Russians Relay Message With Win

The Russians missed Olga Pyleva only in their hearts. On the biathlon course, they didn’t need her.

Russia upset two-time defending Olympic champion Germany in the women’s 4x6-kilometer relay Thursday, and the Russians did it without their banished star, who was tossed out of the Games and stripped of her silver medal last week for using a banned stimulant.

“We dedicate this race to Olga Pyleva,” teammate Svetlana Ishmouratova said. “Even though she’s not with us, we greatly sympathize with her. We know how difficult it must have been for her to watch the race on the TV screen at home. She must feel emptiness, and we really feel togetherness.

“We tried today to demonstrate by our results that we are with her, that we are all together, one strength, one power. It’s the power of our friendship.”

Pyleva, the only athlete caught so far in the tightest drug net in Winter Olympic history, was replaced by Anna Bogaliy. She gave her team a big lead at the first exchange, and the Russians never trailed.

With target shooting so precise that the powerhouse Germans had no real opportunity to close the gap, Bogaliy, Ishmouratova, Olga Zaitseva and Albina Akhatova covered the San Sicario course in 1 hour 16 minutes 12.5 seconds.

Germany’s star-studded team of Martina Glagow, Andrea Henkel, Katrin Apel and Kati Wilhelm -- but which didn’t include Uschi Disl, second in the World Cup standings -- finished 50.7 seconds behind for the silver, and France overtook Belarus on the final leg for the bronze.

“I wanted to attack, but there was no chance,” Apel said. “The Russians made a perfect race.”

The U.S. was 15th in the 18-team field, finishing more than nine minutes off the pace in the final Olympic race for Rachel Steer, the best U.S. female biathlete.

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MEDAL WINNERS

BIATHLON, WOMEN’S 4X6KM RELAY

GOLD

* Russia

SILVER

* Germany

BRONZE

* France