Biathlon: a medal on the first day for Les Bleus in Georgia
On Monday morning, the biathlon events at the Bakuriani 2025 European Youth Olympic Festival kicked off in Georgia with the men’s individual. In this 12.5km race, with four shots (and a 1 minute penalty for errors), one Frenchman in particular stood out: Nans Madelenat. Dominant last winter in the U17s, the Dauphinois had made this EYOWF his main objective for the season.
Having qualified for the event after a long selection process spread over three rounds of the national circuit, he shone in the first race of the week. With a score of 18/20 on the mats, the biathlete from Villard-de-Lans (Isère) won a fine silver medal.
Two other Frenchmen in the top 10
Ahead of him in the rankings is only Poland’s Grzegorz Galica. In fine form at the start of 2025, Galica is coming off three gold medals at the magnificent European junior championships. Although he made three mistakes in the shooting, he managed to compensate on the cross-country skis and overtake Nans Madelenat, who was in the lead by 4 sec 3 after the last standing, by 14 sec 8 at the finish.
Italy’s Rafael Santer (19/20) took bronze at 59.9 seconds, followed by Ukraine’s Taras Tarasiuk (19/20) and Austria’s Simon Hechenberger (19/20) in the top 5.
Esteban Moreira (18/20), the second Frenchman of the day, was sixth, while his Montblanc team-mate Emile Perrillat-Bottonet (18/20) was ninth. Lastly, Emile Weiss (12/20), in twenty-fifth place, missed out on the shoot-off.
Full results
- The full programme for 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
