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BIATHLONShooting For Gold - washingtonpost.com graphic
Say Ole
Einar Bjoerndalen four times - quickly. The Norwegian biathlon icon
made the Soldier Hollow Olympic course his personal playground,
winning gold medals in the men’s 20-kilometer individual, 10km sprint,
12.5km pursuit, and anchoring the 4x7.5km relay to victory. On the
women’s side, Germany’s Kati Wilhelm won three medals — gold in the
7.5km sprint, silver in the 10km pursuit, and gold as anchor of her
country’s 4x5km relay team — while teammate Andrea Henkel won the 15km
individual. Olga Pyleva of Russia won the 10km pursuit, while World
Cup dominator Magdalena Forsberg, a heavy pre-Games favorite, managed
bronze medals in the 15km individual and 7.5km sprint.
MULTIPLE MEDAL WINNERS
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Ole Einar Bjoerndalen (NOR) — gold individual; gold sprint; gold pursuit; gold relay
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Sven Fischer (GER) — silver sprint; silver relay
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Raphael Poiree (FRA) — silver pursuit; bronze relay
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Ricco Gross (GER) — bronze pursuit; silver relay
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Frank Luck (GER) — silver individual; silver relay
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Olga Pyleva (RUS) — gold pursuit; bronze relay
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Kati Wilhelm (GER) — gold sprint; silver pursuit; gold relay
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Andrea Henkel (GER) — gold individual; gold relay
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Liv Grete Skjelbreid Poiree (NOR) — silver individual; silver relay
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Magdalena Forsberg (SWE) — bronze individual; bronze sprint
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Uschi Disl (GER) — silver sprint; gold relay
MEN
10km
SPRINT |
|
Ole Einar Bjoerndalen (NOR) |
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Sven Fischer (GER) |
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Wolfgang Perner (AUT) |
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12.5km
PURSUIT NEW |
|
Ole Einar Bjoerndalen (NOR) |
|
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Raphael Poiree (FRA) |
|
|
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Ricco Gross (GER) |
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20km
INDIVIDUAL FEB 11 |
|
Ole Einar Bjoerndalen (NOR) |
|
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Frank Luck (GER) |
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|
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Victor Maigourov (RUS) |
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4
x 7.5km RELAY FEB 20 |
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NORWAY |
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GERMANY |
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|
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FRANCE |
WOMEN
7.5km
SPRINT |
|
Kati Wilhelm (GER) |
|
|
Uschi Disl (GER) |
|
|
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Magdalena Forsberg (SWE) |
|
10km
PURSUIT NEW |
|
Olga Pyleva (RUS) |
|
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Kati Wilhelm (GER) |
|
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Irina Nikoultchina (BUL) |
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15km
INDIVIDUAL FEB 11 |
|
Andrea Henkel (GER) |
|
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Liv Grete Poiree (NOR) |
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Magdalena Forsberg (SWE) |
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4
x 7.5km RELAY FEB 18 |
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GERMANY |
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NORWAY |
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RUSSIA |
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MEDAL TALLY |
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Total |
Norway |
4 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
Germany |
3 |
5 |
1 |
9 |
Russia |
1 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
France |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
Sweden |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
Austria |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Bulgaria |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Total |
8 |
8 |
8 |
24 |
VENUE & EVENTS
Soldier Hollow
69 kilometers/43 miles from Salt Lake
City
Soldier Hollow is a 518-hectare/1280-acre site at the eastern edge of Wasatch Mountains State Park southeast of Salt Lake City is an open, largely treeless site. The projected capacity is 20,000 spectators. Elevation at the high point of competition courses is 1793 meters/5882.5 feet. Base elevation is 1670 meters/5477.6 feet and stadium elevation is 1690 meters/5544.6 feet. Soldier Hollow is also host to Cross-Country Skiing.
The biathlon combines cross-country skiing with .22-caliber rifle shooting from both the standing and prone positions. Competitors get five shots to score five hits. For each miss, they are penalized, either by time added (in the men's 20k and women's 15k) or by having to ski a penalty loop (in the sprints and relays). The relay competition is the most exciting discipline. Each team is made up of four biathletes (three for the women's event), who each have to ski 7.5k, stopping twice on the course to shoot - once prone and once standing.
