February 23, 2018 (PyeongChang, South Korea) – Team USA brought home a best-ever 6th-place finish in the men’s 4×7.5km relay at the Alpensia Biathlon Centre to end the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games on a high note.

Sweden’s anchor, Fredrik Lindström, won a standing stage duel with Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen, to pull away and bring Sweden its first-ever Olympic relay gold medal. Germany, the favourites had and up and down day ending up with the bronze.

The US performance ties the best-ever finish in an Olympic relay for the U.S., equaling a sixth place in the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan. The quartet of Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, N.Y.), Sean Doherty (Center Conway, N.H.), Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, N.Y.) and Leif Nordgren (Marine, Minn.) finished 3:50.2 behind the winner, with 14 spares and two penalties.

“As a team we can be proud of that, even though we were hoping for more,” said Nordgren who skied the anchor leg for Team USA.

Canada started strong with Christian Gow leading the field as he was followed by his brother Scott, Macx Davies and and anchor Brendan Green. But like many teams the Canucks found themselves in and out of the running to finish just out of the top 10 in 11th at 5:40.3 behind with one penalty and 11 spares.

“I had an exciting leg today in the relay. Early on, right after the first climb, I saw an opportunity to get near the front so I capitalized on that. My plan was to just get in the top 5, but it worked out the I actually went into the lead,” shared Gow. “From there I skied my own race and assumed someone would pass me, when they didn’t I was surprised, but relaxed.

“I was really happy to clean the first prone in a good time and leave with the leaders. My standing was disappointing, I think that I let the pressure get to me. But, I am looking at this as a learning opportunity for the next time that I’m in that position. I think that we could have done better as a team today, but that is just how it goes sometimes. There were definitely some positives from today for us to take and improve on as a team. My experience at the Games has been awesome. I have really enjoyed it all and done my best to soak up every bit of it. It has been a great experience,”

Bailey led off for the U.S. and with the gusty wind playing tricks on the shooting range he needed two spare rounds in both prone and standing to hit all five targets. He made the first exchange with Doherty in 11th place, 50.6 seconds off the lead pace set by Germany’s Erik Lesser.

“This race is a little different,” Bailey commented about the relay format. “You not only have your own hopes and dreams riding on it, but you’ve got your three other teammates. It adds a little bit of pressure and it’s the Olympics, and the more pressure there is the more I have to remind myself that the only thing you can do is go out and do your best.”

Scott Gow kept Canada in the running with clean shooting while the USA’s Sean Doherty used one spare round.as they skied together in 6th and 7th.

“I was very happy with my skiing and the shooting was perfect, which I’m very proud of considering the tricky conditions,” said Gow. “Ski conditions were pretty good; there was some fresh snow on the track during warm up but the snow tapered by the time the race started. The trail held up well and was reasonably fast for today’s race.”

Doherty, the youngest member of the men’s team at 22, had the best leg of the race moving the US up to sixth position at the second exchange with Tim Burke, at 53.6 seconds off the lead and just 37 seconds from medal contention.

“I had a good race,” said Doherty. “I struggled with the prone earlier on and got that kind of dialed in today. Standing was good, I had a little break in the wind and I took full advantage. I shot pretty fast, pretty aggressive but I hit all five from the clip and that’s what really moved things up.”

Ahead Germany’s Benedict Doll faltered in standing but Michal Slesingr (Czech Republic) cleaned and took over the lead with Austria, Sweden and Norway in pursuit.

The USA’s Burke maintained the team’s position in the field with great shooting of his own. He cleaned from prone and needed three spare rounds in standing, and moved up to fifth place as he made the final exchange to Nordgren.

Canada’s Macx Davies had a tough day on the range using six spares with one penalty as the team fell to 12th. “Today was a challenging race. The wind made shooting very difficult at times and was even a challenge on  the track with head winds slowing me down. I fought hard my whole leg, both in the skiing and shooting. Unfortunately i wasn’t able to conquer the wind in the range and used all my spares, but i am ecstatic to has ever had my first Olympic start!

“The Games have been an amazing experience. Being apart of team Canada is incredible, not only do i get to share in the success of my teammates but also learn from them. Truly it is a unique experience,” said Davies.

Through the third leg Norway’s JT Boe took over the lead using only one spare round. But Sweden’s Sebastian Samuelsson challenged stride for stride with Germany chasing hard.

The final leg pitted Sweden’s Lindström against Norway’s Svendsen as the long time rivals battled with the Swede coming out on top in the final standing as Svendsen cracked but held on to the silver as Germany’s Schempp held on for the bronze.

Although Nordgren struggled at the range, needing two laps of the penalty loop after prone and using all three spares in standing, he still brought the team home in 6th for its highest finish of the PyeongChang Games.

“In prone I was just getting thrown around by the wind,” said Nordgren. “It’s kind of given me trouble the whole couple of weeks here and obviously I never quite figured it out.”

Canada’s Green was able to move up one spot to claim 11th. “It was another windy day here in Korea.  I am quite happy with the race that I executed.  The wind was progressively picking up as the race went on, and I managed to shoot clean with 1 spare each in prone and standing,” commented Green.

“The skiing was also tricky with the wind.  The pace felt easy, almost too slow if you were able to ski behind someone, but as soon as you stepped out to take the lead or if you were on your own, you would get hammered by wind which was tough.  In the end, I managed the 4th fastest time for my leg which I am quite happy about,” he continued.

“As a team we all fought hard and did our best, which at the end of the day is what counts. Korea has done a great job hosting the Olympics.  The volunteers are extremely friendly and helpful, and the organization of events etc. has been great.  It would have been nice if the weather had cooperated better, but that is out of anyones control.  Each Olympics I have been a part of has been unique and special in it’s own way, and Korea has done great job hosting this Games,” Green concluded.

For Bailey and Burke, it was by all indications their final Olympic race after competing in four Games together. However, both are encouraged by the growth of the U.S. biathlon program during their careers.

“I feel like it’s in good hands,” said Burke. “We have an incredible staff, great group of coaches, some great young guys and girls coming up. There’s still a lot of work to do. We’ve made big steps and we’re all really happy about that, but we want more and expect more and I think this program can do more.”

Results here.