Megan Tandy of Prince George was one of three Canadians to post a top-60 finish in the BMW IBU World Cup biathlon women's 7.5 kilometre sprint Friday in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic.
The 28-year-old Caledonia Nordic Ski Club member finished 44th, one minute 34.8 seconds behind the gold-medal pace of Tatiana Akimova of Russia, to qualify for the women's 10 km pursuit on Saturday. Tandy, a two-time Olympian, missed just one of 10 targets in two shooting rounds.
"So close...one second out of the points with solid 9/10 shooting," wrote Tandy on her Facebook page. "I know what my goal is in tomorrow's pursuit! Still struggling with the ski speed, but WOW it is so awesome to race here in front of 30,000 roaring fans!!"
Julia Ransom of Penticton was the top Canadian in 26th place with one miss, 1:06.5 off the winning pace. Rosanna Crawford of Canmore was 36th to also make the cut for the pursuit, while Emma Lunder of Vernon placed 82nd.
Anais Chevalier of France won silver, 4.3 second behind Akimova, while Susan Dunklee of Vermont captured bronze, her third career World Cup medal.
In Thursday's men's 10 km sprint, Scott Gow of Calgary was 18th, the best World Cup finish of his career. Gow was 46.5 seconds behind gold-medalist Martin Fourcade of France. Brendan Green of Hay River, N.W.T., finished 54th to qualify for Saturday's 12.5 km pursuit.
Meanwhile, at the IBU Junior Cup women's 10 km pursuit in Hochfilzen, Austria, Emily Dickson of Burns Lake finished 32nd Friday as the top Canadian, 4:47.4 off the winning 31:49.6 pace of Anna Weidel of Germany. The 19-year-old Dickson started the 60-skier race in 57th and moved up 25 positions, with just one missed target in four shooting rounds. Charlotte Hamel of Sherbrooke, Que., finished 39th (5:39.7 behind). Adam Runnalls of Calgary was 54th in the junior men's 12.5 km pursuit, 7:04.8 behind gold-medalist Vitaliy Trush of the Ukraine (34:08.3).
Dickson has three misses in Thursday's sprint and ended up 3:21.6 behind Valeriia Vasnetcova of Russia, who won in 22:14.6. Hamel was 51st (2:58.0) in the sprint. Team relay races are scheduled for Saturday.
At the IBU Cup 20 km men's individual event Friday in Obertilliach, Austria, Matt Neumann of Prince George finished 74th out of 129 competitors. Neumann, 27, missed three of 20 targets and crossed the finish 5:19.9 behind winner Antonin Guigmont of France (49:58.6). Carsen Campbell of Central Bedeque, P.E.I., (4:27.4) was 38th as the top Canadian.
In the women's 15 km individual event, Nadia Moser of Edmonton placed 35th (5:10.8) and Erin Yungblut of Wroxeter, Ont., was 66th (9:41.7). Karolin Horchler of Germany won in 4:54.7.
Racing resumes Saturday with the sprints.
