A double with Eric Perrot and Quentin Fillon Maillet in the mass start on Sunday, already two victories in three individual races: after two gloomy winters, the biathlon Blues are regaining color at the opening of the pre-Olympic season in Kontiolahti (Finland).
The icing on the cake – or rather the cinnamon roll on Finnish soil: at 23, Perrot took on the yellow bib of World Cup leader for the first time in his young career thanks to his victorious mass start.
“It’s Christmas, it’s the party, they’re distributing gifts,” he smiles to AFP. It’s a dream. I fight for this every day. Today, being able to wear it is magical. I got a taste on the podium. »
“Now what matters is to bring him back at the end of the season”he aims.
Sunday afternoon, the Savoyard biathlete – who speaks Norwegian, his mother’s country – won with a 19 out of 20 in shooting ahead of another Frenchman, Quentin Fillon Maillet, by only 9 seconds 1/10 despite missing three targets. . The Norwegian Sturla Laegreid completes the podium, at 11 sec 5/10 with two faults.
So much so that after the success of Emilien Jacquelin in the sprint on Friday, the French men’s biathlon has already obtained its second individual victory of the winter, in three World Cup races.
“Where the French team should be”
Quite a reversal of trend, since he had only experienced one throughout the two previous seasons, in 41 races.
“Here we are, the victories are back, the yellow jersey is back, it’s really great for the team,” appreciates Perrot. There is a great dynamic. We felt it before the start of the season. For us to prove it with two victories, a double today, it feels really good. »
“This is where the French team must be,” he believes. We have our place. Now we have to take responsibility for it. There is a long season ahead. »
Emilien Jacquelin (centre) vainqueur du Sprint de Kontiolahti (Finland), en Coupe du monde de Biathlon le 6 décembre 2024 / Minna Raitavuo / Lehtikuva/AFP
It was precisely Perrot who delivered the Blues from the biathlon in March by ending two years without the slightest individual victory on the world circuit.
In the United States, in Utah, « Rico » had won the sprint to achieve his first World Cup success, ahead of Jacquelin, three years after his debut in the big leagues.
His second came at the opening stage of the pre-Olympic season and it was once again a double for the Blues, with QFM on the second step of the podium.
There is clearly something better too in the five-time 2022 Olympic medalist and winner of the big crystal globe the same year.
Johannes Boe 9e
After three individual races, the 32-year-old from Jura has already recorded a top 5 (individual), as many as last winter, and now a podium, his first since March 2023 (2nd in the pursuit in Oslo).
His ski time, the second best in the field on Sunday, confirms his feeling of being in his best form since the 2021/2022 season, by far the best of his career.
Johannes Boe, in search of a sixth large crystal globe in seven years, has not yet found his cruising speed on the shooting range. The 31-year-old Norwegian only ranked ninth in the mass start after missing four targets, almost 50 seconds behind. An extremely rare thing: five of his compatriots beat him to it!
Victorious on Friday for the first time in three years, Jacquelin paid for five mistakes behind the rifle with a 14th place finish, at 1 min 22 sec 2/10th.
The opening stage concludes with the women’s mass start at the end of the afternoon.
The Biathlon World Cup continues in Hochfilzen (Austria) at the end of next week. With Perrot in yellow, “a superhero bib” in his eyes.
