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From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.

Tag: Ostersund sprint

Herrmann Rises to First IBU World Cup Win; Ransom 29th in Östersund

Germany’s Denise Herrmann after winning the first IBU World Cup race of her career on Friday in the women’s 7.5 k sprint in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: IBU/biathlonworld)

Just over a year and half ago, Germany’s Denise Herrmann took a giant leap and diverged from her career as a World Cup cross-country skier to take up biathlon. She did so at the age of 27, after having been the second-ranked sprinter in the world at the end of 2013/2014 and earning a bronze medal in the women’s relay at the 2014 Olympics. She narrowly missed another Olympic medal, placing fourth in the classic team sprint with Stefanie Böhler. A year later, Herrmann was fourth again in the 2015 World Championships freestyle team sprint with a different teammate, Nicole Fessel.

After all that, she wanted something different, something new.

“I owe a lot to cross-country skiing, it was a great time with many highlights, but now I want to face new goals,” Herrmann stated at the time. “The switch to a new discipline will be a big challenge, I am aware of that, but I am confident that I can do it with diligence, courage, and determination!”

After bouncing between the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Cup and IBU World Cup last season, Herrmann started this season on the big stage at the first World Cup in Östersund, Sweden. And in her 12th World Cup start as a biathlete, she achieved her first individual win.

“It all begins with dreaming about it,” she told German broadcaster ZDF, according to a translation, when asked if she expected to win at this stage of her career. “But I knew I am currently in a good ski shape and when it works out in the shooting I could probably hang with the top. But to then execute that in competition, in the World Cup and on the big stage here, I was hoping for that, but that I was able to make that a reality makes me all the more happy.”

The women’s 7.5 k sprint podium on Friday in Östersund, Sweden, with Germany’s Denise Herrmann in first, France’s Justine Braisaz in second, and Ukraine’s Yuliia Dzhima in third. (Photo: IBU/biathlonworld)

Herrmann, 28, won the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint on Friday in 19:54.8 minutes after shooting 9-for-10 (0+1). She finished 15.2 seconds ahead of France’s Justine Braisaz in second and was 19.6 seconds clear of Ukraine’s Yuliia Dzhima in third.

Both Braisaz and Dzhima were among 22 women (out of 103 finishers) that cleaned the two-stage race on a cold, essentially windless evening. Norway’s Synnøve Solemdal, who finished fourth (+24.3) to claim the World Cup Total Score leader’s bib, also cleaned, as did Italy’s Lisa Vittozzi in fifth (+24.5).

Coming off a win in the IBU Cup sprint last week in Sjusjøen, Norway, Herrmann started 24th and was up to second place by the time she cleared all five targets in the first prone shooting stage. Her lone standing miss, which was just above the target, set her back to fifth place as she embarked on her final loop, but with the fastest last loop and fastest overall course time, Herrmann took the win from Braizaz, an early starter in bib 10. Dzhima started 11th.

“My goal was to start out with a clean prone stage, and then skiing into the standing stage I thought, ‘Oh, with bib 24 you could also go on lane position 24 on the range today. That might be a good omen,’ ” Herrmann reflected. “Of course you still try to leave no target black, but one was still left standing for me. That can be improved in the days to come.”

Earlier in the week, Herrmann started her season by placing 23rd in the women’s 15 k individual. Asked during an official training session what her chances were of making Germany’s Olympic team, she said she needed to focus on qualifying for the World Cup team first.

“One of my former coaches said, ‘Positions four and five are a cause for debate, but not one or two,’ ” she told ZDF on Friday. “So I said to myself, ‘Let’s lock this thing up today.’ That it already would work out like this today, I wasn’t expecting that. It’s incredible. I’m totally happy.”

Julia Ransom (Biathlon Canada) racing to a career-best ninth in the women’s 15 k individual on Wednesday at the IBU World Cup opener in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: Biathlon Canada/NordicFocus)

Of the 22 women that cleaned Friday’s race, Julia Ransom of Biathlon Canada was one of them. Ransom started the week with a career-best ninth place in the 15 k, after shooting 20-for-20, and finished 29th in the sprint, 1.16.9 minutes behind Herrmann. In two races, Ransom is 30-for-30 on the range without a miss.

