TNT Sports
So Swede for Olofsson
By
Published 25/02/2006 at 12:47 GMT
Anna Carin Olofsson produced a matchless display to claim gold in the first-ever women's Olympic Mass Start on Saturday. Olofsson erred just once as she romped away from Germany's Kati Wilhelm to clinch her maiden Games triumph with veteran Uschi Disl fin
Eurosport
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Olofsson v Wilhelm always looked likely to be the duel for gold as the pair shot flawlessly throughout to leave early pretender Sandrine Bailly trailing as the Frenchwoman's wayward rifle again put paid to her medal hopes.
Wilhelm's own problems on the first standing shoot left her with one missed target and a 24-second gap to close on Olofsson.
But the Swede fell foul of the pressure on her final visit to the range - missing once - to leave the shot-perfect Wilhelm just nine seconds adrift.
With both having cross-country pedigrees, the foot race for gold promised to be a searing one, but Olofsson - fresher than her adversary after not competing in Thursday's relay - pulled effortlessly away to triumph by 18.8 seconds.
DISL RILED
The ravages of the relay also played a telling role in Disl's superhuman effort to snatch bronze from the grasp of team-mate Martina Glagow.
Disl - riled by the decision to leave her out of Germany's gold medal-winning quartet - left herself an uphill struggle with a missed target, her third, on the final standing shoot.
But with nine seconds to make up on the third-placed Glagow, Disl summoned all her frustration to reel in her team-mate - clearly exhausted from a Games which has seen her win three medals - and claim a ninth Olympic medal.
Florence Baverel-Robert reproduced the form that saw her win the Sprint to come home in fifth, while Belarus' Olga Nazarova missed just one target to finish sixth.
The Russian trio of Albina Akhatova, Olga Zaitseva and Svetlana Ishmouratova paid for their gold medal-winning feats in the relay, with Akhatova the best-placed finisher in ninth.
Women's Mass Start results
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