Last Updated: 11.Mar.2014

Don’t worry, biathlon fans, the racing didn’t end after two weeks of exciting action at the Sochi Olympics. Biathlon is back! GRP biathletes Susan Dunklee and Hannah Dreissigacker raced last weekend in Pokljuka, Slovenia. Unlike Sochi, where the wind was calm and the shooting range well protected from the elements, Slovenia presented a challenge on the range. For all of the races the wind whipped around, fluttering the range flags and frustrating many competitors. Then, just as suddenly, the wind would stop and previous sight corrections the biathletes made to their rifles proved a hindrance.

On Thursday the 6th, Susan and Hannah raced a 7.5k sprint. The day would ultimately go to the sharp shooters, and after her first prone stage, Susan looked to be among them. She cleaned her first stage easily and was skiing quickly, at least in the top ten. But coming into the range for her standing shoot, she noticed something was wrong with her rifle. Somehow the rear sight has come off, leaving her essentially without a sight to see small targets 50 meters away. She motioned to a range official, but they didn’t have a replacement, and she forgot about the spare rifle that every team holds at the range in event of a problem with a team member’s rifle. She was forced to shoot with the broken rifle, and missed her first four targets. Miraculously, she was able to hit one target, but her time in the penalty loop cost her, and Susan ended the day in 38th place, far from the leaders. Hannah also struggled with her shooting in the tough conditions, missing 5 in prone and 3 in standing to finish in 84th, not enough to qualify her for the pursuit in two days.

Susan must have gone out with a vengeance in the 12.5 pursuit race on the 8th. Starting near the back of the field in 38th, she was able to move up 18 spots to finish in 20th place. Perhaps the only biathlete to improve more than Susan was Olympic gold medalist Darya Domracheva, who skied up from 28th place into 4th. Susan had the 4th fastest ski time and 5 misses over her four shooting stages. With a functioning rifle, she’ll be looking forward to even more improvement in the final World Cup stops in Finland and Norway.

Biathlon World Cup competition will continue this weekend in Kontiolahti, Finland. The women will race two 7.5 sprints on the Thursday the 13th and Saturday the 15th, and then a 12.5 pursuit on Sunday the 16th.

Results from the weekend’s competition in Slovenia are available on the IBU Datacenter.