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| Event type

4 × 7.5 kilometres Relay, Men1

Date15 February 1968
StatusOlympic
LocationAutrans
Participants56 from 14 countries
FormatPenalty loop (200 metres) skied for each missed target, after which another attempt had to be made.
DetailsCourse Length: ?
Height Differential: 65 m
Maximum Climb: 50 m
Shooting 1: Prone at 2.5 km, 150 m range
Shooting 2: Standing at 5.0 km, 150 m range
Total Climbing: 195 m

Four days after the 20 km biathlon the new Olympic event, the biathlon relay, was organized. Norway had won this event in both World Relay Championships organized so far, in 1966 and 1967, but the Soviet Union was regarded as the favorites, having a team without weak points in the lineup. The relay was supposed to start in the morning, but it was a very foggy morning in Autrans, and the race had to be postponed until the afternoon.

Aleksandr Tikhonov was clearly the fastest skier on the first leg, and in spite of a penalty lap he brought the Soviet Union into a clear lead, 45 seconds ahead of Sweden. Norway in third place was 1:43 behind and seemingly too far behind to fight for the gold medal. On the second leg, Nikolay Puzanov increased the lead to 1:41 over Sweden, but Norway’s Olav Jordet, in spite of two penalty laps, almost caught Sweden’s Tore Eriksson, and was only two seconds behind at the exchange. On the third leg, the newly crowned Olympic Champion Magnar Solberg ran another great leg. With the fastest split-time of the day he was 1:16 behind Soviet Union’s Viktor Mamatov at the last exchange. On the last leg Vladimir Gundartsev skied a good time, and when Norway’s Jon Istad had to ski two penalty laps, the Soviet Union team won with a comfortable margin of 1:48. Sweden, the only team to avoid penalty laps, secured the bronze medal, 2:36 behind Norway. Poland’s anchor-leg skier Stanisław Szczepaniak passed Finland in the fight for fourth place.

