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Golden German relay

March 10, 2012

A home crowd cheered on the German women as they took gold in the relay at the biathlon world championships in Ruhpolding on Saturday.

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Andrea Henkel
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Germany's women won gold in the relay in front of their home fans at the world biathlon championships in the Bavarian town of Ruhpolding on Saturday.

The foursome of Tina Bachman, Magdelena Neuner, Miriam Gössner and Andrea Henkel defended the title the German women had won in Siberia last season, finishing with a combined time of one hour, nine minutes and 33 seconds. The French team finished 28.5 seconds back to take the silver medal, while Norway, who were 39.5 seconds slower, took bronze.

The anchor, Andrea Henkel held the German flag aloft as she crossed the finish line, as 28,000 mostly German fans cheered her on.

"It is just fantastic to win gold in front of your home crowd," Henkel said just minutes after the race.

It was the second gold and fourth overall medal of these championships for Neuner, who announced that she will retire at the end of this season. The 25-year-old German also won the sprint, while coming in second in the pursuit and third in the mixed relay. This was the 12th world championship gold of Neuner's career and the eighth for Henkel.

pfd/sjt (dpa, SID)