Hakkinen, starting early in the field at number 8, stood in the finish area on a warm and sunny afternoon here in Austria’s Tirol region watching his name slip farther down the results list. Determined to have a good year, he was clearly not happy with his day. He had missed one shot on prone, another in standing and had not skied as he hoped. He explained, “The prone miss was my fault. My position was not right. (Hakkinen missed one target and then completely reset his position to take the final three shots.) That slowed the range time a lot. Standing just did not feel right either. I did not feel as good skiing as I thought I would. But, overall, I am about where I expected this month. Everything is on schedule and will definitely be better than today.”

Hakkinen’s 64th place finish left him 2:46.9 behind Norway’s Frode Andresen, who shot clean and finished in a blazing 25:08.7 over tracks that feature long uphills, fast downhills, and a grinding 200 meter uphill climb to the finish. Andresen and teammate Lars Berger both started near the end of the 122 man field at numbers 106 and 112. With most of their main competitors finished before they started, the two Norwegians knew exactly what it would take to get on top of the podium, and they delivered. Berger, with one penalty finished just 15.2 seconds behind Andresen. Sven Fischer of Germany, also with one penalty finished 33.9 seconds behind Andresen. Andresen relegated his other teammate, Ole Einar Björndalen,the world’s top biathlete, with two penalties, to fifth place, 36.7 seconds back.

Starting near Andresen and Berger were number 102, Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY) and number 122, Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY). Burke missed one prone shot and two on standing, but almost clipped Hakkinen, finishing only 2.6 seconds behind him in 66th place. Bailey, who trains with Burke and Jeremy Teela (Anchorage, AK) at the Maine Winter Sports Center in Fort Kent, was 74th, 11.4 seconds behind Burke. Bailey who picked up World Cup Points in the Pursuit at Ostersund, Sweden had two penalties today, like Hakkinen. Teela finished with five penalties, another 14.8 seconds behind his teammates, in 83rd place.

Burke summed up the day, “I felt pretty good warming up. But when I was on the course, it was obvious that it was not going to happen today (like his 33rd in the 20K). I did not shoot well either. It was just one of those days.”

The Women’s 4 X 6K Relay which opened the Saturday program was also conducted under perfect conditions. A cold clear night had turned to a sunny day as 20 teams left the stadium, less than 19 hours after the last woman had crossed the finish line in Friday’s 7.5K Sprint. On such a short turnaround, the US women had a similar experience to their male counterparts.

Rachel Steer (Anchorage, AK) led off for the US Team, as usual. She skied comfortably through the first loop and cleaned prone, keeping the team in the mid-teens. Although she left one target standing after five shots, she downed it with her second extra round. Steer passed to Jill Krause (St. Cloud, MN) in 15th position. Krause, like Steer cleaned prone, but needed two extra rounds to do so. She returned for standing in 12th, but faltered with several shots that split the bullet but did not fall, leaving the shooting range with three penalty loops. This pushed the US back to 18th position.

Krause commented on her standing shooting, “I think I got a bit excited and skied a little too hard on the second loop. My first shot went off accidentally. I did not realize I squeezed the trigger. Then after hitting the next two, I think I started pressing and they were not good shots after that.”

Lanny Barnes (Durango, CO), after clean shooting in yesterday’s 7.5K Sprint, immediately cleaned prone with five quick shots. This moved the team back to 17th. On standing, the always steady Barnes cracked slightly, needing three extra rounds to clean in standing. Barnes passed to WCAP athlete Denise Teela (Anchorage, AK), who used the three extra rounds in prone, but still picked up two penalties. This put the US women in 18th, where they finished, despite Teela cleaning standing with 6 shots.

The US finished 11:03 behind Norway, who completed the 24K total distance in 1:15:27.4. Norway had no penalties and only 10 extra rounds, compared to the US with five penalties and 14 extra rounds. Russia finished second, 10.9 seconds back and Germany followed, 52.4 seconds back.

The final competition of the week will be the Men’s Relay tomorrow with a 12 noon CET Starting time.

The United States Biathlon Association is the National Governing Body for the sport of Biathlon in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Biathlon Union. The US Biathlon Association supports the US Biathlon Team and development of the sport on all levels within the United States.

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