Biathlon: 10 March 2018, Antonin Guigonnat and Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet’s day of glory in Kontiolahti
After long months of anticipation, the biathlon World Cup resumes this Saturday in Kontiolahti (Finland). The Finnish resort in North Karelia is hosting the first stage of the world circuit for the fifth time, after 2003, 2007, 2020 and 2022, but this is the first time that mixed events have been the opening races.
To find traces of World Cup mixed relays in Kontiolahti, you have to look far back in the archives. It was on 10 March 2018 that the time machine came to a halt. On that day, a few weeks after the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Games, Antonin Guigonnat and Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet triumphed in the mixed singles relay.
With just six picks, the French duo won by a very narrow margin, just ahead of Austria’s Lisa Theresa Hauser and Simon Eder (for the record, they will be competing in the same event this Saturday from 1.15pm) and Norway’s Marte Olsbu Roeiseland and Johannes Thingnes Boe.
Les Bleus fifth in mixed relay without Martin Fourcade
A few hours later, it was Italy’s Dorothea Wierer and Lisa Vittozzi, who had gone round the penalty ring in the standing shot, and Dominik Windisch and Lukas Hofer who won, beating Ukraine and Norway.
France came fifth with Marie-Dorin Habert, Anaïs Bescond, Simon Desthieux and Quentin Fillon-Maillet. The month before, the French had become Olympic champions in the speciality.
It is also interesting to note that Martin Fourcade, who came away from the South Korean Olympics with three gold medals, was spared for these mixed relays. The following day, in the mass start, he finished second and , at the end of the month, collected his seventh and final crystal globe.
- Kontiolahti: the start lists for the opening mixed events of the 2024/2025 World Cup
- The French mixed relays lining up for Saturday’s World Cup opener in Kontiolahti
- Kontiolahti: an opening day without Johannes Thingnes Boe, Hanna Oeberg, Endre Stroemsheim, Anna Gandler, Sturla Holm Lægreid, Johannes Kuehn or Tarjei Boe
- The full programme for the Kontiolahti World Cup, the first stage of the 2024/2025 season
- Corinne Niogret: my best memory of… Kontiolahti
