RUHPOLDING, Germany (AP) — Olga Vilukhina held off the challenge of Germany’s Franziska Hildebrand to lead Russia to victory in the women’s 4×6-kilometer relay at a biathlon World Cup event on Wednesday.
The Russian team of Ekaterina Glazyrina, Olga Zaitseva, Irina Starykh and Vilukhina had seven spare rounds and avoided penalty loops to complete the race in 1 hour, 9 minutes, 42.2 seconds, beating the Germans, who had five spare rounds and one penalty, by 6.2 seconds.
Norway overcame two early penalties and fought back to finish third, 16.7 seconds back, after eight spare rounds.
Ukraine finished fourth, 37.7 seconds back, followed by France and Belarus.
With just one of four races remaining, Germany still leads the World Cup standings on 168 points, followed by Ukraine on 157 and Russia on 141.
