Biathlete Justine Braisaz-Bouchet became Olympic mass-start champion on Friday, bringing France its 14th medal at the Beijing Olympics.
However, it was not a foregone conclusion. Justine Braisaz-Bouchet was not among the favorites for this event of the Winter Olympics, unlike Tiril Eckhoff and Marte Olsbu Roeiseland. After the first two lying shots, the 25-year-old Frenchwoman was in fourteenth place because of her three faults.
It was during the third shot, the first standing, that she managed to reverse the trend. Arriving on the shooting range 1’24” behind Marte Olsby Roeisland, the Frenchwoman surprised everyone by succeeding in all these shots. It was therefore 15 seconds ahead that she went to the fourth and last firing zone.
Despite a fault, she emerged again in the lead, forty-eight seconds before Tiril Eckhoff and therefore sped towards victory. Far behind her, the three other French women in the event, Julia Simon, Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet and Anaïs Bescond, respectively rank 6and19and and 29and square.
A first Olympic medal to his name
Thanks to her performance, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet won the fourteenth Olympic medal for France. The biathlete from Les Saisies won her very first Olympic medal in an individual event.