Russia's Evgeny Ustyugov grabs gold in Olympic biathlon men's 15 km mass start

Russia's Evgeny Ustyugov won the gold medal in the men's biathlon 15 km mass start at the Vancouver Winter Olympics on Sunday.

Ustyugov shot clean and finished with 35:35.7.

France's Martin Fourcade took the silver, finishing 10.5 seconds behind the Russian. Slovakia's Pavol Hurajt grabbed the bronze.

This is Russia's second gold at the Games, with the country's total medal haul now reaching six - two golds, two silvers and two bronzes.

Skier Nikita Kriukov brought Russia its first Vancouver gold in the men's cross-country individual sprint race on Wednesday.

Norway's five-time Olympic Champion Ole Einar Bjoerndalen finished 27th.

Russia's national team has so far shown poor results at the Vancouver Games. Its performance in the Canadian city has provoked harsh criticism on the part of Russian fans and journalists as well as calls to fire Russian sport officials.

But Russian Sport Minister Vitaly Mutko, who is in Vancouver, recently warned against dismissing sport officials, saying it would not help athletes perform better at the Games.

MOSCOW, February 21 (RIA Novosti)