Biathlon: Camille Bened on fire, Paula Botet too
After a day off, the FFS biathlon selections in Bessans(Savoie) for the first two stages of the IBU Cup were back in action this Saturday morning. It was the women who opened the hostilities with a second sprint, this time contested by the best biathletes in the country.
Although one of them was expected to set the fastest time, it was finally Chablais’ Camille Bened (10/10) who did so. With no faults in her shooting, she even made a (very) strong impression by winning with a time of 21 min 21 sec 1. Pre-qualified for the B circuit, the Savoyard is reassured and launches her winter in the best possible way.
On the podium, she finished ahead of Gilonne Guigonnat (10/10) by 21.9 seconds and Justine Braisaz-Bouchet (8/10) by 33.3 seconds. Fourth-placed Paula Botet (9/10) from the Vosges is the highest-ranked of the girls in the running for the IBU Cup and , barring any major surprises, should be off to Scandinavia in a few days’ time.
Voldiya Galmace-Paulin on her way to the IBU Cup
Sophie Chauveau (9/10), Voldiya Galmace-Paulin (9/10), who is also taking a big step towards the IBU Cup, Jeanne Richard (9/10), Julia Simon (8/10), who hurt herself on the skis, Fany Bertrand (10/10) and Lou Jeanmonnot (10/10) all made it into the day’s top 10.
Further back, we find Océane Michelon (8/10) in eleventh place, Chloé Chevalier (9/10) in twelfth, Noémie Remonnay (10/10) in thirteenth, Lisa Siberchicot (10/10) in fourteenth, Amandine Mengin (8/10) in fifteenth, Léonie Jeannier (7/10) in sixteenth, Camille Coupé (6/10) in eighteenth, Coralie Langel (9/10) in eighteenth, Lou-Anne Dupont Ballet-Baz (7/10) in twenty-first and Violette Bony (7/10) in twenty-second.
Anaëlle Bondoux (7/10), who had been pre-qualified, withdrew after the standing shot.
Full results
- IBU Cup selections in Bessans: lessons learned from the first sprint
- Sélections de Bessans: the first women’s sprint for Paula Botet, Chloé Chevalier and Camille Bened follow
- Bessans: Gaëtan Paturel wins the first selection sprint ahead of Antonin Guigonnat and Théo Guiraud-Poillot
- IBU Cup: the full programme of selections in Bessans on 14, 16 and 17 November
- Three places up for grabs for the women and up to five for the men: Stéphane Bouthiaux explains what’s at stake and all the details of the IBU Cup selections in Bessans.
- “Doing specific work at race pace”: the French women’s team launches its final training camp of the preparation period on the snow at Bessans on Friday.
- Julia Simon, Lou Jeanmonnot, Jeanne Richard, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, Gilonne Guigonnat, Sophie Chauveau and Océane Michelon training on the snow at Bessans: photo album
- “We already made this choice last year”: why the French women’s team decided to finish their preparations in Bessans and not in Sjusjøen with the boys.
- The names of the six French players pre-qualified for the start of the 2024/2025 IBU Cup
- The full schedule for the arrival of the French team groups at the Bessans snow camp
