Greis staying cool

Michael Greis is aiming to keep his feet on the ground despite claiming the Turin Games' first gold medal on Saturday. The German missed just one target to fend off the determined challenge of Ole Einar Bjoerndalen and win the men's 20km Individual, but i

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"It'll take five minutes for it all to sink in. I've been dreaming about this since I was a kid and today I skied an almost perfect race," said Greis. "But I'll only celebrate after the season - there are still races ahead where I want to perform well."

Greis profited from a slow-but-sure strategy, starting steadily to then take advantage of his rivals' slip-ups on the range to pip Bjoerndalen by 16 seconds and take away at least the first of the three individual titles that the Norwegian won in a clean sweep of golds in Salt Lake City four years ago.

"Ole Einar can be beaten, we've seen it. I'm happy I proved it straightaway in the first race," said Greis, who repeated the triumph he claimed at Cesana San Sicario during last season's World Cup campaign.

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"After missing that one shot I knew I couldn't allow myself another mistake if I wanted to stay ahead. Racing was pretty hard, but I managed to save my energy."

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