ANTERSELVA, Italy, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- France won the women's 4x6km biathlon relay at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Wednesday, as the quartet of Camille Bened, Lou Jeanmonnot, Oceane Michelon and Julia Simon clocked 1:10:22.7 to take the gold medal.
The victory completed a clean sweep of all three biathlon relay titles at these Games for France, following earlier golds in the mixed relay and men's relay.
French women produced a striking comeback similar to that of their men's counterparts. Bened, skiing the opening leg, incurred an early penalty loop and dropped the team 55 seconds off the pace. Her teammates, however, delivered near-perfect shooting and strong skiing to claw back, before Simon sealed the win on the anchor leg.
Sweden finished second with one penalty loop and seven spares, trailing France by 51.3 seconds, while Norway claimed bronze with seven spares, one minute 7.6 seconds behind the winner.
Simon, who crossed the finish line waving the French flag, collected her third individual gold medal of the Games following her triumphs in the mixed relay and women's 15km individual.
"I raced my race, did everything my way. I did it how I do it in training. It is a little difficult to go when you have such a big gap. There are such high expectations," Simon said.
The final two biathlon competitions of the Milan-Cortina Games, the men's 15km mass start and women's 12.5km mass start, will be held on Friday and Saturday, respectively. ■
