In a historic IBU Cup season debut, Nathan Smith won silver while three other Canadians landed in the top 10 as national team biathletes had their best result ever on Saturday (Nov. 23).
Smith shot 10/10 and finished the 10 kilometre sprint in a time of 24:05.8, just 3.4 seconds behind first place finisher Timofey Lapshin of Russia to medal in Idre, Sweden.
Smith has blown away expectations early on this year, proving to be the fastest Canadian athlete in many time trials. He still needs to record a top-12 result on the world cup to meet Olympic criteria or earn a spot by winning Olympic trials in Canmore on Dec. 20-21.
“Nathan has been very motivated and focused with his training this year. He targeted a few areas to improve and it made a difference in his overall performance. With the medal, he has shown he can be in the top 30 on the world cup,” said Biathlon Canada assistant coach Roddy Ward. “Time will tell how high up the world cup ranks he can climb.”
Marc-Andre Bedard also had a great result, shooting clean and finishing seventh overall with a time of 24:40, ensuring he stays in the Olympic conversation. Brendan Green made his IBU debut after missing a year due to a back injury and finished ninth.
The women’s team refused to take a back seat, as Megan Imrie was the top Canadian, finishing sixth in the 7.5 km sprint, while teammate Megan Heinicke was seventh. Imrie is also coming off an injury-plagued season, but appears set for a return to form. Imrie also needs another top 30 world cup finish to make the Olympic team, as does Heinicke, who spent the year training in Germany.
“The level of the team has continued to improve over many years. This past training season, we had a very strong and competitive team that pushed each other daily. This helped everyone improve and showed in the results,” Ward said.
Smith, Imrie and Rosanna Crawford moved from the IBU tour to the world cup, and the coaches hope their success will continue.
“It’s tough to compare the circuits since the IBU Cup field is not as consistent through the season as the world cup field. The first IBU race of the season in Idre is the toughest and most competitive field. Top 10 results should translate into top 40 (on the world cup) and top five should be good for top 30. Nathan’s medal is very, very impressive,” Ward said.
Ward was satisfied with everyone’s results on Saturday, which was one of the stiffest IBU races of the year. Audrey Vaillancourt also cracked the top 20 with a 16th place result, Crawford finished 35th, followed by Claude Godbout (50) and Julia Ransom (58). Scott Gow had an impressive 13th place on Saturday, followed by Macx Davies (84).
On Sunday, Ransom rebounded in tough conditions to become the fastest Canadian, finishing in 16th place. Godbout was 38th and Vaillancourt was 72nd. Green was 33rd on Sunday, followed by Christian Gow (43), Bedard (48), Davies (50), and Scott Gow (86).
In other biathlon news, Imrie, Zina Kocher, Smith and Scott Perras finished 11th on Sunday in the first world cup mixed relay of the season.
