a deep field of nearly 100 athletes – many of whom compete regularly on the World Cup circuit.

“It feels great. Only a few other Canadians have had top-four results on the IBU Cup so two in one day is exceptional,” said Smith, who turns 26 on Christmas Day and becomes the sixth Canadian biathlete to medal on the IBU Cup over the last decade. The Canadian squad also finished fourth in Wednesday’s mixed relay.

“During the training season I made some strong improvements in both skiing and shooting and I was hoping to carry those over to the competition season. This result is affirmation the work is paying off in actual results.”

Both Smith and Gow shot clean with light winds blowing through the range, and took advantage of good skis on the hard-packed, fast Austrian course.

“Our coaching and waxing team have been doing an awesome job. I’m fairly certain our skis in Obertilliach have been the best of all the teams thus far,” added Smith. “So far this winter four men have put down top results on both the IBU and World Cup. This shows that our team is building depth. I also hope younger biathletes in Canada will see our results and strive to match and exceed them.”

Russia’s Evgeniy Garanichev won the gold medal with a time of 24:09.7 despite missing one shot in his first round of shooting. Germany’s Daniel Bohm snagged the silver with a time of 24:11.4.

Despite finishing just shy of the podium, it was a stellar day for the 21-year-old Scott Gow who made the climb to the senior ranks this year where he has split time on the World Cup and IBU Cup Circuit – a feeder series to the World Cup.

“The race today felt amazing. It was one of those rare days where great skiing with perfect shooting came together, and I’m more than ecstatic it happened today on the IBU Cup,” said Gow, who was clean in his two rounds of shooting. “The skis were the difference today. I have felt great the last two weeks on the boards and they were really good today which gave us an edge on our competitors.”

Equally brilliant off the snow, the sharp-shooting biathlete was an honours student at the National Sport School where he was one of a small group of students selected from around the world to attend United States Space School four years ago at NASA in Houston. An incredible experience for the young Canuck, Gow’s mission has since been focused on achieving his Olympic dream. He enjoyed a memorable campaign in 2011 where he carried the Alberta flag into the closing ceremonies of the Canada Winter Games after winning four gold medals in as many competitions, one week following a ninth-place finish at the Junior World Championships.

“This result is important for me because I feel like it validates my training over the past year, and gives me the confidence going forward to know that I am competitive on the IBU Cup,” said Gow. “Doing as well as I did today against the competition I had is a real boost of confidence because they guys we’re finishing with have good results on the World Cup and are considered World Cup caliber athletes, so it’s another major boost for sure.”

Two other Canadian men suited up on Friday. Calgary’s Tyson Smith shot clean to finish tied for 50th at 26:23.5. Aaron Gillmor was 96th (28:05.9).

Quebec’s Claude Godbout finished as the top Canadian in the women’s 7.5-kilometre sprint, placing 32nd at 24:32.2. Yolaine Oddou, of Val Belair, Que., was 34th (24:44.8), while Melanie Schultz, of Camrose, Alta., finished 53rd (25:43.1).

Russia’s Ekaterina Glazyrina shot clean to win the women’s competition with a time of 22:30.8.

Meanwhile, the top women’s biathletes in the country also had a solid outing on the World Cup circuit down the road in Hochfilzen, Austria.

Megan Imrie, of Falcon Lake, Man., skied to the final spot in the top-25 for the best result of her career. The 25-year-oldImrie, who represented Canada at the 2010 Olympics, missed two shots in her first of two bouts of shooting to clock a time of 22:18.1 in the women’s 7.5-kilometre sprint competition.

Zina Kocher, of Red Deer, Alta., will join Imrie in the pursuit competition with the top-60 athletes after placing 50th with a time of 23:08.0. Rosanna Crawford, of Canmore, Alta., rounded out the Canadian performances in 73rd (24:05.7).

Russia’s Olga Zaitseva won the women’s sprint with a time of 20:36.6. Darya Domracheva, of Belarus, settled for the silver medal at 20:%0.5, while Sweden’s Helena Ekholm locked up the bronze after clocking-in at 21:06.8.

The IBU Cup and World Cup events continue on Saturday in Austria with the pursuit competitions.

