Sarah Beaudry’s speed helped her gain some much needed ground overseas this past weekend.
For the first time since March 1, Prince George’s 2018 Olympian competed on European snow for the first event of the 2020-21 World Cup Biathlon season as one of four women representing Canada on Finland’s Kontiolahti course, roughly 450 km northeast of Helsinki.
Saturday (Nov. 28) was Beaudry’s better day, finishing 70th in the women’s 15 km individual race out of 102 international racers.
The 26-year-old clocked in +6:33.1 behind first-place Dorothea Wierer of Italy, hitting 16 of 20 targets in the shooting range, including two perfect rounds on the second and fourth laps.
“It may not look like much on paper but it felt better then every race last season,” said Beaudry in a social media post following the first leg of the two-day contest.
“Hopefully this means good things to come.”
Out of Canada’s competitors, Beaudry had the second-best time on Saturday; North Vancouver’s Emma Lunder claimed 13th overall.
On Sunday (Nov. 29), Beaudry dropped slightly in the rankings to 80th out of 104 racers in the women’s 7.5 km sprint.
The Duchess Park graduate crossed the finish line +3:08.1 behind Sweden’s Hanna Oeberg at the top of the podium, shot 60 per cent in the range (six of 10 targets) and had the third-best time among her Canadian teammates.
Beaudry is likely to stay in Finland for the next set of races at the same course, which starts on Thursday (Dec. 3) and will include a sprint, relay and pursuit.
She qualified for Canada's World Cup Biathlon team earlier this month from the trials in Canmore, Alta.
