Olsbu Røiseland steers Norway to women's biathlon relay glory as Switzerland make history

BySportsbeat

Published 08/12/2019 at 17:55 GMT

Norway finished strongly to claim victory in the first biathlon World Cup women's relay race of the season, as Switzerland secured an historic second place in Oestersund.

Eurosport

Image credit: Eurosport

On the anchor leg of the 4x6km relay, Marte Olsbu Røiseland put the Norwegian quartet into the lead on the range and never relinquished that advantage – crossing the line in 1:11:08.7 to take gold.

"I was so excited when I was warming up, seeing the other girls," said Olsbu Røiseland. "I think they did such a good job.

"I was quite nervous before the start. It was an amazing race; you have to fight all the way and I am so glad that I crossed the finish line first."

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Second place went to the Swiss quartet – made up of the three Gasparin sisters, Elisa, Selina and Aita, as well as Lena Häcki – the country's first podium finish in a biathlon women's relay World Cup race.

They were 8.5 seconds behind the Norwegian team and held off Sweden, who finished a further 1.7s back to claim bronze on home snow.

Sportsbeat 2019

Biathlon