KONTIOLAHTI, Finland (March 15, 2014) – Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY) posted his first career podium performance today, winning bronze in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint with clean shooting and a time of 24:22.9. Bailey finished 19.4 seconds back from Johannes Thingnes Boe (NOR), winning his second sprint of the competition with a time of 24:03.5 and clean shooting. Alexander Loginov (RUS) finished second (24:22/+0).

"There are a few days that stick out in my biathlon career; 18th place in the Individual at my first Junior World Championships in Slovenia, the catastrophic Sprint race at the Vancouver Games, 8th place in Sochi, but this is by far the best day of my biathlon career," said Bailey.  "I was disappointed after that race on Thursday, and I knew I hadn't shown my best. I was a bit frustrated and so, as a means to move past that disappointment, I put together a game plan that I could stick to for today's race. I told myself that, even if I missed all my targets today, I would not be tentative on the range. That was my only goal in shooting. Biathlon is a quirky sport and it definitely doesn't always go as planned, but today everything fell into place... finally!"

Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY) finished 19^th (25:13.5/+2), and Leif Nordgren (Marine, MN) was 27^th (25:26.5/+1). Extended results from the men’s 10k sprint are available here.

Bailey, Burke and Nordgren will compete in tomorrow’s 12.5km pursuit beginning at 5:45am (ET). Watch the race live here.

Top 10 for Dunklee in Women’s Sprint

Susan Dunklee (Barton, VT) posted an eighth place finish in today’s 7.5k sprint with a time of 21:29.3/+1. Dunklee finished 35.7 seconds back from Kaisa Makarainen (FIN), winning the distance with c a time of 20:53.6/+1. Tora Berger (NOR) was second (20:59.8/+0), and Gabriela Soukalova (CZE) was third (21:06.5).

“Kontiolahti has been warm and we skied through several inches of deep, soft, sugar-like snow,” said Dunklee. “After a couple frustrating weeks of shooting, including a rifle malfunction last week, it feels great to hit 90% of my targets!  Before warming up, I got to watch Lowell in the flower ceremony for the men's race and that was inspiring.”

Hannah Dreissigacker (Morrisville, VT) finished 41^st today (22:45/+2), Sara Studebaker was 58^th (23:23.9/+2), and Annelies Cook (Saranac Lake, NY) was 76^th (24:19.3/+4). Extended results from the women’s sprint are available here.

Dunklee, Dreissigacker and Studebaker will race in tomorrow’s 10k pursuit beginning at 7:15am (ET). Watch the race live here. 

“Everybody on the team is so happy for Lowell’s podium today,” said US Biathlon Head Coach Per Nilsson. “Many years of training and professional attitude to the sport finally paid off. The way he carried through the race was fantastic! Being determined and disciplined in a couple of key things works for Lowell as an athlete. The good attack mode he hade made his day. We all know the good skills he has as an athlete, and it was great to see him show that today.”

“It is so wonderful to see Lowell standing on the podium today,” said Max Cobb, US Biathlon CEO. It’s so exciting to see his years of hard work shine through in his great performance today. Today Lowell joins the very exclusive Podium Club - a lifetime goal achieved! History made! Hats off to the high performance staff, working tirelessly to help the athletes achieve their personal bests every day. Susan had another strong performance too and Tim and Leif are well positioned for the pursuit on Sunday,” he added.