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The overall biathlon World Cup title went to Sweden's Helena Jonsson by the narrowest of margins.

In an incredibly tight finish, both Jonsson and Germany's Kati Wilhelm finished the season with exactly 952 points after 26 races.

But with more race wins to her credit this winter, Sweden's Jonsson claimed the season's title by the smallest of margins.

Germany's Simone Hauswald won the 12.5km mass start in Khanty-Mansiysk, the final event of the women's biathlon World Cup season.

Hauswald finished in a winning time of 36 minutes 54.6 seconds after just one penalty for a miss, while Jonsson was 15.1 seconds behind and her flawless shooting helped her take the world title.

Wilhelm finished sixth and was one minute 20.3 seconds off the winner with two misses - had she managed just one less she would have claimed the overall World Cup title.

Austria's Simon Eder won the men's mass start.

Eder covered the 15km circuit in a time of 37 minutes 14.4 seconds without picking up any penalty points to beat his compatriot Dominik Landertinger by 12.1 seconds with Norwegian Ole Einar Bjoerndalen 17 seconds adrift in third.

Landertinger took the mass start title while Bjoerndalen had already wrapped up a record sixth overall World Cup title with a tally of seven wins and eight other podium finishes throughout the season.

That saw the 35-year-old finish on 1080 points, well clear of second-placed Tomasz Sikora of Poland (870) and his fellow Norwegian Emil Hegle Svendsen (844).

AFP