Biathlon Canada – RUHPOLDING, Ger.—After doing some serious soul searching following a slow start to the 2016 season, Brendan Green busted out his first top-20 finish of the season on the Biathlon World Cup on Wednesday in Ruhpolding, Germany.

 

The 29-year-old veteran of the Canadian Biathlon squad dug deep to put together a solid day of skiing and shooting for an 18th-place finish with a time of 54:04.2 in the men’s 20-kilometre individual race as heavy snow plummeted down on the Ruhpolding track at the start of the race making conditions slow and difficult.

 

“It was definitely a challenging race with difficult ski conditions, but I was able to just put my head down so to speak and tough it out,” said Green. “It definitely feels good to be back into the top 20.  Hopefully this is a turning point in my season and more good results will follow.”

 

A two-time Olympian, Green has been on a model of progression during his eight year stint on the national team, where last year the Hay River, N.W.T. resident was regularly skiing into the elite group of 20 and also produced a handful of top-10’s.

 

Despite his slow start, Green was back to his old form in shooting, just missing one shot in each of his first two bouts on the range.

 

“I am happy with my performance on the range, especially with how I was able to focus and execute on my last bout of shooting,” added Green. “This is my best result so far this winter and hopefully a sign of more good things to come.  I’m optimistic to see what the next weeks bring and am looking forward to the rest of the season.”

 

Martin Fourcade, of France, set the golden standard on Wednesday with a time of 50:53.9 (0+0+1+0). Austria’s Simon Eder celebrated the silver medal at 51:11.4 (51:11.4), while Russia’s Anton Shipulin also missed one shot in his third round of shooting while skiing to the bronze medal with a time of 51:22.8.

 

The rest of the Canadian men finished in the middle of the pack. Calgary’s Chritian Gow was 46th at 55:25.9 (0+1+0+0); Calgary’s Nathan Smith was 51st with a time of 55:38.4 (0+2+1+0); while Macx Davies, of Canmore, Alta., was 52nd at 55:40.2 (1+0+1+0. Calgary’s Scott Gow placed 100th at 1:02:20.9 (1+3+2+2).

 

The World Cup continues in Ruhpolding on Thursday with the women’s individual races.

 

Biathlon Canada is the governing body for biathlon in the country, and oversees the IBU Cup, World Cup, Canadian Championships, Eastern and Western Canadian Championships, and North American Cups held in Canada. With the support of its valued corporate partners – Mackenzie Investments, iON Worldwide, Kama, Roeckl Sports, Lapua, USANA, and ZiZU Optics – along with the Government of Canada, Canadian Olympic Committee and Own the Podium, Biathlon Canada’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 us at www.biathloncanada.ca on the Internet.

 

Complete Men’s Results: http://biathlonresults.com/?RaceId=BT1516SWRLCP05SMIN&view=schedule_race

 

 

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FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Chris Dornan

Media and Public Relations

T: 403-620-8731

E-mail: hpprchris@shaw.ca