Jules Chappaz is the fifth Frenchman to win an individual medal at the Nordic Skiing World Championships, after Vincent Vittoz's gold in 2005 (skiathlon) and Maurice Manificat's silver medals in 2015 (15 km free), Hervé Balland in 1993 (50 km) and Jean-Paul Pierrat in 1978 (50 km).
Seventh in qualifying and best Frenchman, Chappaz won his quarter-final and his semi-final.
In the final, he couldn't keep up with Johannes Klaebo who led a breakneck pace from start to finish.
Second at the start of the final stretch, he was beaten at the photo finish by Paal Golberg by 2/100ths of a second for the silver medal.
This is the first time that a Frenchman has stood on a sprint podium at the World Championships, while at the Turin Olympics in 2006, Roddy Darragon took the silver medal.
At 23, Chappaz has no World Cup podium.
He reached the final of a sprint event at the start of the season for the first time in his career in Ruka, Finland, already in classic style, and took 6th place, his best result so far.
Another Frenchman, Lucas Chanavat, who has 15 World Cup podiums, including two victories, made it to the final in Planica on Thursday, finishing in sixth place.
Thursday, the French cross-country skiing team was waiting for its leader Richard Jouve on the podium, but the winner of the sprint World Cup last year was eliminated in the quarter-finals, after a complicated qualification and the 19th time.
© 2023 AFP