Biathlon Canada —Gow shoots clean to ski into solid 23rd-place finish in sprint event—

POKLJUKA, Swe.—Forced to regroup after a disappointing biathlon season-opener one week ago, Scott Gow put down one of the best World Cup results of his career by leading the Canadians into 23rd spot in Friday’s sprint race in Pokljuka, Slovenia.

Digging deep to maintain his focus and trust his offseason training, the Calgarian shot clean to post a time of 24:28.3 in the 10-kilometre sprint competition.

“I’m happy to have raced back into the top-30. It was especially gratifying after a sub-par effort last weekend,” said Gow. “My goals are to have multiple top-30 results this year and hit some in the top-16 so today was a good start towards accomplishing those goals.”

The 26-year-old Gow was one of more than 20 athletes to take advantage of ideal race conditions with little wind to shoot clean.

“I’ve been focused on maintaining a high shooting average for the duration of the season so I attribute my clean shooting to having good fundamentals, and being somewhat in the ‘shooting zone’ with no crazy environmental conditions to worry about,” added Gow. “After our poor start, our team and staff have been working hard to make sure everything is perfect. I think today was the culmination of everyone giving a little extra attention to all the important details.”

The top-nine athletes all shot clean on the day. Martin Fourcade, of France, captured his first win in Pokljuka with a time of 23:11.7. Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Boe was second at 23:25.4, while Russia’s Anton Shipulin finished 15 seconds off the pace in third at 23:26.8.

The younger Gow brother, Christian, was the next best Canuck in the men’s race. Christian Gow also shot clean to place 33rd at 24:42.6. Brendan Green, of Hay River, N.W.T., finished 52nd at 25:07.3 (1+1), while Macx Davies, of Canmore, Alta., was 80th at 26:10.1 (0+2).

Julia Ransom, of Kelowna, B.C., was the top Canadian in the women’s 7.5-kilometre sprint race. The 23 year old had a perfect day of shooting to post a time of 21:24.5 for 34th spot.

The top-three women all rattled off all 10 targets on the range. In the end, Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier had a golden day with a time of 19:51.7. Justine Braisaz, of France, skied to the silver with a time of 19:55.2, while Norway’s Marte Olsbu locked up the bronze medal with a time of 20:13.0.

Megan Tandy, of Prince George, B.C., was 49th at 21:50.2 (0+1), while Rosanna Crawford, of Canmore, Alta., placed 58th at 22:11.3 (2+1), and Sarah Beaudry, of Prince George, B.C., was 75th with a time of 22:49.9 despite shooting clean.

The World Cup continues on Saturday with the pursuit competition.

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, Roeckl Sports, Lapua, Nordic Marksman Inc, biathlontravel.de, and Zizu Eyewear – 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 Results: http://biathlonresults.com

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FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Chris Dornan

Media and Public Relations

T: 403-620-8731

E-mail: hpprchris@shaw.ca