ANTERSELVA, Italy (AP) — In an upset for the French men’s biathlon team, Martin Ponsiluoma of Sweden dominated on the shooting range Sunday to take the gold medal in the 12.5-kilometer pursuit biathlon race at the Milan Cortina Winter Games, while Norwegian biathlete Sturla Holm Laegreid won silver — six days after making an unexpected personal confession during a post-race interview.
Emilien Jacquelin of France led the field coming into the last shooting stage, after cleaning his targets using his characteristic but risky rapid fire technique. But the speed got the best of him and he missed two, allowing Ponsiluoma, who hit all his targets, to exit the range first. Laegreid also cleared his targets and left the range in second place, leaving Jacquelin with a bronze.
Ponsiluoma, winning the first medal in biathlon for Sweden in these Winter Games, crossed the finish line with a time of 31 minutes and 11.9 seconds. Laegreid was 20.6 seconds behind him while Jacquelin was 29.7 seconds back.
Olympic biathlon pursuit champion Quentin Fillon Maillet, having won the sprint race days before, started off 14 seconds ahead of the field, but missed three shots during his two prone shooting stages, dropping him down to eighth place. He finished seventh, 1:13.5 behind the Swede.
The pursuit biathlon start list is based on how the racers finished in the previous sprint race, with the sprint winner going off first, and all others starting in the seconds-back order based on their sprint finish. Biathletes must ski a 150-meter penalty lap for each missed target.
Laegreid drew national attention on Tuesday after the men’s 20-kilometer individual race when during an interview with Norwegian network NRK, he revealed on camera that he had been unfaithful “to the love of my life” in an apparent attempt to win her back.
His tearful confession didn’t go over well with critics who said it detracted from teammate Johan-Olav Botn who shot clean to win the gold medal in the event. He released a statement the following day, saying he regretted sharing his personal story on a day that should have focused on his teammate’s victory.
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