Biathlon: Jeanne Richard took part in the mass-start at Le Grand-Bornand
Exactly one year ago, under a heavy snowfall, Jeanne Richard came very close to giving herself an immense treat during the mass start of the biathlon world cup in Le Grand-Bornand (Haute-Savoie).
Third at the start of the final straight, she was passed by Slovakia’s Paulina Batovska Fialkova in the very last metres, and had to settle for fourth place. Twelve months later, over the last few days, the Montblanc native has not had quite the same experience.
Replaced by Paula Botet in the French team for the sprint/chase combination following a tricky start to the winter, she finally took part in the mass-start on Sunday.
“She’s a little disappointed with her performance because she’s more than capable of doing better.
“These are not situations we come across regularly. She wasn’t fully selected for the weekend and was waiting to see if she would be able to keep her place in the mass-start,” Cyril Burdet, Les Bleues’ coach, told Nordic Magazine. It’s been an unusual week between two waters, but in the end the strategy we adopted turned out to be the right one, because she was able to be at the start of this mass-start.
Jeanne Richard didn’t manage to shine in this race , taking twenty-third place, scoring a 17/20 on the mats and then skipping the traditional passage through the mixed zone. She’s a little disappointed with her performance because she’s more than capable of doing better,” says her coach. We’ll learn from it when we’ve had a chance to rest.
At the moment, it is difficult to know on which circuit Jeanne Richard will start 2026 between the World Cup and the IBU Cup, given the high density of French participation.
[With Aymeric Kubica, special correspondent in Le Grand-Bornand].
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