Biathlon World Cup 3 (2015-2016) - Women's 7,5km Sprint Race

BMW IBU Biathlon World Cup 2015-2016 (Week 3/Day 2) - Women's 7,5km Sprint Race
18.12.2015, Pokljuka

First Win of New Season for Marie Dorin Habert

Dahlmeier and Hildebrand Second and Third
Clean-shooting Marie Dorin Habert of France scored her first win of the new season in today’s women’s sprint. Her 20:17.8 victory put her 1.1 seconds ahead of Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier who also shot clean. Teammate Franziska Hildebrand matched Dahlmeier with 10 perfect shots but finished third, 13 seconds back.

Veronika Vitkova of Czech Republic was fourth, 16.4 seconds back with no penalties. Fifth went to her teammate Gabriela Soukalova of Czech Republic, who finished 25.2 seconds back, with one penalty. Susan Dunklee of the USA was sixth, 30.6 seconds back, also with one penalty.

Sunny Pokljuka

The second competition day in Pokljuka was as beautiful as yesterday. 105 women started in the same perfect conditions as the men enjoyed yesterday; sunny and warm with no wind on the shooting range.

Clean Shooting

Despite almost no wind the penalty loop was a very crowded place today, with only 10 women shooting clean in the competition. Hitting all 10 targets was a key to the victory today.

Hildebrand had one of the highest range times in standing, but it paid off as she took the lead at that stage.

Soukalova has traditionally performed well at Pokljuka. Today she was wearing both Yellow and Red. After a penalty in prone, she shot quickly in standing dropping all five argets, but it was not enough to put her on the podium.

Dorin Habert's Victory

35 minutes after the competition started Dahlmeier, Hildebrand and Vitkova were at the top of the leader board. One by one top women slipping behind as the visited the penalty loop, until Dorin Habert shot clean and skied just fast enough to claim the win.

This was the second podium for Dorin Habert who also finished second in the Östersund 15K. She commented, "I am not surprised, but I am very happy. I did a good job on the shooting range. I worked hard on my standing shooting." Continuing, she added, "It was hard on the skis, as we had a lot of races last week. I tried to be very concentrated on each target."

German Domination

Even though German women did not sweep the podium, as they did in Hochfilzen, they dominated today's competition. Maren Hammerschmidt finished seventh, while Franziska Preuss was ninth, both with single penalties.

Dahlmeier commented on tomorrow's pursuit. "Everything is possible. It is difficult to predict who will win, but I will fight for the first place in tomorrow's competition." She added on her second place, "It was a perfect day for me. It's important to shoot clean. Marie was first today, we will see what happens tomorrow. I am happy about my form. But I think it is possible to get fitter and fitter."

Hildebrand emphasized that shooting is the key for her this season. "Last year I was good in skiing but I had at least one shooting mistake. I have been working on my shooting. In the sprint one mistake is OK, but zero is much better." She also talked about the atmosphere in German women's team. "We trained hard. We are a good team, and we can push each other to become better."

Видео Biathlon World Cup 3 (2015-2016) - Women's 7,5km Sprint Race канала International Biathlon Union