Biathlon: Les Bleus put on a show in Lenzerheide
“With the team we have, we’re aiming for the title”. On Tuesday afternoon, on the eve of the opening mixed relay of the Biathlon World Championships in Lenzerheide (Switzerland), Stéphane Bouthiaux, the boss of the French team, made no secret of his country’s ambitions for the first event of the Swiss fortnight. With a quartet made up of Julia Simon, Lou Jeanmonnot, Eric Perrot and Emilien Jacquelin, Les Bleus could indeed be proud when the race got underway at precisely 2.30pm.
The Roland Arena was packed to the rafters as never before, and after that it was (almost) all blue-white-and-red. Firstly, for the wrong reason, as Julia Simon tangled her skis with those of Sweden’s Anna Magnusson on the first lap and crashed out. It wasn ‘t a fatal error for the French hopes, but it was a salutary reminder. While Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold’s Norway, who were having immense difficulty with their shooting, jumped from the very first shots, Les Bleus managed to get off to the best possible start.
Alongside Finland’s Suvi Minkkinen, Julia Simon effectively handed over the lead to Lou Jeanmonnot. From then on, the French demonstration began. Although the Doubiste rider missed a target, she opened up impressive gaps on the very difficult snow of Graubünden. At the halfway point, the French rivals were more than 45 seconds behind.
A penalty lap for Emilien Jacquelin… of no consequence
Eric Perrot, in a state of meltdown after relaxing at the start of the race on the side of the track, then shot an incredible 10/10 behind his rifle and continued to increase the French lead. With one relay to go, when Emilien Jacquelin from Dauphiné was launched into the arena, nothing seemed to be able to stop the French team… except a cracking shot.
In the sport of biathlon, mistakes happen and you always have to be on your guard. Nevertheless, Emilien Jacquelin took the coquettish step of firing his last shot, in a standing position, as he rarely does.
Missing several targets, the French showman turned once in the penalty ring, but that didn’t stop France from (over)dominating this 2025 Worlds mixed relay.
In the end, Emilien Jacquelin crossed the finish line alone, more than a minute clear of his pursuers, and gave Les Bleus a first-ever back-to-back. After 2009, 2016 and 2024, France is the world champion in the mixed relay, and Les Bleus could proudly don the golden gloves of their equipment manufacturer.
Czech Republic surprise medallists
On the podium, Julia Simon, Lou Jeanmonnot, Eric Perrot and Emilien Jacquelin were joined by a surprising Czech Republic team(Jessica Jislova, Tereza Vobornikova, Viteszlav Hornig, Michal Krcmar), despite being without Marketa Davidova, and Germany(Selina Grotian, Franziska Preuss, Philipp Nawrath, Justus Strelow).
Norway, after their initial setbacks, had to be content with fourth place despite superb comebacks by Sturla Holm Lægreid and Johannes Thingnes Boe. Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Finland, Ukraine and Slovakia made it into the top 10, just ahead of Belgium.
𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 ! 🇲🇫
After Nove Mesto, GOLD does not escape the French team in the mixed biathlon relay at the World Championships in Lenzerheide!
🔥 Julia Simon, Lou Jeanmonnot, Eric Perrot, @EmilienJck
📷 Nordic Focus pic.twitter.com/5M1DzfjEtq– FFS – Fédération Française de Ski (@FedFranceSki) February 12, 2025
Full results
- 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”.
- With Maren Kirkeeide, without Tarjei Boe: Norway announces its mixed relay line-up for the World Championships in Lenzerheide
- Lenzerheide: Italy unveils its (ambitious) quartet for the opening mixed relay
- Lenzerheide: on home soil, Switzerland fields a mixed relay team that could cause a sensation
- Lenzerheide: Germany starts its stars, including Franziska Preuss, in the mixed relay
- Lenzerheide: no mixed relay for Elvira Oeberg, Anna Magnusson takes her place
- Lenzerheide: the start list for the mixed relay, first race of the 2025 World Championships
- “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
