Susan Dunklee, who celebrated her 34th birthday yesterday and lost a lot of time in the mixed relay in her last lap, has so far not been able to match the performance of the past few years this season. Today, she suddenly returned in top shape and secured the silver medal after clean shootings. After the second shooting in very changeable conditions, she was 13 seconds ahead of the new world champion, in the end she was 6.8 seconds behind the Norwegian, after the American had practically tumbled to the finish in the last hundred meters due to total exhaustion. "I didn't think I could do it this year. It's a surprise for me, too, it's just incredible. I've seen others make a lot of mistakes, so I thought it could work if I focus on my shooting", said the American. After the surprising bronze medal with the mixed relay, where she did not represent her team, Lucie Charvatova was now able to get a medal herself. The Czech woman had her best result of the season in Hochfilzen as sixth in a sprint, too, but this medal is nevertheless a surprise with a miss. The Ukrainians like Olena Pidhrushna (UKR, Fischer ***) are among the athletes who found their shape just in time for the World Championships. The 33-year-old lost time on the first two laps, but was on the final lap as fast as Røiseland - but for a medal it was not enough. Denise Herrmann (GER, Fischer ***) had three penalties and was surprised when she heard on the track that she was in third place - before Charvatova and Pidhrushna with their high number snatched the medal from her. Eighth place went to Franziska Preuss (GER, Fischer ***) ahead of Ivona Fialkova (SVK, Fischer ***).
* = Fischer skis
** = Fischer skis and bindings
*** = Fischer skis, bindings and boots
