March 18, 2017 (Oslo, Norway) – Lowell Bailey overcame three penalties on the range to move up 21 spots in the men’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit at the BMW IBU World Cup 9 Saturday at Holmenkollen Ski Stadium. Recording the ninth-fastest range time and ninth-quickest course time over the final loop helped fuel Bailey’s ascension up the standings as he finished 23rd in the 56-man field, 2 minutes, 32.3 seconds back.

Lowell Bailey © Nordic Focus

“I’m happy with the race, considering it started out pretty rough with the first two misses,” said Bailey. “I just read the wind wrong and didn’t correct enough. After that, I tried to keep my head in the race and make the best of it. I was happy with my skiing and glad to clean the last stage; this brought me up nine spots and I was able to gain another in the last loop. Now, it’s just one race to go. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Shipulin wins © Nordic Focus

Russia’s Anton Shipulin, with just a single penalty, moved from third at the start to win the final pursuit of the season, crossing the line in 32:11.9. Martin Fourcade of France and Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Boe battled for much of the last loop until Fourcade pulled away on the last big uphill to finish second, 5.7 seconds behind Shipulin. Boe was 21.6 seconds back in third. Both had two penalties on the range.

Sean Doherty (Center Conway, N.H.) suffered six penalties on the range to place 46th, 4:05.6 off the pace.

Men’s results here.

Women’s 10km Pursuit
In the women’s 10km pursuit held earlier in the day, Susan Dunklee suffered an uncharacteristic 10 penalties on the shooting range. She finished 37th (+4:00.2) after starting the day in seventh place. Although her shooting let her down, Dunklee was fleet on the tracks, posting the fourth-fastest course time in the field.

Susan Dunklee (USA) © Nordic Focus

Finland’s Mari Laukkanen won the women’s pursuit for her second career victory, just 24 hours after her first career victory in the sprint. Her wire-to-wire victory in 29:33.3 with just a single standing penalty, put Laukkanen 26.6 seconds ahead of clean-shooting Gabriela Koukalova of Czech Republic. Justine Braisaz of France finished third, 1:01.4 back with four penalties.

Clare Egan (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) placed 41st with four penalties, 4:13.9 back.

“Today, Mari Laukkanen put an exclamation point on her first-ever victory from yesterday, and the rest of us just tried to hang on,” said Egan. “I am satisfied with my race even though the result was not what I was hoping for, and that’s how I would summarize my entire season as well. I’ve made a good step forward but my competitors also work hard all summer and we seem to improve at a similar rate.”

Women's podium © Nordic Focus

Egan also touched on her teammate Dunklee’s day in Oslo.

“It is a testament to her fighting spirit that she notched the fourth-fastest ski time – one of her best ranks of the season – and never gave up despite suffering a biathlon blowout on the range. Just last year I watched Ole Einar Bjøerndalen, the King of Biathlon, miss 10 out of 20 in a mass start and finish last. Then he cleaned the next mass start and was back on the podium, that time at world championships, and that’s why he’s the king. Bad races happen to the best and Susan is no exception, but not everyone fights through till the end no matter what.”

Women’s results here.

The BMW IBU World Cup 9 concludes on Sunday with the men’s and women’s mass start races. Dunklee will compete in the women’s 12.5km mass start beginning at 6:15 a.m. EDT, followed by the men’s 15km pursuit with Bailey at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Both races will be <http://teamusa.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4e13d7cca44417f617184bfd1&id=346ec9a6a3&e=856d06ac85>streamed live on Eurovision. The broadcast schedule for NBC’s UniversalHD channel’s same-day coverage is also listed below with all times shown as EDT.