Biathlon Canada —Calgary boy shoots clean to finish 18th in men’s sprint race—

 

NOVE MESTO, Cze—Calgary’s Scott Gow posted a career-best result, finishing 18th in the men’s World Cup biathlon sprint race in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic on Thursday.

 

Gow took advantage of a perfect day in the range while maintaining strong ski speed to clock the best 10-kilometre sprint time of his career at 24:34.5.

 

“It feels great to achieve the second top-20 result of my career,” said Gow, who also finished 18th last year in the individual race at the World Championships where he was part of Canada’s historic medal-winning relay squad.

 

“My goal was to try and replicate my performance from last week in Pokljuka. I am very pleased to have shot clean, again, and to have a decent ski time. Being in this group with the top-20 means that I’m finishing among the sport’s elite. That feels good knowing that I have the potential to compete with the best when I’m performing well.”

 

The sharp-shooting Canuck knocked down all 10 targets for the third time in the last week and was on the hunt for the fast line up the standings.

 

“The shooting conditions were perfect today. There was almost zero wind in the range which made things relatively easy,” said Gow, who added the range approach in Nove Mesto requires a bit of effort forcing athletes to ski through the long stadium entry. “It was important for me to make sure I didn’t ski too hard into the range and lose control of sights and rifle stability. The snow pack (on the course) was inconsistent – some parts were firm and others soft and sugary – so I spent a lot of time today trying to find the firmest snow to ski to maintain my speed.”

 

The 26-year-old finished just 46.5 seconds off the gold medal pace set by Martin Fourcade, of France. Fourcade missed one shot standing while posting a winning time of 23:48.0. Russia’s Anton Shipulin was close behind in second place, shooting clean to clock-in at 23:49.6. Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen also missed one in his standing round of shots, but held on for third place with a time of 23:54.4.

 

Bouncing back after a disappointing opening week on the World Cup this year, Gow has been on a steady progression up the World Cup standings – now mixing it up with many of the biggest names in the sport.

 

“I definitely can’t shoot any better than I did today, so if I want to break into the top-10 I will have to find some time on the ski course. Skiing smarter and utilizing the course to my full advantage will help me do that, but I’ll need to have faster legs and skis in order to keep progressing.”

 

Brendan Green, of Hay River, N.W.T, missed one shot in each of his two rounds on the range, to finish 54th at 25:36.1. Macx Davies, of Canmore, Alta., matched Green’s misses in the range while finishing 74th at 26:21.1.

 

The World Cup continues on Friday in Nove Mesto with the women’s 7.5 kilometre race.

 

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 Men’s Results: https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=http://ibu.blob.core.windows.net/docs/1617/BT/SWRL/CP03/SMSP/BT_C73B_1.0.pdf

 

 

 

 

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FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Chris Dornan

Media and Public Relations

T: 403-620-8731

E-mail: hpprchris@shaw.ca