Biathlon World Cup 2016 (stage 7) - Men's SPRINT race

BMW IBU Biathlon World Cup 2016 (stage 7) - Men's 10km SPRINT race 05.02.2016, Canmore Martin, Anton and Simon in Canmore Sprint The Big Three Martin Fourcade of France led the way in the men' sprint this morning with a clean-shooting 23:51.5 victory over Anton Shipulin of Russia and Simon Schempp of Germany, who also shot clean but finished 15.7 and 18.7 seconds back, respectively. Austrians took the next three places with Julian Eberhard in fourth, with two penalties, 45 seconds back; Dominik Landertinger, with one penalty, 47.1 seconds back and Simon Eder, shooting clean in sixth, 47.6 seconds back. Cloudy; Light Breeze After a couple of very sunny days here in Canmore, today dawned with cloudy skies and the temperature hovering around minus 8 Celsius with light wind crossing the shooting range from left to right. The "Big Three" Dominate This podium was possibly decided faster today than almost any other biathlon sprint ever. The "Big Three" of Schempp, Fourcade and Shipulin started with numbers 4, 6 and 7 respectively. It initially seemed as if everyone was shooting clean in prone, as numbers 1-7 all shot clean and that continued for a while. Eder initially set the bar with a very fast prone. However, Schempp matched and left just behind. Fourcade cleaned and was a half second behind Eder, but one second up on Schempp. Shipulin was clean and a bit faster. This was the only time during the competition that the Yellow Bib was not in the lead. Soon after they left the stadium, Fourcade was 20 seconds ahead of the field. All three shot clean in standing; it now was just a matter of who would ski the fastest. Schempp crossed the finish line first; then Fourcade finished 18.7 seconds faster; Shipulin jumped in between the two and the podium was set. Behind this group, it was Austria Day; they took the next three spots. Surprising Eberhard had two penalties but flew around the tracks to finish infront of his two more famous teammates, Landertinger and Eder. Fourcade: A Bit Nervous Fourcade said his day was not as easy as it looked. 'I was a bit nervous; I was not satisfied with my shooting this week during training and today, I had some problems zeroing. But I was confident on my skis; I was clean and fast enough to win, so I am happy." Regarding Canmore, he added, "I really like this place; it is very friendly and I love the atmosphere with the teams and the local people...If we are truly an international sport, we need to come to places like this out of Europe." 12 Hours from Home Shipulin congratulated Fourcade admitting, "He proved to be the best today...Jet lag is a big thing for me; the time difference for me is 12 hours, so I should be in bed now!" Third, but Happy Schempp commented on being third. "I did not feel that comfortable on the tracks, but I do not think anyone did. But I am still happy being third behind these guys. I am not sure where I could have made up any time on them."