Biathlon: Lea Meier at her best in Kontiolahti
At Wednesday’s individual short in Kontiolahti (Finland), not only Ella Halvarsson, Natalia Sidorowicz, Océane Michelon, Regina Ermits, Suvi Minkkinen, Sara Andersson, Anna-Karin Heijdenberg and Lena Repinc achieved their best results on the world circuit. Twenty-third with a 19/20, 23-year-old Swiss Lea Meier also beat her personal best on the Finnish course.
“Yesterday’s race was great, she told Nordic Magazine the day after her performance. I was able to ski the first two loops with Sophie Chauveau, then another with Vanessa Voigt. I absolutely had to seize the opportunity to benefit from their level of skiing. It was great for me, but as they’re both top athletes, I suffered a bit in the last two laps, especially as I was completely alone on the piste.”
Despite everything, the Swiss-born Lea Meier, who had a nightmarish start to the 2023/2024 season in Östersund (Sweden), kept her wits about her on the shooting mats to score 19/20. “I put in a good performance with only one fault, and I want to keep up the momentum and stay focused on myself,” added Lea Meier.
“I want to celebrate every little step forward”.
All of this has enabled the biathlete, who will be crowned world youth champion in the individual event in 2020, to achieve her best ever World Cup performance.
“It’s important for me because I obviously want to continue to progress, but it’s not that impressive in itself [her best ranking to date was 24th in January 2023, editor’s note]. However, in a sport as complex as biathlon, at the highest level, I want to celebrate every little step forward, she says. It helps me to remain patient and to believe that one day, I can really compete with the best.”
After a flying start to the season, Lea Meier will now be looking to do even better in the forthcoming races. All this despite a difficult end to her preparations due to immune problems.
“Even though I’m quite happy with my current level, I think I need a few more races to get into good shape on skis,” she confirms.
- The full programme for the Kontiolahti World Cup, the first stage of the 2024/2025 season
- Corinne Niogret: my best memory of… Kontiolahti
- Top 3 nations cup target for France: the hunt for Olympic quotas for Milan/Cortina 2026, the other key issue of the 2024/2025 season
- World Cup overall leaders celebrated: this season, the IBU is introducing a yellow bib award ceremony
- After the opening relays, what is the programme for the second week of the Kontiolahti World Cup?
- Kontiolahti: where does Emilien Jacquelin’s “Night Night” celebration at the relay finish line come from?
- “I can’t wait to see how he performs”, “He’s progressed, he deserves it”: Emilien Claude’s return to the World Cup is a source of great joy to those close to him, Anna Gandler and Fabien Claude.
- “It’s time for me to come into my own and become the biathlete I was a few years ago”: Fabien Claude, the winter of affirmation at last?
- Kontiolahti: Endre Stroemsheim, at 20/20, beats Johannes Thingnes Boe in the individual short, Quentin Fillon-Maillet and Eric Perrot with the flowers
- Kontiolahti: for the first time in his career, Endre Stroemsheim will don the yellow World Cup leader’s bib
- “My best race ever”: Endre Stroemsheim and the Norwegians put everyone in agreement at Kontiolahti
- “With a full house, we could have been ahead…”: satisfaction, but also frustration for Quentin Fillon-Maillet and Eric Perrot, in the top 6 of the individual short in Kontiolahti.
- Ukraine’s Vitalii Mandzyn, sensation of the individual short with his fourth place: “I hope this is just the beginning”.
- “A dream come true”: ninth in the individual short in Kontiolahti, Thierry Langer scored his first World Cup top 10 finish
- “It’s performances and results that count”: in Kontiolahti and Hochfilzen, the seven girls in the French team are fighting to take part in the Grand-Bornand World Cup.
- Lou Jeanmonnot is about to embark on the season of all possibilities: “Playing the globe honestly, trying to keep a jersey and manage the pressure”.
- Kontiolahti: Julia Simon undergoes an MRI scan early this afternoon
- Kontiolahti: still uncertain about Julia Simon’s state of health on the eve of the individual short race
- Kontiolahti: despite injuring her left calf on the relay last Sunday, Julia Simon is taking part in the individual short race.
- Kontiolahti: on cloud nine with a 20/20, Lou Jeanmonnot dominates the individual short and gets her season off to an ideal start
- Kontiolahti: after wearing it for the first time in Hochfilzen in December 2023, Lou Jeanmonnot takes the yellow bib once again
- Kontiolahti: in Saturday’s sprint, Océane Michelon will become the first Frenchwoman to wear the blue number
- Lou Jeanmonnot’s satisfaction after her success in the Kontiolahti individual short: “I’m relieved to see that I’m not out of my depth”.
- “I didn’t feel any pain”: despite a modest 31st place in the Kontiolahti individual short, Julia Simon was reassuring about her left calf.
- “Beyond anything I could have imagined”: Ella Halvarsson, tears over her first World Cup podium in the individual short in Kontiolahti
- “I still can’t believe it”: the joy of Poland’s Natalia Sidorowicz, fourth in the individual short at Kontiolahti
- Frozen fingers, rifle problem, 92nd at the finish: Anamarija Lampic had one problem after another in the individual short at Kontiolahti.
