PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — France won a surprise gold medal in a close mixed relay Thursday at the biathlon world championships.

Marie Laure Brunet, Sylvie Becaert, Vincent Defrasne and Simon Fourcade finished in 1 hour, 10 minutes, 30.0 seconds, edging the Swedish team by six seconds. The French team missed six shots but escaped the penalty loop in the 2x6-kilometer and 2x7.5-km race.

Helena Jonsson, Anna Carin Olofsson-Sidek, David Ekholm and Carl Johan Bergman had just three missed targets between them, the best marksmanship of the contest.

Defending champion Germany was third, nine seconds behind the French. Andrea Henkel, Simone Hauswald, Arnd Peiffer and Michael Greis had to use 11 spare bullets but skied well to repeatedly put themselves back in the race.

Fourcade, Greis and Bergman arrived about even for their final shooting round. All three missed their first shot and Greis failed to hit the target with a third, setting him back while Fourcade edged ahead of Bergman going into the last lap and kept the lead until the end.

The French athletes had little success at the championships before Thursday's race, the best performance being Fourcade's fourth-place finish in the men's individual. Brunet finished seventh in the women's pursuit.

"Before the race, nobody thought that we could win a medal. We were just outsiders for everyone," Defrasne said. "But we were very motivated and wanted to do our best."

The championships continue Saturday with the men's 15K mass start and the women's 4x6 relay.