Norway's Svendsen wins biathlon gold
Kingston, Ont., athlete finishes 13th
Last Updated: Thursday, February 18, 2010 | 7:13 PM ET
The Associated Press
Norway's Emil Hegle Svendsen crosses the finish line in the men's 20 kilometre biathlon on Thursday. (Al Bello/Getty Images)Norway's Emil Hegle Svendsen denied countryman Ole Einar Bjoerndalen his sixth Olympic gold, beating his mentor in the men's 20-kilometre individual biathlon race at the Whistler Olympic Park on Thursday.
Bjoerndalen was in position to win biathlon's biggest and toughest race Thursday, but he missed the first target on his final, standing shoot, costing him a one-minute penalty. He finished 9.5 seconds behind Svendsen's winning time of 48 minutes 22.5 seconds.
Sergey Novikov of Belarus, who hit all 20 targets, tied Bjoerndalen for the silver medal. Svendsen missed one target and Bjoerndalen two.
Canada's Jean Philippe Le Guellec finished 13th, in 50 minutes, 47 seconds. The 24-year-old from Kingston, Ont., was Canada's only athlete in the event.










