February 21, 2010 (Whistler, BC) – Russia’s Evgeny Ustyugov captured the gold medal in the

men’s 15km Mass Start competition on Sunday morning in 35:35.7, while Magdalena Neuner of Germany took the gold in the women’s 12.5km Mass Start in 35:19.6. The 24-year-old Russian, with a clean shooting performance gave his country its first medal in the biathlon competitions this week at Whistler Olympic Park. Two penalties did not deter Neuner today as she came from behind to win her third medal of these Games.

Ustyugov took control in the final standing stage, as he cleaned for the fourth time of the day. He commented, “After the Individual competition, I psyched myself to be prepared for the final shooting stage. God smiled upon me; some of my shots went wide, but they still went down for whatever reason.”

He was pleased to be the person to claim the gold for his country. “I actually had a rather negative a

ttitude going in today’s competition. It was really a bad thing that we had not won a medal and I never realized how long it had been since my country had won a gold medal in biathlon. So I decided I would be the one to break the cycle.”

The silver medal went to the hard-charging Martin Fo

urcade of France, who finished only 10.5 seconds back, despite three penalties. Fourcade commented on his come from behind silver medal. “After the first prone stage, I thought I was done for when I had two penalties. Then things changed after I shot clean twice. When I left the shooting range for the final loop, I saw the possibility for a medal. I gave it everything I could. Once I realized I could be on the podium, I just did not want to stop. I saw my childhood dream coming true and I just knew I was going to be on the podium.”

Slovakia took its third biathlon medal of these Games as clean-shooting Pavol Hurajt finished 16.6 seconds back. Hurajt commented, “I knew that if I missed just one shot today, I would not win a medal, but I managed it and held on for the medal.” Prior to these Games, Slovakia had only won one Winter Olympic medal, with Hurajt’s bronze and the two earlier medals by Anastasiya Kuzmina; the small nation now has four medals.

None of the three North American biathletes figured in the medals today. Tim Burke of the USA shot clean in the first two stages. He was in the top three at this point. However, he missed three shots in the first standing stage and another in the final stage, ending up 18th, 1:09 back. His teammate, Jeremy Teela, with four penalties, finished 29th, 3:00.4 back.

Canada’s Jean Philippe Leguellec had four penalties in the second prone stage and fell to the back of the field. He finished 30th, with a total of seven penalties, 3:42.8 back.

In the women’s 12.5K competition, Russian Olga Zaitseva, with one penalty took the second medal of the day for Russia, as she finished 5.5 seconds back. Simone Hauswald of Germany won her first Olympic medal, capturing the bronze, with two penalties, 7.3 seconds back.

The women’s competition started with a conservative pace. In the first prone stage, the top 14 women all shot clean, as Hauswald took the lead, followed by Ann Kristin Flatland of Norway and Marie Laure Brunet of France. Hauswald maintained the lead with a second clean stage, as Zaitseva moved into contention. Zaitseva had a single penalty in the third stage, as did Neuner who was back in eighth position. Hauswald fell off the pace with two penalties.

All three of the eventual medalists shot clean in the final stage as did Medvedtseva, who was in the leading group as they left the shooting range. Neuner was 7.5 seconds behind the leader at that time, Zaitseva. She immediately turned on the afterburners and passed both Russian women, while dragging Hauswald with her. Hauswald got even with Zaitseva as Neuner sped away to the win and the gold medal. The German woman and the Russian battled until the final 400 meters when Zaitseva slipped ahead and cruised to the silver, with Hauswald in the bronze spot.

Neuner was confident as she left the shooting range for the final loop. “I had only missed one standing shot. I left the shooting range and saw the other girls not so far ahead. I thought I could get a medal then.”

Winning her third medal of these Games left Neuner a bit speechless. She said, “This is a bit of a surprise to me. I know what I can do and I believe in myself. I knew I could win a medal, but now I have three medals and that is unbelievable. I think I need some days or weeks to realize what I have done and enjoy it.”

Her teammate Hauswald summed up the feelings of most athletes who won individual medals at these Olympic Winter Games. “It is a good feeling and a dream comes true. I have worked hard for many years to be here. When I woke up this morning, I had a very good feeling and thought, ‘okay, this is your day.’ I believed in myself and had a very good race; I am just very happy to be here.”

Only two biathlon competitions remain in these Games, the women’s Relay on Tuesday and the men’s Relay on Friday.

Women’s full results here.

Men’s full results here.