LES SAISIES, France -- Unheralded Evgeni Redkin of the Unified Team, who didn't even expect to compete until two days ago, won the Olympic 20-kilometer biathlon race Thursday when Mark Kirchner of Germany missed three shots.
Kirchner, one of the toughest skiers in his sport, was seeking his third gold medal of these Games.
Moments earlier, World Cup leader Andreas Zingerle of Italy looked like he would be the winner, but he missed four shots in his final shooting stage and dropped to 17th.
Redkin, listed on the results as Redkine and in the Olympic computer system as Redkim, and not even listed in the Unified Team Olympic medal guide -- hit all of his 20 shots and finished in 57 minutes, 34.4 seconds.
Redkin said he was surprised to learn only 48 hours before the race that he would be competing.
'I had the impression that because some of our other athletes were unable to live up to our expectations that I was chosen to compete,' he said. 'I think our coach felt younger blood should join the team.'
In the 20-kilometer, skiers are penalized one minute for each miss at the range, where they use a .22-caliber rifle to shoot at targets 50 meters away. Kirchner's three misses dropped him to the silver medal with a total time of 57:40.8.
Kirchner has won three world titles as well as golds in these Games in the 10-kilometer race and the relay.
'This silver medal means as much to me as gold,' Kirchner said, 'because of this hard course and the distance.'
'I'll have to forget about this,' Zingerle said. 'If I don't, it will haunt me.'
Sweden's Mikael Lofgren took the bronze medal, missing one shot in both standing phases. His final time was 57:59.4.
Josh Thompson of Gunnison, Colo., was 16th for the top American result, tied for the second-best U.S. Olympic biathlon finish.
'I had too much time for thinking,' Kirchner said. 'Once I take my shots, I concentrate on what's ahead and have to live with it.'
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'I had too much time for thinking,' Kirchner said. 'Once I take my shots, I concentrate on what's ahead and have to live with it.'
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