The first Olympic biathlon race got underway today in Antholz, and one of the favourites was immediately pushed far back in the field. Sebastian Samuelsson struggled on the standing shooting, was sent onto two penalty loops, and Sweden were unable to recover and rejoin the leaders.
The other medal contenders — Norway, Italy, France and Germany — stayed together at the front. The Czech team tried to hang on as well, but with a weaker lineup they simply lacked the firepower to truly challenge, even despite almost perfect shooting.
The turning point came on the third leg, where Lou Jeanmonnot produced a small masterpiece. The Frenchwoman not only erased a 20-second deficit, but took the lead on the final lap and built a 20-second gap over her three closest rivals. It was a decisive advantage for Julia Simon on the anchor leg — one she never let slip.
The battle for the remaining two medals produced a rather unusual finale. Lisa Vittozzi, Franziska Preuss and Maren Kirkeeide arrived together at the final shooting, 20 seconds behind the leader. Only the Italian managed to hit all five targets.
Preuss and Kirkeeide both struggled badly on the range. A slow shooting sequence sent Kirkeeide onto two penalty loops and Preuss onto one. Had Marketa Davidova not been losing around 40 seconds per lap on the track, the Czech team might have been able to fight for a medal — but it was not to be.
| Name | № | Shooting | Time | ||
| 1 |  |
France | 1 | 0+7 | 1:04:15.5 |
 |
Eric Perrot | 0+0 0+1 | |||
|
Maillet Quentin Fillon | 0+3 0+2 | |||
|
Lou Jeanmonnot | 0+1 0+0 | |||
|
Julia Simon | 0+0 0+0 | |||
| 2 |  |
Italy | 2 | 0+5 | 1:04:41.3 |
|
Tommaso Giacomel | 0+0 0+2 | |||
|
Lukas Hofer | 0+0 0+2 | |||
|
Dorothea Wierer | 0+0 0+1 | |||
|
Lisa Vittozzi | 0+0 0+0 | |||
| 3 |  |
Germany | 9 | 1+3 | 1:05:20.8 |
|
Justus Strelow | 0+0 0+0 | |||
|
Philipp Nawrath | 0+0 0+0 | |||
|
Vanessa Voigt | 0+0 0+0 | |||
|
Franziska Preuss | 0+0 1+3 | |||
| 4 |  |
Norway | 4 | 2+6 | 1:05:52.7 |
|
Martin Uldal | 0+0 0+0 | |||
|
Vetle Sjastad Christiansen | 0+0 0+1 | |||
|
Karoline Offigstad Knotten | 0+2 0+0 | |||
|
Maren Kirkeeide | 0+0 2+3 | |||
| 5 |  |
Sweden | 6 | 2+7 | 1:05:56.3 |
|
Sebastian Samuelsson | 0+0 2+3 | |||
|
Martin Ponsiluoma | 0+2 0+0 | |||
|
Anna Magnusson | 0+1 0+0 | |||
|
Hanna Oeberg | 0+0 0+1 | |||
| 6 |  |
Finland | 7 | 0+7 | 1:06:12.0 |
|
Olli Hiidensalo | 0+0 0+0 | |||
|
Tero Seppala | 0+1 0+3 | |||
|
Inka Haemaelaeinen | 0+1 0+2 | |||
|
Suvi Minkkinen | 0+0 0+0 | |||
| 7 |  |
Austria | 8 | 0+6 | 1:06:36.5 |
|
Dominic Unterweger | 0+0 0+1 | |||
