Hakkinen, a four-time Olympian from Kasilof, placed 16th in a World Cup 10-kilometer sprint race to give the U.S. team four finishers in the top 16.
"Today was the best day ever for our men's team -- we never had four in the top-16 before," Max Cobb, CEO of U.S. Biathlon, said in a press release.
Leading the way were Lowell Bailey of Lake Placid, N.Y., and Russell Currier of Stockholm, Maine, who placed fifth and sixth, respectively. Tim Burke of Paul Smiths, N.Y., finished 13th.
Martin Fourcade of France won in a time of 24 minutes, 58.2. Hakkinen, who missed one of his 10 targets, clocked 25:46.3, which puts him in decent shape for today's 12.5-K pursuit.
"Tim and Jay are both starting in less than 50 seconds back from the leaders. That's only two penalty loops," Cobb said.
Saturday's success followed a sparkling U.S. performance in Friday's mixed relay, where the Americans rallied to claim sixth place, one of the team's best relay showings in history.
Hakkinen and Burke were joined on the team by Sara Studebaker of Boise, Idaho, who placed a career-best 15th in Saturday's individual race, and Annelies Cook of Saranac Lake, N.Y.
"The race showed our level as a team on the men's and women's side is raising to the point where we are competitive with the best teams in the world," Hakkinen said after the relay.
Holmes tops in Aspen
Girdwood's Chelsea Holmes edged Rosie Brennan of the Alaska Pacific nordic team by half a second Saturady to win a 5-kilometer classic race in the Aspen Super Tour in Colorado.
Holmes, skiing for the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation, finished in 16 minutes, 33.4 seconds. Brennan followed in 16:33.9.
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.