Canadians secure top 10 finish in 4x6km biathlon relay, Sweden captures gold
Canada's Lunder, Bankes, Dickson, Beaudry 4:30.4 behind 1st-place Swedes
Elvira Oeberg anchored the Swedish team to Olympic gold in the four-person biathlon relay, skiing fast and shooting clean Wednesday to win her third medal of the Beijing Games.
Oeberg, who also won silver in the sprint and pursuit races in her Olympic debut, put the Swedes across the line 1 hour, 11 minutes, 3.9 seconds.
The Canadians struggled to keep up and finished 10th. The team of Emma Lunder from Vernon, B.C., Calgary's Megan Bankes, Emily Dickson of Burns Lake, B.C., and Sarah Beaudry from Prince George, B.C., were 4:30.4 behind the Swedes.
Russian biathlete Uliana Nigmatullina trailed Oeberg by about 24 seconds after the final shooting range and ended up finishing 12 seconds behind for silver. Denise Herrmann finished third to give Germany bronze, 37.4 seconds behind Oeberg. Herrmann also won gold in the individual race.
Germany, Sweden and Italy went out front early in the 4x6-kilometre race and the teams shuffled positions several times, but the Swedes had the most consistent shooting.
Oeberg teamed with Linn Persson, Mona Brorsson and her sister, Hanna Oeberg, for the gold medal.
The Oeberg sisters just missed out on a medal in the mixed relay race by finishing fourth. Hanna Oeberg also won gold in the individual race at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.