“Wednesday’s result was of course motivating, but also hasn’t changed any way I approach racing,” Ransom explained in an email on Friday. “At the end of the day, I race because I love it and it’s fun to compete. That being said, it’s even more fun to find yourself a little higher on the results page. Today I was just hoping to keep relaxed and focused and enjoy the day, whatever result that translated to.”

Ransom’s overall shooting time ranked 36th, up from 53rd in Wednesday’s 15 k.

“My shooting times were perhaps a little more ‘normal’ today because there was less consequence for a miss,” she explained. “Getting into the groove of racing also helps relax into my normal pace.

“Overall I am really happy with my race. It was an incredibly fast field out there today and I am proud of how everything went,” she added. “I can’t wait to start the pursuit. Opportunity awaits!!”

Three Canadian women finished in the sprint’s top 60 to qualify for Sunday’s 10 k pursuit, with Rosanna Crawford placing 46th (+1:41.6) with a single prone penalty (1+0) and Megan Bankes in 60th (+2:10.9) with one standing miss (0+1).

For Bankes, 20, 60th marks her career best in her third World Cup start, and Sunday’s race will be her first World Cup pursuit. Last season, she won the 12.5 k individual race at IBU Junior World Championships. At Biathlon Canada’s team trials early last month, Bankes was one of two additional women selected to Canada’s World Cup team for the first trimester of racing.

“I was super stoked to have solid results at trials and make the world cup team, and then prepare for racing in Europe,” the 20-year-old Bankes wrote in an email. “We’ve been in Oestersund for a week now, and I feel like I’m on European time now. Now I’m working on getting back into the swing of full time racing, which for me has been the main goal of this week.

“It’s definitely hard to know what to expect coming into the first races of the season, but I’ve been really happy with my skiing and my shooting consistency, so I was just excited to come here and give it my best,” she continued. “I’m pleased with my race today, hitting 9/10 and I felt that I skied much better than the Individual. I just decided I would start hard and hold on, which worked pretty well. On the World Cup everyone is so fast, so perfect shooting is pretty much necessary, and skiing crazy fast yourself! I’m really excited for the pursuit, planning on just skiing fast, hitting targets, and enjoying the experience. If I make up some positions that would be fantastic!”

While Herrmann will start Sunday’s pursuit first with a 15-second head start on Braisaz in second, Ransom will head out 1:17 minutes back in 29th, Crawford 1:42 back in 46th, and Bankes 2:11 back in 60th.

Canada’s fourth woman in the sprint, Emma Lunder finished 93rd (+3:07.5) with three penalties (1+2). US Biathlon started three on Friday, with Clare Egan placing 75th (+2:32.2) with three misses (1+2), Susan Dunklee 79th with five penalties (2+3), and Emily Dreissigacker 89th (+3:01.2) with two misses (0+2).

Earlier this week, US Biathlon announced in a press release that its fourth woman, Kelsey Dickinson, would be returning to the U.S. to compete at the IBU Cup Team Trials at Mt. Itasca in Minnesota from Dec.15-19. Because she did not meet the IBU’s World Cup Qualification Point requirement at the first IBU Cup in Sjusjøen, she will need to qualify for US Biathlon’s IBU Cup team.

The men’s 10 k sprint starts Saturday at 8:45 a.m. EST.

Results | Women’s pursuit start list

December 2, 2017
Fourcade ‘From Another Planet’; Bailey 13th in First IBU World Cup Sprint

France’s Martin Fourcade shooting in standing, on his way to winning the men’s first IBU World Cup sprint of the season on Saturday in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: IBU)

Just like in the women’s sprint earlier on Saturday, drastically improved wind conditions compared to earlier in the week at the International Biathlon Union’s (IBU) World Cup in Östersund, Sweden, required the athletes to shoot extremely well if they wanted to have a place on the podium in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint on Saturday.

