Oceane Michelon found reserves of energy to power to the Olympic gold medal in the women's biathlon 12.5-km mass start race at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics on Saturday. Her teammate Julia Simon took silver and Tereza Vorobnikova of the Czech Republic bronze.
With the snow falling heavily and low visibility, 23-year-old Michelon surged through the final lap to pass Tereza Vorobnikova of the Czech Republic to win her second gold of the Games.
"The last loop was really, really hard, it was just a lot of emotion that culminated (at the finish line)," she told Reuters, her new gold medal dangling around her neck.
"I just thought, these are the real 'now' moments, and I just said that you have to end the Olympics, and the Olympics are ending at the finish line and if you are not at the finish line it's not finished."
Michelon looked stunned as she greeted silver medallist and teammate Julia Simon, who finished a few seconds after her. The two won gold together in the women's relay, and on Saturday Michelon added her first individual Olympic title.
France's Harrop, Anselmet take gold in mixed relay Olympic debut
Shooting and skiing
Biathlon includes rifle shooting and cross-country skiing.
Only the top 30 biathletes compete in the mass start race – based on World Cup rankings and Olympic performance. They ski five, 2.5-kilometer loops, shooting twice in the prone position and twice standing.
Anna Magnusson of Sweden, the only biathlete to hit all 20 of her targets, finished fourth, 26.6 seconds back.
Italy's Dorothea Wierer, favoured by the fans who roared with excitement each time she hit a target, missed two, and at one point was sitting in 16th place, but she cleaned her last standing shooting and crossed the line 30 seconds back in fifth place.
Olympic mass start defending champion Justine Braisaz-Bouchet of France finished a disappointing 27th place, 3:12.2 back, after missing six targets.
(with newswires)
