Biathlon at the 2006 Winter Olympics – Men's individual

Men's biathlon individual
at the XX Olympic Winter Games
Men's biathlon 20 km individual final
VenueCesana San Sicario
Dates11 February
Competitors88 from 34 nations
Winning time54:23.0
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Michael Greis  Germany
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Ole Einar Bjørndalen  Norway
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Halvard Hanevold  Norway
← 2002
2010 →

The Men's 20 kilometre individual biathlon competition at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy was held on 11 February, at Cesana San Sicario.[1]

The individual race consisted of five laps around a four kilometre loop with four stops at the shooting range. During each shooting section, each biathlete fired five shots at five targets. Misses resulted in penalties of one minute per miss being added to the time for the course. The first and third shooting sections were conducted in the prone position, while the second and fourth were done standing. A total of 88 biathletes competed, starting with a staggered start and 30 seconds behind each competitor.[2]

Michael Greis of Germany hit 19 of the 20 targets and used a net time of 54:23.0 (with one penalty minute) to clinch the gold medal, 16 seconds ahead of Norway's Ole Einar Bjørndalen. Norway also won the bronze medal, with Halvard Hanevold beating Sergei Tchepikov by 0.8 seconds despite two penalty minutes to the Russian's one.

The previous year's trial World Cup event at this track saw Michael Greis of Germany win the event in a time of 53:18.7.[3] At the 2005 World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria, the Czech Roman Dostál won,[4] while Ole Einar Bjørndalen was the defending Olympic champion, as he was in all the other men's events (except the mass start, which is held for the first time at the Olympics). However, neither Bjørndalen (9th) nor Dostal (33rd) headed the men's individual World Cup standings—the German Michael Greis did.[5]

The event started with early starters Ricco Groß (Germany, started as number 4) and Pavel Rostovtsev (Russia, 1) shooting well, missing one and two of their 20 shots respectively; Groß suffered his missed shot on the last of the four shootings. However, their cross-country times were not good enough, as Rene Vuillermoz (Italy, 13) beat Groß by 14 seconds on the first loop. With only one miss in his first 15 shots, Vuillermoz could have taken the lead if he had hit all five targets on the final shooting. However, he missed three times and eventually finished 25th. Maxim Tchoudov (Russia, 14) led after two loops, 28 seconds ahead of Groß, but had spoiled his chance with three missed shots. By that time, many of the best skiers had started, with Greis (38) coming into the third shooting after one miss on the second. He hit five targets, and went out in the second best time, 12 seconds behind Marek Matiasko (Slovakia, 21), who was yet to miss a shot. Meanwhile, the defending champion Bjørndalen (54) had missed once on each of the first two shootings, and when all had passed the second loop he was 15th.[2]

However, Bjørndalen completed the third loop quickly, and with five hits he cut Greis' lead from 39 to 23 seconds just before Greis was to shoot his fourth shooting. Greis did not miss, and with the leader Matiasko conceding one penalty minute, Greis took the lead nearly a minute ahead of second-placed Julien Robert (France, 35), who had not missed a single shot. Some other late starters visited the top ten after the first loops, such as Sven Fischer (Germany, 63) and Zdeněk Vítek (Czech Republic, 67) but vanished, and there were only four others who could beat Greis' skiing speed. Except for Bjørndalen, all of the previous had started before him, but missed too many shots to compete; however, Bjørndalen had caught 37 seconds on the first 12 km, and needed a further 23. Thus, Bjørndalen was the only threat, and though Bjørndalen hit all five targets on the final shooting, he struggled with loading the rifle before the final shot. He later said he lost "7-8 seconds" on the error.[6] Thus, Bjørndalen did not beat the German in the fourth loop, and though he cut a further seven seconds off Greis' time in the final loop, it was only enough to take the silver. The late starting Halvard Hanevold (Norway, 74), shot down the last 10 targets to jump from 28th place after two loops to a fourth place after the fourth, with third-placed Robert eight seconds ahead with two penalty minutes less. Hanevold had no problems with catching Robert on the final lap, ending nearly half a minute ahead, but lost seconds to Sergei Tchepikov (Russia, 28), who improved all the way through the course.[2] Eventually, his 6.3-second lead after the fourth loop turned into 0.8 seconds in goal; it was enough, though, and Hanevold could celebrate his second Olympic medal on the individual event. Jay Hakkinen become the first American to finish in the Top 10 ever in the Winter Olympic biathlon with his 10th-place finish.

