| Jean-Philippe le Guellec Fires into Top-Ten at Biathlon World Cup Season Opener |
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Zina Kocher finishes mid-field to post top Canadian women's result. ÖSTERSUND, Sweden (December 3, 2009) Jean-Philippe Le Guellec kicked off the season by posting his best-ever finish in a 20-kilometre individual start competition when he placed 10th at a Biathlon World Cup in Östersund, Sweden on Thursday. The 24-year-old put together a masterful ski and shooting performance in the opening competition of the season where he clocked a time of 54 minutes, 50.3 second under ideal conditions. "I did not expect that, but my training has been fairly decent, my skis felt strong and I was confident," said Le Guellec, of Shannon, Que., who got married this past May. "The first race of the year you just kind of do what you can and see where you sit so I'm very happy." Le Guellec, who posted two top 10 finishes last year with both of them coming in pursuit events, shattered his previous best individual start result. "This is by far my best individual result, and I think it was a mental barrier that I had before," said Le Guellec, who shot 18 out of 20 in his four trips to the range. "It is the same story - different race. You have to shoot as close to clean as possible and I was able to do that today." Le Guellec finished just over 80 seconds off the podium pace. Norway's Emil Hegle Svendsen missed only shot in his second bout of shooting to post a winning time of 52:43.7. Tim Burke, of the United States, captured the silver medal with a time of 53:19.2 after missing just one shot. Austria's Christoph Sumann also missed one shot in this last round of shooting to post a time of 53:33.2, which put him on the bronze-medal step of the podium. Meanwhile, Zina Kocher led a trio of Canadian women in Wednesday's 15-kilometre individual start competition after finishing in the middle of the pack. The Red Deer, Alta. native finished in 56th spot at 48:35.1. "I was definitely nervous being the first competition of the year and seeing how it would play out," said Kocher. "I had a good ski race, but was overly cautious. I know that my skiing is solid and my shooting in training has been excellent so I have to convert that from training to competition more aggressively." Shooting is more important in the individual competition, with its one-minute penalty, than the other disciplines which have a penalty loop of 150 metres - which takes about 25 to 30 seconds to ski. The individual is the longest in skiing distance of all biathlon competitions, and has four bouts of shooting. Men will start the individual by skiing four kilometres and then arrive at the shooting station, continuing the sequence until they have shot four times, with a four kilometre ski loop between bouts. Women will follow the same procedure, with slightly shorter ski loops for the 15 kilometre competition. Sweden's Helena Jonsson thrilled the hometown crowd after blasting her way to top spot of the women's podium with a time of 43:01.4 after missing just one shot. Anna Carin Olfsson-Zidek, also of Sweden, missed two shots en route to posting a silver-medal winning time of 43:27.6, while Dary Dmoracheva, of Belarus, was third at 44:17.8. Five other Canadians also suited up for Canada in men's and women's action. Brendan Green, of Hay River, N.W.T., finished 84h at 59:34.7, while Edmonton's Jaime Robb was 90h (1:00:00.0), and Ottawa's Robin Clegg, who races for Quebec, was 105th at 1:02:00.1 in the men's event. Calgary's Sandra Keith finished in 58th spot after missing just two shots with a time of 48:38.6, while Megan Tandy, of Prince George, B.C., was 86th (50:26.3). Canada's biathlon squad will take aim on the worlds' best during throughout the weekend in the men's and women's sprint and pursuit competitions. Live race action can be viewed at www.biathlonworld.com. Biathlon Canada, the governing body for biathlon in the country, oversees the Canadian Championships, Eastern and Western Canadian Championships, and the 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 <http://www.biathloncanada.ca> . Complete Results and Live Race Action Can Be Viewed at www.biathlonworld.com Men's Top-Five Results: 1. Emil Hegle Svendsen, NOR, (0+1+0+0), 52:43.7; 2. Tim Burke, USA, (0+0+0+1), 53:19.2; 3. Christoph Sumann, AUT, (0+0+0+1, 53:33.2; T4. Maxim Tchoudov, RUS, (0+0+0+1), 53:34.0; T4. Fredrich Pinter, AUT, (1+1+0+0), 53:34.0 Canadian Results: 10. Jean-Philippe Le Guellec, Shannon, Que., (0+1+0+1), 54:50.3; 84. Brendan Green, Hay River, N.W.T., (1+1+1+2); 90. Jaime Robb, Edmonton, (1+2+1+1), 1:00:00.0; 105. Robin Clegg, Ottawa, (2+2+0+2), 1:02:00.1 Women Top-Five Results: 1. Helena Jonsson, SWE, (0+0+1+0), 43:01.4; 2. Anna Carin Olofsson-Zidek, SWE, (0+1+0+1), 43:27.6; 3. Darya Domracheva, BLR, (0+1+0+1), 44;17.8; 4. Svetlana Sleptsova, RUS, (1+0+1+0), 44:28.1; 5. Valji Semerenko, UKR, (0+0+1+1), 44:36.0. Canadian Results: 56. Zina Kocher, Red Deer, Alta., (1+1+2+1), 48:35.1; 58. Sandra Keith, Calgary, (2+0+0+0), 48:38.6; 86. Megan Tandy, Prince George, B.C., (0+1+1+3), 50:26.3. |