France’s Martin Fourcade again did it the best, shooting clean in the two stages and skiing just as fast as all week to cross the line in a time of 23:31.9 minutes, adding his 51st victory to his records right after he achieved the big milestone of 50 wins in the individual race on Wednesday.

Despite starting early in bib 11, Fourcade knew no other athlete was likely to beat him in his current race shape when he manages to shoot no penalties, celebrating with both arms raised high as he crossed the line. And he immediately set his sight on another goal: winning three races in a row, four if you count his win in the single mixed relay.

“It is much harder than it looks on TV,” Fourcade told German broadcaster ARD when asked about his frequent victories. “I don’t have a secret. It is very difficult for my body and for my mind. … I don’t want anybody to understand it the wrong way, but yesterday I knew I will win today … I didn’t dream it, I wasn’t sure. But I had to win. The last six years I always won two races here in Östersund. Maybe I can win the third race [this year]. But it will be tough. I have no more energy left. I am feeling empty.”

“Conditions today were very different [from the individual race],” he later explained during the IBU press conference. “It was much more difficult for the athletes to reach a good speed. … But my shoot[ing] today was perfect, and it wasn’t in the individual, so I am a bit more satisfied today. … I try not to think about my opponents during competition. I am really focused on what I have to do. Today was a big battle against myself, and I am satisfied that I won.”

Germany’s Arnd Peiffer had posted the first significant lead. Then he was replaced at the top by Fourcade, and still had to wait in the finish pen for his teammate Benedikt Doll, who had missed a shot in the standing stage but was faster than Peiffer on the course. In the end, Doll crossed the line a mere 0.5 seconds behind him.

The men’s sprint podium at the IBU World Cup in Östersund, Sweden. From left to right: Sweden’s Fredrik Lindström in second, France’s Martin Fourcade in first, and Germany’s Arnd Peiffer in third. (Photo: IBU)

When the race already looked like the podium was divided between those three, Sweden’s Fredrik Lindström became another athlete to shoot clean and ski fast (0+0). He went out on the final lap in third place, coming onto the finish stretch to huge cheers from the home crowd audience in Östersund when he still managed to beat Peiffer by two seconds for second place (+41.5), bumping Peiffer to third (0+0, +43.6).

“He deserved it, didn’t he?” Peiffer exclaimed, who had just been waiting in the mixed zone for his post-race interview with broadcaster ARD when Lindstroem came to the finish. “First of all I am happy that it worked out so well for me today. And if I stand on the podium in the end, I absolutely can’t complain.”

(“My individual was not so good,” Peiffer added during the press conference. “So I am really satisfied about this result today. I had an early number, so I didn’t know about anything that happened and just tried to make a good race… Today I shot clean, and that’s always what we try to do.”)

“Today was really great,” an excited Lindström commented on his race during the press conference. “The shooting was perfect. The conditions were much better than in the individual race. I don’t think I was the fastest athlete on the range, but I was really focused, I really wanted to hit them all … I had a lot of family and friends in the stands, and they helped me.”

“Last season was a real struggle,” he added. “The last competition was my only top ten result. This year I start with two top tens, so I am really happy with the start… Our whole team has had a great start, on the women’s side and now also for me.”

Peiffer’s teammate Doll was not so amused to still lose his seemingly secure third place to finish fourth (0+1, +44.1).

“I’m a little annoyed, I would have liked to stand on the podium,” Doll told ARD. “It looked good for a while. The 0.5 seconds to Arnd [Peiffer] don’t hurt so much, but I would have liked to not have Fredrik [Lindström] ahead of me.”

Austria’s Julian Eberhard finished fifth despite two penalties (1+1, +46.0), narrowly beating Fourcade by 0.7 seconds for the fastest course time.

“Today I was at my limit and got out one-hundred percent in both my shooting and course times,” Eberhard said in a press release by the Austrian Ski Association. “Unfortunately the two misses happened, but I had to take some risk and knew that a lot was still possible. I had great skis and gave it my all on the final lap.”

