Biathlon: incredible Emilien Jacquelin
The last time Emilien Jacquelin triumphed in a biathlon World Cup was on Sunday 19 December 2021. On that day, in the furious conditions of Grand-Bornand (Haute-Savoie), the Dauphinois dominated the mass-start at 19/20, winning it to an incredible roar ahead of Quentin Fillon-Maillet. He also took the yellow bib as overall leader.
“I think this is really the first victory that I’m going to savour to the full. When I won my first world champion title, I was basically in disbelief, I couldn’t believe it. With my second title, I was determined to prove that it was really my level, so I found it hard to savour, it was more of a relief”, he explained in the columns of Nordic Magazine. At the time, we thought the 2020 and 2021 pursuit world champion was on his way to the top.
He’s come a long way
But it wasn’t to be, as the Dauphinois lost himself in the meanders of doubt in the weeks that followed. Then, in the winter of 2022/2023, he lost his way completely in the wake of podium finishes on the opening day, taking refuge in photography to get rid of his poor results. Last season, he returned full of motivation and it paid off at the end of the season, with a sixth place overall in the World Cup and a podium finish on the North American tour.
But Emilien Jaquelin had yet to achieve the landmark performance that would signal his return to the highest level. On Friday 6 December 2024, in the Finnish night of Kontiolahti (Finland), the native of Villard-de-Lans (Isère) achieved this benchmark. In the first sprint of the 2024/2025 winter season, he scored a magical 10/10 with an ultra-competitive ski time.
Antonin Guigonnat in the top 10
Wearing the number 58, he won for the first time in almost three years on the world circuit, ahead of Sebastian Samuelsson (9/10) by 18.9 seconds and Philipp Nawrath (10/10) by 25.1 seconds. It’s been a great race […] And it’s only the beginning, there’s nothing exceptional about it, it’s just hard work and desire,” the Frenchman told La Chaîne L’Equipe with great satisfaction in the mixed zone after his success.
At the foot of the podium were American Campbell Wright (10/10), Johannes Thingnes Boe (8/10), the new overall leader, Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen (9/10), Tarjei Boe (9/10), Vebjoern Soerum (8/10) and Sturla Holm Lægreid (9/10). Antonin Guigonnat (9/10) was tenth, just ahead of Eric Perrot (9/10) in eleventh place.
Fabien Claude (8/10) was twentieth, Emilien Claude (9/10) twenty-fourth and Quentin Fillon-Maillet (7/10) thirtieth.
JACQUELIN SPECTACULAR ⚡🇫🇷
Our Frenchman wins the Kontiolahti sprint by almost 20 seconds 👊
But who can stop this @EmilienJck? 🤯
📸 Nordic Focus pic.twitter.com/xwb4TAIyk7– FFS – Fédération Française de Ski (@FedFranceSki) December 6, 2024
Full results
- 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
- World Cup: IBU logo replaces start number on distinctive bibs
- 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.
- Ukrainian 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 the 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 problems, 92nd at the finish: Anamarija Lampic had one problem after another in the individual short at Kontiolahti.
- “It’s good for my head”: Anna Gandler explains why she does juggling sessions before her World Cup races