|
Simon Eder | 0+0 0+0 | |||
|
Anna Gandler | 0+1 0+0 | |||
|
Lisa Theresa Hauser | 0+2 0+2 | |||
| 8 |  |
Ukraine | 14 | 0+8 | 1:06:52.1 |
|
Dmytro Pidruchnuy | 0+1 0+3 | |||
|
Vitalii Mandzyn | 0+0 0+1 | |||
|
Olena Horodna | 0+0 0+1 | |||
|
Oleksandra Merkushyna | 0+0 0+2 | |||
| 9 |  |
Poland | 13 | 1+13 | 1:07:12.4 |
|
Konrad Badacz | 0+1 0+0 | |||
|
Jan Gunka | 0+3 1+3 | |||
|
Kamila Zuk | 0+3 0+1 | |||
|
Natalia Sidorowicz | 0+2 0+0 | |||
| 10 |  |
Switzerland | 12 | 1+7 | 1:07:14.0 |
|
Sebastian Stalder | 0+0 0+0 | |||
|
Niklas Hartweg | 0+1 0+3 | |||
|
Lea Meier | 1+3 0+0 | |||
|
Amy Baserga | 0+0 0+0 | |||
| 11 |  |
Czech Republic | 3 | 1+6 | 1:07:17.2 |
|
Vitezslav Hornig | 0+0 0+0 | |||
|
Michal Krcmar | 0+0 0+1 | |||
|
Tereza Vobornikova | 0+0 0+0 | |||
|
Marketa Davidova | 0+2 1+3 | |||
| 12 |  |
Latvia | 17 | 2+9 | 1:07:28.5 |
|
Andrejs Rastorgujevs | 0+0 0+1 | |||
|
Renars Birkentals | 0+0 1+3 | |||
|
Baiba Bendika | 0+1 0+1 | |||
|
Estere Volfa | 0+0 1+3 | |||
| 13 |  |
Slovenia | 10 | 2+11 | 1:07:40.9 |
|
Anton Vidmar | 0+1 1+3 | |||
|
Lovro Planko | 0+0 1+3 | |||
|
Lena Repinc | 0+0 0+1 | |||
|
Polona Klemencic | 0+2 0+1 | |||
| 14 |  |
USA | 5 | 1+13 | 1:07:43.2 |
|
Maxime Germain | 0+1 0+2 | |||
|
Campbell Wright | 1+3 0+3 | |||
|
Deedra Irwin | 0+0 0+1 | |||
|
Margaret Freed | 0+2 0+1 | |||
| 15 |  |
Estonia | 15 | 0+5 | 1:07:45.3 |
|
Rene Zahkna | 0+2 0+0 | |||
|
Kristo Siimer | 0+2 0+0 | |||
|
Susan Kuelm | 0+1 0+0 | |||
|
Regina Ermits | 0+0 0+0 | |||
| 16 |  |
Bulgaria | 21 | 0+15 | 1:07:46.0 |
|
Blagoy Todev | 0+1 0+3 | |||
|
Vladimir Iliev | 0+3 0+3 | |||
|
Lora Hristova | 0+1 0+1 | |||
|
Milena Todorova | 0+3 0+0 | |||
| 17 |  |
Canada | 16 | 1+12 | 1:08:37.1 |
|
Adam Runnalls | 0+0 0+0 | |||
|
Jasper Fleming | 1+3 0+3 | |||
|
Pascale Paradis | 0+2 0+1 | |||
|
Nadia Moser | 0+1 0+2 | |||
| 18 |  |
Belgium | 20 | 0+8 | 1:09:00.4 |
|
Florent Claude | 0+0 0+2 | |||
|
Thierry Langer | 0+3 0+3 | |||
|
Lotte Lie | 0+0 0+0 | |||
|
Maya Cloetens | 0+0 0+0 | |||
| 19 |  |
Slovakia | 11 | 0+11 | 1:09:06.5 |
|
Jakub Borgula | 0+0 0+1 | |||
|
Simon Adamov | 0+1 0+2 | |||
|
Fialkova Paulina Batovska | 0+1 0+1 | |||
|
Anastasia Kuzmina | 0+3 0+2 | |||
| 20 |  |
Lithuania | 18 | 2+16 | 1:11:29.1 |
|
Vytautas Strolia | 0+1 0+3 | |||
|
Nikita Cigak | 0+3 0+1 | |||
|
Judita Traubaite | 0+3 0+1 | |||
|
Lidiia Zhurauskaite | 0+1 2+3 | |||
| 21 |  |
Kazakstan | 19 | 0+10 | Lapped |
|
Vladislav Kireyev | 0+0 0+2 | |||
|
Asset Dyussenov | 0+2 0+1 | |||
|
Milana Geneva | 0+2 0+3 | |||
|
Aisha Rakisheva |
