For the first time in history. The Biathlon World Cup relay ended with a sensation

The U.S. biathlon team has taken the highest place in the history of World Cups. The American team of Vincent Bonacci, Sean Doherty, Campbell Wright and Jake Brown sensationally took fourth place at the 8th stage of the World Cup in Soldier Hollow (Salt Lake City, USA). The Stars and Stripes were one minute away from the podium.

Starting in number 14, Bonacci began the race with a phenomenal advantage, shooting cleanly and passing the baton to Doherty in third, just 10 seconds behind the leaders. Bonacci, a native of Salt Lake City, Utah, wanted to "do it for my city."

"We had more fans than the last time the World Cup was here. The feeling of a real home crowd, I have to say I love it. It was fun, we put on a good show, which is what we always want," said Doherty after the race.

Doherty continued to attack, staying in the lead and using only three spare rounds on the range, and sent Campbell Wright into battle from fifth position. Wright had an impressive relay: he made one miss in the prone, and a clean shooting performance in the standing put the United States in second place.

Brown, despite having to drive one penalty lap, remained calm and tried his best to maintain a high position on his last lap, repelling a late attack from the Swedish team and eventually securing the team's fourth place.

"My favorite spot was on Cabin Hill. I walked by the fans and they were chanting 'Jake, Jake, Jake,' which was pretty surreal. I've never had anything like that before, so it was really cool," Brown said immediately after finishing.

The team crossed the finish line just +1.30 behind the leading Norwegian team of Sturla Lagreid, Tarja Bøgh, Johannes Tinges Bøgh and Vetli Kristiansen. Norway was joined on the podium by the Italians Patrick Braunhofer, Tommaso Giacomel, Didier Biona and Lucas Hofer, as well as the Germans Justus Strelov, Johannes Kühn, Benedikt Doll and Philipp Navrat.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, the Ukrainian biathlon team of Artem Pryma, Dmytro Pidruchny, Vitaliy Mandzyn and Anton Dudchenko took 9th place in the relay race at the 8th stage of the World Cup.

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