French biathlete clinches gold in nail-biter of a finish
When it comes to clinching gold at the Winter Olympics, sometimes every millimeter counts.
French biathlete Martin Fourcade captured the gold medal ― the fourth in his career ― in the men’s 15km mass start competition on Sunday in a dramatic neck-and-neck finish at the games in Peongchang, South Korea.
The 29-year-old crossed the end line just barely ahead of Simon Schempp of Germany. Both men, in a last-ditch dive, stretched toward the line but it was Fourcade whose ski managed to cross it first, passing Schempp by just a few millimeters, the BBC reported. That’s less than an inch.
Both recorded the same time of 35 minutes, 47.3 seconds. Biathlon combines skiing and shooting, with the men’s 15km event featuring five laps around a 3km course and four shooting rounds
Bronze went to Emil Hegle Svendsen of Norway.
Fourcade’s victory made him France’s most successful Winter Olympian of all time.
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Fourcade won gold last week in the men’s 12.5km pursuit and two gold and two silver medals at the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
