After sprinting into the top 20 the previous day racing some of the world’s most accomplished biathletes, Emily Dickson had trouble nailing her targets on the shooting range in Idre Fjall, Sweden and that knocked her out of contention in Sunday’s IBU Cup pursuit.
The 27-year-old Burns Lake native started the race 17th and finished 37th.
Dickson went 11-for-20 at the range. The time it took for each of those nine reloads allowed her competitors to catch up.
One of them was Whistler’s Benita Peiffer, who started the pursuit 22nd out of the gate, 2:20 behind sprint winner Ida Lien of Norway, . Peiffer finished 16th as the top Canadian.
Lien held her lead and won the pursuit in 32:24.6.
In Saturday’s sprint, Dickson nearly had a clean slate on the shooting range, hitting nine of 10 targets, and she was quick on her skis and she finished 17th out of 111 starters, her highest individual placing at an international event since March 2022.
Dickson placed 28th in the season-opening sprint on Thursday.
“Taking away some positives, and some things to keep working on at our next stop in Geilo, Norway,” Dickson posted on her Facebook page.
Dickson also thanked the Canadian wax technicians, a team that includes Tony Fiala of Prince George, who read the snow conditions well on the course in Sweden.
The IBU Cup scene switches to Geilo, Norway this week, starting with the women’s 15-kilometre individual race on Wednesday.
Sprint races are scheduled for Saturday, with pursuits to follow on Sunday.
IBU Cup is one step down from the BMW World Cup race circuit.
