Sure-fire Simon steers France to women's relay gold
LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Julia Simon anchored a triumphant final leg as France powered to victory in the women's 4x6km relay at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Championships on Saturday, hitting a perfect 10 of 10 shots to claim the gold.
Maren Kirkeeide of Norway stormed through the field and shot clean on the last leg to grab silver for Norway, while Elvira Oeberg secured the bronze for Sweden after a nerve-jangling final shoot, holding off a strong challenge from Germany and Austria.
Such was the French lead entering the final lap that Simon could spend most of it saluting the crowd, and still they finished more than a minute ahead of the Norwegians, with the Swedes a further 40 seconds back.
With warm temperatures and loose, heavy snow making the skiing tough, accuracy on the shooting range was all the more important. Racers were granted three extra shots at each shoot before having to complete penalty loops to atone for any further misses.
The French team took control early with Lou Jeanmonnot handing over a 32-second lead to Oceane Michelon and they never looked back, with Simon even taking the time to bow to the crowd after her final shot before speeding around the last lap.
The only blemish on Simon's last circuit came when part of a hoarding collapsing as fans sought to give her high fives, but nothing could curtail the French joy as she stopped for a final bow before crossing the line in a time of 1:07:26.5.
Norway's Kirkeeide kept her cool and made the most of uncharacteristic misses by Swede Oeberg in the prone shooting by overtaking her and securing second, but the Swede used her strong skiing to bounce back and grab third spot for her team.
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