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Before Saturday, Micael Greis had just one non-relay win in international competition.
CESANA, Italy (AP) -- Ole Einar Bjoerndalen collapsed across the finish line, with Michael Greis of Germany skiing just out of his reach.
A shot at history, however, is still within the Norwegian's grasp.
Bjoerndalen's two missed targets cost him the first gold medal awarded at the Turin Olympics, and he settled for the silver in the men's 20-kilometer biathlon Saturday.
Bjoerndalen, who swept all four biathlon golds at Salt Lake City, remains the favorite in the four remaining races, including the mass start, which was added for the 2006 games.
The 32-year-old Norwegian has stood atop the podium five times before in his sensational career that includes 57 World Cup wins. If he can win out in the Italian Alps, he would become the most successful athlete in the history of the Winter Games, eclipsing fellow countryman Bjorn Daehlie, a cross country skier who collected his eighth gold medal at Nagano in 1998.
"I could still break the record," said Bjoerndalen, smiling.
Bjoerndalen finished 16 seconds behind Greis, whose time was 54 minutes, 23 seconds. Bjoerndalen's teammate, Halvard Hanevold, took the bronze in 55:31.9, edging Russia's Sergei Tchepikov by less than a second in a race that also featured the best biathlon finish ever by an American.
"One year ago I won my first World Cup here and until now that was the most important moment of my life," said Greis, whose 20-km win at San Sicario on Feb. 9, 2005, is his only other non-relay win in international competition.
"It was a perfect run today, a perfect match," Greis said. "And I'm very happy that I left behind my Norwegian colleagues.
"It is always difficult to beat Bjoerndalen, but not impossible."
Alaskan Jay Hakkinen took 10th in a time of 56:10.9, but the best finish ever by a U.S. athlete could have been much, much better. Each miss results in a one-minute penalty and he missed three of 20 shots, including a split bullet that failed to knock down the target.
Had it fallen, he would have won the bronze medal instead of Hanevold.
"I'm happy. I'm just personally disappointed in my heart," U.S. coach Algis Shalna said. "One split bullet on the second prone didn't go down. If the target goes down, we would have been standing on the podium. Tenth place if our best ever, but we had a really close chance for all our dreams to come true."
Hakkinen's close call left him with mixed feelings.
"It's good to keep stepping toward the podium," he said. "But my mind-set is on the podium."
Even though his feet weren't.
Still, Hakkinen took solace in his solid performance on biathlon's longest and toughest race, which he suggested bodes well for the 10-kilometer sprint on Tuesday, his best event.
"It was almost a perfect race except for my prone shooting, and if I can just carry that momentum into the 10k, I can make up for it and get the medal," Hakkinen said.
Hakkinen posted the second-fastest ski time behind Bjoerndalen, who missed two of 20 shots, one too many to beat Greis, who missed just once.
Bjoerndalen missed once on each of his first prone and standing stages on the shooting range, and that was too much for him to overtake Greis, even for the ultra-fast Norwegian who thrives on hilly, high-altitude courses such as this one.
"The competition is harder now than in Salt Lake," Bjoerndalen said. "If you want to win, you have to do everything perfect. And today, Michael Greis was too perfect for me. He was the best guy today."
