BEIJING (AP) – Dutch woman Irene Wurst tied with ex-biathlete Ole Einar Björndalen in the ranking of most successful Winter Olympics starters in medals.
Along with Irene Schouten and Marijke Groenewoud, the 35-year-old won bronze in the team pursuit in Beijing and, like the Norwegian, has now collected 13 medals. Wurst, who had already become Olympic champion over 1500 meters in Beijing, has six gold, five silver and two bronze medals at the Winter Games.
In the shorter final, the Netherlands were 1.8 seconds faster than the Russian trio after six laps. Canada became the Olympic champion with an Olympic record of 2:53.44 minutes, along with Ivanie Blondin, Valerie Maltais and Isabel Weidmann. In the final, he had the advantage of a fall to a Japanese runner on the last lap, who was then 11.03 seconds behind.
Norway won the men’s gold. Hulgir Engebraten, Peder Kongshag and Svere Lunde Pedersen took the Russian Olympic Committee team to second place by 2.38 seconds after eight rounds. The United States trio took bronze, being 2.81 seconds faster than the Netherlands in the race for third place. German teams did not debut in any competition.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220215-99-133726/2
