Bjorndalen completed the 10-kilometer race in 23 minutes, 13.4 seconds. Dmitri Yaroshenko of Russia was second, 12.7 seconds back, after one miss. Carsten Pump of Germany, who also shot cleanly, was 23.3 seconds behind in third place. Tim Burke of the United States finished 12th.

Bjorndalen made up for a poor start in Thursday's season opener, when he missed six targets and was 29th for one of his worst World Cup finishes.

"That was no fun at all," he said. "I was upset because I have focused 100 percent on biathlon for one year and then nothing works."

Vincent Defrasne of France, who won the opener, placed 13th and kept the overall lead with 70 points.

Friedrich Pinter of Austria, who finished seventh, is second overall with 64 points. Bjorndalen, a four-time overall champion who was runner-up last year, moved to third with 52 points.