Fourcade pips Schempp for Olympic mass start gold at last

Pyeongchang, South Korea (dpa) - Frenchman Martin Fourcade prevailed in a photo-finish over German‘s Simon Schempp to get a long-awaited Olympic biathlon mass start gold, after two previous silvers, in his second victory at the Pyeongchang Games on Sunday.The six-time reigning World Cup champion Fourcade and reigning world champion Schempp skied side by side to the finish in a thrilling finale, with Fourcade prevailing by half a boot‘s length after 15 kilometres, with both clocking 35 minutes 47.3 seconds.Germany was then also on the losing side in the fight for bronze, with Norway‘s Emil Hegle Svendsen pipping Erik Lesser by 4 tenths to complete the podium, 11.2 seconds behind.Fourcade got his fourth overall gold after winning the pursuit in Pyeongchang earlier in the week. He had taken silver in the mass start in 2010 and 2014 but triumphed Sunday despite two missed targets, including the last of 20, while Schempp missed only once.