ANTHOLZ-ANTERSELVA, Italy (AP) — Anais Bescond of France earned her first biathlon World Cup victory by winning the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint on Thursday.
In the final meet before the Sochi Olympics, Bescond’s fast skiing compensated for a single missed target in the shooting.
The 26-year-old Bescond — who had never even finished on the podium before — clocked 14 minutes, 50.30 seconds to beat Andrea Henkel of Germany by 6.7 seconds. Henkel shot flawlessly.
Darya Domracheva of Belarussia was third, 10.1 seconds behind Bescond and with two misses. She edged out American Susan Dunklee for a place on the podium.
Dunklee shot clean but was 0.6 seconds slower than Domracheva.
