Biathlon (sprint): Revenge for Neuner in 10km biathlon pursuit
Feb 16, 2010
Whistler (AFP) - Germany's Magdalena Neuner claimed gold in the Olympic Games women's 10km biathlon pursuit on Tuesday, edging out Slovakia's Anastazia Kuzmina, who had denied her three days earlier in the sprint.
"I'm the Olympic champion, this is just fantastic," said Neuner after completing the course in 30min 16.0sec.
The 25-year-old Kuzmina had created an upset when she won the women's sprint on Saturday, which allowed her to start first in the pursuit, 1.5 seconds ahead of Neuner.
But the German reeled her in to secure Olympic glory by 12 seconds in snowy, mild conditions.
Frenchwoman Marie-Laure Brunet took the bronze at 28sec to give France their third medal after boyfriend Vincent Jay's sprint gold and Marie Dorin's sprint bronze.
Neuner almost tripped up, missing her final shot but had just done enough in keeping her nerve earlier to hold off her Russian-born rival Kuzmina.
"I was just so damn nervous for that final shot as I thought 'this is the shot the title hangs on'," Neuner revealed.
"Then of course I fired wide and I was shaking at that point," said the 22-year-old World Cup leader.
"I told myself 'just hang in there and stay on your skis'. But I felt good beforehand and I resolved to concentrate hard on the shooting as I knew that in terms of skiing nobody could get the better of me."
Sweden, meanwhile, elected not to file an official protest after Anna-Carin Olofsson-Zidek was held up at the start by 14sec.
Olofsson-Zidek was starter number 20, 58sec behind Kuzmina, but was held back 14sec too long and finally came in an initial sixth before being credited with the time she had lost to place fourth at 39.4sec.
But the Swede's German coach Wolfgang Pichler remained unhappy.
"It was a totally different race for her after that and that is why we complained," he said.
Magdalena Neuner
So, did you hear the one about the world champion whose idea of fun is knitting and playing the harp? Those aren't pastimes one would normally associate with a top athlete - or indeed a national sporting pin-up.
But German biathlete Magdalena Neuner is definitely something out of the ordinary.
Now the blonde from Garmisch-Partenkirchen can add the title of Oympic champion to her impressive CV after winning the women's 10km biathlon pursuit on Tuesday.
For Neuner, who turned 23 last week, her Olympic coronation is the fruit of 14 years of hard graft in the sport which she loves.
"I knew what I wanted to do in sport from the age of nine," says the woman who burst on the scene with a triple gold medal haul in the sprint, pursuit and relay at the 2007 World Championships at Antholz, Italy.
She carried off the relay crown again a year later at Oestersund, Sweden, while adding titles in the mass start and mixed relay after disappointing setbacks in the sprint and the pursuit.
At last year's worlds in Pyeongchang, South Korea, illness hampered her and she managed just a relay silver.
But Tuesday made up for that.
Neuner almost tripped up at the last as she missed her final shot - she has a reputation for being inconsistent with the rifle - but had just done enough in keeping her nerve earlier to hold off her Russian-born rival Anastazia Kuzmina.
"I was just so damn nervous for that final shot as I thought 'this is the shot the title hangs on'," Neuner revealed.
"I told myself 'just hang in there and stay on your skis'."
After her medal celebrations Neuner will chill out, if not by a spot of harp playing then at least by taking up the knitting needles.
A passionate knitter, making woolly hats is her speciality.
The hobby provides a welcome oasis of peace as, since she won her first world titles at the age of 19, she has been in the spotlight.
She much prefers the calm of the picturesque little Bavarian village of Wallgau - population barely 1,500 - where she lives.
"Interviews, photocalls and signing autographs - you hardly have time left for anything," she says of the flip side of success
Much better to pick up the needles and the wool which she takes to training and to competitions alike.
She also has her own knitting blog - Magdalena Neuner's Strickblog - which she uses to post updates about her life on the World Cup and Olympic road.
There, she explains not just her love of knitting, but also her penchant for changing her hair colour.
"The brunette phase just came about because I was fed up with this 'Blonde Angel Image'. The rebel in me demanded a new colour. But I'm out of that phase now.
"Now I am blonde again. Blonde suits me better."