ANTERSELVA, Italy, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- The biathlon competitions at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics concluded on Saturday with France's Oceane Michelon claiming gold in the women's 12.5km mass start, while her teammate Julia Simon took silver and Czech biathlete Tereza Vobornikova secured bronze.
Michelon incurred two penalty loops and trailed by eight seconds after the final standing shooting. However, powered by strong skiing in heavy snowfall, the 23-year-old surged through the field to win in 37 minutes 18.1 seconds. It marked her first major international title, as she has never won a World Cup race.
"It was just amazing. I'm very happy with this race, I'm very happy for the team. This is the fruit of a big job, a team job and I want to thank all the people who helped me with my biathlon and improve my biathlon," Michelon said after the race.
"On the final loop, I told myself, 'Come on, enjoy it, come on girl, you can do the job and finish your Olympics in a good way.' When I reached the last downhill, I realized I was able to win gold. I just had to enjoy the race and put all my energy into it," she added.
Simon, with one penalty loop, finished second in 37:24.7 to collect her fourth medal of the Games. Vobornikova also had one penalty loop and crossed the line 7.4 seconds behind the winner.
All 11 biathlon gold medals at the Milan-Cortina Games have been decided. France topped the gold medal tally with six, followed by Norway with three. Sweden and host nation Italy each claimed one, in the men's and women's pursuit events, respectively.
