Have Gun, Will Triumph

Only two shots from winning the 15-km individual race, Sweden's Magdalena Forsberg, 34, the most successful biathlete of her generation, could not stop her legs from shaking. It was partly nerves — she had never won an Olympic medal — and partly the shiveringly fast pace she was making around the track. She missed those last two shots and ended up with a bronze. "I'm very happy that I finally have an Olympic medal," said Forsberg, though she was clearly disappointed it wasn't a gold. Later in the week, she came in third again, this time in the 7.5-km sprint.

Beating Forsberg in the 15 km was Andrea Henkel, 24, part of a strong German team in Salt Lake City that has been bedeviling Sweden and Norway, the other traditional powers in cross-country and biathlon. A four-time junior champion, Henkel was surprised at her success. When her sister, Olympic cross-country skier Manuela Henkel, congratulated Andrea at the finish line, she didn't know she was in first place. She broke down in tears. "So you see," says Henkel, "I'm not always cool, calm and collected."