Susan makes history in 12.5k Mass Start, Craftsbury ladies contest first mixed relay
Susan crushing the 12.5k mass start on Monday. Photo FasterSkier
Last Updated: 20.Feb.2014
Before she even started the 12.5k mass start race in Sochi on Monday, Susan Dunklee had already made history as the first American woman to qualify for the 30 woman race at the Olympics. However, she wasn’t content to just show up, she wanted to contend for the medals. In the first lap she was with the leaders and shot clean, and stayed with them through the second lap. However, in order to stay in contention in the mass start, she needed to be perfect in all of her shooting stages, and she wasn’t quite there. A miss in the second stage put her out of the top ten, and although she missed 1 in each of the following two stages, she skied her heart out to sprint for 12th place and make history a second time. 12th place in the best an American woman has ever placed in an Olympic event in biathlon. Although Susan was extremely close to the medals in almost all her Olympic races, she has to be happy knowing that she is skiing and shooting on par with the very best in the world.
Based on her successful run in the individual race earlier this week, and the fact that her teammate Annelies Cook is fighting sickness, Hannah Dreissigacker was picked to compete in the mixed relay along with Susan and men’s team members Tim Burke and Lowell Bailey. Susan started out in the scramble leg and skied impressively from the very start. She was never far from the leaders and even went out front at several points. She also shot clean in her two stages, using only one spare, and tagged off to Hannah in 4th place. Hannah skied well with the leaders through the opening kilometers, but in shooting she fell behind and ended up skiing a penalty lap after her first stage. She used two spares to clean in her second stage, but at that point the leaders had already broken away. The remaining two men skied very strong legs to move the team up to 9th in the finish. With slightly better shooting the mixed relay team has the ability to do very well, but being in contention for medals in a relay means no penalty laps and very few spares used.
Up next for the Craftsbury ladies in the women’s relay on Friday the 21st, which once again will be ½ GRP! The US women have placed 8th in both of their World Cup relays this year, so they have the potential to do very well if things come together for them on the range. Don’t forget to watch live on NBC Olympics and cheer on our girls!
Results so far here: