1ST LEAD Germany's Dahlmeier defies pressure, cold and wind for biathlon gold By John Bagratuni, dpa

Pyeongchang, South Korea (dpa) - Germany‘s Laura Dahlmeier showed her big-event class again on Saturday when she kept her cool in freezing conditions to add a first Olympic biathlon gold to seven world titles.Dahlmeier was one of only three athletes from 87 starters to hit all 10 targets in the shooting range in windy conditions to earn gold in the 7.5-kilometres sprint in 21 minutes 6.2 seconds.Marte Olsbu of Norway took silver 24.2 seconds behind and bronze went to Czech Veronika Vitkova, another 1.6 seconds back. Both had one penalty lap."This is unbelievable. A childhood dream has come true. I have been dreaming of this day for such a long time," Dahlmeier said.The winner celebrated on the shoulders of the team‘s technical staff and also deeply impressed German President Franz-Walter Steinmeier who was in attendance."First day, first gold from a wonderful Laura Dahlmeier. She won the race with nerves of steel at the shooting range. Congratulations," Steinmeier told dpa.The wind chill considerably lowered the official temperature of minus 7.2 degrees Celsius and took a heavy toll on the contenders.World Cup leader Kaisa Makarainen of Finland missed three targets as did 2010 and 2014 race gold medallist Anastasija Kuzmina of Slovakia, seeing them finish 25th and 13th, respectively. Three-time 2014 gold medallist Darya Doracheva of Belarus was ninth with two misses.But Dahlmeier, behind in the World Cup as holder after suffering from two illnesses earlier in the season, was on fire again a year after taking five golds and a silver at the world championships - which also put huge pressure on her to deliver in a similar way at the Olympics.But the 24-year-old stayed calm in the shooting range, rather taking her time than quick-firing, and was awarded with the gold which also puts her in the top position for Monday‘s pursuit."The expectations from outside were at least as high as my own. Nevertheless I had to stay cool. That‘s a key for success for me. That I managed to do so makes me grateful and proud," Dahlmeier said.