Page 18 - HOSPITAAL

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Tuesday 13 February 2018

Fourcade back on top; Dahlmeier

takes second Olympic gold

By STEVE REED suit in dominating fashion. back to the crowd like a
PYEONGCHANG, South Ko- The victory came after an confident showman and
rea (AP) — It was hard to uncharacteristically poor pumped his fist, knowing
imagine Martin Fourcade eighth-place performance he couldn't be caught.
staying down for long. in the opening sprint race Nearly just as dominant,
Sure enough, the world's Sunday that left the world's Dahlmeier is 2-for-2 in gold
most dominant biath- No. 1 biathlete questioning medal opportunities at the
lete bounced back with himself. Pyeongchang Games and
Martin Fourcade, of France, competes during the men's 10-ki- a vengeance Monday to It wasn't until Fourcade is the first woman to win the
lometer biathlon sprint at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Py- win Olympic gold in the saw pictures of himself on sprint and the pursuit in the
eongchang, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2018. men's 12.5-kilometer pur- the shooting range that he same Olympics since the
Associated Press began to understand what latter race was added as
went wrong. The red flags an event in 2002.
on the course that indicate After hitting all 10 targets in
wind were blowing more the sprint, Dahlmeier was
than he realized. nearly perfect again in her
"At that time I realized it second race, connecting
wasn't because I was un- on 19 of 20 shots to cruise
lucky, it was because I did to victory by more than 29
a mistake," the Frenchman seconds. Anastasiya Kuzmi-
said. "From that time on it na of Slovakia was sec-
was much easier to turn my ond and Anais Bescond of
anger into strength for the France took bronze.
(next) competition." "I don't know what to say
Fourcade's victory came because I felt really, really
after Laura Dahlmeier gave tired before the race and
Germany its third straight also during the race in the
gold medal in the biathlon first laps," Dahlmeier said.
— and her second overall "I just tried to stay focused
— in the women's 10-kilo- and now I'm here again."
meter pursuit. Dahlmeier started the race
In the later race, Fourcade with a 24-second lead over
made light work of the her nearest competitor, but
24-second deficit to start Kuzmina caught her at the
the pursuit race by hitting midway point before miss-
19 of 20 targets with his rap- ing two targets on the third
id-fire shooting and fast ski- shoot to fall 37 seconds
ing, enabling him to win his behind. Dahlmeier, who
sixth career Olympic medal called herself a “master of
and third gold. perseverance,” calmly put
Sebastian Samuelsson, a five shots in the center of
20-year-old Swede, took the targets before letting
home the silver medal and out a huge smile.
Benedikt Doll of Germany With a healthy lead on
earned bronze. the final lap, Dahlmeier
Fourcade's return to the grabbed a German flag
medal podium didn't sur- from a fan in the crowd
prise his competitors. about 50 meters from the
"I knew that when he fin- finish and began waving
ished eighth he would be it as she approached the
really fighting for the gold line.
medal," Samuelsson said. She entered the games
"Martin is just unbelievably ranked fourth in the world
good." but never having won a
After taking the lead on gold medal. “Laura is very
the third shoot, Fourcade hard opponent,” Kuzmina
hit his final five shots, turned said. q