Biathlon at the 1988 Winter Olympics – Relay

The men's 4 x 7.5 kilometre biathlon relay competition at the 1988 Winter Olympics 23 February, at Canmore Nordic Centre. Each national team consisted of four members, with each skiing 7.5 kilometres and shooting twice, once prone and once standing.[1][2]

Men's biathlon relay
at the XV Olympic Winter Games
VenueCanmore Nordic Centre
Dates26 February
Competitors64 from 16 nations
Winning time1:22:30.0
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s)  Soviet Union
Dmitry Vasilyev
Sergei Tchepikov
Alexandr Popov
Valeriy Medvedtsev
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  West Germany
Ernst Reiter
Stefan Höck
Peter Angerer
Fritz Fischer
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  Italy
Werner Kiem
Gottlieb Taschler
Johann Passler
Andreas Zingerle
← 1984
1992 →

At each shooting station, a competitor has eight shots to hit five targets; however, only five bullets are loaded in a magazine at one – if additional shots are required, the spare bullets must be loaded one at a time. If after the eight shots are taken, there are still targets not yet hit, the competitor must ski a 150-metre penalty loop.[3]

Summary

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The East German team were defending world champions, and had won at least a silver medal in every major competition of the 80s except for the 1984 Olympic race. In Calgary, they again failed to medal, missing three early shots to fall well behind. With the East Germans in trouble, the Soviets were able to pull away and win by more than a minute. This was the sixth consecutive relay win for the Soviet Union, and with the country dissolving before the 1992 Games, this win ensured that the Soviet Union never lost an Olympic relay. West Germany and Italy, the two teams that claimed bronze medals behind the top two teams at the 1986 and 1987 World Championships, rounded out the medals in Calgary.

Results

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[1]

Rank Bib Team Penalties (P+S) Result Deficit
  3   Soviet Union
Dmitry Vasilyev
Sergei Tchepikov
Alexandr Popov
Valeriy Medvedtsev
0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
1:22:30.0
21:04.3
20:12.0
20:35.1
20:38.6
  5   West Germany
Ernst Reiter
Stefan Höck
Peter Angerer
Fritz Fischer
0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
1:23:37.4
21:05.7
21:18.0
20:33.9
20:39.8
+1:07.4
  9   Italy
Werner Kiem
Gottlieb Taschler
Johann Passler
Andreas Zingerle
0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
1:23:51.5
20:57.9
21:31.1
20:38.6
20:43.9
+1:21.5
4 1   Austria
Anton Lengauer-Stockner
Bruno Hofstätter
Franz Schuler
Alfred Eder
0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
1:24:17.6
20:55.6
21:20.5
21:15.1
20:46.4
+1:47.6
5 11   East Germany
Jürgen Wirth
Frank-Peter Roetsch
Matthias Jacob
André Sehmisch
3
3 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
1:24:28.4
22:51.8
20:20.9
20:29.1
20:46.6
+1:58.4
6 4   Norway
Geir Einang
Frode Løberg
Gisle Fenne
Eirik Kvalfoss
0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
1:25:57.0
21:58.6
21:46.4
20:59.9
21:12.1
+3:27.0
7 10   Sweden
Peter Sjödén
Mikael Löfgren
Roger Westling
Leif Andersson
3
0 0
0 0
3 0
0 0
1:29:11.9
22:18.3
21:25.0
23:40.2
21:48.4
+6:41.9
8 16   Bulgaria
Vasil Bozhilov
Vladimir Velichkov
Krasimir Videnov
Khristo Vodenicharov
7
1 0
0 0
4 0
0 2
1:29:24.9
22:14.7
20:58.8
23:28.2
22:43.2
+6:54.9
9 8   United States
Lyle Nelson
Curt Schreiner
Darin Binning
Josh Thompson
2
1 0
0 0
0 0
1 0
1:29:33.0
22:43.3
21:39.7
22:17.3
22:52.7
+7:03.0
10 12   France
Éric Claudon
Jean-Paul Giachino
Hervé Flandin
Francis Mougel
6
0 0
4 0
0 0
0 2
1:30:22.8
21:58.1
23:58.2
21:26.8
22:59.7
+7:52.8
11 6   Czechoslovakia
Jiří Holubec
František Chládek
Tomáš Kos
Jan Matouš
3
0 0
3 0
0 0
0 0
1:30:48.8
21:53.2
23:52.7
23:32.2
21:30.7
+8:18.8
12 2   Finland
Juha Tella
Antero Lähde
Arto Jääskeläinen
Tapio Piipponen
5
3 0
0 2
0 0
0 0
1:30:54.4
23:33.0
22:54.1
22:46.5
21:40.8
+8:24.4
13 13   Great Britain
Mike Dixon
Mark Langin
Carl Davies
Trevor King
5
0 0
0 0
0 1
0 4
1:31:44.6
21:35.6
21:55.5
23:31.5
24:42.0
+9:14.6
14 15   Japan
Tadashi Nakamura
Misao Kodate
Akihiro Takizawa
Koichi Sato
6
2 1
1 0
2 0
0 0
1:32:52.4
23:26.6
21:46.9
25:15.1
22:23.8
+10:22.4
15 7   Canada
Charles Plamondon
Glenn Rupertus
Ken Karpoff
Jamie Kallio
4
1 2
1 0
0 0
0 0
1:33:37.0
24:48.4
22:52.4
22:29.6
23:26.6
+11:07.0
16 14   South Korea
Hong Byung-Sik
Joo Young-Dai
Kim Yong-Woon
Shin Young-Sun
7
0 1
2 1
0 2
1 0
1:51:42.7
26:42.0
26:38.9
29:43.4
28:38.4
+29:12.7

References

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  1. ^ a b "Calgary 1988 Official Report" (PDF). XV Olympic Winter Games Organizing Committee. LA84 Foundation. 1988. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  2. ^ "Biathlon at the 1988 Calgary Winter Games: Men's 4 x 7.5 kilometres Relay". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  3. ^ Wallechinsky, David (1988). The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics. New York: The Overlook Press. p. 320. ISBN 1-58567-185-1.
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