Fredrik Lindström Anchors Sweden to First-ever Olympic Relay Gold Medal

Sweden’s Anchor Fredrik Lindström won a standing stage duel with Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen to pull away and bring Sweden its first-ever Olympic Relay Gold medal in 1:15:16.5. Sweden’s penalty-free shooting by Lindström, Peppe Femling, Jesper Nelin and Sebastian Samuelsson put their team 55.5 seconds ahead of Silver medalists Norway, with one penalty and twelve spares. Germany, with three penalties and ten spares won the Bronze medal, 2:07.1 back.

Austria, with two penalties and eleven spare captured fourth place, 2:52.5 back. France, with three penalties and twelve spares finished fifth, 3:25.6 back. The USA finished in an Olympic Relay best sixth place, with two penalties and fourteen spares, 3:50.2 back.

Lesser Leads First Leg; Penalties and Spares Abound for FieldCompared to the conditions for yesterday’s women’s relay, the men got a huge break with no snow, but a light fog, and a fairly mild minus 3C at the start. The wind was noticeably lighter at times but still caused havoc, with every team except Sweden on the penalty loop. The men used 203 spare rounds, even more than the women yesterday.The first leg saw Erik Lesser put on his typical fast shooting with just a single spare in standing that put him in the lead. That left Norway with two spares and 10-for-10 Slovakia’s Matej Kazar as the closest chasers. France completely fell out of contention when Simon Desthieux fell with two penalties in the standing stage and never recovered, falling further back as the competition progressed.

German Penalties: Czech Team LeadsLesser tagged Doll with an 18.4 second lead over the field, a tightly packed group of Slovakia, Ukraine, Norway, Sweden and Belarus. In the prone stage, the German was 5-for-5 and gone before Tarjei in second ever fired a shot. Virtually everyone else, save Sergei Semenov and Austria’s Simon Eder, 35 seconds back, needed a spare or more. The wind had picked up by the time the field reached the standing stage. Doll fell apart with two penalties while Michal Slesingr cleaned to grab the lead over now 10-for-10 Eder. 6.8 seconds back with Sweden now in third. Tarjei and Doll were 32 and 35 seconds back as they headed to the second exchange.

Johannes and SamuelssonThe Czech veteran Jaroslav Soukup left the stadium with a 16-second lead over Sweden’s Samuelsson and Austria’s Julian Eberhard, who were side-by-side. Germany’s Arnd Peiffer and Norway with Johannes remained 31 and 37.2 seconds back. Johannes immediately went after the lead pulling back 25 seconds by the first split to get up with Sweden and Austria, as they approached prone. Soukup needed a spare allowing Johannes without a miss to leave just a couple of seconds back in second. Eberhard, Samuelsson and Peiffer were another seven seconds back, more than 30 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Johannes powered into the lead on the next loop. Once again the wind flags were bouncing for standing, but Johannes cleaned in six, while Samuelsson did not use a spare to leave just a step behind. Peiffer moved into third position, 12.1 seconds back as Peiffer closed all five targets quickly. The rest of the field fell to more than 1:12 back as the spare rounds and penalties piled up.

Lindström Wins Standing Battle; Seals Gold MedalJohannes and Samuelsson were stride-for-stride around their last loop, just a meter apart. Johannes tagged Svendsen just ahead of Sweden’s anchor Fredrik Lindström. Peiffer handed over to Schempp, 13.7 seconds back. These three teams would decide the medals, unless there was a huge meltdown. Lindström shot faster and cleaned but Svendsen matched, with the Swedish team now a second ahead. Schempp needed all three spares to clean, falling to 1:02 back, with Landertinger and Austria now 1:41 back. The two continued to duel over the next 2.5K, with Lindström setting the pace.

The two shot simultaneously in a stiff breeze; both missed the first shot, but Lindström dropped the next five and was gone, headed for the Gold medal. Svendsen had a penalty, but left in the Silver spot. Schempp also spent an eternity at the range, still picking up a penalty, but saving the Bronze medal. However Landertinger spent too much time and three spares to take advantage.

The podium was set. The 28-year-old Lindström skied a comfortable last loop, grabbed a miniature Swedish flag, crossing the finish line with a double fist pump and big smile. His teammates greeted him with a huge embrace just after he crossed the finish line.