jJulia Simón already suspected before the start that she would start to sweat. When the temperature outside was just under six degrees, she stood at the starting line wearing a T-shirt. The Frenchwoman came second in the 7.5 kilometer sprint race at the Biathlon World Championships in the Czech Republic and after just a quarter of an hour it was clear that she would be the first to cross the finish line.
At that time only a third of the field had started. But the 27-year-old left no doubt about her excellent form on both the shooting range and the athletics track, hitting all ten targets in her shot, the only one in the top six, and winning her second gold medal after of his success. with the mixed relay on Wednesday at the Nove Mesto Arena.
“It's incredible to win the sprint at a World Championships, with a perfect shot,” said the 27-year-old. “And then with my teammates on the podium, that's crazy. This is a day I will not forget.”
Conciliatory result
Before it became clear that she had already won her second gold medal in Nove Mesto after winning the mixed relay on Wednesday night, she had to wait until her teammates reached the finish line. Justine Braisaz-Bouchet (2nd), Lou Jeanmonnot (3rd) and Sophie Chauveau (4th) completed the success of the French team. The best German, Franziska Preuß, finished sixth after a shooting error, 1:05 minutes behind Simon, behind the Latvian Baiba Bendika.
A conciliatory result for Preuß after he had to run a penalty loop in the mixed relay race on Wednesday and buried the German team's medal hopes in the snow. “Unfortunately, it was one mistake too many,” the Bavarian said after the sprint. “But the way things were the day before yesterday, I'm happy and proud that I didn't get carried away.”
The national team coach was also satisfied with the result: “For Franzi it was the biggest victory after the relay, since today he went so well with this performance,” said Kristian Mehringer and added: “This makes us positive for the pursuer. “We want to make it as difficult as possible for the French and also win a medal.”
After the sprint, Preuß, 29, can have legitimate hopes of getting the precious metal in the chase race on Sunday (2:30 p.m. on ARD and Eurosport). Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, in particular, will make her teammate Julia Simon sweat, who starts the race just five seconds behind the new sprint world champion, who is defending her world title from last year.