( dpa ) - Alexander Os ran a near-perfect final lap to give Norway victory on Sunday in a biathlon World Cup mixed relay race in Pyeongchang, the venue for next years world championships.
Os left the shooting range after the final shoot in third place behind France and Italy, but then breezed past Alexis Boeuf and Christian De Lorenzi to give his side victory in one hour 13 minutes and 39.3 seconds.
"I was not sure that I could take them. I suffered a lot, but we won in the end and that is very good," Os said.
Os and team-mates Ann Kristin Flatland, Solveig Rogstad and Hans Martin Gjedrem beat Italy and France into second and third place, 4.1 and 4.2 seconds behind respectively.
Germany, who went into the race as one of the favourites, fell behind after the first shooting as Kathrin Hitzer missed five times and had to complete two penalty loops and then also fell as she tried to make up some ground.
She handed over more than one and a half minutes behind the Italians, who were leading at that stage and although the German team managed to claw their way back into the competition they finished no better than eighth.