Mid-week, the IBU World Cup circus moved to Ruhpolding, Germany. The women raced a 7.5-kilometer sprint and saw Norway’s Tiril Eckhoff take the win and snag the yellow overall World Cup leader’s bib from Italy’s Dorothea Wierer. Eckhoff now leads Wierer by a scant three points in the overall standings. This was Eckhoff’s fifth individual win of the 2019-2020 season.
Eckhoff won Wednesday’s sprint in 18:55.5, while shooting clean. Sweden’s Hanna Öberg was second (+29.7; 0+0), with Weirer in third (+36.8; 0+0).
The U.S. had two athletes in the top-30. Susan Dunklee placed 25th (+1:34.0; 1+0), and Clare Egan 28th (+1:40.9; 0+1). Also for the U.S., Deedra Irwin skied to 79th (+3:01.8; 0+2), and Hallie Grossman 93rd (+4:00.6; 2+1).
Canada’s Emma Lunder placed 53rd (+2:14.0; 1+0), Megan Bankes 82nd (+3:08.4; 1+1), Sarah Beaudry 94th (+4:01.3; 2+0), and Nadia Moser 104th (+5:18.0; 2+3).
The top-60 biathletes qualified for Sunday’s 10 k pursuit in Ruhpolding. Racing continues on Thursday for the men with a 10 k sprint.
