Austria finished second at one hour 22mins 16.7sec while Russia were just behind at one hour 22mins 16.9sec.

Having already won silver in the 20km individual, Bjoerndalen helped Norway go out on a high in the final biathlon event of the Games to make up for his "terrible" disappointment of 27th in Sunday's mass start.

"This feels so good," said Bjoerndalen. "The most important is we won today.

"My shooting was fantastic and I went fast and skied great. I'm really satisfied with my race. It was perfect."

And he said he will treasure the moment when he crossed the line for his sixth gold.

"That was an incredible feeling," he said. "I went at my maximum. I just do my job. That's me and that's what I like."

His experienced team-mate Emil Hegle Svendsen, who won his second gold of the Games after winning the 20km individual, admitted he had been nervous before skiing the third leg.

"On the second visit to the range, I couldn't understand how I could hit any targets," he said having also won silver in the 10km sprint.

"My body was shaking like a leaf - like a maple leaf. But when I handed over to Ole, I had a good feeling."

On the first of Bjoerndalen's two visits to the shooting range, the Norwegian needed two extra bullets to account for all five targets in the prone position, but was flawless on the second visit in the standing position.

Bjoerndalen opened a gap of more than 12 seconds after his first range visit and then set about extending it.

Austria were in medal contention throughout, having been in the top three for the duration with Simon Eder skiing a strong first leg, but anchor Christoph Sumann was 45.6sec behind Bjoerndalen leaving the shooting range for the last time.

With his masses of experience, the Norwegian picked up his national flag on the last lap with obvious delight as the Scandinavians claimed their eighth gold medal in Vancouver.

AFP