Biathlon: Johannes Thingnes Boe loses his duel with Quentin Fillon-Maillet
Johannes Thingnes Boe did not win his last biathlon World Cup relay. This Sunday, in sunny Nove Mesto (Czech Republic), the Norwegian was still in contention for a second consecutive success after his team’s world gold in Lenzerheide (Switzerland) a few weeks earlier.
However, the world number one lost his footing in the standing shot. While his direct rival Quentin Fillon-Maillet was firing on all cylinders, he was unable to clear all the targets. So much so that he made several mistakes and had to visit the penalty ring for a round.
It’s an image that the Scandinavian has not been used to in recent seasons. On the eve of the end of his career, the 31-year-old biathlete still had time to enjoy his last lap of the track in front of a Czech crowd that wished him a final farewell.
The winner of this mano a mano, which was reminiscent of the 2021/2022 season, the Jurassien was the first to be surprised by his rival’s failure. “I knew it was going to be very tough against the Norwegians. Johannes and I did two laps together and we got through the downhill without any mistakes,” he told La Chaîne L’Équipe. I knew it was all going to come down to standing up and I expected him to fill up and for us to come out together.
It was a failure that almost disappointed the Grandvallier, who would have loved to face Johannes Thingnes Boe in a suspenseful final lap : “I thought we’d go to war in the last loop. But in the end it turned out differently. I really enjoyed this high-stakes race,” he admits.
Read also
- Nove Mesto: the French team win the crystal globe in the relay, as they did in 2012
- Nove Mesto: Emilien Claude, Oscar Lombardot, Fabien Claude and Quentin Fillon-Maillet give France a memorable 5/5 in the relays this season
