Biathlon: Justine Braisaz-Bouchet takes home the title
At midday on Sunday, the women’s mass start of the French Biathlon Championships in Les Saisies (Savoie) promised to be a great spectacle. For this last race of the winter, the French women in the Beaufortain did not disappoint the public, as success was decided right down to the wire.
Julia Simon, in front of her home crowd, made her mark at the start of the race by scoring a fine 9/10 on the prone shots, but she cracked on the first standing shot, missing two targets. Montblanc’s Voldiya Galmace-Paulin (19/20), with whom she was competing at the time, took full advantage and took sole possession of the lead in the mass-start.
Sailing into the fourth round of cross-country skiing with a lead of just under thirty seconds over her pursuers, the Montblanc native had a glimpse of the senior and U22 title. Except that she missed a bullet on the last shot when Justine Braisaz-Bouchet (17/20) had her fill.
Julia Simon completes the podium
Supersonic on her skis in front of her fans, the biathlete from Les Saisies quickly made up for the 9.8 seconds she was trailing at the exit of the shooting range, then used her power in the final to win the sprint.
As in 2017 and 2021, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet was crowned French mass-start champion, while silver medallist Voldiya Galmace-Paulin won the U22 title.
The podium was completed by Julia Simon (17/20) ahead of Gilonne Guigonnat (19/20), Océane Michelon (17/20), Jeanne Richard (16/20), Camille Bened (17/20), Léonie Jeannier (16/20), Célia Henaff (17/20), silver in the U22 category, and Amandine Mengin (15/20), bronze in the U22 category.
In their final career race, Noémie Remonnay (16/20) was eleventh, Chloé Chevalier (17/20) thirteenth, Pauline Machut (17/20) sixteenth, Pauline Jacquet (17/20) twenty-first and Ludmilla Roche (11/20) twenty-second.
Full results
- The full programme for the 2025 French Championships in Les Saisies
- Les Saisies: Villardien Martin Minazzi crowned French U17 mass-start champion
- Les Saisies: gold medal in the U17 women’s mass start for Zabou Mellouet-Achard
- Les Saisies: Camille Grataloup-Manissolle French U19 mass-start champion ahead of Flavio Guy, Léo Carlier with a tan
- “I knew I wasn’t too bad at sprinting”: how Camille Grataloup-Manissolle got the better of Flavio Guy to become French U19 mass-start champion
- Les Saisies: Louise Roguet new French U19 mass-start champion, Alice Dusserre and Léna Moretti on the podium
- “I gave it everything I had”: Louise Roguet’s reaction to being crowned French U19 mass start champion in Les Saisies
- Les Saisies: Martin Minazzi, Camille Grataloup-Manissolle and Emilien Jacquelin, for the Dauphiné, win the relay for the French championships
- “I wanted to run for the lads and the committee”: the joy of Martin Minazzi, Camille Grataloup-Manissolle and Emilien Jacquelin, French relay champions at Les Saisies
- Les Saisies: Adèle Ouvrier-Buffet, Louise Roguet and Jeanne Richard, for Mont-Blanc, French relay champions
- “Wonderful moments”: the joy of Jeanne Richard, Adèle Ouvrier-Buffet and Louise Roguet after their national relay title at Les Saisies
