Biathlon World Cup 2016 (Week 5) - Women's 15km Race

BMW IBU Biathlon World Cup 2016 (Week 5) - Women's 15km Race (short highlights) 14.01.2016, Ruhpolding Clean-shooting Wierer Dominates 15K Kaisa in Second Dorothea Wierer of Italy shot clean today, giving her a dominating lead and victory in the women's 15K individual today. Her time of 40:19.9 put her 54.8 second ahead of Kaisa Mäkäräinen of Finland and 1:09.9 ahead of Gabriela Soukalova of Czech Republic. Both Mäkäräinen and Soukalova had single penalties. Fourth place went to Germany's Franziska Hildebrand, also with one penalty, 1:10.8 back. Switzerland's Selina Gasparin shot clean to finish fifth, 1:23.8 back, her best result since returning after having a child last spring. Marie Dorin Habert of France finished sixth, with two penalties, 1:25.6 back. Beautiful Day After a cloudy, cold, snowy day yesterday, the women got a break today as temperatures rose to plus 3 Celsius on a brilliantly clear afternoon, just made for biathlon. Lots of Clean Prone Shooting Cleaning the first prone was easy for the bulk of the field with more than 50 women reaching this goal. From that point on, it got harder for most. The Yellow Bib easily cleaned as did Eckhoff, Wierer, Guzik and others. Mäkäräinen and Soukalova both had a penalty, but with their fast skiing, the podium was still a possibility. Eckhoff, Wierer, Podchufarova and Dahlmeier all cleaned that first standing stage, putting them at the top of the leader board. However the number of women who cleaned two stages was now down to a handful. Pressure On Going back to prone for stage three, the pressure was on the big names; no more penalties or the podium would be gone. Now it was only Eckhoff, Wierer and Podchufarova who remained clean; that pit them in the 1, 2, and 4 spots. Soukalova and Mäkäräinen had zeros, but were still trying to make up for the previous penalty on the tracks. Wierer Cleans; Big Lead As in all four-stage competitions, that final standing stage was crucial, but in this longest of the biathlon competitions, it was even more important. With fatigue setting in, the podium would be won or lost in lanes 16-30. Soukalova and Mäkäräinen cleaned first. Eckhoff had three penalties ending her podium dreams. Mäkäräinen had a super last lap and grabbed the lead over the Yellow Bib. Then it was Wierer's turn. In her standard staccato-fast style, she went 5-for-5 once again. She left more than a minute ahead of the field. Without a misstep, she crossed the line ahead of Mäkäräinen and Soukalova. Bye-Bye Red Bib No one else would or could challenge Wierer, giving her win number 2 in individual competitions this season. Still she had other thoughts as the last standing stage approached."When I was coming to the last shooting, I was thinking I was not going to get four times zero...I was thinking good-bye Red Bib. But I shot fast; I shoot the best when I shoot fast and not so good when I slow down." Pressure at Home Even though her home World Cup in Antholz is just a week away, she said, "I want to do well there, but there is always a lot of pressure and it can be hard. But I am not thinking about that now, just what is happening here in Ruhpolding." Best Result Mäkäräinen said today was a bit special. "It is my first time that I have been better than third here in Ruhpolding." On the missed shot and the last loop, she added. "I did good work today and when I hit 19-of-20; that is a good day. I felt quite good in the last loop, because I was not so fast in the first four loops." Trained Harder Soukalova thinks her consistency this season, nothing worse than 8th place is due to a couple of things. "I think I am getting older and know what I want and I trained harder than in the last seasons."