Clean-shooting Ekaterina Glazyrina of Russia took the women's 12.5 km short individual at IBU Cup 5 in Osrblie, finishing in 36:19.8. Second place went to her teammate Evgeniya Pavlova, who was also perfect at the shooting range, 37.5 seconds back. Alexia Runggaldier collected an extra 45 seconds on her way to third place, 40.6 seconds back.
Emma Nilsson of Sweden missed the podium by less than 2 seconds, 42.4 seconds back Germany’s Karolin Horchler finished fifth with two penalties, 1:01.7 back, while Deedra Irwin of the USA finished sixth with the same shooting result, 1:40.4 behind.
Confident lead
IBU Cup 4 kicked off today in with the women's short individual competition under very comfortable conditions: calm wind, sunny skies and the temperature around -2C. Taking the lead after the first prone, Glazyrina dropped to second place only once, after the first standing. The next clean bout saw her move back to the top with an 18.5 seconds advantage over her closest rival. A final accurate standing increased her lead, which the Russian securely kept until the finish line, taking her fourth podium of the season.
Pavlova, who started the competition behind her teammate, knew Glazyrina’s result but despite the same perfect shooting could not match her on the track. For the final lap, she left in second position with a 12-second gap over third and managed to keep it until the finish, taking the podium in the first season’s competition. Early bib 16 Runggaldier, who was third in the last competition,the mass start 60 in Ridnaun, could not match her previous perfect 20/20 but even despite extra 45 seconds, was fast enough to add another third place to her resume.