Epic Olympic battle highlights biathlon at Beijing Games

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The Frenchman fared better in the first week. The Norwegian nailed it in the second.

The biathlon competition at this year’s Olympics, held amid whipping wind and bone-chilling temperatures in the mountains far outside Beijing, produced an epic battle between two of the sport’s best.

Quentin Fillon Maillet came close to becoming the first man to win six medals at a single Winter Olympics, taking five and finishing fourth in a sixth race. The Frenchman won two gold and three silver.

Johannes Thingnes Boe also won five medals, as did Norwegian teammate Marte Olsbu Roeiseland in the women’s races. Together they helped Norway win a record six gold medals — one more than Germany managed at the 2006 Turin Olympics.

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Johannes Thingnes Boe of Norway crosses the finish line in the men's 15-kilometer mass start biathlon at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

"Quentin dominated the first week, Johannes the second," said Martin Fourcade, a five-time Olympic biathlon champion from France. "These are two big athletes and Quentin deserves to be among them. He has worked hard to come here as a leader and he lived up to that status."

The conditions made it difficult for everyone in a sport that combines cross-country skiing and shooting. The wind made even the best marksmen struggle to hit targets in some races.

The Boe family will head home with two suitcases full of medals. Johannes Thingnes Boe won four gold and one bronze while Tarjei Boe won two gold, one silver and one bronze.

Roeiseland won three gold and two bronze.

"The best athletes dominated,"