In the first International Biathlon Union Cup event of her career, Prince George's Sarah Beaudry made quite the statement.
At a Monday race in Italy, Beaudry placed 33rd in a field of 89 competitors. The 19-year-old finished a 7.5-kilometre sprint in a time of 24 minutes 55.2 seconds and had just one miss in two rounds of shooting.
The IBU Cup series is one step below World Cup.
Beaudry, a product of the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club who now lives and trains in Canmore, had the second-best result for a Canadian. She finished behind only Megan Heinicke, who also calls Prince George her hometown. Heinicke, a member of Team Canada for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, ended up 20th overall with a time of 24:24.9. She had a total of three misses on the rifle range.
Germany's Vanessa Hinz was the race winner. She stopped the clock at 22:51.6 and was perfect with the rifle in her hands.
In the men's 10km sprint, also Monday, P.G.'s Matt Neumann finished 74th out of 126. Neumann, who has also moved to Canmore for training purposes, completed his race in a time of 29:28.3. He missed three targets on the range. Among Canadians, Neumann was fourth. The race was won by Erlend Bjoentegaard of Norway (26:01.6).
Sprint races were also held on Sunday. On the women's side, Beaudry didn't compete but Heinicke had a strong day and finished seventh overall with a time of 25:18.6. She missed two targets on the range and ended up 44.2 seconds off Hinz's winning pace (24:34.4).
In men's competition, Neumann was 79th in a time of 33:51.3. He missed five targets, which hurt his final result.
Christoph Sumann of Austria -- who had no misses -- won the race. He clocked in at 28:37.2.
The races took place in Ridnaun-Val Ridanna. Beaudry and Neumann will remain there for more IBU Cup races this coming weekend and will then head to Ruhpolding, Germany, the following weekend.
Heinicke resides in Germany with her husband and coach, iLmar.