Five North American Men Qualify for Pursuit

Lowell Bailey achieved the best result of the North Americans on Saturday. He managed to shoot clean and skied the 28th-fastest course time, ultimately finishing 13th (+58.7), 1.4 seconds out of the top 10.

Lowell Bailey (US Biathlon) racing to 13th in the first sprint of the season on Saturday at the IBU World Cup in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)

“It was an exciting race today,” Bailey commented, according to a US Biathlon press release. “It is unbelievable how competitive this men’s field is this year. I felt good about the race today, but it wasn’t quite enough to stay in the top ten.”

“The conditions were much better today,” he wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “Virtually no wind and a little bit of fresh snow to make the tracks a little less icy. I felt good about both the skiing and shooting today. All in all, I’m happy with the first races and looking forward to the pursuit tomorrow.”

About 30 seconds behind Bailey, his teammate Tim Burke placed 29th (+1:28.0) after shooting one miss in the standing position (0+1).

In his first weekend on the World Cup circuit since the 2014/2015 season, the third starter Russell Currier placed 69th (+2:42.9) with three penalties (2+1), missing out on the top 60 qualification for the pursuit by about 20 seconds.

Biathlon Canada’s Brendan Green led his team in 32nd (+1:39.1), incurring one penalty in the prone shooting stage (1+0).

Scott Gow shot clean, but skied the 86th-ranked course time, putting him in 50th (+2:14.8). Similarly, Macx Davies also shot clean and skied a bit faster than Gow, but required more time on the range to land his shots, especially in the standing stage where he was the 99th-ranked athlete, ultimately finishing 52nd (0+0, +2:17.6).

Rounding out the results for Canada, Christian Gow finished 90th (0+2, +3:29.3) and Nathan Smith 96th (1+2, +4:12.2) with the 102nd course time, far below his usual ability.

The times back to the winner from Saturday’s sprint carry over into the pursuit race on Sunday.

“I think it will be big action tomorrow”, Germany’s Peiffer commented during the press conference. “After Martin there is a gap and then it’s really close.”

“Martin is from another planet, he is far ahead of us,” Lindström agreed. “But it looks like it will be a tough fight for place two and three.”

“That’s the worst thing you can do in biathlon”, Fourcade cautioned when asked about his lead going into the pursuit race. “When you think you have a two-bullet margin, on the next shoot[ing] you miss three. … I wonder if I can win three times in a row in Östersund. I never did it. So I await the answer tomorrow.”

“The nice thing is that the pursuit will be incredibly close at the top of the race tomorrow, and this means there will be a lot of ‘pack’ skiing, which I like,” said Bailey, who will start fewer than 10 seconds out of sixth. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s pursuit … should be a fun race.”

Results | Pursuit start list

December 3, 2016
Habert Wins Östersund Sprint; Dunklee 27th; Ransom 38th with Clean Shooting

The women’s IBU World Cup sprint podium on Saturday in Östersund, Sweden. (From left to right) Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen in second, France’s Marie Dorin Habert in first, and Czech Republic’s Gabriela Koukalova (formerly Soukalova) in third. (Photo: IBU)

When eliminating all external variables, often the most consistent athletes come out on top in biathlon.

After a wind lottery strongly influenced the individual race of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup opening week in Östersund, Sweden on Wednesday, by Saturday the race course presented itself in near-perfect weather conditions with no wind, temperatures just below freezing point, freshly fallen snow from the prior night covering up most of the icy patches, and only a little fog moving in from the lake below.

And thus three athletes who already dominated last season’s IBU World Cup standings also claimed the positions on the podium in the women’s 7.5-kilomter sprint on Saturday.

With two clean shooting performances, France’s Marie Dorin Habert celebrated her next World Cup win in a time of 20:09.7 minutes. She only struggled a bit on her final shot trying to find the target for several seconds, with the TV broadcast showing her coach visibly relieved when she finally hit the shot.

