02/18/26 10:19:00
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02/18 10:18 CST French women take Olympic gold in biathlon relay, upsetting
defending champion Sweden
French women take Olympic gold in biathlon relay, upsetting defending champion
Sweden
By MARTHA BELLISLE
Associated Press
ANTERSELVA, Italy (AP) --- Julia Simon didn't need to shoot fast when she
entered the range on the last leg of the women's 4x6-kilometer biathlon relay
race at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Wednesday.
But she knocked down all five targets in rapid succession, took a bow and skied
the French team to a gold medal --- its first in the event in 34 years.
Carrying a massive French flag and smiling wide, Simon crossed the line in
combined time of 1 hour, 10 minutes, 22 seconds for her third gold medal of the
Milan Cortina Games.
Defending Olympic relay champion Sweden overcame some shooting setbacks to take
silver, 51.3 seconds behind France. Norway lost ground at the end but held on
for bronze, 1:07 back.
Camillie Bened led off for France, but one penalty loop during her standing
shoot set the team back to 16th place. Lou Jeanmonnot took over and moved the
French up to third at the third exchange. Oceane Michelon passed the leaders on
the course and used only one spare shot on the range, ensuring France had a
solid lead. It stayed that way until the end.
Hannah Oeberg of Sweden and Maren Kirkeeide of Norway entered the range
together for the last shooting. Oeberg only needed one spare to knock down her
targets, while Kirkeeide needed two, which set her back about 20 seconds --- a
deficit she was unable to make up on the trails.
Vanessa Voigt of Germany shot clean and was on Norway's heels, but wasn't able
to catch the medal places, finishing 1:29 behind in fourth.
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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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