The women's relay of Biathlon 2018 during the 2018 Winter Olympics was held on 22 February 2018 in the Alpensia Biathlon Centre. With 18 teams competing, the event was won by the team from Belarus, with Sweden taking the silver medal and France taking bronze.
Format[]
The competition exists out of each athlete conducting three rounds of 2 kilometres, broken up by shooting at five targets. Each athlete has up to three additional shots for each round, and each missed target afterwards causes the athlete to have to conduct an additional round of 150 meters. The team with the fastest time after 4x6 kilometres is the winner.
Preview[]
Eighteen teams qualified for the last event of the biathlon program, with Germany as the leader in the current World Cup standings, the team that also included three-time medalist Laura Dahlmeier. The teams of France and Sweden were also strong medal contenders, and both had won a medal in an individual event, with Anais Bescond winning the bronze medal in the pursuit, and Hanna Oeberg winning the gold medal in the 15 kilometres. The only other competitor to win more than one Olympic medal in Pyeongchang was Anastasiya Kuzmina, who would take part in the team of Slovakia. Norway had also won multiple medals and could be considered an outsider, just like defending champion Ukraine, Italy, and the Czech Republic.
Results[]
In the snow in the final women's biathlon event in Pyeongchang, the eighteen teams started simultaneously, but they were not even out of the stadium, or the Kazakh athlete Galina Vishnevskaya tripped and fell behind. Franziska Preuss lead the large group into the first of three laps, but was joined at the helm by Monika Hojnisz, who represented Poland. However, coming back into the stadium for the first round of prone shooting, this order was completely changed, with now Lisa Vittozzi for Italy in the lead, followed by Germany, Susan Dunklee for the United States, and Linn Persson for Sweden. With the first gaps having been created by athletes requiring additional bullets or penalty rounds, the United States, which started last, was the first team to finish the first lap. Dunklee was followed by Iryna Varvynets for Ukraine, Sarah Beaudry for Canada, Synnoeve Solemdal for Norway, and Emilia Yordanova for Bulgaria, but the differences after Beaudry were small. With no one missing more than three times, there were no athletes far behind.
Dunklee retained her lead during the second lap, but Fuyuko Tachizaki was in hot pursuit, trying to bridge the gap to the leader. The gap remained about 8 seconds, and the first 13 teams were all still within 20 seconds of each other, with only two teams really lagging behind. The athlete from the United States was able to hold onto her lead going into the second round of shooting, but missing one shot caused her to lose some of that valuable time. Lisa Vittozzi took the lead in her final lead before the changeover, but Dunklee remained in second on 5 seconds. Behind Dunklee, the athletes from Norway and Slovakia followed, but with fifth-placed Elisa Gasparin from Switzerland already on almost 30 seconds, the first big gaps started to fall. The German favorites were forced to conduct a penalty loop, just like Ukraine, Bulgaria, and the host country South Korea, the last of which shot terribly and missed 7 out of 8 times.
Vittozzi was really able to ski away from Dunklee, who was still around 5 seconds behind, but the gap to Paulina Fialkova for Slovakia and Solemdal for Norway was now over 15 seconds. Behind Solemdal was another gap, with Anais Chevalier for France and Eva Puskarcikova for the Czech Republic following on another 15 seconds. Italy was also the first team to change skiers, with Vittozzi handing over to Dorothea Wierer, 8 seconds before Clare Egan switched over for Dunklee. Fialkova handed over to one of the fastest skiers in the field Anastasiya Kuzmina for Slovakia on 20 seconds behind Italy, and was quickly followed by Norway. France and the Czech Republic followed on another 10 seconds. Germany, one of the big favorites, was already a minute behind, and the host country South Korea almost 4 minutes.
Wierer retained a small lead over her chasers, but now Kuzmina was in second place, in front of Egan and Tiril Eckhoff for Norway. Wierer also arrived first at the shooting range, but with five misses, she was not able to hold her lead. Instead, Kuzmina missed only once and took the opportunity, with 15 seconds on Eckhoff, who also missed once and Egan. Veteran Kaisa Makarainen for Finland and Jessica Jislova for the Czech Republic were also still within 30 seconds after their first lap.
The lead of Kuzmina was retained throughout her second lap, but Makarainen came closer fast, closing up on the chasers behind them. However, once again the leader faltered in the shooting round, with Kuzmina missing four shots, and having to go through a penalty loop. The lead was taken over by Wierer, but Makarainen was hot on her tail. They were followed by Iryna Kryuko, who lead Belarus near the front of the race, but Egan and Magdalena Gwizdon for Poland were also not far behind. Kuzmina came back into the main lap as seventh, behind Lena Haecki for Switzerland and Marie Dorin Habert for France.
With a single lap to go until the second changeover, Makarainen accelerated away from Wierer, already taking a lead of almost 15 seconds halfway through the lap. Kryuko, Egan, Kuzmina, Dorin Habert, and Hwizdon were all within 10 seconds of Wierer, and as could be seen in the previous laps, any mistake could be costly. Halfway through the event, Makarainen exchanged first with Mari Laukkanen, with a small group of athletes of Italy, Slovakia, and the United States on roughly 15 seconds, and another group of 3 countries on 25 seconds. Germany, as the world cup leader, was over 90 seconds down on the leader.
