Biathlon: first top 10 and first IBU Cup flower ceremony for Gaëtan Paturel
On Wednesday afternoon, a few hours after Camille Bened ‘s success in the women’s individual event, it was the men who were on deck at the IBU Cup in Geilo (Norway). In sub-zero temperatures, the Norwegians once again controlled the proceedings, and we witnessed a high-altitude duel between Isak Frey and Johan-Olav Botn .

The latter was in the lead before the last shot, but he made a mistake that put his compatriot back in the match. With a margin of 6.5 seconds over Botn at the end of the shoot-out, Frey stayed on course in the final kilometres and won by 7.5 seconds, consolidating his position as overall leader and securing a third consecutive victory on the IBU Cup circuit.

No treble for the Norwegians this time, as it was Germany’s Simon Kaiser (19/20) who took third place at 59.8 seconds, ahead of Finland’s Tuomas Harjula (20/20) and his team-mate Roman Rees (19/20).
Performance of the day for Gaëtan Paturel
The sixth and final place at the flower ceremony went to Gaëtan Paturel (19/20) from Haut-Savoie. He had the best race of his IBU Cup career, scoring his first top 10 and, what’s more, his first top 6.

Damien Levet (18/20), who spent the whole of last week eating his heart out, came fourteenth, while Théo Guiraud-Poillot (17/20) was twenty-third, Axel Garnier (15/20) fortieth, Oscar Lombardot (14/20) forty-sixth and Martin Botet (13/20) seventieth for his first time at this level.
Full results
IBU Cup general ranking
- IBU Cup in Geilo: Camille Bened dominates the individual, Fany Bertrand third, Voldiya Galmace-Paulin fifth
- Camille Bened after winning the individual at the IBU Cup in Geilo: “Huge satisfaction”.
- The full programme for the IBU Cup in Geilo, the second stage of the 2024/2025 B circuit
- Firsts for Martin Botet, Axel Garnier and Voldiya Galmace-Paulin: the full French team selection for the IBU Cups in Idre Fjäll and Geilo
- Geilo: Marit Oeygard and Mats Oeverby win IBU Cup
- Geilo replaces the Sjusjøen stage in the IBU Cup
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