Olga Medvedtseva and her teammates from Russia took home the gold medal in the women’s biathlon 4×6 km relay at Whistler Olympic Park on Tuesday.
The Russians were sitting in second place after the first two legs of the race, but were able to catch up to their counterparts from France, who won the silver medal, thanks to some poor shooting from the prone position by Marie Dorin.
Dorin, a bronze medallist in the women’s 7.5 km sprint on Feb. 13, was given a two-lap penalty after using up all her bullets. Until that point, France had been leading the entire race.
The French now have a total of six medals in the biathlon event, which is the most out of any country.
Before the event, Germany was dealt a big blow when 23-year-old Magdalena Neuner, who has won three medals for her country at the Vancouver Games, pulled out of the relay on Sunday. The Germans, however, overcame the misfortune and followed up their silver medal performance from Turin 2006 with a bronze medal.
Zina Kocher led the Canadian team to a very disappointing 15th place finish in a field of 19 teams, as they could not muster up any momentum and were in the bottom half of the pack for the entire race.