ANTERSELVA, Italy, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Oceane Michelon found an unexpected reserve of energy to power to the Olympic gold medal in the women's mass start on Saturday, bringing the biathlon competitions at Milano Cortina to a stunning climax in a race that was decided on the last lap.
With the snow falling to make the skiing heavy going and plenty of shots flying wide of their intended targets, the 23-year-old surged through the final lap to pass Tereza Vorobnikova of the Czech Republic to win her second gold of the Games.
"The last loop was really, really hard, it was just a lot of emotion that culminated (at the finish line)," elated Michelon told Reuters, her new gold medal dangling around her neck.
"I just thought, these are the real 'now' moments, and I just said that you have to end the Olympics, and the Olympics are ending at the finish line and if you are not at the finish line it's not finished."
Michelon looked stunned as she greeted silver medallist and teammate Julia Simon, who finished a few seconds after her. The two won gold together in the women's relay, and on Saturday Michelon added her first individual Olympic title.
"Before we (came) here, I was thinking about, I hope to take one start. I will be happy with one start, and I made four, got three medals out of four," she said.
"I'm just grateful for all the work, all the team who helped me and helped all the team. It's a real teammate's job."
Standing spent of energy on the top step of the Olympic podium as she listened to the French national anthem, Michelon reflected on those who brought her to that point.
"I thought of all the people that helped me in this adventure, I think about my grandpa and my grandma who saw all the races, every race, and my friends, all the people who took part in the adventure with me," she said.
"I'm really grateful for of all of this, it's a team job, and the national anthem is amazing."
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing hy Ken Ferris)
