Berger of Norway wins women’s individual biathlon race for 1st Olympic gold

Berger wins women’s individual biathlon race

WHISTLER, British Columbia — Tora Berger only missed one target, and Norway hit a big one — the first nation to win 100 gold medals at the Winter Olympics.

Tora Berger’s victory in Thursday’s 15-kilometer individual biathlon race victory Thursday meant the Scandinavian ski-crazed country became the first nation to achieve an Olympic centennial.

The 28-year-old Norwegian missed just one target to finish in 40 minutes, 58.2 seconds, beating silver medalist Elena Khrustaleva of Kazakhstan by 20.7 seconds. Darya Domracheva of Belarus took the bronze, 28.2 seconds behind Berger.

Although Berger knew she’d had a good race, her early start number meant she had a long wait to see whether it was good enough for gold.

“It was really nervous to wait,” said Berger, who had bib No. 2 among 87 skiers in the interval-start race. “It was not a good time.”

When her last remaining rivals faltered on the last shooting range, she broke down in tears as her teammates and coaches started congratulating her.

“It’s a bit of a shame that I should stand here and cry when I’ve performed so well,” Berger said.

Berger missed her only target on her very last shot for a 1-minute penalty Thursday but had built up such a large lead that it didn’t matter. She didn’t know that at the time, however, and left the shooting range thinking she might have blown her chance.

In the individual race, a missed target results in 1 minute being added to the time instead of a 150-meter penalty loop as in other events.

“I thought that (miss) was losing the medal, and my chance of winning was gone,” Berger said. “But I heard that many of the other athletes were also missing.”

Aside from the two other medalists, no one else even came within a minute of Berger, with German veteran and three-time gold medalist Kati Wilhelm 1:04.5 behind in fourth.

Helena Jonsson of Sweden and Germany’s Magdalena Neuner were among those who suffered from poor shooting, with both missing three shots in the first two positions to fall out of contention early.

The Russian team also continued its poor showing, with Olga Medvedtseva finishing 27th as the best result.

After watching all the big names falter, Berger had just two more rivals to worry about.

Valj Semerenko of Ukraine and Weronika Novakowska — with start Nos. 62 and 71 respectively — both came into the shooting range for the fourth and final time with a chance to match the Norwegian if they shot cleanly. But Semerenko missed her final shot and Novakowska her second to lose their shot at a medal — and start the Norwegian celebration.

After a substandard performance four years ago in Turin, Norway seems to be back on form in Vancouver, where Marit Bjoergen won gold No. 99 on Wednesday in the women’s cross-country sprint.

Berger, Khrustaleva and Domracheva all earned their first Olympic medal.

Khrustaleva was one of just six women who hit all 20 targets, but she couldn’t match Berger’s pace around the course. Domracheva also had one miss, on the second shooting.

Domracheva, however, wasn’t that surprised. She said a friend e-mailed her on Wednesday to tell her about a dream he’d had, seeing her on the podium.

“Before I go to the start, I never think about medals,” Domracheva said. But the e-mail said “‘Believe me, you’re going to get a medal. You’re going to get a bronze.’ And that really turned out to be a true dream.”