In the final event of her first IBU world biathlon championships, Emily Dickson went out with a bang.
The 22-year-old skied the lead leg of Saturday's 4 X 6-kilometre women's relay and with cool efficiency on the range in Antholz-Anterselva, Italy she missed just three of 20 targets in four shooting bouts.
That set the stage for the rest of the Canadian team - Emma Lunder of Vernon, Megan Bankes of Calgary and Nadia Moser of Whitehorse, Yukon. They were also quick on the trigger and raced to a ninth-place finish in the 24-team event, crossing the finish 2:13.7 behind the gold medalists from Norway (Synnoeve Solendal, Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold, Tiril Eckhoff, Marte Olsbu Roeisland), who stopped the clock in 1:07:05.7.
Germany took silver (+1-.7) and Ukraine won bronze (+18.4).
It was the best showing for Canada at a world/Olympic championship since the Canadian women (Megan Tandy, Rosanna Crawford, Megan Imrie and Zina Kocher) finished eighth in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
The Canadian team was the second-quickest in the range, just 3.1 seconds slower than Ukraine, who completed all 16 shooting bouts in 7:01.1. The Canadians were one of the youngest teams in the world championships, averaging 23.5 years, as compared to the podium finishers - Norway (27.75), Germany (28.25) and Ukraine (30.25).
In Saturday's 4 X 7.5 km men's relay, Canada (Jules Brunotte of Sherbrooke, Que., Scott Gow of Canmore, Alta., Adam Runnalls of Calgary and Christian Gow of Canmore) finished 14th out of 27.
France (Emilien Jacquelin,Martin Fourcade, Simon Desthieux, Quinten Fillion Maillet) won gold in 1:12:35.9 with just four misses.
Norway (+21.5) and Germany (+36.2) also made the medal podium. Canada had nine misses and skied two penalty loops, finishing 4:02.9 off the winning pace.
The two-week championships wrapped up Sunday with mass start races. Roeisland won the women's 12.5 km mass start and Johannes Thingnes Boe of Norway was the 15 km men's race winner.
The IBU World Cup tour resumes next week in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, followed by races in Kontiolahti, Finland (March 9-15) and Oslo, Norway (March 16-22).
