Biathlon : Jeanne Richard just a breath away from her first top 3 finish
It was under thick flakes of snow and in an intense wind that the women biathletes of the Biathlon World Cup brought to a close the week of competitions organised over the last four days on the slopes of Grand-Bornand (Haute-Savoie), where a total of 66,500 spectators attended the festivities.

Heroic throughout the Bornandin course with a magnificent 19/20, Jeanne Richard long believed she was on the way to a first podium finish in her young career. And yet, as in the pursuit the day before, the Haut-Savoyard settled for fourth place in the final.
Beaten by just one tenth in the final straight by Paulina Batovska-Fialkova (17/20) – who is back in the top 3 of the elite after a top-class performance on skis – the Frenchwoman suffered a cruel fate. Although she fought hard right to the end on the slopes, the Frenchwoman from Gstaad was lacking in the competition, but she can still be satisfied with having competed at the level of the world’s best throughout the weekend.

At the front of the competition, a duel between two German women enlivened the final lap of the day. It was a real battle in which the phenomenal Selina Grotian emerged victorious. The biathlon nugget from the other side of the Rhine missed out on just once on the mats, but had the luxury of edging out her compatriot and world number one Franziska Preuss by almost 13 seconds at the finish.

An XXL performance that enabled her to score her very first career success at just 20 years of age. Now tenth in the overall circuit rankings and runner-up to Jeanne Richard in the under-23 category, the promising young lady finished this first block of the season in style.
Julia Simon in the flowers, Océane Michelon back in the top 10
Despite a difficult day in the shooting, where she let a total of four bullets escape, Julia Simon once again proved that she is still formidable in the head-to-head races. In the thick of things right to the end, the Savoyard crossed the finish line in sixth place to claim a place in the flower ceremony.

Six seconds later, Océane Michelon took an excellent eighth place, her first in the top 10 in the Aravis. Still in good form on the boards and despite four mistakes on the shooting range, the biathlete from Les Bauges rounded off her first season in the elite in fine style.
Faulted three times on Sunday, Lou Jeanmonnot was unable to deliver the performance she had hoped for on the Aravis slopes. With the fresh white coat gradually settling over the course, the Doubienne finally crossed the line in fourteenth place.

Her team-mate Sophie Chauveau finished in the top 20 after a 15/20, while Justine Braisaz-Bouchet had an ordeal over her four rounds with a total of seven faults, which meant she couldn’t aim any higher than twenty-third place.
Live data from the women’s mass-start
The full rankings
The general classification of the mass-start
The overall World Cup standings
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- “It makes you want to do it again”: Eric Perrot enjoyed his first race with the red bib at the mass-start in Le Grand-Bornand.
- Le Grand-Bornand: still on the podium in Haute-Savoie, Johannes Thingnes Boe and his yellow bib will spend Christmas in the warmth
- Le Grand-Bornand: sidelined in the sprint and pursuit, Tarjei Boe triumphs in the Bornand mass-start, Fabien Claude breaks into the top 10
- Le Grand-Bornand: Germany’s Julia Tannheimer and Vanessa Voigt, third in the pursuit, withdraw from the mass start
- The Grand-Bornand World Cup by Aleiks Photo: the chases
- “After the last shot, I really realised that I was fighting for a place in the flowers”: Venla Lehtonen took the Grand-Bornand pursuit to a new level.
- “After two races in Le Grand-Bornand, Simon Fourcade talks about his confidence at the start of the season.
- “I gave it my all, it was incredible”: another fine performance from Maya Cloetens, twentieth in the pursuit at Le Grand-Bornand
- Le Grand-Bornand: relive the podium finishes of Julia Simon, Eric Perrot and Emilien Jacquelin in the pursuit on video
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