The men's sprint competition of the Sochi 2014 Olympics was held at

Laura Biathlon & Ski Complex The Laura Biathlon & Ski Complex (russian: Лыжно-биатлонный комплекс «Лаура») is a skiing venue located on the crests and slopes of Psekhako Ridge in Krasnaya Polyana, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. F ...

on 8 February 2014. It was 10 kilometres in length (6.2 miles). The defending

Olympic Champion This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad. Medalist with most medals by sport Summer Olympic sports Winter Olympic sports A. Including military patrol e ...

was

Vincent Jay Vincent Jay (born 18 May 1985) is a former French biathlete and non-commissioned officer. During his career, he won two Olympic medals at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver - a gold in the sprint and a bronze medal in the pursuit. He was t ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, who has retired since the previous Olympics. The defending

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Emil Hegle Svendsen Emil Hegle Svendsen (born 12 July 1985) is a retired Norwegian biathlete. He has won eight medals at Winter Olympics (four gold) and five individual gold medals and seven relay gold medals at World Championships. He skis with Trondhjems Skiskytte ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Qualification

Countries were assigned quotas using a combination of the Nation Cup scores of their top 3 athletes in the individual, sprint, and relay competitions at the 2012 World Championships in

Ruhpolding Ruhpolding is the municipality with the biggest area of the Traunstein district in southeastern Bavaria, Germany. It is situated in the south of the Chiemgau region in the Alps and next to the Austrian border. Ruhpolding has a biathlon track. ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and the 2013 World Championships in

Nové Město na Moravě Nové Město na Moravě (; german: Neustadt in Mähren) is a town in Žďár nad Sázavou District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 9,800 inhabitants. It is known as a winter sports resort. The historic town centre is wel ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. The top 20 nations would be able to start four athletes in the sprint, while nations 21 through 28 could start one each. Nations below 28 could only start if any nation decided to vacate a quota spot. During the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

2013–14 Biathlon World Cup The 2013–14 Biathlon World Cup was a multi-race tournament over a season of biathlon, organised by the International Biathlon Union. The season started on 24 November 2013 in Östersund, Sweden, and ended on 23 March 2014 in Holmenkollen, Nor ...

season the athlete must have two results at IBU Cup, Open European Championships, World Championships or World Cup in the Sprint or Individual that at a maximum 20% behind the average time of the top three athletes. Or, two placings in the top half at the Junior World Championships. They also can have a combination of both criteria (one of each).

Schedule

All dates and times are (

UTC+4 UTC+04:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +04:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2019-02-07T23:28:34+04:00. This time is used in: As standard time (year-round) ''Principal cities: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Baku, ...

Results

The race was started at 18:30.Final Results
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Ole Einar Bjørndalen Ole Einar Bjørndalen () (born 27 January 1974) is a retired Norwegian professional Biathlon, biathlete and coach, often referred to by the nickname, the "King of Biathlon". With 13 Winter Olympic Games medals, he is second on the List of multip ...

won the event with a time of 24:33.5, 1.3 seconds ahead of silver medalist

Dominik Landertinger Dominik Landertinger (; born 13 March 1988) is a retired Austrian biathlete. Life and career Landertinger debuted in the 2007–08 season, and his big breakthrough came during the 2008–09 season, where he, as of 22 March 2015, has fourteen po ...

. Bjørndalen missed one of the targets but was able to use his speed to make up the lost time.

Jaroslav Soukup Jaroslav Soukup (, born 12 July 1982) is a retired Czech biathlon, biathlete. Career His first World Cup podium was in Östersund at the pursuit competition on 4 December 2011. Soukup won a bronze medal in Biathlon at the 2014 Winter Olympics � ...

finished third for the bronze medal. The gold medal was Bjørndalen's 12th Olympic medal, equaling a record set by fellow Norwegian

Bjørn Dæhlie Bjørn Erlend Dæhlie (born 19 June 1967) is a Norwegian businessman and retired cross-country skier. From 1992 to 1999, Dæhlie won the Nordic World Cup six times, finishing second in 1994 and 1998. Dæhlie won a total of 29 medals in the Olym ...

. At 40 years old, he is also the oldest man ever to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event at the Winter Games. Bjørndalen won his 3rd gold medal in the Olympic men's sprint.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biathlon at the 2014 Winter Olympics - Men's sprint

Sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace *Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automotive and motorcycle *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, ...