Russian Pyleva wins 10K pursuit

MIDWAY, Utah (AP) -- Olga Pyleva of Russia won the gold medal in women's biathlon 10K pursuit on Saturday in a time of 31 minutes, 07.7 seconds.

Kati Wilhelm of Germany won the silver, and Irina Nikoultchina of Bulgaria took the bronze.

The 26-year-old Russian picked up the first Olympic gold of her career after having won two golds in the world championships in relay events. Crossing the line, she stuck out her tongue at the TV cameras in playful celebration.

"I didn't think about winning today. I would have been very happy with any medal but, of course, the gold is wonderful. I don't think I realized what's happened."

Starting the final leg of the competition in eighth place and a minute and three seconds to make up, Pyleva had just one penalty. Wilhelm, the leader coming into the round, had four, missing three of her first five shots.

Trying for her second Olympic gold of these games, Wilhelm finished 5.3 seconds behind, with Nikoultchina 8.1 seconds behind the leader.

Wilhelm said she had little to lose.

"I had no pressure today because I had already won the [7.5 kilometer sprint] gold," the German said. "I've improved a lot in my shooting but today I missed three in the first shooting and I thought it was over.

"I made a bad mistake and thought I had no chance but I just kept going strong. The leaders got a little nervous and I fought my way back."

Nikoultchina, who competed at the previous two Olympics as a cross country skier, came up from 11th place to collect her first bronze.

"I was very surprised that I won a medal because, at first, I shot very badly," the Bulgarian said. "It was very important for me to do well in the shooting because, in the skiing, I had good speed. I started my attack at the last moment and that's how I ended up in a medal position.

"I didn't have a great chance to medal [after the sprint race] but I was willing to wait one more day. I didn't think I had a chance because I was so far behind at the start. I knew that, in order to win, I had to hit all the targets. I was disappointed that I missed one on the last."

Five-time world champion Magdalena Forsberg of Sweden, recognized as the world's greatest biathlete, was in the lead until she had two misses at the final shooting station, pushing her back to a sixth-place finish. She finished 26.3 seconds behind the winner.

Forsberg had already failed to win gold in two other biathlon events, taking bronze each time.

 

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