Fourcade upgrades to World Cup gold in Finland

MARTIN Fourcade has upgraded his bronze medal to gold in Kontiolahti, Finland as he secured victory in the men's 12.5km pursuit.

MORE SUCCESS: Martin Fourcade builds on his silver medal performance in Vancouver to
take gold in the World Cup 12.5km pursuit in Finland (Getty Images)

The Frenchman won bronze on Saturday in the men's 10km sprint but got 19 out of 20 hits to give himself a ten second lead as he crossed the line first in a time of 32:35.1 minutes.

Fourcade, who won silver in the 15km mass start at the Vancouver Winter Olympics, has moved up to eighth in the overall standings with 137 points.

Italy's Christian De Lorenzi won silver and Vincent Jay made it a good day for the French as he took bronze.

Austria's Simon Eder, who still leads the standings with 196 points, finished a disappointing 13th while Norway's Emil Hegle Svendsen dropped down from second to seventh after his silver in the 10km sprint.

Fourcade's  brother Simon came 19th while arguably the day's most impressive performance came from Swede Carl Johan Bergman who made up over a minute after starting 37th to finish just outside the medals in 4th.