March 9, 2012 (Ruhpolding, GER) – Under sunny skies 29 teams lined up in Ruhpolding on Friday and it was Norway’s Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, Rune Brattsveen, Tarjei Boe, and Emil Hegle Svendsen who skied to victory in the men’s 4×7.5 km relay.

The Norwegian men suffered one penalty using seven spare rounds and came from behind to finish with a time of 1:17:26 and a 30-second margin over France who claimed the silver, with Germany at 53 seconds behind in the bronze medal position.

Team USA had a solid day with an strong 10th place finish as Lowell Bailey, Jay Hakkinen, Tim Burke and Leif Nordgren used 14 spare rounds and posted a time of 1:20:32.9 at 3:06.1 behind the winners.

Canadian’s Marc-Andre Bedard, Jean Philippe Leguellec, Scott Perras, and Nathan Smith were 3:20 behind the victorious Norwegians, finishing in 13th position overall with one penalty and 10 spare rounds.

The Norwegian men had one penalty and seven spare rounds and finished with a time of 1:17:26 with a 30-second margin over France who claimed the silver, with Germany at 53 seconds behind in the bronze medal position.

In 13th after the first round Norway’s legendary Björndalen a tough day on the range suffering the team’s only shooting penalty. “I did not have a good feeling in the shooting range; a lot of movement and no control today,” he told  v

But Norway battled back to fourth by the third leg as France and Russia fought for supremacy at the front with Germany in third. Norway’s anchor, Svendsen was instrumental in the Norwegian victory as Boe delivered him into second at the exchange as Russia faltered and Germany could not contain the Norwegians.

Svendsen ran down France’s Martin Fourcade to bring home the victory. “I tried to stay really focused, even though there was lots of tension. I felt good on the shooting range and kept my nerves under control the whole time…I am really happy to catch the gold for Norway,” said Svendsen in the biathlonworld.com report.

Fourcade, the anchor for Team France, had mixed emotions about the result.  “The Norwegian team were much stronger today. I’m a bit disappointed with my shooting, but really happy with the silver medal.”
Racing continues from the World Championships in Ruhpolding tomorrow with Women’s 4×6 Relay.

Full men’s results HERE.