Norway's Berger dominates 15-km biathlon race
Biathlete wins nation's 100th Olympic gold medal
Last Updated: Thursday, February 18, 2010 | 3:58 PM ET
By Lindsey Craig, CBC Sports
Norway's Tora Berger nears the finish to take gold in the women's 15km individual biathlon race at Whistler Olympic Park. (Frank Fife/Getty Images) Norway's Tora Berger dominated to take gold in the women's 15-kilometre individual biathlon race on Thursday at Whistler Olympic Park.
Berger finished with a time of 40:52.8 to collect her country's 100th gold medal of all time.
Elena Khrustaleva of Kazakhstan captured the silver, 20.7 seconds behind Berger. Collecting bronze was Darya Domracheva of Belarus, 28.2 back from the winner.
Four Canadians also competed in the event. They included Zina Kocher (72nd) of Red Deer, Alta., Megan Tandy (50th) of Prince George, B.C., Megan Imrie (62nd) of Falcon Lake, Man., and Rosanna Crawford (76th) of Canmore, Alta.
Eyes had been on Germany's Magdalena Neuner to make the podium. She has already won two medals in the Games so far: a gold in the 10-km pursuit, and silver in the 7.5-km sprint. But Neuner came 10th.
Women's biathlon made its debut at the Olympics in 1992 — the same year Canada's Myriam Bédard won bronze in the 15-km event. Bédard won gold in 1994.
Critical blunders
Biathlon made recent headlines for critical blunders that took place during two medal events on Tuesday.
Some athletes were assigned incorrect start times and results had to be adjusted.
The sport's governing body, the International Biathlon Union, took responsibility, but some believe inexperienced volunteers were partly to blame.
In the 15-km race, each skier stops four times, twice to shoot five shots prone, and twice to shoot five shots standing.
One minute is added to a competitor's elapsed time for each missed shot. Competitors begin racing at 30-second intervals and race against the clock.
A study conducted at the 2002 Olympics found that biathlon is the No. 1 sweat-producing event at the Winter Games.
The average female biathlete produced 1.4 litres (3.1 pounds) of sweat during the 15-km event, while male athletes produce 2.3 litres (five pounds) of sweat during the 20-km race.
