Music: {allcanada} GERMANY WINS MEN'S BIATHLON RELAY; CANADA 11TH

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

{allcanada} GERMANY WINS MEN'S BIATHLON RELAY; CANADA 11TH

OBERHOF, Germany -- Germany's men have won a biathlon relay for the first time since the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics.

The German foursome won the 4x7.5-kilometre World Cup race before a home crowd Wednesday, finishing in one hour 23.53 seconds to leave teams from the Czech Republic and Norway far behind.

The Czechs were two minutes 22.8 seconds back and pre-race favourite Norway was 2:24 minutes adrift.

Canada's team of Marc-Andre Bedard of Valcartier, Que., Jean-Philippe Le Guellec of Shannon, Que., Regina's Scott Perras, and Brendan Green of Hay River, N.W.T., finished 11th.

The strong winds rolling through the stadium caused havoc for the shooters. A race that would normally have less than 10 penalties resulted in more than 100 penalties, with no team escaping penalty-free.

"It was best not to fight the wind today, but take your penalties, do the laps, and make up your time that way," Le Guellec said. "We had fast skis so was a good day for our team."