“I am very happy about today’s race,” Habert said during the post-race press conference. “I was just thinking ‘speed, speed, speed, full speed’!”

France’s Marie Dorin Habert en route to winning the women’s IBU World Cup sprint on Saturday in Östersund, Sweden, the first sprint of the season. (Photo: IBU)

“Shooting was perfect, too,” she added. “I had to fight a lot of things in the standing shoot[ing]. It was a hard shoot for me, a lot of tension. I am very happy to stay focused and just on the target.”

Starting later than Habert, Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen came closest to preventing the victory despite a miss in the standing stage (0+1) by skiing the second-fastest course time (+11.4). If her shape holds up, the Finn also plans to compete in cross-country skiing at her “home” World Championships in Lahti later this season, as she already did in Val di Fiemme in 2013 and at several national championships.

“Today the weather changed, so it was not so difficult anymore,” Mäkäräinen commented on her improved shooting performance during the press conference. “I changed my rifle stock in the spring, and have had some difficulties to get used to it in the wind. But I like it a lot in prone shooting and today I felt very comfortable, and that gave me a good start to the race. In standing I had one mistake, but I have to be happy with it.”

“I did not expect to be in the top three with one penalty,” she added. “I thought the race is quite tight. A lot of girls now ski fast. So I thought in these conditions I should shoot clean. I was happy when the coaches were telling me [out on the course] that I was still fighting for the top three.”

Behind her, the defending overall World Cup champion Gabriela Koukalová, of the Czech Republic (formerly Soukalová, before her marriage to Czech badminton Olympian Petr Koukal this summer) made up for her seven misses in the individual race earlier this week by shooting clean this time to claim the third place (+19.9). She had left the range for the final lap just 4.9 seconds behind Habert, but was unable to keep up on the course.

“It is always very nice to be in top five,” Koukalová said during the press conference.

“I didn’t have any expectations before. A lot of people were asking me about my ambitions for this season. But I don’t want to be under pressure, so I didn’t expect [anything]…I am very happy about today’s result, it’s many times better than the last race.”

Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier, who had started the race wearing the “yellow bib” of the World Cup leader for the first time in her career (and as the first German athlete since Magdalena Neuner), finished fourth, just six seconds off the podium (+25.7). She was in a great position to pass even Habert coming into the final stage in first place, but missed the very last shot of her competition forcing her to ski through the penalty lap.

“I don’t have to hide today with the third-best course time,” Dahlmeier told German TV broadcaster ARD after the race. “Today there were outstanding conditions on the shooting range. I knew that you would likely need the zero [misses] for the podium … For that last shot I also stood firm, but I maybe was back out on the course again with my head already. That was the problem. I would have had to keep my concentration high. That happens.”

Thus the same women who had placed at the top in last season’s IBU World Cup standings also started out strong for this year’s season. Only Italy’s Dorothea Wierer who was third in the overall was missing from the usual suspects, finishing 19th after two misses in the standing stage (0+2, +1:16.0)

Four North Americans Qualify for Pursuit

Susan Dunklee achieved the best result for a North American biathlete in the women’s sprint on Saturday, finishing in 27th, 1:29.9 back from Habert, with two penalty laps (1+1). Dunklee also posted the 26th best course time.

“My experience on the shooting range felt more routine today and there was nothing notable about my misses,” Dunklee wrote in an email. “I am very happy with my shooting speed. Right now my ski speed isn’t quite there yet – I’m in ‘training shape’ rather than ‘race shape’ but that is typical for me in the early season and it will change with more race starts.”

“Absolutely no wind today. Colder. Light fog came in partway through the race but not thick enough to obscure targets,” Dunklee explained. “Fresh snow that slowed the tracks down. Still some icy patches to watch out for underneath, but a huge improvement compared to the day of the individual.”

Julia Ransom led the Canadians in 38th place (+1:54.1) thanks to a clean shooting performance (0+0), one of 13 athletes to achieve that on Saturday. But her overall course time, which ranked 70th, kept her from the top 30.