Laukkanen stayed in the lead, but the gap with Nicole Gontier of Italy was decreasing. Arriving at the shooting range for their first prone shooting, the gap of the leader was down to 10 seconds. With difficult and changing wind conditions, no one was able to shoot faultless, but Gontier was able to take the lead with "only" three misses, followed by Terezia Poliakova for Slovakia, who missed once, and Dzinara Alimbekava for Belarus, who also missed twice. Selina Gasparin followed on 10 seconds from the leader, and Laukkanen and Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold for Norway remained close. Justine Braisaz was also still within 20 seconds from Gontier, and the gap behind Poland and the United States with the next chasers was already over half a minute.
Gontier extended her lead over Alimbekava to 6 seconds, while Poliakova joined Gasparin, Laukkanen, Braisaz, and Tandrevold in a group behind them. The Italian also arrived first at the shooting range for her second round, but once again, the leader missed over three times, and Alimbekava took the lead for Belarus, with three-time Olympic champion Darya Domracheva as the last skier for the team. With one lap to go until the changeover, Guzik took second place, behind Alimbekava, but in front of Poliakova and Gontier, and once again the United States were in the top 5.
However, even in the final lap of the third leg, the order could change vastly, with Kuzik for Poland changing first, almost 10 seconds before Braisaz handed her reins to Anais Bescond. Italy, Belarus, and Slovakia followed, all within 20 seconds of the new leader, with Joanne Firesteel Reid for the United States and Selina Gasparin for Switzerland also not far behind. The gap behind Switzerland was already over 30 seconds with Anna Magnusson for Sweden, but as in the previous legs, a lot of mistakes were made in the shooting rounds.
Poland was the surprise leader of the race going into the last leg, and Bescond and Domracheva followed on barely 10 seconds. The differences behind the two had gotten bigger, with Federica Sanfilippo and Ivona Fialkova on 20 seconds. Weronika Nowakowska arrived first at the shooting range, but only had a lead of barely five seconds, and by missing twice, she had to give away the lead to Domracheva. The Belarusian now had a lead of over 10 seconds to Bescond, who missed once, and Norwakowska, with Fialkova and Sanfilippo still close behind. Irene Cadurisch, who raced for Switzerland, recovered to sixth place, but the United States, Sweden, and Norway were all within 10 seconds. Two-time gold medalist Laura Dahlmeier was now only a minute behind the leader for Germany.
With only two laps to go and small time differences between the first few teams, the last shooting round was vital for good placement. The lead of Domracheva over Bescond had increased to almost 30 seconds, and despite three misses, she kept her lead over the rest of the field, mainly because Bescond, her closest challenger, also missed twice. The lead of Domracheva over Bescond was now down to 6 seconds, with Hanna Oeberg for Sweden only 10 seconds behind the Belarusian after shooting clean. Cadurisch, Fialkova, Marte Olsbu for Norway, and Nowakowska had to give their all to hope for a medal.
In the final lap, Domracheva stayed in front of the pack, but the race behind her was very close. Oeberg, the Olympic champion in the 15 km individual event, went up and over Bescond, and Marte Olsbu accelerated behind them to battle for the bronze medal. At the finish line, the Belarusian left 10 seconds over Oeberg, and 18 seconds over Bescond. The gap from Bescond to Olsbu was again back to 12 seconds, just in front of Slovakia, Switzerland, and Poland. Germany also finished within a minute, with Italy and Canada completing the top 10.
Belarus won their first biathlon gold medal in Pyeongchang, with Darya Domracheva winning her sixth Olympic medal in eight years, and Nadezhda Skardino winning her second Olympic medal, after winning the bronze medal in the 15 km individual in Sochi. Sweden had its best result in the women's relay ever, with Hanna Oeberg winning her second Olympic medal, after winning the 15 km individual before. With the French team taking the bronze medal, Anais Bescond won her third Olympic medal in Pyeongchang, while Marie Dorin Habert won her fourth. Both had won a gold medal in the mixed relay only a few days prior. Norway was not able to defend their bronze medal of four years prior, while Anastasiya Kuzmina missed her chance on her fourth medal in Pyeongchang. Switzerland could have won their second medal ever in Olympic biathlon, but also finished just outside of the podium.
| Rank | Nationality | Penalty | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 Belarus |
0 | 1:12:03.4 |
 |
 Sweden |
0 | 1:12:14.1 |
 |
 France |
0 | 1:12:21.0 |
| 4 |  Norway |
3 | 1:12:33.1 |
| 5 |  Slovakia |
1 | 1:12:41.8 |
| 6 |  Switzerland |
0 | 1:12:46.9 |
| 7 |  Poland |
0 | 1:12:47.0 |
| 8 |  Germany |
2 | 1:12:57.3 |
| 9 |  Italy |
2 | 1:13:07.5 |
| 10 |  Canada |
0 | 1:13:36.8 |
| 11 |  Ukraine |
2 | 1:13:44.8 |
| 12 |  Czech Republic |
4 | 1:13:59.7 |
| 13 |  United States |
0 | 1:14:05.3 |
| 14 |  Kazakhstan |
1 | 1:14:18.0 |
| 15 |  Finland |
2 | 1:14:37.2 |
| 16 |  Bulgaria |
1 | 1:14:38.0 |
| 17 |  Japan |
2 | 1:15:47.7 |
| 18 |  South Korea |
6 | 1:20:20.6 |
| 2018 Winter Olympic Games | |
|---|---|
| Biathlon 2018 | |
| ← 2014 | 2022 → |
| Men | Women |
| 20 km | 15 km |
| Sprint | Sprint |
| Pursuit | Pursuit |
| Mass start | Mass start |
| Relay | Relay |
| Mixed | |
| Relay | |