12.5 kilometres Pursuit, Men

The starting order and time intervals between skiers was determined by the results of the 10 kilometres sprint event with only the top sixty finishers in the sprint being allowed to compete in the pursuit. Given that the outcome of the 10 kilometres event had largely been affected by the weather conditions, it was felt unlikely that the medallists from that event would end on the podium after the 12.5 kilometres pursuit section. For Emil Hegle Svendsen of Norway and Croatia’s Jakov Fak, who started 2nd and 3rd, this proved to be the case, these biathletes eventually finishing in 8th and 25th place respectively. In the end it was the Swede Bjorn Ferry and Christoph Sumann of Austria who started at 1:12 and 1:25 behind the first starter Vincent Jay, who moved from 8th to 1st and 12th to 2nd , respectively, to take the gold and silver medals. Jay did well to hold on to the bronze medal by 2.8 seconds from another Austrian, the fast finishing Simon Eder, mainly by virtue of his time in the 10 kilometres event.

Ferry, an outspoken opponent of doping in sport, had competed at the top level since 2001 but had never previously won a medal at world or Olympic level. His wife, Heidi Andersson, was an eight-time world champion in the sport of arm-wrestling.