LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland – Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Boe turned his anchor leg into a victory lap to claim gold in the men’s 4×7.5km relay at the International Biathlon Union World Championships on Saturday, with France powering to victory in the women’s 4x6km race.
Quentin Fillon Maillot held firm to take silver for the French team ahead of bronze medallists Germany, while Norway surged out of the pack to silver in the women’s race, and Sweden claimed the bronze.
With warm temperatures and loose, heavy snow making the skiing tough, accuracy on the shooting range was all the more important. Racers were granted three extra shots at each shoot before having to complete penalty loops to atone for any further misses.
Competing in the final World Championships relay ahead of his retirement at the end of the season, Thingnes Boe’s team gave him a dominant lead of 46 seconds at the final exchange, and the 31-year-old needed no further invitation.
He ripped through the course, hitting all 10 of his shots in rapid succession at the range as he blazed to his record-extending 23rd World Championship gold.
With the 15km mass start still to come, the gold medal was the third at his final World Championships, and few would bet against Thingnes Boe making the podium in the final race on Sunday.
Earlier, Julia Simon anchored a triumphant final leg as France cruised to victory in the women’s race, hitting a perfect 10 of 10 shots to claim the gold.
Maren Kirkeeide stormed through the field and shot clean on the last leg to grab silver for Norway, while Elvira Oeberg secured bronze for Sweden, holding off a strong challenge from Germany and Austria.
Such was the French lead entering the final lap that Simon could spend most of it saluting the crowd, and still they finished more than a minute ahead of the Norwegians, with the Swedes a further 40 seconds back.
The French team took control early with Lou Jeanmonnot handing a 32-second lead to Oceane Michelon and they never looked back, with Simon even taking the time to bow to the crowd after her final shot before speeding around the last lap.
The only blemish on Simon’s last circuit came when part of a hoarding collapsing as fans sought to give her high fives, but she still stopped for a final bow before crossing the line.
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