Norwegian biathlete Tora Berger won gold in the women's individual 15 km race at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, with Kazakhstan and Belarus getting their first medals of the Games.
Russia, which won five biathlon medals in Turin four years ago, again missed out, with Olga Medvedtseva the top finisher in a disappointing 21st place.
Berger missed just one of the 20 shooting targets, completing the course in 40:52.8. Kazakhstan's Yelena Khrustaleva won silver, finishing 20.7 seconds behind the Norwegian after a perfect shooting performance, while Darya Domracheva of Belarus was 28.2 seconds behind the winner after missing one target.
The four Russian competitors missed a total of 12 targets, with Medvedtseva 2:33.1 off the pace with two misses, followed by Anna Bogaly-Titovets (+2.53.5, three misses, 25th place), Olga Zaitseva (2.54.0, three misses, 26th) and Yana Romanova (+5.48.2, 4 misses, 56th).
Medals have now been awarded in five of the 10 biathlon events, with the men's 20 km individual race next later on Thursday.
MOSCOW, February 18 (RIA Novosti)
