Biathlon: an unqualified victory for Les Bleues in the relay at the Lenzerheide World Championships
During the women’s relay at the Biathlon World Championships in Lenzerheide (Switzerland) at midday on Saturday, the French dominated the proceedings. Favourites for the title a year after their historic triumph in Nove Mesto (Czech Republic), Lou Jeanmonnot, Océane Michelon, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet and Julia Simon ran an exceptional race to win.
“What would have been disappointing is if we hadn’t seen four races at their level. Today [Saturday], we’ve simply seen four races at their level, some with a little extra spirit, their coach Cyril Burdet told La Chaîne L’Equipe. Lou [Jeanmonnot] put the relay into orbit for us from the first lap in a quite incredible way. I’d also like to pay tribute to Océane [Michelon], who doesn’t have much experience of this kind of event. It wasn’t easy to tackle this race emotionally and she was impeccable.”
“These were four full races, there were only four picks. Lou [Jeanmonnot] put the team in orbit and then each of them did their biathlon,” explained Jean-Paul Giachino, the shooting coach, to Ski Chrono.
In the same columns, National Technical Director Pierre Mignerey was full of praise for Les Bleues’ performance: “This race represents perfect control. I didn’t even have a moment of stress. It was perfection.”
A demonstration from start to finish
As for the main players involved, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet says that her victory was not “taken for granted, far from it, either yesterday [Friday] or before the race today [Saturday]”.
“It’s not easy to start in the lead, even if it’s always more enjoyable. When you’re alone in front with such a big lead, you tend to lose concentration, so I approached it like a sprint, said Julia Simon, the day’s runner-up. We had to put the balls in the net and stay focused before we could celebrate after standing up.”
With this title, France has now won six gold medals over the last fortnight in Lenzerheide. In total, Les Bleus have now won eleven medals.
Is that a reason to trivialise the achievement? “We know very well that medals and titles at this level are very difficult to win, so we mustn’t trivialise this kind of emotion,” replies Cyril Burdet.
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- Swiss biathlete Arnaud Du Pasquier presents the Roland Arena, the Lenzerheide stadium used for the 2025 World Championships
- Delphyne Burlet on the challenges of the Lenzerheide world championships
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- “We couldn’t have got off to a better start than this”: the perfect start for the French team, which won gold in the mixed relay at the world championships in Lenzerheide.
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- “The wheel turns”: how Justine Braisaz-Bouchet became world sprint champion in Lenzerheide after a difficult January
- “I’m very proud”: Maya Cloetens tells Nordic Magazine how she made Belgian biathlon history by finishing eighth in the sprint at the World Championships in Lenzerheide.
- Lenzerheide: Johannes Thingnes Boe crushes the sprint to win a fourth world gold medal in the discipline, Quentin Fillon-Maillet gets a tan
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- Lenzerheide: Johannes Thingnes Boe pursuit world champion ahead of the astonishing Campbell Wright, Eric Perrot in bronze
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- Lenzerheide: Eric Perrot, the eleventh French medallist in an individual World Championship race
- “I had to fill it up and I filled it up”: how Eric Perrot climbed twelve places to win bronze in the pursuit at the World Championships in Lenzerheide
- Lenzerheide: what do they say about Campbell Wright’s exploits in New Zealand?
- “He had to change his shooting line because of a mistake by another biathlete”: why did the jury reclassify Jakov Fak in sixth place in the pursuit at the World Championships in Lenzerheide?
- Franco-British Chloé Dupont, currently competing in the world championships in Lenzerheide: “It’s very motivating”.
- Lenzerheide: Marie Dorin-Habert reviews the first week of the World Championships
- Five medals in five races, including two golds: Les Bleus get off to a flying start at the world championships in Lenzerheide
- Lenzerheide: Julia Simon crowned individual world champion, bronze for Lou Jeanmonnot
- Lenzerheide: Julia Simon, the fourth French individual world champion
- “Nothing could take me out of my race”: how Julia Simon became individual world champion for the first time in Lenzerheide
- “I didn’t take it well when I missed on the first shot”: after a difficult start to her individual competition in Lenzerheide, Lou Jeanmonnot bounced back to win bronze at the World Championships.
- “I’m speechless”: a fantastic second in the individual World Championships, Ella Halvarsson makes Sweden shine in Lenzerheide
- Seven medals, three of them gold: halfway through the World Championships in Lenzerheide, France is on course to beat the Nove Mesto 2024 record.
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- “What an honour to be able to follow in the footsteps of great champions”: at 23, Eric Perrot is crowned individual world champion
- “He’s a great man, and that’s going to continue”: Simon Fourcade’s joy after Eric Perrot won the world title in the individual event in Lenzerheide
- “Strong impression”, “What a race”, “Far superior performance”: Eric Perrot’s first world title as seen by the international press
- The pride of Cyril Cleyrat, Eric Perrot’s first coach at the Peisey-Vallandry club, after his protégé’s individual world title: “Tears came to my eyes”.
- “A model of control and management”: Yvon Mougel, France’s leading biathlon world medallist, pays tribute to the new individual world champion Eric Perrot
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- “I would have signed up at the start of the Worlds for results like these”: even without a gold medal, Quentin Fillon-Maillet, twice tanned, is smiling again.
- “I’m terribly disappointed by my last shot”: Michal Krcmar, close to a medal in the individual event at the Lenzerheide World Championships.
- Lenzerheide: Quentin Fillon-Maillet and Julia Simon world champions in the mixed singles relay
- Lenzerheide: Julia Simon, with nine gold medals, becomes the fourth most successful biathlete in the history of the World Championships
- Lenzerheide: with 19 world medals, Quentin Fillon-Maillet overtakes Raphaël Poirée and is now second only to Martin Fourcade
- “Crazy World Championships for the French team”: Julia Simon and Quentin Fillon-Maillet, winners of the mixed singles relay, continue Les Bleus’ crazy fortnight in Lenzerheide
- “It’s incomprehensible that she can shoot so fast”: Julia Simon impressed in the mixed singles relay at the World Championships in Lenzerheide
- Lenzerheide: despite picking up 15 pins, Ragnhild Femsteinevik and Johannes Thingnes Boe pulled off a fantastic comeback in the mixed singles relay at the World Championships
- Franziska Preuss and Justus Strelow had to settle for bronze in the mixed relay at the Worlds after being beaten to the line by Norway.
- A fall in the finish area, fans from far and wide, and the goal validated: Sondre and Ukaleq Slettemark tell Nordic Magazine about Greenland’s first-ever mixed singles relay at the World Championships.
- Ten medals, including five golds with four races to go: the records the French team is aiming for over the final weekend of the World Championships in Lenzerheide.
- Emilien Claude in place of Emilien Jacquelin: the tricolour line-up for the men’s relay at the World Championships in Lenzerheide
- “We’re also sending out the message that nothing can be taken for granted”: why the French staff decided to leave Emilien Jacquelin out of the relay at the world championships in Lenzerheide
- Océane Michelon in fourth relay, three defending champions selected: the French line-up for the women’s relay at the World Championships in Lenzerheide
- “It’s the magic potion of the Gauls! Here’s why the French team, favourites this Saturday at the World Championships in Lenzerheide, have been flying high in the men’s relays since the start of the winter.
