| Date | 19 February 1998 — 13:00 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Nozawa Onsen Resort, Nozawa Onsen | |
| Participants | 68 from 17 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: 25 m Shooting 1: Prone at 2.5 km, 50 m range Shooting 2: Standing at 5.0 km, 50 m range Total Climbing: 253 m | |
Germany had won the event at the last three World Championships and was a heavy favorite. They were led by Uschi Disl and Katrin Apel, medalists in the sprint, and Petra Behle, three-time individual gold medalist at the Worlds. Disl had a problem as the lead-off, when an opponent stepped on one of her poles. She dropped it and fell back to 15th place after retrieving it, but she recovered to be third at the first exchange. After the second exchange the surprise leader was Slovakia with Russia second, and Germany third. But order was restored on the third leg, with Germany taking the lead ahead of Russia, followed by Norway. They would finish in that order as well, Slovakia eventually crossing in fourth.
| Pos | Number | Competitors | NOC | Time | Misses | Extra Shots | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Germany |  GER | 1-40:13.6 | 0 | 11 | Gold | ||
| Lead-Off | 6-1 | Uschi Disl | 25:20.3 | 0 | 5 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 6-2 | Martina Zellner | 24:46.1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 6-3 | Katrin Apel | 24:39.2 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| Anchor | 6-4 | Petra Behle | 25:28.0 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 2 | 7 | Russian Federation |  RUS | 1-40:25.2 | 0 | 9 | Silver | ||
| Lead-Off | 7-1 | Olga Melnik | 25:32.1 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 7-2 | Galina Kukleva | 24:27.4 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 7-3 | Albina Akhatova | 24:59.8 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| Anchor | 7-4 | Olga Romasko | 25:25.9 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 3 | 4 | Norway |  NOR | 1-40:37.3 | 2 | 10 | Bronze | ||
| Lead-Off | 4-1 | Ann-Elen Skjelbreid | 25:47.2 | 1 | 4 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 4-2 | Annette Sikveland | 24:55.0 | 1 | 4 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 4-3 | Gunn Margit Andreassen | 25:20.8 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Anchor | 4-4 | Liv Grete Skjelbreid | 24:34.3 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 4 | 8 | Slovakia |  SVK | 1-41:20.6 | 2 | 9 | |||
| Lead-Off | 8-1 | Martina Schwarzbacherová | 24:44.5 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 8-2 | Anna Murínová | 24:57.1 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 8-3 | Tatiana Kutlíková | 26:31.5 | 2 | 4 | ||||
| Anchor | 8-4 | Soňa Mihoková | 25:07.5 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 5 | 3 | Ukraine |  UKR | 1-42:32.6 | 0 | 6 | |||
| Lead-Off | 3-1 | Valentyna Tserbe-Nesina | 26:36.5 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 3-2 | Olena Petrova | 25:20.9 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 3-3 | Tetiana Vodop'ianova | 25:43.9 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| Anchor | 3-4 | Olena Zubrilova | 24:51.3 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 6 | 9 | Czech Republic |  CZE | 1-43:20.5 | 0 | 10 | |||
| Lead-Off | 9-1 | Kateřina Losmanová | 25:32.4 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 9-2 | Irena Novotná | 26:16.6 | 0 | 4 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 9-3 | Jiřína Pelcová | 26:49.7 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| Anchor | 9-4 | Eva Háková | 24:41.8 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 7 | 17 | People's Republic of China |  CHN | 1-43:32.6 | 1 | 10 | |||
| Lead-Off | 17-1 | Yu Shumei | 25:15.7 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 17-2 | Sun Ribo | 25:17.2 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 17-3 | Liu Jinfeng | 25:59.0 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| Anchor | 17-4 | Liu Xianying | 27:00.7 | 1 | 5 | ||||
