Germany wins biathlon relay

RUHPOLDING, Germany (AP) -- Germany won a women's biathlon World Cup relay Wednesday, holding off Russia and Sweden despite some shaky shooting in front of a home crowd.

The German team of Andrea Henkel, Kati Wilhelm, Kathrin Hitzer and Magdalena Neuner covered the 4x6-kilometer course in 1 hour, 16 minutes, 41.2 seconds.

Russia, which did not use some of its top biathletes, led through the first two legs but finished 37.5 seconds behind. Sweden was 56.5 seconds off the pace.

Hitzer needed to reload twice in the third exchange for Germany, but still handed a big lead over to Neuner. She also needed to reload twice to knock down the last target, but got away with a 12-second lead that she increased at the finish.

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