France’s Defrasne finishes first!

France’s Defrasne finishes first! Now say that five times quickly.

Vincent Defrasne’s chance of even stepping onto the podium seemed over when he stumbled on top of a hill after an ardous climb.

But the tenacious Frenchman quickly recovered, and made a mad dash to overtake Norway’s Ole Einar Bjoerndalen less than a hundred meters before the finish line. Talk about a nail-biter.

Defrasne sprinting after the leader (Source: NBC)

Sven Fischer of Germany, who several days ago won the 10km Sprint Biathlon event, took the bronze at 15.6 seconds behind the leader. This is the second time in 4 days Bjoerndalen has been denied the Gold.

Defrasne started fifth in the event (43 seconds behind the leader) and missed two targets. Starting position in the 12.5km Pursuit is based on the athlete’s standing in the 10km Sprint event.

Read: Bjoerndalen denied again as Defrasne wins pursuit

Read: Photo Finish for Fischer (GER)