January 13, 2016 (Ruhpolding, Germany) – American Lowell Bailey skied through the heavy snow to finish a strong 14th with one penalty in the men’s 20km race as the BMW IBU World Cup 5 got underway in Ruhpolding, Germany. Martin Fourcade (Fra) mastered the snowy conditions to set the golden standard and take the victory also with one missed target. Second went to last week’s pursuit winner, Simon Eder of Austria, with one penalty at 17.5 seconds back while Anton Shipulin of Russia finished third, also with one penalty, at 28 seconds behind the winner.

Lowell Bailey shoots in the heavy snow during the Men's 20km Individual © U.S. Biathlon/Nordic Focus

“I am really happy with the performance today,” said Bailey. “I had made a few mental adjustments following last week’s disappointing last stage in the mass start and I was glad that I was able to stick to my game plan during the race. It felt good to clean the last three stages today. Now, it’s on to the men’s relay on Friday.”

The moderate to heavy snow made for slow, soft conditions on the course, but the wind was minimal. Only two competitors went clean hitting all 20 targets, and Bailey was just one of 15 athletes with only one miss at the first prone position as he cleaned the rest of the way to the finish line.

Brendan Green (CAN) © Nordic Focus

Canada’s Brendan Green delivered his best result this season finishing 18th with two penalties at 3:10.3 behind Fourcade. The two-time Olympian is aiming for more top-10 results as he did last year.

“It was definitely a challenging race with difficult ski conditions, but I was able to just put my head down so to speak and tough it out,” said Green. “It definitely feels good to be back into the top 20.  Hopefully this is a turning point in my season and more good results will follow. This is my best result so far this winter and hopefully a sign of more good things to come. I’m optimistic to see what the next weeks bring and am looking forward to the rest of the season.”

The U.S. squad was able to claim two more of the top-30 finishes with Leif Nordgren placing 27th with three penalties and Tim Burke in 30th also with three misses. Calgary’s Chritian Gow was 46th with one penalty, Nathan Smith suffered three penalties to finish 51st, Macx Davies was 52nd with one missed target, Sean Doherty was 75th with three penalties and Scott Gow placed 100th with a tough day and eight missed targets.

Full results here.