December 09, 2011 (Hochfilzen, Austria) – The USA’s Lowell Bailey continued his strong opening campaign as the IBU World Cup caravan moved from Sweden to Hochfilzen, Austria for round three of the series. Bailey posted a time of 25:34.3 (0+1) to finish 14th in the men’s 10km sprint won by Carl Johan Bergman (SWE) who shot clean for the victory.

Bailey at 52.4 seconds behind Bergman is now 6th overall in the World Cup standings. “I felt better on the shooting range today and was able to carry through both stages in the way I had planned,” said Bailey. “ In Ostersund, I struggled a bit with “typewriter” legs on some of the standing stages, but today I felt pretty stable and was able to shoot faster. Overall, I’m happy with the result and looking forward to tomorrow’s Pursuit!”

Russia’s Andrei Markoveev clocked-in at 24:51 to finish second, while Switzerland’s, Benjamin Weger placed third (25:01.5).

Meanwhile Canada’s Brendan Green slotted a perfect day on the shooting range as well to finish in 34th and will be the lone Canuck starting in Saturday’s pursuit. Regina’s Scott Perras was 74th, Jean-Philippe Le Guellec, of Shannon, Que., was 87th and Marc-Andre Bédard, of Valcartier, Que., was 98th.

The USA’s Tim Burke settled for 42nd with a time of 26.28.5 (0+3) after a strong showing in Ostersund while Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof,AK) placed 45th (1+1) and Leif Nordgren (Marine, MN) was 97th (3+2). “Today was one of those days when the targets just don’t want to go down,” said Burke. Hakkinen, Burke and Bailey will start for Team USA in tomorrow’s Pursuit.

“This was another great performance from Lowell Bailey. It was a really tight race today, with a lot of athletes skiing at the same level and shooting really well,” commented U.S. National Team Coach Armin Auchentaller.

In the women’s 7.5km Sprint it was German legend, Magdalena Neuner (GER) back on the top podium spot in 21:09.2 with clean shooting marking her performance. Last year’s overall winner, Finland’s Kaisa Makarainen, who is always a threat, grabbed the silver with a time of 21:24.1 while Russia’s Olga Zaitseva missed just one shot en route to claiming the bronze medal at 21:31.9.

Leading the North Americans was Canadian Zina Kocher, the two-time Olympian from Red Deer, Alta., who secured her spot on the start line Saturday with a 32nd place finish.

“I’m not satisfied. There was really no reason to have had shooting mistakes today,” said Kocher. “I’ve had an excellent shooting week in training, and should have transferred this when it mattered today in the race! I want a lot more than this, but I have to put both the shooting and the skiing together. Saturday will be an excellent day to work on this, and go out and play pac man.”

American Susan Dunklee from Barton, VT continued her impressive World Cup debut, leading the Team USA women with a 37th place finish. “The tracks were glazed, fast and technical, without much recovery,” said Dunklee. “I was trying to fight for every second, especially in the transitions. I’m very excited about another attempt at the pursuit- my goal is to finish in a better place than I start this time.”

Sara Studebaker from Boise, ID, finished 58th and will join Dunklee in the Pursuit on Saturday. Laura Spector (Lenox, MA) placed  71st while Lanny Barnes (Durango, CO) did not start in today’s Sprint. Other Canadian results include Rosanna Crawford, of Canmore, Alta., in 74th and Megan Imrie, of Falcon Lake, Man., in 88th.

Watch the Pursuit live HERE.

Men’s results HERE.
Women’s results HERE.