Wednesday Rundown: IBU Open European Championships

IBU Open European Championships (Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland): 15/20 k individual

The Open European Championships, a five-day International Biathlon Union (IBU) sanctioned event, opened Wednesday with the men’s 20-kilometer and women’s 15 k individual races in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland.

Russia took first and second in the women’s race, with 29-year-old Irina Starykh — coming off a two-year ban for EPO use — winning by more than a minute over her teammate Svetlana Sleptsova. Starykh hit all 20 targets en route to the victory 44:24.7 minutes, which was 1:03.8 faster than Sleptsova, who had one penalty (0+1+0+0) in second. Ukraine’s Anastasiya Merkushyna placed third (+1:05.0) with one penalty as well (0+1+0+0).

Emily Dreissigacker led the two U.S. women in the race in 41st (+7:47.6) with four penalties (0+1+1+2). Hallie Grossman finished 52nd (+9:06.1) with four misses as well (1+1+2+0).

Canada’s Leilani Tam von Burg finished 58th (+9:54.2) with two penalties (0+0+1+1), and Erin Yungblut was 60th (+10:13.4) with three misses (0+2+0+1).

Russia took first in the men’s 20 k as well, with 24-year-old Alexander Loginov — who also recently served a two-year ban for testing positive for EPO — winning by 11.4 seconds in 44:54.9. He had one penalty in his first prone stage (1+0+0+0) but cleaned the next three stages. Bulgaria’s Krasimir Anew cleaned (0+0+0+0) for second (+11.4), and Russia had two on the podium with Alexey Slepov in third (+53.6), with clean shooting as well.

Russia swept fourth through six, putting five in the top six.

Russell Currier led the American men in 51st (+5:42.5) with five penalties (2+2+0+1). Paul Schommer placed 57th (+6:02.5) with five misses as well (2+0+1+2), Max Durtschi was 62nd (+6:44.2) with two misses (1+0+1+0), Alex Howe 79th (+8:46) with three misses (0+1+0+2), Jakob Ellingson 87th (+10:11.3) with seven misses (2+4+1+0), and Michael Gibson 94th (+11:58.3) with six penalties (1+1+1+3).

Carsen Campbell was the top Canadian in 64th (+6:58.2) with two misses (0+1+1+0). Matthew Neumann finished 68th (+7:26.0) with three misses (0+1+0+2), Aidan Miller was 72nd (+8:07.9) with two miles (0+1+0+1), Matthew Hudec 98th (+12:29.5) with seven misses (1+1+2+3), and Pearce Hanna 101st (+14:07.1) with seven misses (2+2+2+1).

Racing continues Friday with the men’s 10 k and women’s 7.5 k sprints.

Results: Women | Men