Biathlon: Lou Jeanmonnot couldn’t go all out in the sprint at the World Championships
With an impressive run of four wins in the last six individual World Cup races, Lou Jeanmonnot entered the sprint at the World Championships in Lenzerheide (Switzerland) on Friday afternoon as the favourite.
Having stayed in Italy after the World Cup in Antholz (Italy) to train at Ridnaun-Val Ridanna (Italy), the Doubiste rider had been working on her rapid-fire shooting in particular. Unfortunately, Lou Jeanmonnot wasn’t in a position to use it in competition at this world sprint.
“I knew I could do it. Today [Friday], I was really gripped by fear, stress and a context that I didn’t like. I’m angry that I didn’t get out of there,” she said afterwards on La Chaîne L’Equipe.
Still in contention for Sunday’s chase
“I was 100% defensive throughout [my sport], she continued. Honestly, I hated my race. On the skis, it was OK with good management, but I got a bit overwhelmed by the average conditions [with the wind and snow, editor’s note] and I stayed in the negative the whole time.”
Despite not going back to the hotel with a medal, Lou Jeanmonnot (8/10) came sixth and took part in the flower ceremony. Above all, on Sunday at 12.05, she will start just 31 seconds behind Justine Braisaz-Bouchet.
Winner of two of the first three races contested this winter, the Franc-Comtoise could well pull off a fantastic comeback.
- The full programme for the World Championships in Lenzerheide, the highlight of the 2024/2025 season
- Léna Arnaud: my best memory of… Lenzerheide
- 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
- Two of the four reigning world champions have been retained: the French mixed relay line-up for Wednesday’s opening round of the World Championships in Lenzerheide.
- “We decided to follow the sporting logic”: Stéphane Bouthiaux explains how the French mixed relay team for the World Championships in Lenzerheide was put together.
- Quentin Fillon-Maillet annoyed at being sidelined in the mixed relay at the world championships in Lenzerheide: “I thought I deserved more consideration from the staff”.
- “We’re aiming for the title”: one year after their triumph in Nove Mesto, France will attempt to make it two in a row in the mixed relay at the World Championships in Lenzerheide.
- Mixed relay in Lenzerheide: the first day on which Johannes Thingnes Boe could become the most successful biathlete in the history of the World Championships
- Lenzerheide: France, with Julia Simon, Lou Jeanmonnot, Eric Perrot and Emilien Jacquelin, retain their world mixed relay title
- “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.
- “I don’t feel like I made a mistake”: Julia Simon recounts her collision with Sweden’s Anna Magnusson during the mixed relay in Lenzerheide
- Julia Simon and Sebastian Samuelsson crash, Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold and Hanna Oeberg fail to shoot: an opening mixed relay full of twists and turns in Lenzerheide
- Lenzerheide: Czech Republic surprise silver medallists in mixed relay
- Lenzerheide: seventh in the mixed relay with Lukas Hofer and Tommaso Giacomel, Italy’s Hannah Auchentaller and Dorothea Wierer battled it out on the difficult Swiss track
- “It was fun”: during the mixed relay at the World Championships in Lenzerheide, Britain’s Shawna Pendry was surprised to ski with her idol Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold.
- Lenzerheide: the day after her fall in the mixed relay, Julia Simon did not take part in the day’s official training session
- One year after the unthinkable quadruple in Nove Mesto, the French put their world sprint medals back on the line
- Lenzerheide: why can five French women take part in the World Championship sprint?
- A prestigious, distinctive number for Julia Simon in the sprint and pursuit at the Lenzerheide World Championships
- “I’ll be ready by 3 p.m.”: on the morning of the Lenzerheide World Championship sprint and two days after her fall, Julia Simon is reassuring.
- Lenzerheide : Lucie Charvatova, at the start of the sprint five years after her surprising bronze medal in Antholz
