WHISTLER, B.C. — Olga Zaitseva kept looking around for a Russian flag to wave as she entered the biathlon stadium, ready to start her celebration early.
She never got the flag, but there was no way she could miss out on the gold.
Zaitseva easily protected a large lead on the final leg Tuesday as Russia defended its Olympic title in the women’s biathlon relay at the Vancouver Games.
After Olga Medvedtseva had practically guaranteed the win for the Russians by pulling away on the third leg, Zaitseva had plenty of time on the final straightaway to enjoy the victory, slowing up and blowing kisses to the crowd as she entered the ski stadium.
“Apparently people were extra-cautious, so they wouldn’t give me a flag,” Zaitseva said. “But already when I was crossing the bridge (into the stadium) I was blowing kisses at everyone. I knew we were going to win.”
After Medvedtseva’s performance, there was little reason to doubt it. Her perfect shooting on the third leg allowed her to build a 45-second lead for Zaitseva on the final leg.
“I was concentrating only on one thing, shooting,” Medvedtseva said. “Because a relay comes down to one thing — clean shots.”
Zaitseva easily did the rest despite some shaky shooting on her part, as the Russians at least partially made up for a disappointing Olympic showing.
The Russian team, which included Svetlana Sleptsova and Anna Bogaliy-Titovets, finished the 4×6-kilometer race in 1 hour, 9 minutes, 36.3 seconds. The French quartet of Marie Laure Brunet, Sylvie Becaert, Marie Dorin and Sandrine Bailly took the silver after finishing 32.8 seconds behind.
The German team of Kati Wilhelm, Simone Hauswald, Martina Beck and Henkel earned bronze, 37.1 seconds back.
Zaitseva and Bogaliy-Titovets were both part of the Russian team who won the same event in Turin four years ago. Medvedtseva, however, was expelled from those games because of a doping violation.
The Russian, who then competed as Olga Pyleva, was stripped of a silver in the 15K individual race in Turin after testing positive for the banned stimulant carphedon and was given a two-year suspension. Both Medvedtseva and the Russian federation have maintained she unknowingly took the banned substance when a doctor treating her for an ankle injury gave her an over-the-counter medication.
The Germans were without double gold medalist Magdalena Neuner, who pulled out of the event after saying she was physically and mentally worn out after her previous successes in Vancouver.
Norway was fourth and Sweden fifth, as Swedish standout Helena Jonsson wrapped up a miserable Olympics without a medal.
In the relay format, the skiers can shoot eight times at the five targets at each position. Only five bullets can be loaded at a time, so a skier will lose time reloading if she misses. After using all eight rounds, the competitor must ski a 150-meter penalty loop for each remaining target.
Zaitseva was immediately mobbed by her teammates in the finish area for a big group hug to celebrate a rare Russian gold medal at these games. They had mainly Medvedtseva to thank for it.
Brunet gave France a 22-second lead at the first exchange, but Hauswald and Bogaliy-Titovets caught up to Becaert on the second leg, and the three teams stayed together until Medvedtseva pulled away.
At the prone shooting station, the Russian quickly made all five shots to open up an 11.6-second lead over Germany’s Beck, while Dorin’s poor shooting cost France a chance at the gold.
Dorin missed five of her eight shots and had to ski two penalty laps, putting France more than a minute behind. Bailly still managed to overtake Henkel near the end to give France the silver.
“Andrea was not in the best shape, so I just tried to catch up and I achieved that,” Bailly said.
Henkel lost some valuable seconds when she pulled up at one point, looking around to make sure she was going the right way after she saw someone signaling to her on the side of the course.
“I was totally confused,” she said. “I was just looking around. I didn’t know, is this the right way or isn’t. But it did not affect the medal.”
Sleptsova credited the large number of Russian fans with helping them get the victory.
“We were overwhelmed,” Sleptsova said. “Our spirits soared, and that gave us strength.”
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