Second Round of U.S. Biathlon Team Selection Races Continue in Altenberg

The second phase of U.S. Biathlon Team Selection Races took place today in Altenberg at the IBU Cup Sprint events. The U.S. biathletes competing in Altenburg are vying for two open spots on the U.S. Olympic Team for men’s biathlon and three spots on the women’s team.

Like their teammates in Oberhof, the U.S. athletes had to deal with similar weather challenges. Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY) put his game together at the shooting range with just one miss overall. Good enough for a ninth place in the overall result list with Toni Lang (GER) winning the race. Kevin Patzoldt (Grand Rapids., MN) also qualified for tomorrow’s Pursuit with a 58th place after two misses.

Seven U.S. women qualified for the last team selection race tomorrow. Lanny Barnes (Durango, CO) showed the best performance with a 21st place after just one miss, Laura Spector (Lenox, MA) followed just a few seconds behind in 23rd, and Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID) scored another Top 30 ranking finishing 26th in today’s race.

IBU Cup Racing continues with the mens and women’s Pursuit on Sunday, Jan. 10 at 4am and 7am (EST), respectively. The U.S. biathletes will keep their two best scores and the top man and the top two women will be nominated to the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team and the final athletes for each team will be nominated by the staff. The U.S. Olympic Committee and U.S. Biathlon will officially announce the team on Monday, January 11, 2010.

Live race data from the Altenberg is available here.

US Biathlon Team Selection Race Results – Day Two:

Men’s NAME SHOOTING RESULT %-Back

1 BAILEY Lowell 0+1 1 29:52.8 105.39%

2 PATZOLDT Kevin 1+1 2 32:03.9 98.47%

3 ROBERTS Wynn 1+5 6 32:48.0 96.14%

4 SHEPARD Walter 2+3 5 33:04.9 95.25%

5 NORDGREN Leif 3+2 5 33:07.6 95.11%

6 HALL Zach 3+2 5 33:34.5 93.69%

Men’s Base 31:34.9

Women’s NAME SHOOTING RESULT %-Back

1 BARNES Lanny 0+1 1 26:45.7 100.79%