| Date | 21 February 1998 — 13:00 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Nozawa Onsen Resort, Nozawa Onsen | |
| Participants | 72 from 18 countries | |
| Format | Eight shots for each group of five targets. Penalty loop (150 metres) skied for each missed target. | |
| Details | Course Length: 7,500 m Height Differential: 68 m Maximum Climb: 32 m Shooting 1: Prone at 2.5 km, 50 m range Shooting 2: Standing at 5.0 km, 50 m range Total Climbing: 286 m | |
This event was considered a toss-up between Germany and Norway. Germany had won the World Championships in 1997 and 1995, and was second to Russia in 1996. Norway had been second to Germany in 1997, but their young biathletes were coming on, and they had won both individual events, Halvard Hanevold winning the 20 km, and Ole Einar Bjørndalen taking the sprint. Germany took the lead on the first leg, with Norway only sixth. On the second leg, Peter Sendel opened up more time on Hanevold, but Latvia’s Ilmārs Bricis posted what would be the fastest leg of the event to move Latvia ahead of Germany. But that didn’t last. Latvia dropped back to fifth with Germany leading Russia by 1:10 after the third leg, Norway still only in fourth place. Norway’s anchor was Bjørndalen and he set off after Germany’s Frank Luck. Bjørndalen beat Luck by 1:23.5 on the leg, but Germany was never in danger, winning the gold medal by 20.1 seconds over Norway, with Russia third. This was the third consecutive German victory in the event, with Ricco Groß on all three teams.
| Pos | Number | Competitors | NOC | Time | Misses | Extra Shots | Shooting 1 Misses | Shooting 1 Extra Shots | Shooting 2 Misses | Shooting 2 Extra Shots | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Germany |  GER | 1-21:36.2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | Gold | ||
| Lead-Off | 4-1 | Ricco Groß | 20:09.3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 4-2 | Peter Sendel | 19:56.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 4-3 | Sven Fischer | 20:18.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Anchor | 4-4 | Frank Luck | 21:12.3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 2 | 1 | Norway |  NOR | 1-21:56.3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | Silver | ||
| Lead-Off | 1-1 | Egil Gjelland | 20:33.8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 1-2 | Halvard Hanevold | 20:08.7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 1-3 | Dag Bjørndalen | 21:25.0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| Anchor | 1-4 | Ole Einar Bjørndalen | 19:48.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 3 | 3 | Russian Federation |  RUS | 1-22:19.3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | Bronze | ||
| Lead-Off | 3-1 | Pavel Muslimov | 20:35.9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 3-2 | Vladimir Drachov | 19:56.6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 3-3 | Sergey Tarasov | 21:01.4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Anchor | 3-4 | Viktor Maygurov | 20:45.4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 4 | 7 | Belarus |  BLR | 1-23:14.0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||
| Lead-Off | 7-1 | Aliaksei Aydarau | 20:23.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 7-2 | Aleh Ryzhankou | 20:18.5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 7-3 | Aliaksandr Papou | 21:08.3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Anchor | 7-4 | Vadzim Sashuryn | 21:23.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 5 | 13 | Poland |  POL | 1-24:09.8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | |||
| Lead-Off | 13-1 | Wiesław Ziemianin | 20:29.7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 13-2 | Tomasz Sikora | 20:54.5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 13-3 | Jan Ziemianin | 21:34.3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Anchor | 13-4 | Wojciech Kozub | 21:11.3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 6 | 10 | Latvia |  LAT | 1-24:24.4 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 6 | |||
| Lead-Off | 10-1 | Oļegs Maļuhins | 20:18.2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 10-2 | Ilmārs Bricis | 19:46.7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 10-3 | Gundars Upenieks | 22:48.1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| Anchor | 10-4 | Jēkabs Nākums | 21:31.4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| 7 | 6 | France |  FRA | 1-24:53.0 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 7 | |||
| Lead-Off | 6-1 | Andreas Heymann | 20:44.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 6-2 | Raphaël Poirée | 20:04.4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 6-3 | Thierry Dusserre | 22:12.0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| Anchor | 6-4 | Patrice Bailly-Salins | 21:52.1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| 8 | 5 | Finland |  FIN | 1-25:01.4 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 7 | |||
