Olympic Champion Ole Einar Bjorndalen and Liv Kjersti Eikeland of Norway won a biathlon mixed-relay show race at the German Bundeslige Schalke’s soccer stadium on Tuesday. A record 52,000 spectators at the sold-out stadium watched the race that was also showed live on television.
Most of the skiing occurred outside the stadium, while the shooting was done indoor inside the stadium.
– This was the greatest thing I have ever experienced, said Liv Kjersti Eikeland after the race where she and Bjorndalen crushed their competitors.
Bjorndalen was happy too, despite experiencing stomach-cramps during the race.
The French team of Vincent Defrasne and Sandrine Bailly was second and Tomasz Sikora and Magdalena Gwizdon was third.
The first place team got $14,000 Euro (US $19,000)
The relay was done in an 1150-meter long loop and each team skied 15 laps. The winning time was roughly 50 minutes and the winning margin 39 seconds.
12 teams from 8 nations participated in the race. It was pouring rain outside the stadium, but the shooting was done indoor at the stadium.
Source: www.vg.no
