Biathlon: no medals for Les Bleus at the EYOF on Wednesday
Wednesday morning at the Bakuriani BTH-CCS Stadium was biathlon mixed singles relay day as part of the Bakuriani 2025 European Youth Olympic Festival. With a team made up of Juliette Oliva and Nans Madelenat, the two individual silver medallists, France had a solid pair capable of challenging for the podium and even dreaming of the title.
Except that biathlon is a sport full of surprises and unforeseen events. In this format, where everything (or almost everything) is decided at the shooting range, there‘s no question of missing out behind the rifle to win medals. Unfortunately for Les Bleus, this was not the case. Juliette Oliva and Nans Madelenat were knocked out of the game with a total of 5 penalty rounds and 17 picks.
Learning for the French
Although they were initially 15th in the race, they managed to claw back some places and take sixth place at the finish line. It was the Ukraine of Viktoriia Khvostenko and Taras Tarasiuk (0+3) who won the title with a 16 sec 8 lead over the Czechs Lucie Jandurova and Daniel Ryska (0+9). The Swiss Molly Kafka and Levin Kunz, at 55 sec 5, took bronze.
“The result wasn’t expected at that level, but for them it should remain an experience. It’s not the end of their career,” Claire Breton, the French team’s shooting coach for this EYOF, explained to Nordic Magazine. It’s the most electric format in biathlon and they weren’t familiar with it. You need to have self-control and self-knowledge to be able to channel yourself, which is not the case with these youngsters. I have no doubt that they will grow from this.
Full results
- The full programme of the Bakuriani 2025 European Youth Olympic Festival
- Anouchka Neuville carried the French flag at the opening ceremony of the EYOWF Bakuriani 2025
- EYOWF Bakuriani 2025: words from Rosalie Odile, Juliette Oliva, Maëlle Achoui, Romane Ouvrier-Buffet, Emile Weiss, Nans Madelenat, Emile Perrillat-Bottonet and Esteban Moreira before they leave for Georgia
- EYOWF Bakuriani 2025: Dauphiné Nans Madelenat takes individual silver, Poland’s Grzegorz Galica takes gold
- “It’s a lot of fun”: Nans Madelenat, who won silver in the opening individual at the EYOWF Bakuriani 2025, made a success of his international debut.
- EYOWF Bakuriani 2025: behind an untouchable Michaela Strakova, Juliette Oliva takes the individual silver medal
- “I didn’t expect to come second at all”: the surprise and delight of Juliette Oliva, in silver in the Bakuriani 2025 EYOWF individual event
