Last Wednesday, Anna Magnusson, Linn Gestblom and the sisters Hanna and Elvira Öberg won Olympic silver in the relay in Antholz. Three days later, in the women’s biathlon final of this Winter Olympics, the mass start over 12.5 kilometers and four shooting, everyone remained without a medal.
Elvira Öberg and Anna Magnusson hit the first two prone shots and were part of the tight group of nine runners before the final two shots. Linn Gestblom and Hanna Öberg missed two shots in prone and were never in the running for medals.
Olympic dominant Julia Simon, who won three gold medals before the mass start in Antholz, missed a shot in the third standing stage and lost her lead going into the final round, while Öberg and Magnusson moved to second and fourth after the shooting behind leader Océane Michelon of France.
Before the final shot, Michelon took the lead heading into the stadium, but missed a shot and appeared to have lost the gold. Öberg also shot away with a bang. The Swedish hope instead lay with the 30-year-old Magnusson, who once again gave full throttle and came second on the last lap. The Swede, who has never won an individual Olympic medal, was overtaken by two riders and eventually finished fourth.
Michelon came back in the final lap to take gold ahead of Simon in silver. Tereza Vobornikova from the Czech Republic took bronze.
