January 07, 2015 (Oberhof, GER) – Amidst characteristic fog and soft snow in Oberhof, Germany, the Czech Republic squad prevailed to take the women’s 4×6 km Relay using 7 spare rounds as France took the silver at 8.9s behind with 8 spare rounds. Belarus with anchor, Darya Domracheva, claimed the final podium spot with one penalty and 8 spare rounds at 1:18:02 behind.

Czech team... © Nordic Focus file photo

The Canadian team with Megan Heinicke, Julia Ransom, Emma Lunder and Zina Kocher had a tough day on the range with two penalties and 13 spare rounds and were lapped to finish 17th overall.

The Ukraine took an early lead with as Anastasiya Merkushyna and Valj Semerenko both shot clean. France was strong in second as Gabriela Soukalova took the Czech Republic into third. As the Ukraine began to falter the Czechs took over second place while Norway surged and threatened as well.

Czech skier Veronika Vitkova prevailed as France’s Anais Bescond settled for second. Behind Norway’s Tiril Eckhoff suffered on the range leaving the door open for Domracheva who pounced to take third. “The final shooting was quite hard as I was nervous; but I really wanted to win,” Vitkova told biathlonworld.com

Full results here.

for the 21 teams on the starting line.T