Dunklee shoots clean, places fourth
OSLO, Norway — Clean shooting propelled Susan Dunklee to her best finish of the season on Thursday in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint as the BMW IBU World Cup 8 opened in Norway. The Barton, Vermont resident placed fourth, just 6.5 seconds off the podium, hitting all 10 of her targets in the shooting range.
“The post-Olympic World Cups are filled with opportunity because so many athletes are feeling run down,” Dunklee said. “The last couple months haven’t been easy. I’m relying a lot on habits to carry me through; luckily I’ve built some good ones over the years.”
It also helps that Dunklee has a fondness for the track in Oslo as she has set herself up in good position for Sunday’s 10K pursuit.
“I’ve always loved Oslo,” Dunklee said. “The course suits my strengths and the crowd creates a great atmosphere. It’s very heartening to put together a great race after a challenging season, and there’s another great opportunity on Sunday.”
Anastasiya Kuzmina of Slovakia came back from a prone penalty to win the women’s sprint with just a single penalty in 21 minutes, 31.8 seconds. Darya Domracheva of Belarus finished second, 8.9 seconds back, while Yuliia Dzhyma of Ukraine placed third, 29.2 seconds behind Kuzmina. Both Domracheva and Dzhyma shot clean. Dunklee was 35.7 seconds back of the winning time.
Clare Egan, of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, was 68th, Joanne Reid (Palo Alto, California) finished 75th, and Emily Dreissigacker (Morrisville, Vermont) crossed the line in 83rd.
In the men’s 10K sprint held later in the day, the U.S. qualified four athletes for Saturday’s pursuit, led by Sean Doherty (Center Conway, New Hampshire) with a top-20 finish in 14th. It was Doherty’s best-ever finish at an IBU World Cup held outside the United States. He shot clean to cross the line 47.1 seconds back of winner Henrik L’Abee-Lund of Norway.
“My skiing has been strong and I am feeling some good momentum at the end of the season here,” Doherty said. “When the shooting comes together, then all the pieces are there for a good race. Now it’s just to keep sharp for the last two events here in Norway and keep the pressure on the guys in front of me.”
Joining Doherty in today’s 12.5K pursuit for Team USA will be Lake Placid’s Lowell Bailey, who was 42nd, Leif Nordgren (Marine, Minnesota) who was 43rd, and Tim Burke (Paul Smiths), who placed 57th. Alex Howe (Gilford, New Hampshire) finished outside the pursuit qualification in 89th.
L’Abee-Lund outskied and outshot all of the big names to claim his first-ever World Cup win, easily closing all 10 targets in 26:10.3. His teammate Johannes Thingnes Boe, with one penalty, finished second, 6.1 seconds back. Third place went to Martin Fourcade of France, shooting clean, 6.9 seconds behind L’Abee-Lund.
After a rest day on Friday, action in Oslo resumes today. The women’s 4x6K relay begins at 7:30 a.m. EST, followed by the men’s 12.5 km pursuit at 10:15 a.m.
Egan elected Chair of
athlete’s committee
Olympian Clare Egan has been elected as chair of the International Biathlon Union’s Athlete’s Committee. Egan was named chair after receiving the most votes (130) from her fellow athletes, and is one of four athletes elected to the committee.
“It is a great honor, a bit of a surprise, and a clear mandate to continue the fight for integrity and clean sport within the IBU,” Egan said. “Thanks to the work of our predecessors — Lowell Bailey, Darya Domracheva, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen and Aita Gasparin — the newly-elected Athlete’s Committee is poised to take on a more central role in IBU governance. I take this role very seriously and I’m motivated to work on behalf of all IBU athletes as the new chair of the Athlete’s Committee.”
Joining Egan on the committee will be Switzerland’s Gasparin (105 votes), Erik Lesser of Germany (100 votes) and Martin Fourcade of France (98 votes). The new members will serve on the committee for the period of 2018-2022.