January 17, 2011 (Ruhpolding, Germany) – Tora Berger held off Germany’s Andrea Henkel to claim her second gold in as many races on Sunday. The women’s 10km pursuit race, which marked the last event at the IBU World Cup in Ruhpolding, was a great show for the 26,000 fans at Chiemgau Arena. Berger missed just one shot in the final lap to win with a time of 28:50.9.

Henkel, who stuck with Berger for the whole race, kept her silver streak going with a fourth consecutive 2nd place effort. The German hit 18 of 20 in the range to finish 37.7 seconds out of 1st.

Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen rounded out the podium with a 2-miss performance that left her with a time of 29:50.2. Her podium marked the fifth WCup bronze medal for the Finnish biathlete.

American Laura Spector topped the North Americans with a 41st place effort. The 23-year-old hit 17 of 20 targets to finish with a time of 33:22.7. Fellow American Sara Studebaker missed three targets and finished with a time of 33:37.2, good for 43rd place, and Haley Johnson hit 13 targets to finish 50th.

Zina Kocher turned in the top Canadian result with a 52nd place effort. Kocher hit 16 of 20 to finish with a time of 34:34.6. Rosanna Crawford missed five targets en route to a 58th place finish.

There was nothing to complain about weather wise on Sunday. With clear skies and no wind, the conditions and atmosphere was quintessential for a World Cup race at one the sport’s most hollowed sites.

Full results HERE.

Results (brief)

1. Tora Berger, NOR (0+0+0+1) 28:50.9
2. Andrea Henkel, GER (0+0+1+1) 29:28.6
3. Kaisa Mäkäräinen, FIN (2+0+0+0) 29:50.2

41. Laura Spector, USA (0+1+0+2) 33:22.7
43. Sara Studebaker, USA (1+1+0+1) 33:37.2
50. Haley Johnson, USA (1+2+2+2) 34:20.8
52. Zina Kocher, CAN (1+2+1+0) 34:34.6
58. Rosanna Crawford, CAN (1+0+2+2) 36:23.4