PosCompetitorsNOCTimeMissesExtra ShotsShooting 1 MissesShooting 1 Extra ShotsShooting 1Shooting 2 MissesShooting 2 Extra ShotsShooting 2Exchange
1Soviet UnionURS2-13:02.42– (–)– (–)– (–)Gold
Lead-OffAleksandr Tikhonov 33:28.91– (–)– (–)33:28.9 (1)
2nd LegNikolay Puzanov 34:07.21– (–)– (–)1-07:36.1 (1)
3rd LegViktor Mamatov 32:53.20– (–)– (–)1-40:29.3 (1)
AnchorVladimir Gundartsev 32:33.10– (–)– (–)2-13:02.4 (1)
2NorwayNOR2-14:50.25– (–)– (–)– (–)Silver
Lead-OffOla Wærhaug 35:12.11– (–)– (–)35:12.1 (3)
2nd LegOlav Jordet 34:06.82– (–)– (–)1-09:18.9 (3)
3rd LegMagnar Solberg 32:26.40– (–)– (–)1-41:45.3 (2)
AnchorJon Istad 33:04.92– (–)– (–)2-14:50.2 (2)
3SwedenSWE2-17:26.30– (–)– (–)– (–)Bronze
Lead-OffLars-Göran Arwidson 34:13.30– (–)– (–)34:13.3 (2)
2nd LegTore Eriksson 35:03.80– (–)– (–)1-09:17.1 (2)
3rd LegOlle Petrusson 35:00.00– (–)– (–)1-44:17.1 (3)
AnchorHolmfrid Olsson 33:09.20– (–)– (–)2-17:26.3 (3)
4PolandPOL2-20:19.64– (–)– (–)– (–)
Lead-OffJózef Różak 36:46.32– (–)– (–)36:46.3 (5)
2nd LegAndrzej Fiedor 36:40.61– (–)– (–)1-13:26.9 (6)
3rd LegStanisław Łukaszczyk 34:01.91– (–)– (–)1-47:28.8 (5)
AnchorStanisław Szczepaniak 32:50.80– (–)– (–)2-20:19.6 (4)
5FinlandFIN2-20:41.85– (–)– (–)– (–)
Lead-OffJuhani Suutarinen 38:05.03– (–)– (–)38:05.0 (11)
2nd LegHeikki Flöjt 35:57.31– (–)– (–)1-14:02.3 (7)
3rd LegKalevi Vähäkylä 32:52.30– (–)– (–)1-46:54.6 (4)
AnchorArvo Kinnari 33:47.21– (–)– (–)2-20:41.8 (5)
6East GermanyGDR2-21:54.54– (–)– (–)– (–)
Lead-OffHeinz Kluge 36:48.11– (–)– (–)36:48.1 (6)
2nd LegHans-Gert Jahn 36:22.51– (–)– (–)1-13:10.6 (5)
3rd LegHorst Koschka 35:22.70– (–)– (–)1-48:33.3 (6)
AnchorDieter Speer 33:21.22– (–)– (–)2-21:54.5 (6)
7RomaniaROU2-25:39.84– (–)– (–)– (–)
Lead-OffGheorghe Cimpoia 36:54.20– (–)– (–)36:54.2 (7)
2nd LegConstantin Carabela 34:54.70– (–)– (–)1-11:48.9 (4)
3rd LegNicolae Bărbășescu 38:50.34– (–)– (–)1-50:39.2 (7)
AnchorVilmoș Gheorghe 35:00.60– (–)– (–)2-25:39.8 (7)
8United StatesUSA2-28:35.58– (–)– (–)– (–)
Lead-OffRalph Wakley 36:11.62– (–)– (–)36:11.6 (4)
2nd LegEdward Williams 38:33.24– (–)– (–)1-14:44.8 (8)
3rd LegBill Spencer 37:49.21– (–)– (–)1-52:34.0 (8)
AnchorJohn Ehrensbeck 36:01.51– (–)– (–)2-28:35.5 (8)
9West GermanyFRG2-29:56.66– (–)– (–)– (–)
Lead-OffHerbert Hindelang 40:11.42– (–)– (–)40:11.4 (13)
2nd LegTheo Merkel 35:38.90– (–)– (–)1-15:50.3 (10)
3rd LegXaver Kraus 37:03.62– (–)– (–)1-52:53.9 (9)
AnchorGerhard Gehring 37:02.72– (–)– (–)2-29:56.6 (9)
10FranceFRA2-31:12.910– (–)– (–)– (–)
Lead-OffDaniel Claudon 37:15.22– (–)– (–)37:15.2 (8)
2nd LegSerge Legrand 38:52.13– (–)– (–)1-16:07.3 (11)
3rd LegAimé Gruet-Masson 38:43.73– (–)– (–)1-54:51.0 (11)
AnchorJean-Claude Viry 36:21.92– (–)– (–)2-31:12.9 (10)
11AustriaAUT2-33:47.110– (–)– (–)– (–)
Lead-OffPaul Ernst 37:46.21– (–)– (–)37:46.2 (10)
2nd LegAdolf Scherwitzl 37:20.00– (–)– (–)1-15:06.2 (9)
3rd LegHorst Schneider 38:04.01– (–)– (–)1-53:10.2 (10)
AnchorFranz Vetter 40:36.98– (–)– (–)2-33:47.1 (11)
12Great BritainGBR2-34:40.99– (–)– (–)– (–)
Lead-OffMarcus Halliday 37:43.61– (–)– (–)37:43.6 (9)
2nd LegAlan Notley 39:17.22– (–)– (–)1-17:00.8 (12)
3rd LegPeter Tancock 40:20.85– (–)– (–)1-57:21.6 (13)
AnchorFrederick Andrew 37:19.31– (–)– (–)2-34:40.9 (12)
13JapanJPN2-35:21.09– (–)– (–)– (–)
Lead-OffIsao Ono 38:42.32– (–)– (–)38:42.3 (12)
2nd LegMiki Shibuya 39:07.50– (–)– (–)1-17:49.8 (13)
3rd LegShozo Okuyama 39:05.15– (–)– (–)1-56:54.9 (12)
AnchorHajime Yoshimura 38:26.12– (–)– (–)2-35:21.0 (13)
DNFCanadaCAN– (–)– (–)– (–)
Lead-OffGeorge Ede – (–)– (–)– (–)
2nd LegKnowles McGill – (–)– (–)– (–)
3rd LegGeorge Rattai – (–)– (–)– (–)
AnchorEsko Karu – (–)– (–)– (–)