7.5 kilometres Sprint, Women

In the sprint, top favourite Marte Olsbu Røiseland kept the competitors at bay and went on to win her second gold medal of the Beijing 2022 Winter Games, after winning gold in the 4x6km mixed relay. She also won bronze in the individual 15 km event, and then won biathlon’s shortest distance by a margin of 30.9 seconds. Starting with number five, she set a time of 20:44.3 that no other competitor could beat.

Olsbu Røiseland was only briefly in danger, when Elvira Öberg was 0.4 seconds faster after the first shooting. Despite another flawless performance in the second shooting round, Öberg could not keep up with Olsbu Røiseland’s speed on the track. Dorothea Wierer, who also shot clean, celebrated bronze, and claimed her first medal in an individual event in her third Winter Olympics, after two bronze medals in mixed relays in 2014 and 2018. Wierer was in the silver medal position after the second shooting loop, but was outpaced by Öberg on the final loop.

Six of the top seven finishers managed to hit all 10 targets. Only Kristina Reztsova made two mistakes, which kept her out of the medal race and she finished sixth.