THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE INTERNATIONAL BIATHLON ...

OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES VANCOUVER 2010 OLYMPISCHE WINTERSPIELE VANCOUVER 2010tangible. There were a lot of serious faces, and not everyonewas coping well with the pressure that the big nationsNorway, Russia and Germany in particular were under.This was the chance for the supposedly-smaller nations,who were able to get ready in peace and quiet without themedia attention. Slovakia’s Anastasiya Kuzmina made themost of the opportunity in the Sprint competition, outspeedingeven German power-skier Magdalena Neuner.Both had to ski penalty loops, but the Slovakian womanretained her lead of 1.5 seconds on Neuner. It was a totalsensation, despite the fact that the modest Kuzmina hadalready actually won a silver medal in the Mass Start at the2009 Biathlon World Championships. However, this was adifferent story; a Gold medal in the Olympics. Neuner onthe other hand, insisted that she was very pleased with herfirst Olympic medal and would not give any thought to howclose she had come to the Gold.Marie Dorin had little to worry about. The French womanpositively radiated happiness over her Bronze medal andher flawless shooting.The following day the men had their first competition,the Sprint, which also resulted in a big surprise. In the end,young French athlete Vincent Jay stood at the top of thepodium with a flawless performance and a total time of24:07.8. The previous year he had gained his first WorldCup victory in the Individual at the same venue, so thecourse obviously suited him. The big favourite, Emil HegleSvendsen, was unable to prevent Jay from winning, gaininga Silver medal, 12.2 seconds back with a single penalty.Actually he counted himself lucky as Croatia’s flawless JakovFak was only 1.8 seconds slower. Like Kuzmina, Fakmade his first waves at the 2009 World Championships inPyeongchang with third place in the Individual. The Slovenianteam, whom Fak trains with, had yet another successwith Klemen Bauer, in fourth place. Ukraine’s AndriyDeryzemlya finished fifth, while the Canadian hosts gaineda respectable sixth place with Jean-Philippe Leguellec,putting both of them in a good position for the Pursuit competition.MURPHY’S LAW SHOWS NO MERCYOn February 16, Magdalena Neuner changed places withKuzmina in the Pursuit, thus the Slovakian’s star was bornearly on in the Games. The French team swapped MarieDorin (who placed 17th) with Marie Laure Brunet to grabtheir second Bronze. Anna Carin Olofsson-Zidek of Swedencame in fourth, although there was almost more talkabout her than about the Gold medallist. She had been in-Magdalena Neuner -gER, Evgeny ustyugov- RuS, Anastasiyakuzmina - SVk, VincentJay - FRAThe official Magazine of The iBU 20 i 2010 biathlonworld 17