US Biathlon’s Clare Egan placed 44th (+2:04.1) after incurring two penalties in her standing shooting that let her fall behind a top 30 position which she had achieved in her prone shooting (0+2).

Her teammate Joanne Reid also missed two shots in standing after a clean prone stage and placed 53rd (0+2, +2:21.2). On Wednesday, she scored her first World Cup points in the individual race to start out her second season (and first full one) on the World Cup team.

Biathlon Canada’s Rosanna Crawford finished 64th with one miss in each shooting stage (1+1, +2:40.3). Her teammate Megan Tandy was 78th (0+2, +3:09.1) and Sarah Beaudry placed 97th (2+0, +3:54.2) among 103 starters.

The times back to the winner from Saturday’s sprint will carry over into the pursuit race on Sunday.

“I think it will be a very good fight with all the girls tomorrow,” Habert predicted during the press conference. “I will try to be focused on my race. But I like the pursuit and mass start because you are not alone.”

For the Americans, Dunklee also looks forward to that race: “All three of our women qualified for tomorrow’s pursuit and we are thrilled!”

For Canada, only Ransom qualified in the top 60.

Results | Pursuit start list

December 3, 2016
Egan Cleans for Career-Best 16th; All Four Canadian Women Onto Pursuit

Clare Egan (US Biathlon) racing to a career-best 16th in the women’s 7.5 k sprint on Saturday at the IBU World Cup in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)

Clare Egan had been hoping for a top 60 in the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup sprint on Saturday. That’s what she needed to qualify for Sunday’s pursuit in Östersund, Sweden.

To meet that goal, she aimed to push herself out of her comfort zone in the 7.5 k sprint, she wrote in an email after the race. The newest member of U.S. women’s World Cup team, she also wanted to stay “calm and confident” while shooting. Two days ago, Egan shot 17-for-20 in a four-stage race to place 44th in the 15 k individual. That was her second-best finish on the World Cup.

Imagine how she felt after placing 16th for a career best on Saturday.

“I knew that with clean shooting I would do well,” Egan reflected.

It had been raining, hailing and snowing before their race, she explained, but all of that stopped before the first woman started. The men had to deal with more unfortunate elements in the earlier race, and just one of the 100-plus men in the field cleaned: 22-year-old Canadian Macx Davies.

“It was stable weather throughout [our] race, clear and light wind,” Egan wrote. “I think the track got a bit faster as it got skied-in so that was to my advantage as a late starter.”

She started 90th, giving her enough time to “chill out in the cafeteria and eat cookies,” she wrote. Once on course, she quickly found that she had “excellent skis,” as proven by a downhill approach to the stadium followed by a flat 300-meter stretch into the range.

“I coasted almost the entire way to the shooting point, which definitely helped my shooting,” she explained.

Clare Egan (US Biathlon) after Saturday’s 7.5 k sprint in Östersund, Sweden. She cleaned and ended up 16th for a career best. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)

Egan cleaned prone to put herself in 27th, then standing to rank 15th with one lap to go. She finished 15th and was ultimately bumped one place to 16th, 1:05.3 behind race winner Gabriela Soukalova of the Czech Republic and 0.1 second behind Sweden’s Elisabeth Högberg in 15th.

“I saw on the big screen that that I was around 10th leaving the range for the last lap, and then all of our staff members were out on the course screaming for me,” Egan wrote. “Unfortunately it was once of these situations where the first coach told me I was 2 seconds out of the top-10, the second coach told me I was 2 seconds out of 12th, then 2 seconds out of 14th, and so on, so I was just trying to get to the finish line as quickly as possible.

“I had the 40th-fastest ski time today, which is much better than my 59th rank from Thursday’s individual, and I hope to continue on that trajectory as I get into race shape,” she added.

Last January, Egan shot a perfect 10-for-10 in an IBU Cup sprint in Ridnaun, Italy, which qualified her for her first World Cup. While she was proud of that shooting result, she explained Saturday’s 16th was “sweet in a different way because this is a much higher level.”

