Jean-Philippe Le Guellec became the first Canadian to reach the podium at a men's biathlon World Cup Saturday and he did it in style.
He won gold with a stunning effort in a sport that is traditionally dominated by European athletes.
"It is a huge, huge day," said Le Guellec. "I'm still surprised this actually happened. I'm definitely happy. It is just crazy. Everyone on the team is just ecstatic. "
Le Guellec, a native of Shannon, Que., finished the 10-kilometre sprint in 25 minutes 10.4 seconds after shooting clean. The previous best men's World Cup result by a Canadian was a sixth-place finish by Glen Rupertus in 1993.
France's Alexis Boeuf was second in 25: 28.5 with one penalty and Austria's Christoph Sumann placed third in 25: 35.2 with one penalty.
Le Guellec wasn't affected by the challenging shooting conditions that left most of the international field struggling.
"I was just trying to stay focused on skiing and stay relaxed," said Le Guellec.
"Until the last split, the coaches just kept saying that I was doing good. So I was a bit surprised when they told me on the last lap that I was first."
Zina Kocher of Red Deer, Alta., - the only other Canadian to reach the podium in a biathlon World Cup in the past two decades - finished 10th in the women's 7.5-kilometre sprint.
She finished in 22: 20.2 with one missed shot, well back of Norway's Tora Berger. Ukraine's Olena Pidhrushna won silver and Russia's Olga Vilukhina earned bronze.
Le Guellec, 27, will start first in the pursuit race today.
