Schempp, Hildebrand give Germany double biathlon WCup win

By foxsports
Published

HOCHFILZEN, Austria (AP) German biathlete Simon Schempp won a men's World Cup sprint on Friday, hours after Franziska Hildebrand led a German sweep in the women's event.

Schempp didn't miss a target and completed the 10-kilometer competition for his sixth career win.

Defending World Cup champion Martin Fourcade of France had to ski one penalty loop, and came 9.9 seconds behind in second to extend his lead in the sprint and the overall standings.

Tarjei Boe of Norway shot cleanly and trailed Schempp by 18.9 in third, while Anton Shipulin of Russia finished another 1.8 further back in fourth.

After four events, Fourcade leads Ole Einar Bjoerndalen by 31 points. The Norwegian veteran, who won the sprint in Ostersund, Sweden, last week, placed 16th on Friday.

In the women's 7.5K sprint, Hildebrand earned her maiden World Cup win.

Using a new rifle, the German shot cleanly. Maren Hammerschmidt also avoided mistakes on the shooting range and was 15.2 seconds behind, while Miriam Goessner missed once and trailed Hildebrand by 21.0 in third.

Sprint world champion Marie Dorin Habert of France led after the prone stage but missed twice in the standing position and dropped to 10th.

Overall leader Gabriela Soukalova of Czech Republic also remained at the top of the sprint standings, 10 points ahead of Hildebrand.

The men's and women's pursuits are scheduled for Saturday.