Christian Gow of Canmore posted his best result in nearly two seasons on the BMW IBU World Cup biathlon tour, finishing 14th in the pursuit Saturday in Oberhof, Germany.
Gow, who started the race 29th, 1:46.3 after sprint winner Sturla Holm Laegreid began his pursuit, gained 15 positions on the 12.5-kilometre course. Gow shot clean in four bouts on the range and ended up 1:12.7 behind the Norwegian Laegreid, who won gold.
For Gow, it was his highest placing since Feb. 16, 2019 when he finished eighth in the pursuit at Soldier Hollow, Utah.
It was a 1-2-3 finish in the men’s race for Norway. Johannes Dale claimed the silver medal, 15.6 seconds behind Laegreid, and Tarjei Boe was third, 25.4 seconds off the pace.
Scott Gow of Canmore, Christian’s older brother, also qualified for the pursuit and finished 40th after shooting 18-for-20. He was 3:10.5 behind Laegreid.
In the women’s 10 km pursuit Saturday in Oberhof, Emma Lunder of Vernon was the top Canadian in 23rd place. Lunder had just one miss and finished 3:21.1 behind gold medalist Tiril Eckhoff of Norway. It took a photo finish to determine the medals and Eckhoff, who won Friday’s sprint, edged Norwegian teammate Marte Olsbu Roiseland by just half a second. Lisa Theresa Hauser of Austria won bronze, 43 seconds behind Eckhoff.
Sarah Beaudry of Prince George started 51st in the order and was lapped after six missed targets. She placed 57th.
Racing resumes Sunday in Oberhof with the mixed relay and single mixed relay. Scott Gow, Adam Runnalls of Calgary Megan Bankes of Calgary and Nadia Moser of Whitehorse, Yukon will represent Canada in the mixed relay, while Lunder and Christian Gow will team up for the single mixed relay.
The races will be streamed live on www.eurovisionsports.tv.