Results

One Austrian athlete was disqualified after the IOC determined they had violated the Anti-Doping rules; Wolfgang Perner had originally placed 60th.[7]

The race was held at 13:00.[8]

Rank Bib Name Country Result Penalties (P+S+P+S) Deficit
1st place, gold medalist(s) 38 Michael Greis  Germany 54:23.0 1 (0+1+0+0)
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 57 Ole Einar Bjørndalen  Norway 54:39.0 2 (1+1+0+0) +16.0
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 74 Halvard Hanevold  Norway 55:31.9 2 (1+1+0+0) +1:08.9
4 28 Sergei Tchepikov  Russia 55:32.7 1 (1+0+0+0) +1:09.7
5 21 Marek Matiaško  Slovakia 55:48.6 1 (0+0+0+1) +1:25.6
6 35 Julien Robert  France 55:59.4 0 (0+0+0+0) +1:36.4
7 54 Christian De Lorenzi  Italy 56:04.0 1 (0+0+0+1) +1:41.0
8 22 Ivan Tcherezov  Russia 56:05.7 2 (1+0+0+1) +1:42.7
9 66 Wilfried Pallhuber  Italy 56:08.4 1 (1+0+0+0) +1:45.4
10 31 Jay Hakkinen  United States 56:10.9 3 (2+0+1+0) +1:47.9
11 4 Ricco Groß  Germany 56:14.3 1 (0+0+0+1) +1:51.3
12 8 Paavo Puurunen  Finland 56:38.9 1 (1+0+0+0) +2:15.9
13 1 Pavel Rostovtsev  Russia 56:47.2 2 (1+0+0+1) +2:24.2
14 52 Kyoji Suga  Japan 56:57.7 1 (1+0+0+0) +2:34.7
15 48 Frode Andresen  Norway 57:10.2 3 (1+1+1+0) +2:47.2
16 64 Stian Eckhoff  Norway 57:11.8 3 (2+0+0+1) +2:48.8
17 63 Sven Fischer  Germany 57:14.3 3 (1+0+1+1) +2:51.3
18 61 Ruslan Lysenko  Ukraine 57:16.6 1 (0+1+0+0) +2:53.6
19 15 Ilmārs Bricis  Latvia 57:19.2 4 (1+1+0+2) +2:56.2
20 9 Raphaël Poirée  France 57:21.1 3 (2+0+1+0) +2:58.1
21 19 Tomasz Sikora  Poland 57:22.1 3 (1+1+1+0) +2:59.1
22 67 Zdeněk Vítek  Czech Republic 57:26.8 3 (0+1+1+1) +3:03.8
23 5 Carl Johan Bergman  Sweden 57:30.9 3 (1+1+0+1) +3:07.9
24 6 Sergey Novikov  Belarus 58:02.6 3 (0+1+0+2) +3:39.6
25 13 Rene Laurent Vuillermoz  Italy 58:17.9 4 (0+1+0+3) +3:54.9
26 70 Friedrich Pinter  Austria 58:25.7 1 (0+0+0+1) +4:02.7
27 79 Lowell Bailey  United States 58:45.1 3 (2+1+0+0) +4:22.1
28 58 Björn Ferry  Sweden 58:49.0 4 (1+2+0+1) +4:26.0
29 56 Pavol Hurajt  Slovakia 58:49.6 3 (0+1+0+2) +4:26.6
30 59 Roman Dostál  Czech Republic 58:53.5 4 (1+2+0+1) +4:30.5
31 43 Simon Fourcade  France 59:01.7 3 (1+0+0+2) +4:38.7
32 14 Maxim Tchoudov  Russia 59:12.0 5 (0+0+3+2) +4:49.0
33 81 Tomáš Holubec  Czech Republic 59:13.1 2 (1+1+0+0) +4:50.1
