February 18, 2010 (Whistler, BC) – The legendary 20km. The true test for any biathlete and
that honuor at the 2010 Olympic Games goes to Emil Helge Svendsen of Norway – the first Olympic gold of his career. It was also a show by two of the best biathletes ever, as, 9.5seconds behind Svendsen, there was an amazing tie for the Silver medal, with his teammate, multi-decorated Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, who had two penalties, and surprise – Belarus’ Sergey Novikov, with no penalties. Were it not for the penalty, Bjoerndalen would have won.The conditions were spring-like, with soft snow and temperatures around 8degC . But they were consistent for most of the competitors. Canada’s Jean Philippe Le Guellec continues to shine for the North Americans in these Olympics. Today he was 13th, shooting 18/20, and finishing +2:24.6 behind Svendsen.
The Americans appeared to have a tough day on the range. Lowell Bailey shot best for the team, with 16/20 for 51st place, Tim Burke skied fast enough to cover his 5 misses, for 32ndplace, 5:00.1 out of first, Jay Hakkinen shot 13/20 for 68th and first-time Olympian Wynn Roberts shot 12/20 for 76th place.
Full results here.
Results (brief)
1. Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) T/1, 48:22.5
2. Ole Einar Bjoerndalen (NOR) T/2, +9.5
2. Sergey Novikov (BEL), T/0, +9.5
13. Jean Philippe LeGuellec (CAN), T/2, +2:24.6
32. Tim Burke (USA), T/5, +5:00.1
51. Lowell Bailey (USA), T/4, +6:00.6
68. Jay Hakkinen (USA), T/7, +8:39.3
76. Wynn Roberts (USA), T/8, +10:26.7