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This year, France fielded a unique team with Éric Perrot, preferred to Émilien Jacquelin, Quentin Fillon Maillet, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet and Julia Simon.
BIATHLON – Great collective performance to open the 2024 Biathlon Worlds. After settling for third place last year, the French quartet formed by Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, Julia Simon, Éric Perrot and Quentin Fillon Maillet won supreme on the Czech slopes of Nove Mesto this Wednesday, February 7 . Norway of the Boe brothers and Sweden of the Öberg sisters complete this first podium.
A new coronation for French biathlon, which thus offers its first gold medal, during this first day of mixed relay racing. A performance all the more beautiful as the discipline is vampirized by Norway, victorious in the last four world titles. France’s last coronation dates back to 2016.
This year, France fielded a unique team with Éric Perrot, preferred to Émilien Jacquelin. First to set off in the rain and soft snow, the 22-year-old made two errors on his prone shot. Left 20 seconds behind the lead, occupied by Germany, he made up part of his delay on skis. Author of a flawless standing shot, he then took the lead during the second pass on skis and perfectly launched Fillon Maillet in front of the German Philipp Nawrath and the Norwegian star Johannes Boe.
Julia Simon imperial to finish the race
Germany took the lead again with a 13-second lead after the prone shot, during which Fillon Maillet had to draw once. The Frenchman, on the other hand, was the most solid during the standing shot with only one error when Nawrath and Boe drew three times.
Then came the turn of the Blues. Justine Braisaz-Bouchet first made up the 8 seconds behind Franziska Preuss’s Germany. But the Frenchwoman, hampered by the wind during her prone shot, was forced into a penalty round. The Frenchwoman managed her standing shot better with a single pick as Preuss cracked, leaving the lead to Norwegian Karoline Offigstad Knotten. Braisaz-Bouchet took back the lead before handing over to Julia Simon with a six-second lead over Switzerland and eight over Norway.
Imperial with a 5/5 in the prone shot, Simon left with 24 seconds ahead of the Norwegian Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold, who had to use a pick ball. Simon did it again with another flawless performance in the standing shot before giving France a dream debut in Nove Mesto.
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