March 11, 2011 (Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia) – The US Biathlon foursome, anchored by a streaking Leif Nordgren, pulled off their best result of the season with a historic 6th place photo finish that went to Italy in 5th as Norway claimed gold in the men’s 4×7.5km relay. The US squad was just 10 seconds off the podium. Canada finished 11th out of 26 teams competing after being as high as 7th during the race.

Despite a pair of costly misses on Friday at the IBU World Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, the Norwegian team of Ole Einer Bjorndalen, Alexander Os, Emil Hegle Svedsen, and Tarjei Boe added 10 spare rounds to hold on for a combined time of 1:16:13.9 for the gold.

The race was won on the final leg as the German team had a slim lead but Boe attacked and German anchor Michael Greis faltered suffering three crucial penalties on the first shooting range. Other teams, including the US took advantage, and they eventually finished in seventh. Boe picked up a penalty along the way as well but Norway was able to prevail as Russia and the Ukraine battled behind for silver with the hosts winning out.

“It was a really interesting relay. We have a very good team, but anything can happen,” commented Bjorndalen in an IBU report. “We started really good just like in Vancouver. We now have a good man in Alex that replaced Halvard Hanevold. We won today, but it was a difficult effort. Still we are very satisfied with our race.”

Coming in second place was the home crowd favorite, Russia. The squad, consisting of Anton Shipulin, Evgeny Ustyugov, Maxim Maksimov, and Ivan Tcherezov, shot clean with the help of just 8 spare rounds to finish 13.4 seconds behind Norway.

“The crowd and fans helped us a great deal to achieve this medal. But they also made it very hard, because it was great, great responsibility and I did not want to fail in front of these people,” said Shipulin.

Rounding out the podium was the nearby country of Ukraine. Led by Biathlon veteran Olexander Bilanenko, the relay team, which also included Andriy Deryzemlya, Serhiy Semenov, and Serguei Sednev, shot clean after the assistance of 10 spare rounds to finish with a combined time of 1:16:41.9.

“I just tried to shoot and ski my best today” said anchor Serguei Sednev, “But on the last loop, I was hoping I could catch Ivan, but he was much stronger and I fell back. Still I am very happy to have this medal.”

The US team had a superlative day. The squad which also included Lowell Bailey, Jay Hakkinen, and Tim Burke, all performed well. With the fifth best leg time, and just two extra shots at the standing shooting Burke stayed up front and handed over to Nordgren with the team in 8th place.

“I think that was our best relay ever and a strong team effort,” said Burke. “I felt pretty good on the track and am happy about my shooting. We did work on that a bit over the last days, so I feel quite confident right now.”

The team utilized 14 spare rounds to finish with a time of 1:16:52.0, less than 2/100 of a second out of 5th.

“I guess I worked not that hard the first two loops because I always was able to follow someone,” said Nordgren, “So I still had some energy left on the final loop. First I passed the Austrian and then I stayed with [Germany’s] Greis until the last uphill and then attacked.” – read a recent SkiTrax interview with Nordgren here.

The Canadian foursome of Brendan Green, Scott Perras, Jean Philippe Leguellec, and Nathan Smith exhibited the best joint shooting performance of the field finishing 11th overall.

The Canadians missed no targets after using just 6 spare rounds. Their final time of 1:17:50.5 left them 1:36 out of a podium spot after finding themselves in 7th place at one point in the race.

Full results HERE.

Results (Brief)

1. Norway (0+2, 2+8) 1:16:13.9
2. Russia (0+5, 0+3) 1:16:27.3
3. Ukraine (0+4, 0+6) 1:16:41.9

6. USA (0+6, 0+8) 1:16:52.0
11. Canada (0+4, 0+2) 1:17:50.5