Cross-country skiing: no sprint finals for Justine Gaillard and Clémence Didierlaurent
This Tuesday morning, French cross-country skiers Justine Gaillard (thirty-fourth) and Clémence Didierlaurent (thirty-eighth) suffered a terrible disappointment in the classic sprint qualifying round for the Milan/Cortina 2026 Olympic Games.
They left the competition after just under 4 minutes of effort, and made no secret of their disappointment to France TV in the mixed zone. I liked the track, I’d been feeling good the last few days,” explained Justine Gaillard, after shedding a few tears. I don’t know, I just didn’t have the energy. I’m just disappointed for all the people who came to see me and went to watch me at home in Méaudre all together on TV.”
Vosgienne Clémence Didierlaurent said she “wanted to do better”.” It’s a shame because that’s not really what we came here for. It’s a shame because that’s not really why we came here. The aim of the sprint is always to get through the qualifiers and have fun in the tournament. We didn’t succeed.
Their compatriots Mélissa Gal and Julie Pierrel have made the cut and will be in the quarter-finals scheduled to start at 11.45am in Tesero (Italy).
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