34 2 Vincent Defrasne  France 59:16.1 6 (3+1+0+2) +4:53.1
35 83 David Ekholm  Sweden 59:18.2 2 (0+1+0+1) +4:55.2
36 3 Robin Clegg  Canada 59:21.5 2 (1+0+0+1) +4:58.5
37 55 Jānis Bērziņš  Latvia 59:24.3 2 (0+2+0+0) +5:01.3
38 89 Miroslav Matiaško  Slovakia 59:43.8 3 (3+0+0+0) +5:20.8
39 47 Andriy Deryzemlya  Ukraine 59:47.2 3 (3+0+0+0) +5:24.2
40 33 Janez Marič  Slovenia 59:53.0 5 (2+2+1+0) +5:30.0
41 20 Ludwig Gredler  Austria 59:55.1 3 (0+3+0+0) +5:32.1
42 41 Michael Rösch  Germany 59:56.6 6 (2+0+1+3) +5:33.6
43 46 Vladimir Drachev  Belarus 59:59.5 4 (1+1+0+2) +5:36.5
44 68 Mattias Nilsson Jr.  Sweden 1:00:01.1 5 (0+2+3+0) +5:38.1
45 18 Michal Šlesingr  Czech Republic 1:00:03.8 5 (1+0+2+2) +5:40.8
46 86 Rustam Valiullin  Belarus 1:00:04.1 5 (2+1+0+2) +5:41.1
47 51 Matjaž Poklukar  Slovenia 1:00:07.6 3 (0+1+1+1) +5:44.6
48 77 Jean Philippe Leguellec  Canada 1:00:28.0 3 (1+0+0+2) +6:05.0
49 32 Olexander Bilanenko  Ukraine 1:00:28.6 3 (2+1+0+0) +6:05.6
50 24 Zhang Chengye  China 1:00:49.1 7 (1+4+1+1) +6:26.1
51 73 Jeremy Teela  United States 1:01:03.3 5 (1+0+1+3) +6:40.3
52 44 Matthias Simmen  Switzerland 1:01:04.9 5 (2+0+0+3) +6:41.9
53 23 Wiesław Ziemianin  Poland 1:01:16.0 4 (2+0+1+1) +6:53.0
54 82 Oleksiy Korobeinikov  Ukraine 1:01:17.8 4 (0+2+1+1) +6:54.8
55 87 Paolo Longo  Italy 1:01:27.9 5 (0+2+1+2) +7:04.9
56 76 Dušan Šimočko  Slovakia 1:01:37.8 4 (1+0+2+1) +7:14.8
57 49 Tom Clemens  Great Britain 1:01:43.9 4 (0+1+1+2) +7:20.9
58 42 Tim Burke  United States 1:01:55.0 7 (3+3+1+0) +7:32.0
59 60 Daniel Mesotitsch  Austria 1:01:59.7 5 (1+3+0+1) +7:36.7
60 80 Klemen Bauer  Slovenia 1:02:25.5 5 (0+1+3+1) +8:02.5
61 25 Vitaly Rudenchik  Bulgaria 1:02:30.0 6 (0+3+1+2) +8:07.0
62 45 Roland Lessing  Estonia 1:02:31.2 5 (3+0+1+1) +8:08.2
63 7 Hidenori Isa  Japan 1:02:33.2 6 (1+1+2+2) +8:10.2
64 50 David Leoni  Canada 1:02:37.8 6 (0+2+3+1) +8:14.8
65 16 Marian Blaj  Romania 1:02:38.8 6 (0+3+2+1) +8:15.8
66 75 Indrek Tobreluts  Estonia 1:02:43.6 5 (1+2+1+1) +8:20.6
67 65 Tatsumi Kasahara  Japan 1:02:44.6 5 (2+1+0+2) +8:21.6
68 84 Kristaps Lībietis  Latvia 1:03:13.4 4 (2+1+1+0) +8:50.4
69 71 Janez Ožbolt  Slovenia 1:03:18.5 5 (2+2+0+1) +8:55.5
70 10 Dimitri Borovik  Estonia 1:03:25.8 5 (2+1+2+0) +9:02.8
71 72 Alexandre Syman  Belarus 1:03:31.4 7 (2+3+1+1) +9:08.4
