ANTERSELVA, Italy, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Olympic sprint champion Maren Kirkeeide and the other female biathletes at the Milano Cortina Games face a quick turnaround after Saturday's sprint, with less than 24 hours to recover before Sunday's pursuit race gets underway at the Anthloz-Anterselva Biathlon Arena.
The top 60 in Saturday's race, which demanded every ounce of energy from the competitors and was won in a frenetic finale by Norway's Kirkeeide, all qualified for Sunday's pursuit, leaving them little time to rest in between.
"A lot will happen for her this evening but she's really professional and she knows she will go out to fight tomorrow," Kirkeeide's coach Patrick Oberegger told Reuters.
"I think tomorrow it will be a little bit harder in one way but a little bit more relaxed at the end. She has her medal and she has shown herself that the shooting in particular is okay... so I think she will be a bit more relaxed tomorrow," he added.
Saturday's race was Kirkeeide's third of the Games, creating an intriguing prospect for Sunday's second clash against Oceane Michelon of France, who came away with the silver medal on Saturday in a superb Olympic debut and she should have plenty left in the tank.
The start order in the pursuit is decided by the finishing times of the sprint, which means that Kirkeeide will go out first followed by Michelon 3.8 seconds later, and so on down through the field.
For the more seasoned competitors such as seventh-place sprint finisher Franziska Preuss of Germany, a second 14:45 start in two days will not pose much of a problem.
"I know the six girls in front of me (today) also know how biathlon works, (so) I try not to think about medals tomorrow. I think I'm realistic, it's really hard to gain one," she told reporters.
"I will try to enjoy the race step by step, shooting by shooting, and then we will see... just go home, eat, sleep, recover... nothing special.”
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; editing by Clare Fallon)
