Growing up in Burns Lake as she did, Emily Dickson never let a little cold weather hinder her progress.
That thick Canadian blood came in handy Wednesday for the 27-year-old biathlete at the IBU Cup women’s 15-kilometre individual race in Geilo, Norway.
Despite the -16 C cold, Dickson was flawless on the shooting range, going 20-for-20 in four shooting bouts on her way to a personal-best 12th-place finish in a race that drew 103 competitors. She clocked 47:00.2, 2:18.9 off the gold-medal pace (44:41.3) set by Camille Bened of France.
“It’s safe to say it’s winter here in Norway,” said Dickson, on her Facebook page. “The -16° air temp made for a really challenging 15km individual race. Fortunately, things went my way in the range and I was able to hit 20/20!
“Looking forward to a couple more races here in Geilo this week, starting with the sprint (on Friday).”
Wednesday was a great day for Canada.
Benita Peiffer of Whistler finished 10th (46:12.4, 19-for-20), who ended up 1:31.1 behind the winner.
Marit Oeygard of Norway ((+42.2) and Fany Betrand of France (+55.9) won silver and bronze respectively.
Dickson and Peiffer, the only Canadian women on the IBU Cup circuit, will be back in action Friday for the sprint race, with pursuits to follow on Saturday.
Daniel Gilfillan of Comox Valley was the top Canadian in the men’s 20-km individual race, finishing 74th in 58:52.4 with four misses on the range. He was 10:46.1 behind gold medalist Isak Frey of Norway, who completed the race in 48:06.3. Johan Olav Botn of Norway (+7.5) won silver and Simon Kaiser of Germany (+59.8) claimed bronze.
Jasper Fleming of Calgary placed 95th (+12:58.5, 11-for-20).
