Pokljuka (Slovenia) (AFP)
Norway won its third world title in a row in the women's relay on Saturday in Pokljuka, with France only taking a very disappointing 8th place.
The Norwegian quartet (Ingrid Tandrevold, Tiril Eckhoff, Ida Lien, Marte Olsbu Roeisleand) offered their country a 5th gold medal in these World Championships by beating Germany (Vanessa Hinz, Janina Hettich, Denise Herrmann, Franziska Preuss ) and Ukraine (Anastasiya Merkushyna, Yuliia Dzhima, Darya Blashko, Olena Pidhrushna).
This is the 4th title won by the Norwegian Tiril Eckhoff in Slovenia after the mixed relay, the sprint and the pursuit.
On the French side, it's the cold shower.
Very ambitious after a successful start to the competition (2 medals for Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet, gold in the single mixed relay for Julia Simon), the Bleues (Anaïs Bescond, Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet, Chloé Chevalier, Julia Simon) were very solid shooting (5 fouls in total) but failed to keep pace with the best on the track.
"We had a very, very good race at the shooting range. But there was some lack on the skis, we didn't have a great glide, we were below the other teams but that's the game. It's a The track is complicated for the technicians to manage, between the stadium and the forest, there are different snows. It's a shame, it's sad, we had checked this race, we are really disappointed and there is frustration " , said Julia Simon.
"There is disappointment but there are encouraging things because they make a copy with only 5 picks shooting, for his part reacted Frédéric Jean, the coach of the French women's team. , it was not terrible but that's how it is, we can't repeat the race, the technicians are doing their best. Now, we have to bounce back for the mass start of tomorrow. The physique responded and they reassured themselves at the level of shooting, I hope that it will work tomorrow. It will be played in the face. It is a race where the mind has a big part. "
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