WALDRON GRAIN & FUEL

02/18 11:41 CST French women take Olympic gold in biathlon relay, upsetting defending champion Sweden French women take Olympic gold in biathlon relay, upsetting defending champion Sweden By MARTHA BELLISLE Associated Press ANTERSELVA, Italy (AP) --- Julia Simon didn't need to shoot fast when she entered the range on the last leg of the women's 4x6-kilometer biathlon relay race at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Wednesday. But she knocked down all five targets in rapid succession, took a bow and skied the French team to a gold medal --- its first in the event in 34 years. Carrying a massive French flag and smiling wide, Simon crossed the line in combined time of 1 hour, 10 minutes, 22 seconds for her third gold medal of the Milan Cortina Games. Defending Olympic relay champion Sweden overcame some shooting setbacks to take silver, 51.3 seconds behind France. Norway lost ground at the end but held on for bronze, 1:07 back. Camillie Bened led off for France, but one penalty loop during her standing shoot set the team back to 16th place. Lou Jeanmonnot took over and moved the French up to third at the third exchange. Oceane Michelon passed the leaders on the course and used only one spare shot on the range, ensuring France had a solid lead. It stayed that way until the end. Simon and Jeanmonnot also won gold in the mixed relay with Eric Parrot and Quentin Fillon Maillet, and took gold and silver, respectively, in the 15-kilometer individual race. Jeanmonnot won bronze in the 7.5-kilometer sprint. After also winning gold in the relay at the world championships two years ago, Simon said it was important to repeat that success at the Olympics. "In my leg, the most difficult part was staying focused," Simon said. "When you take the relay in the lead, it's easier to think that it's a win, but not. So I really want to stay real focused. The last lap was very nice, a lot of pleasure, a lot of fun. "Once they gave me that flag, I felt like we did it. It was something really special." The last time the French women won this event was on home snow at the 1992 Albertville Olympics, when it had three competitors skiing 7.5-kilometer legs. Hannah Oeberg of Sweden and Maren Kirkeeide of Norway entered the range together for the last shooting in Wednesday's race. Oeberg only needed one spare to knock down her targets, while Kirkeeide needed two, which set her back about 20 seconds --- a deficit she was unable to make up on the trails. "When I went out on the last leg, I felt that France was a bit ahead, so my main thing to do was to beat Norway," Oeberg said. "I felt pretty confident coming into the last standing shooting, and I'm just happy I managed to do it. It was a big bonus that it was Norway that we pushed into bronze." Kirkeeide said she was happy to win another medal, "and also that we get to experience this together and get this medal. It's really important for our team." "I was just hoping that I would do good races and see what that could lead to," said Kirkeeide, who has already won gold and silver at this year's Olympics. "But this has been much more than what I expected." Vanessa Voigt of Germany shot clean and was on Norway's heels, but she wasn't able to catch the medal places, finishing 1:29 behind in fourth. The German team had lost ground when Franziska Preuss had to ski a penalty lap on the second leg. "This fourth place hurts a lot," Voigt said. "I know that when I come to the hotel room there's still a bronze medal from the mixed relay and this will make me smile again, I hope. But nevertheless, I'm disappointed." ___ AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics