WHISTLER, B.C.–Norway's Emil Hegle Svendsen defeated the greatest biathlete of them all to win the Olympic gold medal Thursday, then paid tribute to his silver-winning teammate Ole Einar Bjoerndalen. "I don't think I would be here if it weren't for Bjoerndalen. I train with him every day and I try to copy everything he does," Svendsen said after taking the 20-km individual event in 48 minutes, 22.5 seconds. "I owe him a great deal of thanks. I'm very humble to be on the same team with him." Bjoerndalen reaffirmed his position as the greatest biathlete in history, becoming the first in the sport to win a medal in the same event at three consecutive Olympics. The 36-year-old veteran tied for the silver with Sergey Novikov of Belarus for his 10th Winter Games medal. Among men, he trails only the great Norwegian cross-country skier Bjorn Daehlie, who won 12 medals. "The most important thing for me is to be satisfied with my race, not if I get ...
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