Biathlon: an incredible men’s French team
It took no less than 1,408 days to see the French men’s biathlon team triumph again in a World Cup relay. The last time, the heroes were Antonin Guigonnat, Quentin Fillon-Maillet, Simon Desthieux and Emilien Jacquelin. That was on 23 January 2021 in Antholz (Italy) and it was the first season of the post-Martin Fourcade era.

Almost 4 years later, in Kontiolahti (Finland), half the team was renewed. Fabien Claude, Quentin Fillon-Maillet, Eric Perrot and Emilien Jacquelin took part in the first relay of the winter in the Finnish night. In a speciality where the Norwegians had won sixteen of the last twenty events, but not the last two World Championships, the biathletes from the kingdom were the big favourites.
An (almost) perfect shot
Especially as the quartet(Sturla Holm Lægreid, Tarjei Boe, Endre Stroemsheim, Johannes Thingnes Boe) had been rested on Saturday during the mixed races. But it was the Blues who were royalty throughout the race. Vosgien Fabien Claude started with a 10/10 before dropping Lægreid on the last lap. Jurassien Quentin Fillon-Maillet and Savoyard Eric Perrot then fired perfect shots to steadily increase their lead over the competition.

The result was that Emilien Jacquelin from Dauphiné was just under a minute ahead of the Norwegian-Swedish duo. After a 5/5 on the floor, the Villardien, alone in the world, even played an unthinkable 40/40 for Les Bleus on his feet. He dropped two balls and ended up with two picks, but the main thing was elsewhere: France won a World Cup relay for the first time in ages.

It’s hard to imagine a better way to kick off the winter for Simon Fourcade and Jean-Pierre Amat‘s men. They will certainly be a force to be reckoned with this season. They have made their mark.
Full results
- Kontiolahti: the French team wins a men’s World Cup relay for the first time since… 23 January 2021
- Lou Jeanmonnot, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet and Julia Simon complete two relays in Kontiolahti: “Optimising their preparation before the first individual races”.
- The verdict is in: Emilien Claude and Antonin Guigonnat join Kontiolahti and the World Cup
- “There was no ambiguity”: Stéphane Bouthiaux explains to Nordic Magazine why Emilien Claude and Antonin Guigonnat won their place in the World Cup
- Kontiolahti: Lou Jeanmonnot, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, Eric Perrot and Emilien Jacquelin beat Norway to the finish in the mixed relay
- Kontiolahti: why Emilien Jacquelin was caught by Vebjoern Soerum when he still had a 10-second lead with 600 metres to go
- “I stuck to the plan”: a perfect shot, Eric Perrot had an ideal start to the season in the mixed relay in Kontiolahti.
- Kontiolahti: Quentin Fillon-Maillet and Julia Simon second in the mixed singles relay behind Sweden and ahead of Germany
- Kontiolahti: the technical problem that prevented Simon Eder’s Austria from securing a podium finish in the mixed singles relay
- How Julia Simon experienced her first World Cup race of the winter: “It was a bit like releasing the wildcats, it was electric”.
- The full programme for the Kontiolahti World Cup, the first stage of the 2024/2025 season
- Corinne Niogret: my best memory of… Kontiolahti
- The French mixed relays lining up for Saturday’s World Cup opener in Kontiolahti
- Kontiolahti: an opening day without Johannes Thingnes Boe, Hanna Oeberg, Endre Stroemsheim, Anna Gandler, Sturla Holm Lægreid, Johannes Kuehn or Tarjei Boe
- Kontiolahti: the reasons why the French men’s team is starting the World Cup with just four biathletes
- Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet and Antonin Guigonnat victorious, Italy triumphant, Martin Fourcade rested: what happened the last time mixed World Cup races were held in 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