The Russian team of Svetlana Sleptsova, Anna Bogaliy-Titovets, Olga Medvedtseva and Olga Zaitseva took Olympic gold in Vancouver on Tuesday in the women's biathlon relay.
The defending Olympic champions and reigning world champions finished in 1 hour, 9 minutes, 36.3 seconds, easily beating the French quartet of Marie Laure Brunet, Sylvie Becaert, Marie Dorin and Sandrine Bailly, who finished 32.8 seconds behind.
Without its star athlete Magdalena Neuner, the German team of Kati Wilhelm, Simone Hauswald, Martina Beck and Henkel finished +37.1 seconds behind the leader and took the bronze.
Slepstova said she was "a bit shocked" after she missed no shots during the first leg, but came to the first exchange 22 seconds behind the leader, France.
"I did my best, but I was too slow during the final lap," she told the Russia TV channel.
Bogaliy-Titovets missed two shots, but caught up with the German and French teams during the second leg.
Medvedtseva almost guaranteed the Russian victory during the third leg as she came to the final exchange with a 45-second lead. France's Dorin missed five of her eight shots, skied two penalty laps and finished third, putting France out of the gold medal race.
Zaitseva, who ran the fourth leg, missed two shots during her second shooting, but the lead over opponents was large enough to claim victory.
"Of course, we were nervous until the last moment. But this time the team's make up and starting order was correct," Russia's head coach Vladimir Barnashov said.
Russia pinned high hopes on its biathletes in the Olympic events. However, the team failed to take any medals in the first six races.
On Monday Russia's Evgeny Ustyugov brought his country the first Vancouver gold in biathlon, winning the 15 km mass start. He shot clean and finished with 35:35.7.
MOSCOW, February 24 (RIA Novosti)
