Fourcade, Hauswald win World Cup biathlon pursuits

Mar 20, 2010 - 4:55 PM OSLO(AP) -- Martin Fourcade of France won his third straight biathlon World cup race Saturday after protecting his lead to take the 12.5-kilometer pursuit.

The Frenchman started first after winning Thursday's sprint race and overcame three missed targets to finish in 33 minutes, 46.9 seconds. Simon Schempp of Germany shot cleanly to finish second, 9 seconds behind. Russia's Ivan Tcherezov was third, 26.2 seconds back, after two misses.

Norway's Emil Hegle Svendsen reclaimed the overall World Cup lead by finishing fourth.

Earlier, Simone Hauswald of Germany won the women's 10K pursuit.

Hauswald, who also won the 7.5-kilometer sprint on Thursday, finished in 32:05.5 with three missed targets.

Darya Domracheva of Belarus was second, 5.4 seconds behind with one miss, beating Sweden's Anna Carin Olofsson-Zidek in third, 38.9 seconds behind with two misses.

Overall World Cup leader Magdalena Neuner of Germany finished eighth, with five misses.