Norwegian Gold for Russian Team
Russian biathletes won three gold medals in the final stage of the Biathlon World Cup final in Holemnkollen, Oslo, Norway. Svetlana Sleptsova came in first in the sprint and pursuit race and Ivan Tcherezov also won the pursuit race. Norwegian Ole Einar Bjorndalen and German Magdalena Neuner won Crystal Globes. The best Russian competitors, Dmitry Yaroshenko and Ekaterina Yuryeva, won second and sixth places, respectively, in the final lineup.
Sleptsova, a 21-year-old newcomer to the Russian national team from Khanty-Mansiisk, performed impressively on the slushy track, winning effortlessly over Norwegian Tora Berger and German Kati Wilhelm. Her only victory this season prior to this was in Ruhpolding, Germany, in January, after Finn Kaisa Varis was disqualified and banned for life for doping. She did not win anything in Ostersund, where the Russian team took 11 medals. The day after her sprinting victory, Sleptsova again came in first in the pursuit race with four shootings. Magdalena Neuner of Germany received the Crystal Globe for the sprint and Sandrine Bailly of France received the Crystal Globe for the pursuit race.
Tcherezov, a 26-year-old Izhevsk native, got off to a shaky start due to weak shooting, but regained his stride in the pursuit race, in which Norwegian rising star Emil Hegle Svendsen came in third, giving way to Austrian Friedrich Pinter as well. Bjorndalen did not compete due to a cold. He had already established his place in Khanty-Mansiisk.
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All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 17, 2008
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