Maren Kirkeeide of Norway takes gold in the biathlon sprint during her Olympic debut

ANTERSELVA, Italy (AP) — In her Olympic debut, Maren Kirkeeide of Norway bested two Frenchwomen to take gold in a snowy women's 7.5-kilometer sprint biathlon race at the Milan Cortina Winter Games on Saturday.

Kirkeeide cleared all 10 of her shots and crossed the finish line in 20 minutes and 40.8 seconds. Oceane Michelon of France also shot clean and came in 3.8 seconds behind. Lou Jeanmonnot missed one but held on for the bronze, 23.7 seconds back.

Jeanmonnot now has a full set of medals after standing on the podium in every race she has entered so far in these Winter Games. She took silver in the 15-kilometer individual race on Wednesday and joined Julia Simon, Eric Perrot, and Quentin Fillon Maillet to take gold in the mixed relay last Sunday.

Kirkeeide said her goal for this season was to race in the Olympics so winning gold was an incredible achievement.

“I wanted to try my best, and I got some positive feedback from the coaches, and then I got some extra motivation, and it helped me all the way to the finish line,” Kirkeeide said. “You never know how fast the other ones are going. I just tried to do my best. And I would also be really happy with a silver medal, but it’s amazing to be able to take the gold.”

Kirkeeide’s win was in sharp contrast to her performance in the individual where she missed five targets and finished 49th. She said her teammates helped her through it.

Michelon said it was great to share these results with a very strong French team. She had also won silver in last year's World Championships mass start race.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “It’s my very first race in the Olympics. Today I enjoy this party. I’m just really happy about it.”

Jeanmonnot said the light snow falling made for great conditions but the race was more difficult than the individual on Wednesday.

“Mentally on the shooting range I wasn’t able to stay focused on my shooting and not on results,” she said. “I’m quite happy about getting a medal today because I was not expecting it.”

Her teammate, Simon, missed two of her standing shots and finished a disappointing 34th — 1 minute 55.8 seconds behind the Norwegian.

Also disappointed was Italy's Lisa Vittozzi, who hit all of her targets but finished 5th, 40.6 seconds back.

“I gave everything but it wasn’t enough," she said. "I am satisfied because I couldn’t have done more than this. After the first shooting, I was already 15 seconds behind, which is honestly quite strange. So I will have to analyze what did not work today, but I gave it all until the end. But I cannot throw a fifth place away.”

Reigning biathlon sprint champion Marte Olsbu Røiseland has retired. Elvira Oeberg of Sweden took silver in the sprint at the Beijing Olympics, while Dorothea Wierer of Italy won bronze.

This time out, Oeberg missed two shots and finished 27th in the sprint race. Wierer missed three and came in 44th.

The sprint race is the shortest biathlon discipline. Racers head out at 30-second intervals and ski three, 2.5-kilometer loops, shooting once in the prone position and once standing. Biathletes must ski a 150-meter penalty lap for each miss.

Only the top 60 biathletes finishing the sprint race can participate in the pursuit race, which takes place on Sunday. Time gaps are critical in the sprint, because racers in the pursuit go out in the seconds-back order based on their sprint finish.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Maren Kirkeeide, of Norway, reacts after the women's 7.5-kilometer sprint biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Lou Jeanmonnot, of France, skis to the finsh area of the women's 7.5-kilometer sprint biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Oceane Michelon, of France, reacts in the finish area during the women's 7.5-kilometer sprint biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Maren Kirkeeide, of Norway, prepares to shot ahead of the women's 7.5-kilometer sprint biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Maren Kirkeeide, of Norway, reacts after the women's 7.5-kilometer sprint biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

DUBLIN (AP) — Ireland got relief from a 20-13 home win over Italy in the Six Nations on Saturday, coming from behind at halftime and grinding out an unconvincing result.

Coach Andy Farrell wanted his slumping side to muzzle the doubters and make a statement after being blown away by France 36-14 last week, Ireland’s worst Six Nations loss in 16 years.

Instead, Italy reaffirmed it is no longer the tournament doormat, backing up its 18-15 opening win over Scotland by contributing daringly to a compelling match and being unfortunate. Italy had a try ruled out and another try missed by an unlucky bounce of the ball.

Way past 80 minutes, Italy's last attack was broken by an intercept by James Lowe, who took it to the Italy 22 and got a penalty. But instead of taking three points to rob Italy of a losing bonus point, Ireland went for a bonus-point fourth try and kicked the ball dead, ending the match.

Ireland's performance won’t worry England before their clash at Twickenham next weekend, when Italy goes to title favorite France.

From the kickoff, Ireland showed the intent that Farrell wished he'd seen more of in Paris last week. The attack flowed with wingers Robert Baloucoune — playing his first test in more than three years — and Lowe prominent.

Italy's defense was equal to the task, making two ruck turnovers. An Irish tap penalty was wasted when hooker Dan Sheehan was penalized for a high jump.

It took Italy winger Louis Lynagh's yellow card for a so-called deliberate knock-on to open a gap that Ireland exposed. Center Stuart McCloskey offloaded for fullback Jamie Osborne to score untouched. The easy conversion attempt was badly missed by Sam Prendergast.

As much as Ireland dominated the first 20 minutes, the second 20 was Italy's.

Fullback Lorenzo Pani spoiled a beautiful chip and chase when he offloaded too low for Michele Lamaro, who had only grass between him and the tryline.

After Ireland scrumhalf Craig Casey took a yellow card and bloodied nose from a passive high tackle on Italy's Lorenzo Cannone, Italy kicked to the corner, mauled the lineout and hooker Giacomo Nicotera scored. Paolo Garbisi's sideline conversion gave them a 10-5 lead.

Italy tighthead Simone Ferrari continued to have the edge on Ireland loosehead Jeremy Loughman and, near halftime, Italy's scrum shattered Ireland's. Italy waived the three points to gamble on seven. But the maul was stopped and the attack held up.

Still, Italy led at halftime in Dublin for the first time ever and was halfway to a first Six Nations win in the Irish capital.

The halftime lead lasted less than three minutes. Ireland sent a kickable penalty into the left corner and the lineout ball was used for Jack Conan to burrow over. Prendergast missed the conversion attempt badly again.

Italy should have retaken the lead thanks to sublime back play. Osborne had to make a try-saving tackle on counterpart Pani, then a Lynagh try was canceled after center Tommaso Menoncello ruined his lovely break with a forward pass.

That was Ireland's cue to send on Jamison Gibson-Park followed by Jack Crowley. The new pivots were decisive and sparked Ireland to attack from all parts. They earned the lead for the first time in 25 minutes when Baloucoune backed himself to beat two defenders to the tryline.

Crowley converted, added a penalty and Ireland was 20-10 up and rampant.

But Italy rallied again, and the scrum produced the rare sight of lifting Irish and Lions tighthead Tadhg Furlong off his feet.

Nothing else by Italy in the last 14 minutes was as stunning, and the visitor fell to its narrowest loss in Dublin in 18 years.

AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby

Italy's Lorenzo Pani, right, is tackled by Ireland's Craig Casey, during a Six Nations rugby union match between Ireland and Italy in Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

Ireland's Robert Baloucoune, left, runs onto score a try despite Italy's Lorenzo Cannone's late defence during a Six Nations rugby union match between Ireland and Italy in Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

Italy's Monty Ioane reacts after the end of the Six Nations rugby union match between Ireland and Italy in Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

Ireland's Robert Baloucoune, goes over the line to score a try during a Six Nations rugby union match between Ireland and Italy in Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)