We would have thought we were back in February 2018, when the organizers of the Pyeongchang Olympics had used the photo finish to offer the Olympic gold of the mass start of biathlon to Martin Fourcade, author of a formidable sprint against the German Simon Schempp. Except that this Thursday, the French cross-country skier Jules Chappaz had to bow for a few centimeters against the Norwegian Paal Golberg, at the end of the sprint of the Nordic skiing world championships in Planica (Slovenia).
Money was at stake then, so the 23-year-old skier can still console himself with the bronze medal of a classic style event won by the untouchable Norwegian Johannes Klaebo. Jules Chappaz is only the fifth tricolor athlete in history to win an individual medal at the World Nordic Skiing Championships. It is even the first time that a Frenchman has stepped on a sprint podium at the World Championships, although Roddy Darragon took the silver medal at the Turin Olympics in 2006.
Richard Jouve passes through
A major performance, especially since the person concerned had signed only the seventh fastest time in qualifying, before winning his quarter-final and his half. In the final, he couldn’t keep up with Johannes Klaebo, who led a breakneck pace from start to finish. Second at the start of the final stretch, he was beaten at the photo finish by Paal Golberg… by only 2/100ths of a second! Jules Chappaz does not currently have any World Cup podiums. This season, he had reached the final of a sprint event in Ruka (Finland) for the first time in his career, already in classic style, where he took sixth place, his best result so far.
Another Frenchman, Lucas Chanavat, who has 15 World Cup podiums, including two victories, climbed to the final at Planica on Thursday, and finished his race in sixth place. The big disappointment for the French team came from its leader, Richard Jouve, winner of the small sprint globe last year, but eliminated in the quarter-finals, after a complicated qualification with the 19th time.