OSLO, Norway (AP) Martin Fourcade won his second title at the biathlon World Championships in Holmenkollen on Saturday, finishing a comfortable first in the men's 10-kilometer sprint event.
In a tactically perfect race, the Frenchman, starting eighth, shot cleanly and stepped up the pace in the skiing to finish in 25 minutes, 35.4 seconds for his seventh individual Worlds title. On Thursday, Fourcade led France to the mixed relay gold.
Tiril Eckhoff won the women's 7.5-kilometer sprint title in 21 minutes, 10.8 seconds.
Fourcade beat Norway veteran Ole Einar Bjorndalen by 26.9 seconds. Bjorndalen, who is 42, shot cleanly and took his 41st medal in World Championships.
Sergey Semenov of Ukraine was third, 27.6 seconds behind Fourcade, after also shooting cleanly.
Johannes Thingnes Bo of Norway was fourth, with one penalty and 35.5 seconds back.
Among the favorites, Russia's Anton Shipulin and Germany's Simon Schempp both made mistakes in the shooting.
In the sprint, with two shooting stations, even one missed shot makes it virtually impossible to reach the podium. Schempp missed his second attempt, in the prone position, and his maximum looked to be a fifth place. But he fell on the last stretch and finished eighth, while Shipulin fared even worse - missing twice and finishing 45th.
Fourcade's win sets him up for further success. A 26.9 second gap for Bjorndalen at the start of Sunday's 12.5-kilometer pursuit will be hard to wipe out against the dominating Frenchman who now has won 47 World Cup starts.
The decision of Shipulin and Fourcade to start first and eighth respectively raised some eyebrows as many thought that the track would be faster later on.
''My state of mind was not the best in the morning, despite the mixed relay win on Thursday, I felt a little doubtful because of some health problems earlier. But my strategy to give my everything in these Worlds has been useful, and this win was important,'' Fourcade said.
Bjorndalen might end his career in this home event, and he seems to be going out at the top.
''Fourcade is extremely good, but even he can make mistakes. And if somebody reaches an optimal performance and he has an off day, it is possible for us others to win,'' Bjorndalen said.
Eckhoff, a 25-year-old Norwegian, shot cleanly from both the prone and standing positions.
Marie Dorin Habert, also with a clean shooting sheet, looked like a winner earlier on but was beaten by 15.0 seconds in the end.
Laura Dahlmeier of Germany took third - 19.8 seconds slower than Eckhoff - after a superb finish. Missing once, she was 40 seconds behind Dorothea Wierer of Italy after the second shooting, with 2.5 kilometers of skiing left. Dahlmeier's furious action on the track earned her the bronze medal, after beating World Cup leader Gabriela Soukalova of the Czech Republic. Wierer was fifth.