| Lead-Off | 5-1 | Ville Räikkönen | 20:34.3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 5-2 | Paavo Puurunen | 20:08.6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 5-3 | Harri Eloranta | 22:31.0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| Anchor | 5-4 | Olli-Pekka Peltola | 21:47.5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| 9 | 8 | Italy |  ITA | 1-25:07.3 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 10 | |||
| Lead-Off | 8-1 | Patrick Favre | 21:13.0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 8-2 | Wilfried Pallhuber | 20:50.7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 8-3 | René Cattarinussi | 20:55.9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| Anchor | 8-4 | Pieralberto Carrara | 22:07.7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| 10 | 12 | Sweden |  SWE | 1-25:25.7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | |||
| Lead-Off | 12-1 | Mikael Löfgren | 21:01.0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 12-2 | Jonas Eriksson | 21:41.9 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 12-3 | Tord Wiksten | 22:09.3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| Anchor | 12-4 | Fredrik Kuoppa | 20:33.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 11 | 9 | Austria |  AUT | 1-25:33.8 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 9 | |||
| Lead-Off | 9-1 | Wolfgang Perner | 20:32.6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 9-2 | Ludwig Gredler | 21:04.8 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 9-3 | Reinhard Neuner | 22:39.1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| Anchor | 9-4 | Wolfgang Rottmann | 21:17.3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 12 | 2 | Slovenia |  SLO | 1-25:43.2 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 4 | |||
| Lead-Off | 2-1 | Sašo Grajf | 20:56.6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 2-2 | Jože Poklukar | 21:55.6 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 2-3 | Janez Ožbolt | 21:45.4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Anchor | 2-4 | Tomaž Globočnik | 21:05.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 13 | 11 | Estonia |  EST | 1-26:30.2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 9 | |||
| Lead-Off | 11-1 | Janno Prants | 20:39.7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 11-2 | Indrek Tobreluts | 21:15.3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 11-3 | Kalju Ojaste | 23:03.7 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| Anchor | 11-4 | Dimitri Borovik | 21:31.5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 14 | 16 | Czech Republic |  CZE | 1-26:35.5 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |||
| Lead-Off | 16-1 | Petr Garabík | 21:30.8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 16-2 | Zdeněk Vítek | 22:11.8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 16-3 | Jiří Holubec | 22:00.9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| Anchor | 16-4 | Ivan Masařík | 20:52.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 15 | 17 | Japan |  JPN | 1-27:55.7 | 4 | 18 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 9 | |||
| Lead-Off | 17-1 | Kyoji Suga | 22:10.9 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 17-2 | Hironao Meguro | 20:56.3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 17-3 | Shuichi Sekiya | 21:44.0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Anchor | 17-4 | Atsushi Kazama | 23:04.5 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| 16 | 18 | Kazakhstan |  KAZ | 1-27:56.0 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 9 | |||
| Lead-Off | 18-1 | Dmitry Pantov | 22:37.0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 18-2 | Dmitry Pozdnyakov | 21:41.2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 18-3 | Aleksandr Menshikov | 21:57.7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| Anchor | 18-4 | Valery Ivanov | 21:40.1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 17 | 15 | United States |  USA | 1-28:13.9 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 7 | |||
| Lead-Off | 15-1 | Jay Hakkinen | 20:37.7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 15-2 | Dan Westover | 22:14.0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 15-3 | Andrew Erickson | 22:57.2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| Anchor | 15-4 | Rob Rosser | 22:25.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 18 | 14 | Ukraine |  UKR | 1-28:57.1 | 4 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 7 | |||
| Lead-Off | 14-1 | V'iacheslav Derkach | 21:29.0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 14-2 | Ruslan Lysenko | 21:41.9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 14-3 | Mykola Krupnyk | 21:54.2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Anchor | 14-4 | Andriy Deryzemlia | 23:52.0 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