72 62 Grzegorz Bodziana  Poland 1:03:39.6 5 (0+2+1+2) +9:16.6
73 11 Alexsandr Chervyhkov  Kazakhstan 1:03:56.4 6 (1+3+1+1) +9:33.4
74 88 Priit Viks  Estonia 1:04:08.1 5 (2+2+0+1) +9:45.1
75 53 Krzysztof Pływaczyk  Poland 1:04:12.9 4 (1+0+2+1) +9:49.9
76 37 Simon Hallenbarter  Switzerland 1:04:37.0 8 (3+1+1+3) +10:14.0
77 34 Imre Tagscherer  Hungary 1:05:11.1 7 (1+3+1+2) +10:48.1
78 85 Shinya Saito  Japan 1:05:29.4 8 (2+2+3+1) +11:06.4
79 69 Edgars Piksons  Latvia 1:06:12.5 7 (4+1+1+1) +11:49.5
80 12 Luis Alberto Hernando  Spain 1:06:54.4 7 (2+2+0+3) +12:31.4
81 39 Park Yun-bae  South Korea 1:07:03.4 6 (0+3+2+1) +12:40.4
82 36 Cameron Morton  Australia 1:07:03.7 7 (1+2+1+3) +12:40.7
83 30 Miro Ćosić  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1:08:32.7 7 (1+3+1+2) +14:09.7
84 17 Sebastian Beltrame  Argentina 1:09:24.3 9 (1+2+4+2) +15:01.3
85 27 Aleksandar Milenković  Serbia and Montenegro 1:10:36.3 9 (1+3+1+4) +16:13.3
86 29 Marco Zúñiga  Chile 1:11:02.5 5 (1+1+1+2) +16:39.5
87 40 Stavros Christoforidis  Greece 1:13:13.3 11 (4+2+1+4) +18:50.3
26 Mihail Gribusencov  Moldova Did not start
DSQ 78 Wolfgang Perner  Austria 1:02:22.5 5 (1+2+1+1) +7:59.5

References

  1. ^ "Biathlon at the 2006 Torino Winter Games: Men's 20 kilometres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Torino 2006 Official Report - Biathlon" (PDF). Torino Organizing Committee. LA84 Foundation. March 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-06-12. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
  3. ^ E.ON-Ruhrgas World Cup 7 - Torino - Cesana San Sicario (ITA) Men 20 km Individual Final Results Archived July 11, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, from biathlonworld.com, retrieved 19 January 2006
  4. ^ (in Norwegian) (ed) Tore Johansen, Egil Svendsby Sportsboken 2005, pg. 225, Chr. Schibsteds Forlag 2005. ISBN 82-516-2168-2.
  5. ^ World Cup Individual Score Men Standings after 2 of 3 competitions Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, from biathlonworld.com, retrieved 19 January 2006
  6. ^ (in Norwegian) Gull til Greis, by Sjur B. Kvamme, published by NRK on 11 February 2006
  7. ^ "Torino 2006: Six Austrian Athletes Declared Permanently Ineligible". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
  8. ^ Final results