January 21, 2017 (Antholz, ITA) – Team USA claimed its best relay performance of the season finishing 6th in the men’s 4×7.5km event at Antholz as Germany’s Simon Schempp pipped Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen at the line for the victory. Russia was third while Team Canada finished 16th.

Leif Nordgren © US Birthlon

The foursome of Lowell Bailey, Leif Nordgren, Tim Burke and Sean Doherty was in the mix for a podium spot for the majority of the race using 10 spares. Canada’s Christian and Scott Gow, Macx Davies and Brendan Green suffered two penalties while using  11 spares.

Germany pips Norway ©

“Today we showed that we are competitive with the best in the world,” said Bailey needed just one spare in both prone and standing on the opening leg as he made the first exchange with Nordgren in sixth place. “With 10 extra rounds, this is far from our best, but it is a big step in the right direction and exactly where we want to be heading into world champs.”

Nordgren moved the team into third with two spares in prone and one in standing. He left the range just 11.9 seconds behind the leader after standing, but fell back to ninth by the time he made the second exchange with Burke, now 27.6 seconds back.

“Happy with the effort today,” said Nordgren. “It was nice to ski with the lead group on the first loop. I had a bit of a gap after the tag from Lowell, but it was no problem to reel them in eventually. In the last loop I was holding on for dear life.

After three extra shots in prone, Burke settled down to clean standing from the clip as he tagged Doherty in sixth. “This was a great race for the team to have going into world championships,” said Burke, echoing the sentiments of the entire squad. “The team has struggled this year with injury and illness, so it was important for us to show that we are still among the best in the world.”

“Today’s sixth place was a very strong effort for the team,” added Doherty. “I am very happy to be skiing up in the mix and looking at the podium. There is still room to improve for world championships but it seems we are headed in the right direction.”

Results here.