January 4, 2007 – In their first relay event of the season, the Canadian women fought through challenging conditions to finish in 11th spot, just over seven minutes behind the leaders from France, with a time of one hour, 28 minutes and 18.8 seconds, in Oberhof, Germany on Wednesday.

Zina Kocher, of Red Deer, Alta., led the charge for the Canucks, with teammates Sandra Keith of Calgary, Marie Pierre Parent, of St-Paul de Joliette, Que., and World Cup rookie Sonya Erasmus, of Vanderhoof, B.C., all combining for a solid outing.

“The conditions were quite difficult on the range,” said Kocher. “The wind was really shifty. One minute it was gusting, then it would quiet down and then it would start gusting in the other direction. The mix of artificial and fresh snow made the course really slippery so there were a few crashes, making the already narrow track even trickier.”

Despite gusting wind and difficult conditions on the range, the Canadian squad managed to pull together one of the best shooting performances in the field, with only two penalties and 12 misses.

Meanwhile the French team captured their second straight relay victory, finishing with a time of 1:20.58.4, despite logging a surprising three penalties and 15 misses. However, strong skiing put them in front of the Germans, who finished with a time of 1:21.05.2, and who also met their match on the shooting range with three penalties and 17 misses. China took home the bronze medal after clocking a time of 1:21.18.8.

“It is a pretty good result for our first relay of the season,” said Kocher. “The team did a fair amount of training during the holidays to prepare for World Championships so we haven’t had much of a break. For the most part we are pretty happy with the way we finished today.”

It was a close call, but organizers of the Oberhof Biathlon World Cup managed to pull together enough snow to host the first biathlon event of the new year. In order to make the race possible, a total of 3,600 cubic metres of crushed ice (a sort of artificial snow usually used for refrigerating fish), were trucked down to Oberhof, Germany, from as far as the North Sea.

Mother Nature has been a constant challenge for races throughout Europe, with warm temperatures and lack of snow forcing race organizers and athletes to hunt for snow across the continent. The forecast is calling for conditions to stay warm, with rain or wet snow on the way for the weekend. In the 15-year history of the event, the Oberhof Biathlon World Cup has been relocated twice due to lack of snow.

The Canadian men will make their relay debut Thursday in the 4 x 7.5 kilometer event with Robin Clegg, David Leoni, Francois Leboeuf and Nathan Smith.

Biathlon Canada, the governing body for biathlon in the country, oversees the Canadian Championships, Eastern and Western Canadian Championships, and North American Cups held in Canada. The organization’s mandate is to provide national level programs for the continuous development of biathlon athletes from the grassroots to the elite level. For more information on Biathlon Canada, please visit their Web site at www.biathloncanada.ca on the Internet.

Top Five Results:
1. France, 1:20:58.4; 2. Germany, 1:21.05.2; 3. China, 1:21.18.8; 4. Norway, 1:22.00.5; 5. Belarus, 1:22.44.3

Canadian Results:
11. Zina Kocher, Red Deer, Alta.; Sandra Keith, Calgary, Alta.; Marie-Pierre Parent, St-Paul de Joliette, Que.; Sonya Erasmus, Vanderhoof, B.C., 1:28.18.8