Zina Kocher won three gold medals and a silver while Macx Davies topped the podium twice to finish off Canada’s biathlon season at the Canadian National Championships in Hinton, Alta.
Coming off a strong series of IBU Cup races in Canmore where she snagged a second- and fourth-place finish, Kocher was the top female competitor in the open women’s category, battling through four races with Emma Lunder.
“The races went really well. There’s no consequence in performance, so I was able to experiment with shooting speed and just going for it. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t,” Kocher said. “Not worrying about the end result, it gives you a lot of freedom. That’s how you should race, but at the back of your mind you might have some expectations.”
Lunder won the first race at nationals on March 11, the 7.5-kilometre sprint, where she shot 9/10 and bested Kocher (5/10) by a minute. Claude Godbout finished third.
On March 12 in the pursuit, Kocher stormed through to shoot 17/20 and win the race by 1:25 over Lunder, with Godbout finishing third again. In the mass start, Kocher was the fastest woman, despite missing eight shots, and she bested Lunder again (17/20). Erin Yungblut finished third.
In the relay, Kocher teamed up with Andrew Chisholm and Aidan Millar to capture victory. It was the first senior national title for Chisholm, who retired after the race, wrapping up a 12-year career.
It was Kocher’s first trip to nationals in several years, and even as she was bombarded with questions about retirement (she’s undecided) she was thrilled to get a chance to chat with several younger biathletes, even when one 15 year old asked her how long she had been a biathlete.
“I had to tell her I’ve been a biathlete since she was a baby. Fifteen years is a long time,” Kocher said.
“It’s really positive when older athletes are able to participate. There are a lot of young kids who look up to us. It’s good to put a face to the names they see on the Biathlonworld website … it’s really good for the sport when we’re able to come back and give back.”
It was a positive end to a rocky year for Kocher, who lost her spot on the Canadian world cup team.
“I’m happy with how the last few weeks have gone. My ski speed was at its best over the last month and the shooting was coming together, much more than December. It’s fun to end on a positive note,” Kocher said.
“It’s been a roller coaster season. I’m not overly happy with the season and how it went. I’m glad I was able to turn it around and end on a positive note with the IBU Cup. I accomplished the goal of winning a medal and that is a huge positive.”
Sarah Beaudry cleaned up in the junior women’s category, winning the sprint, pursuit and mass start. Leilani Tam Von Burg finished second in the sprint and pursuit.
Davies, Scott Perras and Marc-Andre Bedard were locked in a duel in the open men’s category, with Davies taking top spot in the sprint races. Perras was second in the sprint, followed by Bedard. Davies also topped the pursuit race, followed by Bedard and Vincent Blais. Blais also announced his retirement after the race.
Bedard bounced back to win the mass start with a huge push in the last 300m, followed by Blais and Perras.
“For me, it has always been mass starts. I pushed hard when I was an athlete rep to get a mass start at all nationals and I am more than happy to see them at least once a year. I believe it’s the main event and the one race that shows the true colours of biathlon. To win it on the last 300 metres was more than satisfying,” Bedard said.
Carsen Campbell won the junior men’s sprint, finishing ahead of Matthew Hudec and Aidan Millar. Hudec bounced back in the pursuit, with Campbell finishing second and Millar grabbing third.
Stuart Harden won the junior men’s sprint, with Hudec grabbing silver and Campbell finishing third.