| 8 | 5 | France |  FRA | 1-43:54.6 | 0 | 8 | |||
| Lead-Off | 5-1 | Christelle Gros | 26:20.6 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 5-2 | Emmanuelle Claret | 25:17.7 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 5-3 | Florence Baverel | 26:20.7 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Anchor | 5-4 | Corinne Niogret | 25:55.6 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 9 | 12 | Slovenia |  SLO | 1-44:18.8 | 3 | 14 | |||
| Lead-Off | 12-1 | Lucija Larisi | 27:12.3 | 2 | 6 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 12-2 | Andreja Grašič | 24:44.3 | 0 | 4 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 12-3 | Matejka Mohorič | 26:21.5 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Anchor | 12-4 | Tadeja Brankovič | 26:00.7 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| 10 | 2 | Sweden |  SWE | 1-44:50.8 | 0 | 7 | |||
| Lead-Off | 2-1 | Maria Schylander | 27:28.0 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 2-2 | Magdalena Forsberg | 24:06.2 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 2-3 | Kristina Brounéus | 26:42.9 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| Anchor | 2-4 | Eva-Karin Westin | 26:33.7 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 11 | 10 | Kazakhstan |  KAZ | 1-45:22.9 | 2 | 11 | |||
| Lead-Off | 10-1 | Inna Sheshkil | 25:24.6 | 0 | 4 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 10-2 | Margarita Dulova | 25:27.0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 10-3 | Yelena Dubok | 28:35.5 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| Anchor | 10-4 | Lyudmila Guryeva | 25:55.8 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 12 | 1 | Belarus |  BLR | 1-45:24.0 | 0 | 7 | |||
| Lead-Off | 1-1 | Iryna Tananaika | 25:42.4 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 1-2 | Natallia Ryzhankova | 25:47.5 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 1-3 | Natallia Maroz | 28:30.5 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| Anchor | 1-4 | Sviatlana Paramihina | 25:23.6 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 13 | 11 | Poland |  POL | 1-45:45.5 | 2 | 15 | |||
| Lead-Off | 11-1 | Agata Suszka | 25:58.1 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 11-2 | Halina Pitoń | 26:33.6 | 1 | 5 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 11-3 | Iwona Daniluk | 27:01.0 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| Anchor | 11-4 | Anna Stera | 26:12.8 | 1 | 4 | ||||
| 14 | 14 | Japan |  JPN | 1-46:23.0 | 1 | 15 | |||
| Lead-Off | 14-1 | Mami Honma | 25:31.2 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 14-2 | Hiromi Seino | 26:08.8 | 1 | 6 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 14-3 | Mie Takeda | 27:51.3 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| Anchor | 14-4 | Ryoko Takahashi | 26:51.7 | 0 | 4 | ||||
| 15 | 15 | United States |  USA | 1-48:30.2 | 1 | 12 | |||
| Lead-Off | 15-1 | Ntala Skinner | 26:35.0 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 15-2 | Stacey Wooley | 27:12.1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 15-3 | Kara Salmela | 26:21.2 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| Anchor | 15-4 | Kristina Sabasteanski | 28:21.9 | 1 | 5 | ||||
| 16 | 16 | Bulgaria |  BUL | 1-48:55.2 | 3 | 9 | |||
| Lead-Off | 16-1 | Radka Popova | 28:06.0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 16-2 | Ekaterina Dafovska | 24:56.4 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 16-3 | Pavlina Filipova | 27:52.7 | 3 | 5 | ||||
| Anchor | 16-4 | Valentina Peychinova | 28:00.1 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 17 | 13 | Canada |  CAN | 1-53:15.0 | 3 | 15 | |||
| Lead-Off | 13-1 | Kristin Berg | 28:44.6 | 1 | 5 | ||||
| 2nd Leg | 13-2 | Myriam Bédard | 25:20.0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 3rd Leg | 13-3 | Nikki Keddie | 29:56.1 | 2 | 6 | ||||
| Anchor | 13-4 | Michelle Collard | 29:14.3 | 0 | 3 |
