OSLO, Norway (AP) Martin Fourcade out-skied Simon Schempp from the last shooting station for France to beat Germany in the mixed relay as the biathlon world championships began at the Holmenkollen Arena on Thursday.
Fourcade, the World Cup leader, led the team of Anais Bescond, Marie Dorin Habert, and Quentin Fllol Maillet to victory in the 27-kilometer race, 12 for the women, and 15 for the men.
France, after finishing runner-up in the last two world championships, beat Germany by 4.3 seconds behind. Beside Schempp were Franceska Preuss, Franziska Hildebrand, and Arnd Pfeiffer.
Tarjei Bo compensated for losing time with spare shells in the prone shooting by going clean in the standing and lifting Norway past Ukraine onto the podium, 14.4 seconds off the pace. Rookie Marte Olsbu, Tiril Eckhoff, and JohannesThingnes Boe were the others on the team.
