Alex Dupuis didn't waste much time spinning his wheels in the Otway Nordic Centre roundabout.
He got clear of traffic when he nailed all five targets in his first standing shooting bout and that his key to victory in the men's biathlon pursuit Wednesday morning at the Canada Winter Games.
Dupuis, a 19-year-old native of Vankleek Hill, Ont., won silver in Tuesday's sprint, which put him one skier down from pole position for the pursuit. Matthew Hudec of North Battleford, Ont., 20, started the race five seconds ahead of Dupuis and Hudec held on to the lead until his third time through the range, when he missed two targets, dropping him into second place behind Dupuis.
"I started second and Matt was strong in the first lap and I knew I could get him on the standing shooting so I just had to keep it together on the prone and stay not too far behind," said Dupuis.
"When you shoot clean you can't get too caught up in it and you just have to switch it off and think to the skiing. But when you shoot clean it's definitely a good feeling. It was nice to see them going into the (penalty) loop because I wasn't feeling too great on the skis.
Dupuis missed on his last shot but all the guys within striking distance had misses in their last bout, which took some of the pressure off. At the finish, Dupuis was all alone, stopping the clock in 35:45, but it was close race to the line for silver between Hudec and 17-year-old Teo Sanchez of Wakefield, Que., and Hudec got there a split-second ahead Sanchez in a time of 36:04.
After a disappointing individual race Monday in which he went 13-for-20 at the range, Dupuis was perfect in 10 shots in the sprint Tuesday.
"I wanted to keep that going today and unfortunately I got three misses but the shooting speed was good and I'm happy with that and I'll take the gold medal," Dupuis said. "I knew Matt behind me was the strongest skier and he could possibly catch me on that last loop so I really had to go for it and give it my all."
Arthur Roots of Prince George, 19, who trains with Dupuis and Hudec at the national training centre in Canmore, hung with the leaders until he missed three targets in his second prone shooting. Roots, who just missed a medal with a fourth-place sprint finish, ended up fifth in the pursuit.
With lap times close to six minutes for each 2.5-kilometre loop, the ski conditions at Otway were as quick as they've been all week and that gave Roots, a member of the host Caledonia Nordic Ski Club, a slight edge based on his familiarity with the course. But his shooting failed him at a critical time and he was unable to make up the gap.
"I managed to catch Alex on the second loop and came in and missed two and it went downhill from there," said Roots. "I just tried to hold on for the third loop and had a really bad shooting and everyone was just gone. I managed to pull it back a bit on my last shooting with one miss but was too far behind.
"It's disappointing to miss the podium but that's how it goes."
The women's pursuit follows later today.
