CANMORE, Alta. – Italy swept gold in Saturday’s mass start World Cup biathlon races.
Dominik Windisch won the men’s 15-kilometre race for the first victory of his career, while teammate Dorothea Wierer took the women’s 12.5-kilometre event at the Canmore Nordic Centre.
Wind made accuracy on the shooting range difficult for the men, but Windisch overcame four penalty laps for missed targets with fast skis at the finish.
“A dream came true for me today,” Windisch said. “I want to dedicate this win to the ski men and the wax men. They did a really good job today.”
“I saw I had faster skis. I thought I had to take my chance now.”
Windisch posted a winning time of 40 minutes 37.1 seconds, just 4.1 seconds ahead of Germany’s Benedikt Dol, who also missed four targets. Quentin Fillon Maillet skied three penalty laps and was 8.6 seconds back of Windisch in third.
Nathan Smith of Calgary missed three targets and placed 16th in the field of 30 men.
Wierer, runner-up Marie Dorin-Habert of France and bronze medallist Gabriela Soukalova of the Czech Republic were all 15-for-16 in shooting in the women’s mass start.
Wierer won in 36 minutes 50 seconds after taking bronze in the women’s sprint the previous day. It was her third career victory and her eighth World Cup medal this season.
“We made some history today. I’m also really happy for Dominik,” Wierer said. “I was really calm on the shooting range. I had only one miss.
Dorin-Habert finished 20.8 seconds back of the Italian and Soukalova 50.3 behind. The World Cup concludes with Sunday’s mixed relays.