Biathlon World Cup 3 (2015-2016) - Women's 10km Pursuit Race

BMW IBU Biathlon World Cup 3 (2015-2016) - Women's 10km Pursuit Race
19.12.2015, Pokljuka

Dahlmeier Wins Pursuit Battle with Dorin Habert

Clean Shooting and a Fall
Clean-shooting Laura Dahlmeier of Germany won today’s women’s pursuit in 30:08.8. Marie Dorin Habert of France, also shot clean but after tight battle with Dahlmeier finished 18 seconds back. Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen was third, with one penalty, 55.2 seconds back.

Fourth went to Czech Republic's Gabriela Soukalova, 1:04.6 back. Franziska Preuss of Germany finished in fifth place, 1:09.4 back. Her teammate Vanessa Hinz finished sixth, 1:09.9 back. Soukalova, Preuss and Hinz all had one penalty.

New Day

The women started in the same conditions as the men; sunny and warm. In yesterday's sprint Dahlmeier was second, but said that tomorrow would be a new day, promising to fight hard for first place in today's pursuit.

From the start Dorin Habert and Dahlmeier established a 10 second gap over the field. The battle between them defined the competition. The gap grew to 25 seconds by the first standing stage; the two women looked stronger than anyone else. In the fourth loop, Dorin Habert fell on a downhill. After her fall the gap to Dahlmeier increased, but Dorin Habert still finished second. She commented, "It was a stupid error. It made a wrong move with my skis. Falling on downhill is stressful, as it's hard to come back to the race." Dorin Habert, who will wear yellow bib in tomorrow's Mass Start talked about her plans. "I don't want to compete tomorrow. It will be very hard. I hope to get a good sleep and perform well tomorrow. Yellow is a very nice color, I like it a lot. I hope I won't wear it just for one competition. "

Dahlmeier commented on her win, "This competition was very good. Marie and I had a good teamwork. We were so close together on the track. On the fourth lap Marie had a crash. I got ahead of her and it was important to shoot clean."

Kaisa on the Podium

Mäkäräinen shot fast in the first standing to put her ahead of Soukalova and Vitkova. The Finnish star was approaching third before the last standing stage, but had a penalty. She came out of the penalty loop just behind Soukalova, quickly passed her and had a spot on the podium for the second time this season.

Mäkäräinen commented, "It's very nice to be back on the podium. I had some difficulties with the shooting. I felt very good today and very happy about my range time. "

On the future, she added. "I hope to be in the top 5 every competition, but most important is the World Championships in Oslo next March."

Видео Biathlon World Cup 3 (2015-2016) - Women's 10km Pursuit Race канала International Biathlon Union