FOR COMPLETE RESULTS: www.biathlonworld.com

IBU Men
1. Evgeniy Garanichev, RUS, (1+0), 24:09.7
2. Daniel Bohm, GER, (0+0), 24:11.4
3. Nathan Smith, Calgary, CAN, (0+0), 24:18.1
4. Scott Gow, Calgary, CAN, (0+0), 24:31.4
5. Johannes Kuhn, GER, (0+1), 24:36.1

IBU Women
1. Ekaterina Glazyrina, RUS, (0+0), 22:30.8
2. Juliya Dzyhma, UKR, (0+0), 22:40.4
3. Sabrina Buchholz, GER, (1+0), 22:44.8
4. Ekaterina Shumilova, RUS, (0+2), 22:53.8
5. Roberta Fiandino, ITA, (0+0), 23:03.2.

32. Claude Godbout, Quebec, (0+1), 24:32.2
34. Yolaine Oddou, Val Belair, Que., (2+0), 24:44.8
53. Melanie Schultz, Camrose, Alta., (2+2), 25:43.1

World Cup Women
1. Olga Zaitseva, RUS, (0+1), 20:36.6
2. Darya Domracheva, BLR, (1+1), 20:50.5
3. Helena Ekholm, SWE, (1+0), 21:06.8
4. Magdalena Neuner, GER, (1+1), 21:21.5
5. Vita Semerenko, UKR, (0+1), 21:32.2.

25. Megan Imrie, Falcon Lake, Man., (2+0), 22:18.1
50. Zina Kocher, Red Deer, Alta., (1+3), 23:08.0
73. Rosanna Crawford, Canmore, Alta., (3+0), 24:05.7

March 30, 2011 (Canmore, AB) – Last Friday, Fast and Female hosted its maiden biathlon day and its first ever event in Charlo, New Brunswick at the Club Les Aventuriers. Held in conjunction with the 2011 Kia Biathlon Canadian Championships, the Fast and Female Biathlon Day presented by Best Buy hosted more than 40 female athletes between the ages of 9 to 19 from across Canada for a sunny morning of inspiration on and off snow.

The young participants – some of whom were already on site to compete in the National Championship – had the opportunity to get first hand tips from National Biathlon stars Zina Kocher, Megan Imrie, Melanie Schultz, and Claude Godbout. They were joined by a handful of eager local girls involved in cross-country skiing programs and beginner biathlon racing from across the Maritimes.

The morning event featured an introductory presentation on the sport of biathlon, followed by on-snow ski drills, target shooting, Zumba dancing and an inspirational presentation by Zina Kocher who took part in the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics. In keeping with Fast and Female’s vision, the intent of the event was to inspire girls to stick the unique sport of Biathlon which combines cross-country skiing and target shooting.

“We had a GREAT day,” said Megan Imrie, a Fast and Female ambassador from Falcon Lake, Manitoba and a 2010 Olympian. “It was fabulous! We had plenty of wonderful feedback from both girls and parents. We even had some cross-country girls who now want to join biathlon. Needless to say that all ambassadors were very happy to hear that!”

According to Biathlon Canada officials, girls represent 45% of all biathletes in Canada.

“Girls competing at the local and provincial levels don’t often get the chance to ski besides Zina, Megan, Melanie and Claude because those girls are racing in Europe all winter,” explained Marie-Hélène Thibeault, Executive Director for Fast and Female. “Through the Fast and Female programming, we are able to bring everyone together in a non-competitive, fun and inspiring environment to allow for the optimal personal and athletic growth of the participants. We are very fortunate to be able to count on the volunteer time of such high quality ambassadors who have so much to give back.”

This activity was made possible thanks to valuable local partners such as Marion Heppel, the organizing committee for the Kia Biathlon Canadian Championships, Le Club Les Aventuriers, and Biathlon New Brunswick. The event also enjoyed the support of many caring volunteers. Fast and Female’s national sponsors – including Best Buy, Buff Multifunctional Headwear, Cold-FX, Clarins and Biathlon Canada – also providing key resources for the event. For a complete list of Fast and Female national program supporters and sponsors, please click HERE.

Watch a photo montage from the event:

To learn more about Fast and Female’s upcoming events, please visit www.fastandfemale.com.

Follow Fast and Female on Facebook HERE.

January 13, 2011 (Ruhpolding, Germany) – Russia’s Olga Zaitseva battled through torrential rain and sloppy racing conditions on Thursday to win the women’s 15km Individual race at the IBU World Cup in Ruhpolding. Zaitseva, who was one of only three racers to shoot clean on the day, grabbing the ninth win of her career, and first of the season, in a time of 41:46.1.

