Biathlon-Dreams crushed by shooting pressure in biathlon's test of nerves

ANTERSELVA, Italy, Feb 9 - Biathlon's mixed relay event at the Milano Cortina Olympics saw lots of fancied competitors crack under pressure, undone by the sport's tendency to catch out even the best when faced with five targets to hit from 50 metres with the world watching.

France, Italy and Germany secured the medals on Sunday, but in their joyous wake came plenty of disappointment as nerves failed some of the favourites on the shooting range, and experience was no guarantee of success.

Coming into the race with strong hopes of a place on the podium, Sweden's challenge effectively ended on the first visit as Sebastian Samuelsson struggled to make his shots count, and Nordic neighbours Norway came undone on the final shoot, eventually finishing fourth.

"That wasn't fun at all. I feel like I let the team down," Samuelsson said glumly, despite his quartet recovering to finish a creditable fifth, just over one minute and 40 seconds behind gold-medal winners France.

Ranked third in the world coming into the Olympics, Samuelsson was the nailed-on choice to be first out for the Sweden team, but he carried the stress of a frenetic first lap at a punishing pace set by Italy's Tommaso Giacomel into the shooting range and that caused his costly misses.

In contrast, Norway remained in medal contention until the very last shoot, but 22-year-old Olympic debutant Maren Hjelmeset Kirkeeide could not keep her nerves in check.

Her wayward bullets resulted in two time-consuming penalty loops that ultimately cost her side a shot at the podium.

"We will talk about it a little bit and we will of course support Maren. (She had) a really tough last leg, but we'll support her and stick together as a team," Norway lead-off man Martin Uldal told Reuters as he sought to shake off his team's disappointment.

With the medals in the melting pot on the last shoot, Kirkeeide's relative inexperience was laid bare as German veteran Franziska Preuss dug deep to steady herself before expertly felling the targets that secured the bronze.

"It was a big challenge, and my legs were just shaking and shaking, and then I just tried to find the right moment in this shaking to hit the target. It was really a challenge," Preuss told Reuters, her bronze medal dangling around her neck.

"Happily, luckily, the last shot was a good one," she said beaming.

The biathlon competitions at the Games continue on Tuesday with the men's 20km individual race. REUTERS