Canada races to biathlon bronze for country’s first world men’s relay medal

OSLO – Canada’s men’s biathlon team scored an upset on Saturday, winning bronze for the country’s first-ever world championship relay medal.

Calgary brothers Christian and Scott Gow, and Olympic veterans Nathan Smith of Calgary and Brendan Green of Hay River, N.W.T., crossed in a time of one hour 13 minutes 40.2 seconds in the 4×7.5-kilometre relay.

“This is a race we would dream about, and the dream came true today,” Christian Gow said. “The whole thing is just incredible.”

Norway won the gold in 1:16.8, hitting all 20 targets, with the help of six reserve shells. Defending champion Germany was second.

Christian Gow set the pace for Canada, skiing a personal best opening leg and shooting clean to finish just 14 seconds behind the leaders in front of a noisy Norwegian crowd.

“That was the best performance in my life,” he said. “All I wanted to do was to put the team in a good position. I took some risks and really went for it. I almost zoned out in my shooting and just let it happen.”

Gow handed off to Smith, who laid down the fastest ski time of the second leg to propel the Canadians into medal contention.

“We knew we could pull off a good result, but we never thought we’d win a medal,” Smith said.

Scott Gow took the hand-off from Smith, and then Green, one of the best shooters on the circuit, delivered a solid anchor leg, skiing fast and shooting clean.

“I’m at a loss for words,” Green said. “I watched the whole race and saw we were in contention. I was super nervous prior to the start, I almost lost my lunch. Once Scott tagged me, I was able to relax a bit and focus on having a good race.”

The medal was Canada’s second in history on the men’s side, as Smith won silver in the sprint race last season.

“I think this shows we are doing the right things for a small sport,” Smith said. “We receive little funding, but I believe our program puts the money we have where it counts in order to maximize our potential.”

The world championships wrap up Sunday with the mass start races.

France, a favourite, did not get into the race, suffering from mediocre shooting.

— With files from The Associated Press.