Tora Berger of Norway earns 100th Winter Olympic gold for Norway, winning biathlon race

Berger wins 100th Winter Olympic gold for Norway

WHISTLER, British Columbia — Tora Berger earned Norway’s 100th Winter Olympic gold medal Thursday, winning the women’s 15-kilometer individual biathlon race after the main favorites faltered yet again.

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 finished in 40 minutes, 58.2 seconds, beating silver medalist Elena Khrustaleva of Kazakhstan by 20.7 seconds.

Darya Domracheva of Belarus took the bronze after finishing 28.2 seconds behind Berger.

No one else came within a minute of the Norwegian, with German veteran and three-time gold medalist Kati Wilhelm 1:04.5 behind in fourth.

After watching all her competitors fail to match her time, Berger broke down in tears as teammates and coaches rushed to congratulate her.

“It’s a bit of a shame that I should stand here and cry when I’ve performed so well,” Berger said. “I don’t know what to say.”

Berger had bib No. 2 in the interval-start race, meaning all the contenders who started behind her were getting reports about the Norwegian’s intermediate times from their coaches. None of them could match her pace, however, as the Norwegian shot cleanly in the first three shooting positions before her only error on the 20th and final target.

That miss meant Berger had to wait a long time to start celebrating.

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

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.

“It was really nervous to wait,” Berger said. “It was not a good time.”

Helena Jonsson of Sweden and Germany’s Magdalena Neuner suffered from poor shooting to fall out of contention early.