Sweden takes Olympic gold in 4-women relay in biathlon
ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) – Elvira Oeberg went to the front, exactly where she wanted to be, and stayed ahead all the way to an Olympic gold medal.
Oeberg anchored the Swedish team to victory in the four-women relay in biathlon on Wednesday, went fast and shot clean to win his third medal in the Beijing Games. Oeberg, who also took silver in the sprint and hunting races in his Olympic debut, put the Swedes over the limit 1 hour, 11 minutes, 3.9 seconds.
“It’s a special place to be in, at the forefront of an Olympic relay in the last leg,” said Oeberg. “They could not have given me a better starting position so today I really tried to focus on my own race and just do as I usually do in a sprint, for example, just do my thing.
“I’m really, really proud that I managed to keep it together.”
The Russian biathlete Uliana Nigmatullina went after Oeberg with about 24 seconds after the last shooting range and finished 12 seconds behind for silver in the 4×6-kilometer race.
“It makes a big difference if you ride the fourth leg or the first leg when you get the medal,” said Nigmatullina. “You feel it much more when you finish a race, and maybe because of this the girls still have a hard time realizing what happened and feeling it. I already felt it and it’s the peak of happiness. “
Russian teammate Kristina Riztsova said that the silver validated the team’s hard work.
“It’s a very important medal for us because each of us really did our best throughout the season, throughout the year,” she said. “It was a very long and hard journey to get to this point so now there is peace in my soul because I can say that not everything was in vain.”
Denise Herrmann finished third and gave Germany bronze, 37.4 seconds behind Oeberg. Herrmann also won gold in the individual race. Norway finished fourth, 50.7 seconds behind.
The Norwegians were in sixth place after Karoline Offigstad Knotten’s first leg, but Tiril Eckhoff fought on the rank and missed two in abdominal position and five in standing. She used her three extra rounds but still had to ride two penalty loops. It dropped the team to 11th place.
Strong efforts by Ida Line and Marte Olsbu Roeiseland moved the Norwegians up again, but it was too late. Although he missed this time, Roeiseland has already won four medals at the Beijing Games – three gold and one bronze.
Germany, Sweden and Italy advanced early and the teams mixed positions several times, but the Swedes had the most consistent shooting.
Oeberg teamed up with Linn Persson, Mona Brorsson and her sister, Hanna Oeberg, for the gold medal.
The Oeberg sisters just missed a medal in the mixed relay by finishing fourth. Hanna Oeberg also won gold in the individual race at the Olympics in Pyeongchang 2018.
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