Olympics: NZer struggles in biathlon

Sarah Murphy. Photo / Otago Daily Times

Young New Zealand biathlete Sarah Murphy is already looking forward to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia, after a battling performance at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver today.

Murphy finished 82nd out of 86 competitors in the gruelling 15km multi-discipline event that mixes shooting and cross country skiing.

She eventually clocked 53 minutes 54.9 seconds, over 12 minutes down on winner Tora Berger (Norway).

Earlier in the week, Murphy placed 82nd out of 88 competitors in the women's 7.5km sprint event, her time of 23 minutes 49.7 seconds nearly 4min behind Slovakian winner Anastazia Kusmina.

But coach Petr Zidek said the young athlete was overall meeting expectations in the event.

"Shooting-wise she was mentally and technically fine. Her skiing was excellent but physically she was behind in the event," Zidek said after today's race.

Winter performance programme director Ashley Light said Murphy was on track for Sochi (Russia) 2014.

"Sarah has always been very clear that she's a contender for Sochi 2014. As a physically immature athlete she showed her potential but still has work to do on her strength."

Murphy had six missed shots with the final three occurring as the fatigued athlete completed her final lap. With just two fewer misses Murphy would have exceeded coach Zidek's expectations.

"It was fatigue that saw her miss the final crucial targets and we'll be building her strength as we look forward to Sochi 2014," Light said.

- NZPA