U.S.A. Biathlon

RUHPOLDING, Germany (February 29,2012) - The 2012 IBU World Championships open tomorrow in Ruhpolding, Germany with the 2x6+2x7.5 km Mixed Relay featuring a team of two women & two men.  Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID), Susan Dunklee (Barton, VT), Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY) and Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY) will start for Team USA.

“The team arrived here in Ruhpolding on Monday after our final preparation in Ridaun, Italy. We think that we have done everything we can now, and everybody is looking forward to the start of the races ,” said US Biathlon Head Coach Per Nilsson. “The team has had an up-going trend in January and February, which we wanted due to the late date for the World Championships, so we know that we have a good capacity. The key is to continue to stay with the routine that every athlete has. They should just do the normal work and focus on things that they can impact. Then we will have some good results over the next 10 days.”

“The team really feels at home here in Ruhpolding. We’ve had several summer camps here, so it feels natural for them to be here,” said Bernd Eisenbichler, US Biathlon High Performance Director. “Everyone has done their work - the athletes, coaches, wax technicians, the physiotherapists - and now it’s time to go ahead and execute what we’ve been working on over the last year.”

The World Championships continue through March 11th. Ruhpolding has a 34 year history of hosting of World Cup and World Championship event.  Ticket sales have reached 30,000 per day and the TV audience is expected to exceed 25 million viewers per competition.

Competition begins at 9:30 am (EST) tomorrow and will be webcast live at http://www5.biathlonworld.com/en/. Please visit here for a link to the complete World Championship schedule and results.

2012 U.S. Biathlon IBU World Championship Team

Men 

Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY) - World Cup Ranking: 13th - two 5th place finishes

Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY) - World Cup Ranking: 22nd - 6th & 8th place finishes

Russell Currier (Stockholm, ME) - World Cup Ranking: 47th - two 6th place finishes 

Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, AK) - World Cup Ranking: 33rd - 9th & 14th place finishes

Leif Nordgren (Marine, MN) - World Cup Ranking: 94th - 33rd & 48th place finishes

Women 

Lanny Barnes (Durango, CO) - 2nd & 4th place finishes in IBU Cup 7, Canmore

Annelies Cook (Saranac Lake, NY) - World Cup Ranking: 76th - 33rd & 39th place finishes

Susan Dunklee (Barton, VT) - World Cup Ranking: 48th - 17th & 27th place finishes

Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID) - World Cup Ranking: 55th - 15th & 23rd place finishes