March 06, 2014 (Pokljuka, Slovenia) – US Biathlon’s Lowell Bailey raced to a 12th-place finish with one penalty at 46.3s behind winner Bjoern Ferry (SWE) who took the men’s 10km sprint with a time of 23:03.5 also with one penalty.

Anton Shipulin (RUS) was a close second shooting clean at 1.5s back, while Arnd Peiffer (GER) finished third only 2.7s behind with one penalty. Peiffer was locked in close battle with Russia’s Dmitriy Malyshko also with one penalty at 2.9 seconds back in fourth.

“I was happy with the result today, and psyched to have a good shot at the top of the field on Saturday,” said Bailey. “The conditions were gusty winds from the start, and I had a little bit of luck on my side in that the winds stayed about the same as zero for my prone and standing. I felt pretty good on the first two laps, but I just couldn’t quite hold the speed on the last lap. I’m looking forward to the pursuit on Saturday.”

The USA’s Tim Burke was 16th (58.4s/+1) while Canada’s Brendan Green placed 21st (1:18.4/+2). Further back in 41st was fellow Canuck Nathan Smith (2:39.3/+3) followed by Leif Nordgren in 42nd (2:41.8/+3)

“This was a solid start for me, and now I am looking forward to the pursuit on Saturday,” said Burke. “The shooting conditions have been really hard here in Slovenia, so I think anything is still possible for the pursuit. I am hopeful that I can still get back in top form before the end of the season.”

Canada’s Max Davies (4:40.1/+2) placed 71st while the USA’s Russell Currier was 73rd (4:48.1/+2).

Full results here.