Svendsen wins Oslo biathlon World Cup race

OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Norway's Emil Hegle Svendsen raced past Andreas Birnbacher of Germany in the finishing stretch to win the men's 15-kilometer mass start in front of a cheering home crowd at a biathlon World Cup event on Sunday.

Svendsen missed two targets but caught up with leader Birnbacher after the fourth shooting round. He completed the race in 40 minutes, 44.1 seconds.

Birnbacher shot clean to finish second, 6.3 seconds behind, while Russia's Evgeniy Garanichev finished third, 17.8 seconds behind.

Tim Burke of the United States was eighth, 1 minute behind the winner.

Svendsen leads the overall standings with 681 points. France's Martin Fourcade, who missed three targets and finished fifth in the race, is second with 660 points and Birnbacher is third on 607.

Earlier Sunday, Andrea Henkel of Germany secured her 21st biathlon World Cup win by taking the women's 12.5-kilometer mass start.

Henkel missed one target in the first shooting round on the Holmenkollen track, but grabbed the lead halfway through the race and finished in 38 minutes, 1.2 seconds.

She was trailed by Darya Domracheva of Belarus, who missed four targets to finish 26.6 seconds behind. Teja Gregorin of Slovenia shot clean to finish third, 27.2 seconds back.

Henkel's win adds to a streak of victories for Germany in Oslo. On Saturday, Arnd Peiffer and Magdalena Neuner won the pursuit races.

Neuner remains at the top of the women's overall standings with 816 points, but the gap to Domracheva, who is second with 795 points, has narrowed. Tora Berger of Norway is third with 681.