March 3, 2011 (Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia) – Overall World Cup leader Tarjei Boe narrowly overtook Germany’s Michael Greis in the final leg of Thursday’s Mixed Relay to take the gold for Team Norway at the IBU World Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. The Norwegian squad, which consisted of Boe, Ole Einer Bjorndalen, Tora Berger and Ann Kristen Flatland, used just 7 spare rounds to claim the victory in a time of 1:14:22.5.

“It was very important for us to win today,” commented Bjorndalen according to an IBU report. “We have had problems in the mixed relay before with good teams. So it was good to be ahead of teams that have had success in this competition like Sweden and Germany.”

Germany took silver with Greis finishing 22.9 seconds behind Boe. The team consisted of Andrea Henkel, Magdalena Nuener, Arnd Pfeiffer and Greis, and utilized 8 spare rounds to finish with a final time of 1:14:45.4.

“It is fun to race with the men in the mixed relay…I shot clean…it was great,” Neuner said, “It was a good start to win a medal, especially for me. It was nice to see that I am in good shape. I am very focused and fit. For Germany, it is great to have this first medal and we want to collect more.”

France claimed the final podium spot behind a clean final leg from Martin Fourcade, who also required zero spares. Fourcade was preceded by Marie Laure Brunet, Marie Dorin, and Alexis Boeuf, who combined for a finishing time of 1:15:38.7.

“Relays are important for the French team,” said Brunet after the team’s podium finish, “They represent the athletes but also all of the staff. It is important to have a good result in this competition because it represents a good job for our whole French team.”

The United States foursome, consisting of Sara Studebaker, Laura Spector, Jay Hakkinen, and Leif Nordgren, finished 13th with a no miss, 14 spare round performance. The squad’s finishing time of 1:19:33.6 put them just under 4 minutes out of a podium spot.

Canada did not compete in Thursday’s competition.

Full Results HERE.

Results (Brief)

1. Norway, (0+4, 0+3) 1:14:22.5
2. Germany, (0+5, 0+3) 1:14:45.4
3. France, (0+2, 0+6) 1:15:38.7