Justine Braisaz-Bouchet can go on vacation with a smile. She concluded the last race of the final World Cup round of the biathlon season with a victory. The Frenchwoman won at the end of the mass start, a 12.5 km race with a mass start bringing together the thirty best biathletes in the world. An event in which she had won Olympic gold in Beijing last month.
This weekend, in Oslo, Norway, the athlete from Les Saisies was like his 2021-2022 season: capable of the best and the worst. Ranked only 42nd in the sprint on Friday, five faults behind the rifle, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet went too far during the pursuit on Saturday to be able to join the fight for the podium. She thus finished 21st at 3 min 18 s from the Norwegian Tiril Eckhoff.
This Sunday, the cards were completely reshuffled with a straight start. Often one of the fastest on skis this season, but rarely consistent on the launch pad, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet set the second best ski time in the mass start behind Germany’s Denise Herrmann. The key was to achieve an 18/20 against the targets.
Imperial on standing shots
After an error on each lying shot, the Frenchwoman was imperial on her two standing shots. The first allowed her to gradually pick up on the peloton of ten biathletes in front of her, the second to come out on top after the last passage on the firing line and seal her victory, like in Beijing.
Finally, after more than 35 minutes of effort on the snow softened by the spring temperatures in Oslo, the tricolor crossed the finish line 7 seconds ahead of the German Franziska Preuss and 8 seconds over the Norwegian Marte Olsbu Roeiseland.
She thus offers her third podium in the World Cup this season after her second place in the sprint of Hochfilzen (Austria) in December and her first place in the individual of Antholz – Anterselva (Italy) in January.
✅The Olympic title on the mass start ✅the mass start of Oslo ✅the little globe of the mass start Justine Braisaz-Bouc… https://t.co/RxMhdnwZax
The icing on the cake, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet wins the little mass start globe. It was dependent on the results of Elvira Oeberg and Dorothea Wierer, who was leading the specialty world cup standings before this last race of the season.
The Swede and the Italian were not expected to finish in the top five. Dorothea Wierer crossed the line in 12th place, while Elvira Oeberg lost 4th place in the race by just a tenth of a second, overtaken in the sprint by… her compatriot Linn Persson.
But the queen of women’s biathlon this season remains Marte Roeiseland, winner of the big globe rewarding the most regular biathlete of the season. The Norwegian succeeds her compatriot Tiril Eckhoff on the list.
Finally, this mass start in Oslo was the last race in the career of the Frenchwoman Anaïs Bescond, who puts away the skis and the rifle at 34 years old. She finished her last outing in 28th place.