“I felt very good today, [I] had a good performance today both on the shooting range and skiing,” said Zaitseva in an IBU report, “Starting early was a big help. It maybe was a little bit easier for me than some of the athletes who started later. I also had good skis for this kind of weather.”

The rain, which began early in the morning and persisted throughout the competition, made the snow incredibly slushy, namely on the downhill portion of the course.

“The downhill was not the best part of my race today,” said Andrea Henkel of Germany, “In the final loop, I went out with 6 seconds to make up. By the top of the hill, it was 5 seconds; I knew when I left the shooting range that if I did not have the lead by the top of the hill I would never have it.”

Henkel grabbed her second silver medal of the season, shooting clean in all four stages for a time of 42:00.6, and Sweden’s Helena Ekholm took the last podium spot also with clean shooting and a time of 42:23.5.

Megan Imrie of Canada posted the top North American result placing 35th – a career-best for the 24 year-old Alberta native who missed just one shot on her way to a finishing time of 47:17. “I knew shooting would be critical because of the difficulty of the course and the insane amount of water dumping from the sky,” said Imrie who hails from Falcon Lake. Man. in a Biathlon Canada release, “Shooting is always the difference for me. Finally today I realized I don’t have to think about each target, but I just have to see every target and it worked out.”

Melanie Schultz, also from Canada, placed 70th after a 2-miss performance, and Zina Kocher hit 11 of 20 to finish 82nd.

The top US biathlete of the the competition was Sara Studebaker, who made 17 of her 20 shots to finish 55th. Fellow American Haley Johnson finished 62nd with 4 misses and a time of 50:21.2, and Laura Spector, who is coming off a record performance in the previous world cup, placed 67th after hitting 15 of 20 in the range.

Full Results HERE.

Results (Brief)

1. Olga Zaitseva, RUS (0+0+0+0) 41:46.1
2. Andrea Henkel, GER (0+0+0+0) 42:00.6
3. Helena Ekholm, SWE (0+0+0+0) 42:23.5

35. Megan Imrie, CAN (0+1+0+0) 47:17.0
55. Sara Studebaker, USA (0+2+1+0) 49:14.7
62. Haley Johnson, USA (1+0+1+2) 50:21.2
67. Laura Spector, USA (1+2+0+1) 50:49.4
70. Melanie Schultz, CAN (1+0+0+1) 51:02.1
82. Zina Kocher, CAN (3+2+2+2) 54:27.6

January 07, 2011 (Oberhof, Germany) – Sweden took advantage of key shooting, despite heavy rain and high winds, on the final two legs of the 4x6km Women’s Relay held yesterday to execute a come-from-behind victory at Oberhof’s World Cup venue. Sweden’s team of Jenny Jonnson, Anna Carlin Zidek, Anna Maria Nilsson and Helena Ekholm suffered only one penalty, while utilizing eight spare rounds, to finish 52.3 seconds ahead of second place France, who compiled three penalites and nine spare rounds respectively. Belarus rounded out the top three with a time of 1:19:24.5.

Sweden’s team got off to a slow start, despite a solid shooting performance from Jonnson, and found themselves in fourth place after the first leg. Trailing the likes of Slovakia, Ukraine, and Finland, the second leg was no change in fortune for the team, as they remained in fourth after Zideck passed off to Nilsson.

Sweden’s third leg proved to be a spark for the team as they moved up to second placed behind Nilsson’s three spare round performance, and Ekholm brought home the victory with a no-miss final lap.

Thursday’s harsh weather conditions were undoubtedly a factor in determining the champions, as there were 84 penalties and 263 spare rounds used across all of the 21 teams who competed. The heavy rain and powerful winds made shooting no easy task for the world-class athletes.

Canada’s relay squad consisting of Zina Kocher, Megan Imrie, Rosanna Crawford, and Melanie Schultz, North America’s lone representative, was among an astounding nine teams who were disqualified as a result of being lapped in the challenging conditions.

The United States, although present in Oberhof, did not field a team on Thursday due to a lack of available racers.

Full results HERE.

Results (brief)

1. Sweden (1+8) 1:17:53.1
2. France (3+9) 1: 18:45.4
3. Belarus (1+13) 1:19:24.5
4. Ukraine (5+12) 1:20:46.3
5. Russia (8+16) 1:20:59.2

LPD Canada (4+14)