February 11, 2012 (Kontiolahti, FIN) – The US men not only had their best race of the season in Finland on Saturday, it was the team’s best showing ever on the World Cup as Lowell Bailey and Russell Currier finished 5th and 6th in the men’s 10km Sprint followed by  Tim Burke in 13th and Jay Hakkinen in 16th.

The cold conditions of minus 18 degree Celsius plus a harsh wind chill did not seem to slow the Americans down as they shot well and skied fast for the historic results.

Bailey, who lead the team, said he was happy with his race telling SkiTrax,“I had great skis and the conditions were cold but fair. I was able to ski a consistent race and I was pretty happy with my last lap.

“I came down with a minor head cold when I arrived in Finland so I have been lying low most of the week. But thankfully, it seems like it wasn’t too much of a factor today. Tomorrow should be a blast considering our whole team is starting up towards the front of the field!”

Burke echoed how the whole American team preformed. “Today was obviously a great day for the team,” commented Burke. “I think this really shows the quality of our National team program when we have the entire team under the top 16.”

The results for the USA may have been even better if Burke did not have an issue with his rifle. “My empty shell from prone simply would not eject before standing. After trying over and over again to get it out, I had to call for help and pry it out with a screwdriver before I could start shooting. At least the times stayed very close so I will not be starting too far behind tomorrow.”

In a team release, Max Cobb, U.S. Biathlon CEO, verified the stellar day for the team.“Today was the best day ever for our men’s team – we never had four in the top-16 before,” said Cobb.

France’s Martin Fourcade led the race from start to finish to win a squeaker over Russia’s Timofey Lapshin and Switzerland’s Benjamin Weger who both shot clean. Suffering one penalty Fourcade’s pace for the final loop of skiing was too high for Lapshin and Weger to match.

Despite the close quarters at the finish Fourcade was not concerned. “I was only competing against myself today; I was not thinking about Emil or the Yellow Bib or anything else…it is a good game,” he said in a post race interview with Biathlonworld.com. No Canadians competed.

Full results HERE.