Two Americans Fight in Mass Start Tomorrow

During the World Championships there are specific rules for the mass start. The medal winners automatically qualify for the 15k race. Having the Norwegian Ole Einar Bjoerndalen dominating the men's competitions, only seven athletes qualify through that criterion. The field is also joined up by the athletes who rank within the Top15 of the World Cup, this sums up to nine biathletes right now.

Tim Burke and Lowell Bailey qualified through the last criteria: 30 athletes overall are needed for the mass start so the rest is provided by those who earned the most points at the World Championships so far. Tim made 77 points over the three individual competitions, Lowell managed to be the last to qualify with 38 points. 

"Now is the time where we can actually make history", says High Performance Director Bernd Eisenbichler. "Tim is motivated enough to manage the final step and make the podium!" Also Tim Burke himself puts all effort into the upcoming competition: "This is my favorite race and I am looking forward to another opportunity to climb to the top." 

The top athlete of the US team wasn't 100% satisfied with his results so far.  "I came here to fight for a spot on the podium!" he states.

Tomorrow might just be the time to do so...