German biathlon bronze
March 2, 2012
Around 5,000 fans cheered on the German team on Thursday as they skied and shot their way to third place in the Bavarian village of Ruhpolding.
"It was nice to be able to check out everything here and stand on the stage," said world record-holder Magdalena Neuner. "We're really very happy about the medals. It would just be nice to stand there sometime and hear the German national anthem."
The German team was made up of Neuner, Andrea Henkel, Andreas Birnbacher and Arnd Pfeiffer.
Neuner, 25, aims to win medals in all six events ahead of her retirement at the end of the season. It is the two-time Olympic winner's last competition before home fans.
The Norwegians were awarded gold although their anchor racer crossed the finish line 8.2 seconds behind Slovenia. The jury credited the team with 30 seconds after ruling that its third leg racer, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, had unnecessarily completed a penalty loop.
Thursday was the opening day of the competition.
ncy/dfm (SID, dpa)