On Thursday, a three race series to help determine international race starts for U.S. biathletes began with a sprint at Soldier Hollow (SoHo) outside Midway, Utah.
For the IBU World Cup, five U.S. athletes have pre-qualified with a top-25 result on the World Cup or World Championships last season. Pre-qualified athletes include Joanne Reid, Clare Egan, Susan Dunklee, Sean Doherty, and Leif Nordgren.
According to the USBA selection criteria, the remaining World Cup Period 1 spots and IBU Cup Period 2 and 3 spots are determined through a series of rollerski races held over the summer in Jericho, Vermont and the current series at SoHo.
Yesterday, the women raced a 7.5-kilometer sprint, the men 10 k.
Susan Dunklee (USBA/CGRP) won the women’s race in 22:31.59 minutes after missing a single shot while shooting prone. Joanne Reid (USBA) was second in 23:31.08 (1,0). Hallie Grossman (USBA/CGRP) placed fourth but was the third American in 24:14.29 (1,1).
Travis Cooper (USBA/National Guard Biathlon) scored the win in the men’s 10 k sprint with a time of 26:13.45 while shooting clean. Lars Hammernes Leopold (U.S. JNT) placed second in 26:21.58 with no misses on the range. Sean Doherty (USBA/National Guard Biathlon) was third in 26:29.50 (1,1).
Racing will continue on Saturday with 10 k/13.5 k mass start race.
