If he had been just a half-minute faster, Ilmārs Bricis might have won a bronze medal. Instead, the Latvian biathlon star had to settle for fourth place in the men’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit event Feb. 18 during the Winter Olympics in Turin.

Bricis finished the course in 26.7 seconds behind behind gold medal winner Vincent Defrasne of France, whose time was 35 minutes, 20.2 seconds, according to the official Web site of the Winter Olympics, www.torino2006.org.

The silver medal went to Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway and the bronze to Sven Fischer of Germany.

Latvia’s Jānis Bērziņš finished 44th in the event, 5:02.6 behind the leader, while Raivis Zīmelis finished 48th, 5:37.8 behind the leader, and Kristaps Lībietis finished 56th, 8:31.0 behind.

In 2002 during the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Bricis finished a disappointing 51st in the pursuit event.

Also on Feb. 18, Latvian biathlete Madara Līduma finished 20th in the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit event. Her time was 4 minutes, 7.2 seconds behind gold medal winner Kati Wilhelm of Germany, who finished the course in 36:43.6. The silver medal went to Martina Glagow of Germany and Russia’s Albina Akhatova earned the bronze.

Anžela Brice of Latvia was lapped and knocked from the competition.

Latvia’s Martins Dukurs has placed seventh overall in the men’s skeleton event Feb. 17 during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

Dukurs’ total time over two runs was 1 minute, 57.39 seconds. After his first run, he was in 10th place, according to the official Web site of the Winter Olympics, www.torino2006.org.

The gold medal in the event went to Duff Gibson of Canada, whose combined time was 1:55.88, a track record. The silver medal went to Jeff Pain of Canada, while Gregor Staehli of Switzerland took the bronze.

Dukurs, 21, was the only Latvian participating in the event.

Because Russian biathlete Olga Pyleva has been stripped of her Winter Olympics silver medal after failing a drug test, Latvia’s Madara Līduma has moved up a notch in the final results for the Feb. 13 women’s 15-kilometer individual event.

Līduma originally finished 11th overall, but the record books now will show she finished 10th in the games being held in Italy.

Except for gold medal winner Svetlana Ishmouratova of Russia, everyone in the competition was bumped up one place after Olympics officials on Feb. 16 disqualified Pyleva for “a violation of the anti-doping rules,” according to the official Web site of the Winter Olympics, www.torino2006.org.

After the Feb. 13 event, a stimulant called carphedon was detected in Pyleva. Olympics officials took away the silver medal and also have prohibited Pyleva from further competition in the Turin games. The International Biathlon Union, meanwhile, announced Feb. 16 that it is banning both Pyleva and her physician, Dr. Nina Vinogradova, from any IBU-sanctioned competition for two years.

Pyleva told journalists she took the stimulant by mistake, according to a Reuters news report.

The decision by Olympics officials also means three other Latvian women finished the event one notch higher. Anžela Brice now is listed in 48th place, Linda Savļaka is 63rd and Gerda Krūmiņa is 70th.