The Olympics Men's Biathlon took place earlier today and produced one of the more memorable finishes of the Winter Olympics.
For the uninitiated, Biathlon combines skiing and shooting, and the men's 15km event features five laps of a 3km course, with four shooting rounds.
Martin Fourcade, who is widely regarded as one of he finest proponents of the sport having an Olympic haul of four gold medals and two silver, was looking to secure the win that would see him secure his status as France's most successful Olympian.
German Simon Schempp was the man looking to foil Fourcade. Fourcade and Schempp were neck and neck for last two laps, both having missing one target during the final shoot. Both men's strides were just syncing as they neared the finish, and both athletes extended their skis as they crossed the red line. Fourcade slammed his pole on the ground believing the German had taken gold from under his nose.
It was a familiar feeling for the Frenchman, who was knocked into second place in similar fashion by Norway's Emil Hegle Svendsen, in the same event four years ago in Sochi, but Fourcade was informed in the aftermath of the scramble that he did manage to stick his ski across the line before Schempp.
Take a look:
WHAT . A . FINISH ?
Incredible drama in the Men's Biathlon #PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/GfaYvJRyuk
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) February 18, 2018
It doesn't get much closer than that. After the race Fourcade expressed his relief at the win:
Today I'm so satisfied because I was second eight years ago in Vancouver in the mass start, I was second four years ago and today I finally win this competition, so I'm really proud.
I gave everything I had but I know that Simon is a really good sprinter and it's not my main quality, so I was thinking during the whole loop that to lose against the world champion of the mass start is not something bad.
