Olena Pidhrushna of the Ukraine competes in the women's sprint at the World Cup biathlon in Canmore, Alta., on Friday, Feb. 5, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mike Ridewood

CANMORE, Alta. - Zina Kocher spent the evening before one of the last races of her career reflecting on a decade and a half racing biathlon for Canada.

This season will likely be the last one for the three-time Olympian from Red Deer, Alta.

The BMW World Cup biathlon in Canmore, Alta., where Kocher has lived and trained for 16 years, will be a highlight in her swan song even though she wished for a better result in Friday's 7.5-kilometre sprint.

"Last night, I was trying to find a lot of inspiration to race today," an emotional Kocher said at the Canmore Nordic Centre.

"I went through a lot of old albums. I saw a lot of newspaper articles, a lot of pictures with all my teammates and all the good times. We were a family and we worked together. Those are the biggest memories, the friends I had on this team."

Winner of a World Cup bronze medal in 2006, Kocher (pronounced KOE-ker) led the biathlon team at a time when a top-30 result was rare for a Canadian.

The 34-year-old has been a mentor for Calgary's Nathan Smith and Rosanna Crawford of Canmore, Alta., who both landed on the international podium in the last year.

"I grew up looking up to Zina and to join her and Megan Imrie on the team was super-awesome," Crawford said. "Those girls definitely showed me the ropes."

Kocher wanted a medal or a top-10 result in the one World Cup race at home of her career. She struggled with accuracy on a day when periodic wind gusts blasted the shooting range and skied five penalty laps.

Olena Pidhrushna of Ukraine shot clean and was the only woman to go under 20 minutes with a winning time of nineteen minutes 56.9 seconds.

Poland's Krystyna Guzik also hit all 10 targets to finish second just 7.5 seconds back of Pidhrushna. Italy's Dorothea Wierer skied one penalty lap for a missed target and finished third in 20:11.

Women with mid-range start numbers had better luck avoiding the unpredictable winds than those with early or late start bibs. Pidhrushna was the 43rd starter in a field of 85.

"The wind really began to come down compared to the first starting numbers," Pidhrushna said. "I was lucky today with the wind."

Julia Ransom of Kelowna, B.C., who drew start bib No. 38, shot a clean round and was the top Canadian in 19th.

"I didn't have a hurricane, which was nice," said Ransom, who turned 23 on Thursday. "I was excited. I had all my loved ones here.

"It was a balance between not being too anxious . . . and also being so excited I can barely contain myself."

Sarah Beaudry of Prince George, B.C., was 38th, Kocher 56th and Crawford 72nd.

Nathan Smith, who won world championship silver and World Cup gold in 2015, is the lone Canadian qualified for Saturday's mass start races. The World Cup concludes with mixed relays Sunday.

Crawford, who earned a relay silver with Smith in the season-opening World Cup, arrived in Canmore battling strep throat.

"I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to race at a home World Cup. It will never happen for me again," Crawford said.

One reason for the Canadian team's resurgence, says Kocher, is athletes stay in the sport long enough to develop the big engines and experience required in an endurance sport.

"When athletes are retiring at 23 or 25, they just haven't put in enough years to get to the top compared to Norwegians or Germans who start when they're quite young," she explained

"Nathan Smith wasn't doing that well five years ago and now that he's 30, he's come through. We grew as a team working together for many years and then we started to see results."

After her third Winter Games in 2014, Kocher planned to race two more seasons while plotting life after sport. She took doula certification courses last year and is planning a career in midwifery.

"I was a little bit scared about what I really wanted to do. I needed these two years to go through that process," Kocher said.

"I think it helped my retirement a lot to work on something that I was interested in and passionate about. It also helped me know that, yes, I want to move on."

News from © The Canadian Press, 2016