Home International Winter Sports Dahlmeier Wins Fifth Gold Medal on IBU World Championships Final Day

Dahlmeier Wins Fifth Gold Medal on IBU World Championships Final Day

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Dahlmeier Wins Fifth Gold Medal on IBU World Championships Final Day
Laura Dahlmeier. Photo: IBU/Evgeny Tumashov

Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier claimed her fifth gold medal of the 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Championships after shooting clean to win the women’s 12.5 kilometer mass start event on the final day of action in the Austrian town of Hochfilzen.

Dahlmeier took control in the final kilometer, passing the United States’ Susan Dunklee to triumph in a time of 33min 13.8sec.

Runner-up Dunklee also shot clean en route to winning her first-ever World Championship medal, 4.6sec back.

Fast-finishing Finn Kaisa Mäkäräinen rounded out the podium with one penalty, 20.1 behind, at the expense of Czech Republic’s Gabriela Koukalová.

Dahlmeier won a medal each time she set foot on the Hochfilzen tracks, also winning gold in the 15km individual, the pursuit, the women’s relay and the mixed relay.

Her only non-victory resulted in a silver medal in the sprint.

“At the moment, I have not realized all of this,” said Dahlmeier, who has won a medal in her last 11 World Championship starts

“I tried to give my best in every race; I really like this place and always had great races here.

“The 11th medal in a row is great but it was not on my mind today.

“The most important thing was to stay focused on shooting.”

Defending champion Marie Dorin-Habert of France finished seventh, while Olympic champion Darya Domracheva of Belarus ended up 19th.

Dahlmeier’s compatriot Simon Schempp closed the event with his first-ever IBU World Championships medal, securing gold in the men’s 15km mass start.

Shooting clean, Schempp took control in the last loop to cruise home unchallenged in 35:38.3.

Defending mass start champion Johannes Thingnes Boe of Norway won the silver medal with one penalty, nine seconds back.

Austria’s Simon Eder was 10.1 behind in the bronze-medal position, also shooting clean.

“This was my last chance; it is amazing to get this title in the mass start,” Schempp said.

“The previous days have not been so easy explaining every day in the mixed zone why I did not win a medal.”

Eder and Schempp both cleaned in the final standing stage to set up a battle for the gold medal.

The latter made a big move though on the uphill and pulled away to seal victory.

“Today was much easier,” Schempp added.

“After the last shooting, I was sure I could win.

“I felt good on the tracks and gave all I had on the uphill.

“Today was my perfect race.”

By Daniel Etchells

Republished with permission from insidethegames.biz

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