The German quartet of Erik Lesser, Daniel Boehm, Arnd Peiffer and Simon Schempp registered a winning time of 1 hour 13min 49.50sec with three spares as they successfully followed on from the women's 4x6km victory yesterday.

Norway's Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, Tarjei Boe, Johannes Thingnes Boe and Emil Hegle Svendsen claimed the silver medal, 15.4 seconds back with six spares, while France's Simon Fourcade, Jean Guillaume Beatrix, Quentin Fillon Maillet and Martin Fourcade, took bronze, 33.6 seconds behind with four spares.

The eventual winners found themselves 6.3 seconds off the pacesetters Norway after the first leg, before Boehm reduced the deficit to 3.1 seconds by the end of the second.  

Peiffer cleaned prone faster than sprint world champion Johannes Thingnes Boe to give Germany a two-second lead and he was just as good in standing, cleaning quick and fast to stretch the advantage to 13.5 seconds.

Simon Schempp sealed Germany's win in the fourth leg ©Getty Images


Schempp left the stadium with a 15.3 second superiority and after cleaning prone with ease, he managed to steer the Germans to victory.

The win brings an end to Norway's three-year winning streak in the event, although their second-place finish saw eight-time Olympic champion Bjoerndalen earn his 40th career World Championship medal.

The action in Kontiolahti is due to conclude tomorrow with the women's 12.5km and men's 15km mass start events.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
March 2015: Sharp shooter Dahlmeier secures German relay success at Biathlon World Championships