18.02 Biathlon: Fourcade Denied a Golden Triple by a Whisker

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia, February 18 (R-Sport) – French biathlon star Martin Fourcade was denied his third gold medal of the Sochi Winter Olympics as victory went to Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen in a photo finish at the men's 15km mass start Tuesday.

Svendsen saluted the crowd as he closed in on the finishing line, apparently without seeing Fourcade pull alongside. The Frenchman lunged to get his ski over the line, missing out to Svendsen by less than a centimeter.

Svendsen and Fourcade were given exactly the same time but the tip of the front ski decided the winner and gave the gold to the Norwegian.

Even as his coaches cheered wildly, Svendsen barely celebrated his victory, apparently upset at having come so close to losing the race.

Bronze went to Czech athlete Ondrej Moravec, 13.8 seconds behind.

Fourcade was bidding to become only the second French Winter Olympian to win three gold medals at the same Games, after skier Jean-Claude Killy in 1976.