While battling sheets of rain and snow, Vincent Jay of France won a biathlon gold medal in his Olympic debut Sunday, while the five-time champion Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway finished 17th in the 10-kilometer sprint at the Vancouver Games.

Emil Hegle Svendsen of Norway won the silver medal, finishing 12.2 seconds back, and Jakov Fak of Croatia won the bronze, finishing another 1.8 seconds behind.

Tim Burke, hoping to become the first American to win an Olympic medal in biathlon, had a disappointing day. Burke missed three shots and finished 47th, while Jeremy Teela was the best American, finishing ninth place despite missing two shots.

With the flurry of wet snowfall making conditions difficult for most of the favorites, Jay shot cleanly and took advantage of an early start number to finish in 24 minutes, 7.8 seconds.

Vincent Jay was the second surprise winner in two days at the biathlon venue. Jay seems to feel right at home in Whistler, where last season he enjoyed his only World Cup victory.