Fourcade breaks through
After consecutive silvers, Frenchman wins 15K mass start biathlon in photo finish
France’s Martin Fourcade slammed his ski pole into the snow in disgust after sliding through the finish line, thinking he’d just lost another Olympic gold medal to a photo finish.
But upon further review, replays showed Fourcade’s left boot crossed the line a few centimeters ahead of Germany’s Simon Schempp, giving him a dramatic victory in the 15-kilometer mass start and his second gold medal of the Pyeongchang Games.
It was a sweet win for Fourcade, who had taken silver in this same event the previous two Olympics, including after a photo-finish loss by a mere 3 centimeters to Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen in the 2014 Sochi Games.
“I thought it was history repeating,” Fourcade said.
Fourcade said he was thinking about his narrow loss to Svendsen the entire last loop and was determined not to let it happen again. Still, Schempp pushed him all the way and pulled even during a frantic final 100 meters as the crowd roared.
“When I saw the line, I had a deep feeling that I’d lost,” Fourcade said. “... I’m still waiting for them to tell me that I’m not the winner. For now it’s not real yet. I’m just waiting to be back in my (hotel) room, open my phone and see that it’s real.”
It was Fourcade’s fourth career gold medal, tying him for the most gold medals by a Frenchman.
Schempp took the silver and Svendsen grabbed the bronze.
HIRSCHER TAKES SECOND GOLD>> Marcel Hirscher turned his domination in the giant slalom into a second gold medal at these Olympics. The 28-year-old Austrian star extended his first-run lead to win by a huge margin of 1.27 seconds over hard-charging Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway. Kristoffersen rose from 10th-fastest in the morning with the quickest time in the second run.
Hirsher won his first Olympic gold medal in the Alpine combined last week, and that took a lot of pressure off him.
Still, he was never seriously challenged Sunday as he continues to compile his historically great season.
“I know, OK, if once it is not happening or not working out good, who cares?” he said. “I have (won) way more already than I was ever, ever expecting. That is giving you a lot of light shoulders.”
Alexis Pinturault of France finished 1.31 behind Hirscher’s two-run time of 2 minutes, 18.04 seconds to get the bronze medal.
Kodaira strikes gold in 500K speedskating>> Nao Kodaira burst off the line, furiously pumping her arms and legs to build up speed. She shot around the oval in a blur and crossed the finish line, the 500-meter Olympic speedskating gold medal easily in hand. With two pairs to go, Kodaira could watch knowing that twotime defending champion Lee Sang-hwa was unlikely to catch her despite being propelled by the loud cheers of flag-waving Korean fans. “I was under big pressure, but I fought through it,” Kodaira said. “I was the captain of the whole delegation of Japan. I know a lot of attention was on me.”
Kodaira was timed in 36.94 seconds, becoming the first woman to race under 37 seconds at sea level. She high-fived her coach after the last skater crossed the line, and shook her fists in triumph.
Kodaira is just the second Japanese speedskater to win Olympic gold, joining Hiroyasu Shimizu, who won the men’s 500 at the 1998 Nagano Games. She also earned silver in the 1,000 and finished sixth in the 1,500. UKRAINIAN WINS MEN’S AERIALS>> Oleksandr Abramenko gave Ukraine its third-ever gold medal at the Winter Olympics, edging China’s Jia Zongyang in men’s aerials. The 29-yearold Abramenko posted a score of 128.51 in his last jump to give his country its first medal in Pyeongchang. He also became the first Ukrainian man to win a medal of any variety in the Winter Games.
Abramenko and Jia both attempted the same jump in the finals, a back full, double full. Abramenko, jumping third in the sixman final, drilled his and celebrated when his score flashed by running around and using the Ukrainian flag as a cape.
MUIRHEAD ‘HOGS’ THE ROCK>> Defending Olympic bronze medalist Eve Muirhead picked a bad time to hog a rock for the first time.
On her final stone of the first extra-end in the Olympic women’s curling tournament, the British skip failed to let go before the rock crossed over the hog line. It was removed from play, setting up Swedish skip Anna Hasselborg with a much easier shot for an 8-6 victory.