RUHPOLDING, Germany (AP) — Olympic champion Emil Hegle Svendsen of Norway earned his third biathlon World Cup victory of the season Wednesday, winning a men’s 20-kilometer individual race to close the gap on overall leader and compatriot Tarjei Boe.
Svendsen missed just one of 20 targets to clock 50 minutes, 39.4 seconds on the opening day of the meet in Ruhpolding, Germany.
Frenchman Martin Fourcade also missed one shot to finished second, 7.4 seconds behind.
Dominik Landertinger of Austria was third, 23.7 seconds behind Svendsen.
Fourcade’s brother Simon shot cleanly to finish fourth, followed by Boe.
Boe won the last two races and four of the last six, and remains atop the overall standings with 489 points. Svendsen is 35 points behind after his 19th career World Cup victory.
