Fourcade wins most gold medals in French Olympic history

PyeongChang (South Korea) Feb 18 (IANS) French biathlete Martin Fourcade made history on Sunday when he won his fourth Olympic gold medal in a dramatic photo finish in the men s biathlon 15-kilometre mass start at the Winter Olympics here.

Fourcade is now France s most decorated athlete in either the Summer or Winter Games reports Efe.

The historic win was extremely close with both Fourcade and Germany s Simon Schempp crossing the finish line at nearly the exact same time.

Fourcade s last-second effort to extend his leg across the line gave him the gold following a review by event organisers of the exact moment he sealed the win.

Norway s Emil Hegle Svendsen took the bronze medal with a time of 35 minutes and 47.3 seconds 11.2 seconds slower than the winner.

This is Fourcade s second gold medal at PyeongChang after his success earlier on Monday in the men s 12.5 km pursuit.

At the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics the 11-time world champion earned gold medals in both the men s 20 km and the 12.5 km pursuit.

--IANS
sam/bg