No French double in the Oberhof sprint, but a shared podium! Untouchable on skis, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet won in Germany on Friday. Although she came out of the prone shot with two faults, the leader of the general classification ensured her standing shot before flying onto the track.
Starting with bib 42, Sophie Chauveau had one of the best races of her career and took third place (an error on the first shot). Two tenths ahead of her, the German Franziska Preuss completes the podium.
We knew Justine Braisaz-Bouchet was confident after her hat-trick in Lenzerheide (Switzerland) but we had to wait for the passage of the Swede Anna Magnusson to ensure the Frenchwoman’s victory. Logically first ski time in the sprint, she skied 28 seconds faster than Franziska Preuss.
The German, thanks to her flawless performance, came out 24 seconds ahead of Braisaz-Bouchet after the last pass on the shooting range. Not enough to impress the winner of the day, who left all her competitors behind. This bodes well for Saturday’s continuation.
The group shooting of the French
Apart from the two tricolors on the podium, the rest of the French team performed well, and placed five of its athletes in the top 10. For her first race in the World Cup, the young Jeanne Richard (21 years old) also achieved a major performance.
Perfect on the shooting range, she finally finished eighth, just ahead of… Lou Jeanmonnot and Julia Simon. The two French women will start on Saturday almost in the same second, 39 and 40 seconds behind their victorious teammate.