This garden of Nordic skiing has less smiled on Quentin Fillon Maillet, deprived him of a third small globe by his seventh place and the victory of the Norwegian Sivert Bakken who blows him the first place.
A scenario opposite to that which crowned Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, 25 years old.
Thanks to her victory, the 5th of her career, and 5th place from Sweden's Elvira Oeberg, the biathlete from Les Saisies finished at the top of the Mass Start World Cup standings, with 162 points, two more than Oeberg (160).
"The scenario is incredible, clearly it's the one I dreamed of and I didn't think it could happen," she savored.
"It's a hell of a day, full of emotions because there are a lot of biathletes who stop in the team (Simon Desthieux and Anaïs Bescond, editor's note), it was their last race today, delivered Justine Braisaz-Bouchet. There was this dream of the globe and victory in the last race. I'm happy for everyone and happy to end the season like this. It's a very beautiful sport!"
+JBB+, winner of the mass start at Le Grand Bornand in December this season, beat German Franziska Preuss and Norwegian Marte Olsbu Roeiseland, who secured her first big crystal globe on Saturday after the pursuit. .
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 about ten biathletes in front of her, the second to come out on top after the last pass on the firing line and seal her victory, as in Beijing a little more than five weeks.
To win the specialty's small globe, Braisaz-Bouchet was dependent on the results of Oeberg and Dorothea Wierer, who was leading the mass start world cup standings before this last race of the season.
The Italian and the Swede were not to finish in the top five.
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.
Quentin Fillon Maillet lifts the large crystal globe after the mass start in Oslo, March 20, 2022 Terje Bendiksby NTB / AFP
Similarly for men, the Norwegian Sturla Laegreid could have deprived Bakken of the small globe and done Quentin Fillon Maillet's business if he had beaten his compatriot in the sprint.
Final assessment of the QFM season: five Olympic medals – including two gold –, a large globe and two small ones – in sprint and pursuit.
At the foot of the legendary Holmenkollen springboard, the Jura resident finally lifted his crystal globe: "I've been working for this since I was very young, he rejoiced at the microphone of the L'Equipe channel. And that (the trophy , editor's note), this is what materializes my greatest dreams, like my Olympic medals."
© 2022 AFP