She also had to consider the training she’s been through to get to the World Cup this season. Egan explained she “narrowly qualified” for the World Cup team this fall, “so I am relieved to be outperforming my summer self. I don’t want to get hung up on the meaning of one result, because biathlon is very volatile, but it gives me confidence that the work I am doing is good and that I am on the right track,” she wrote.

After performing well enough at two sets of team trials in August and October, Egan was named the World Cup team in early November. Asked what she had hoped for in terms of results her first season starting on the World Cup, she wrote, “Not these ones!!!”

Egan will start Sunday’s pursuit in 16th, 1:05 behind Soukalova.

“I want to use the head-to-head competition to push my ski speed, and then be really diligent about sticking to my own routine on the range,” Egan wrote of her goal for Sunday. “If I do those two things I will be happy with my race. And I want to enjoy the opportunity to ski with some extremely fast women.”

Annelies Cook (US Biathlon) racing to 25th in the 7.5 k sprint at the IBU World Cup in Östersund, Sweden. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)

Along with Egan, Annelies Cook qualified for the pursuit for the U.S. in 25th. She finished 1:23.6 behind the winner with a single standing miss for the fourth-best result of her career.

“It was super fun to perform in the way that I expect from myself,” Cook wrote in an email. “My goals today were to let go of the Individual race and not let that shooting haunt me.”

She placed 91st in the 15 k individual on Thursday, with nine one-minute penalties.

“I am just happier to be skiing better than I have in the last two years,” Cook wrote on Saturday. “And after I missed standing, I just wanted to be able to dig deep and allow myself to hurt and see where that would get me. I finished in 18th and I knew that I would most likely move back a bit, but I figured it might be good enough to be a top 30 at the end of the day.”

She’ll start 1:24 back in the pursuit with three others: Norway’s Marte Olsbu, who placed 26th on Saturday, Canada’s Zina Kocher in 27th, and France’s Coline Varcin in 28th.

Kocher and Canadian teammate Rosanna Crawford finished in the top 30, with Crawford leading the way in 22nd with two misses (1+1). Kocher cleaned prone and missed one standing.

“With 1 miss, I had hoped to be within the top 20 or better but I am still happy with the result because I gave everything I had today,” Kocher wrote. “It’s only the 1st week & it’s always been my pattern that I need a few races to pick up the speed. After what I went through last year, this start to the season feels amazing.”

On Thursday, she placed 98th in the 15 k with nine penalties.

“I’m stoked to be back on the World Cup,” Kocher wrote. “I’m feeling stronger & mentally in a way better head space that last year. … I am only focusing one day at a time and will find out on Sunday whether I continue to the WC2 [World Cup 2], or to the IBU Cup.”

Crawford placed 13th in the 15 k, and last year at the same venue, she was 12th in the sprint.

“I know the ski speed isn’t the same right now, so I was hoping to stay in the top 20,” Crawford wrote. “I am a bit disappointed with this result, I think more because I got to see how unlucky the men had it … So with our conditions I expected a lot more, but any day you have a top 30 is a pretty good day.

“It’s amazing to see how things have changed for me in the sport,” she added. “This is what you want, to keep striving for that perfect race and to always be challenging yourself.”

She noted that it was a tight sprint, with just 2 minutes and 20 seconds separating the top 60. Also qualifying for Canada was Julia Ransom in 32nd (+1:37.7), with one prone miss, and Megan Tandy in 46th (+2:00; 1+1).

“Skiing felt great!” Ransom wrote, after posting her career best by 20 places. “I love this course because you get the hard work done in the beginning and then get to play all the way back to the range.

“Making world cup points feels like a door has been opened to the top 30,” she added. “I would love to walk through that door tomorrow, but ultimately I just want to have a solid race to be proud of.”

American Susan Dunklee started early and led early on in the sprint after a clean prone, but missed four standing to end up 64th (+2:25.5). Hannah Dreissigacker placed 91st (+3:57) with five misses (3+2).

Results

December 5, 2015