The main favorites for victory before the start of the individual race were Jeanmonnot, Minkkinen, the Oeberg sisters, Magnusson, Wierer, Vittozzi, Kirkeeide, Preuss, as well as the other French athletes who currently occupy five spots in the top 12 this season.
However, the favorites struggled badly on the shooting range, and almost all of them lost their medal chances already at the early stages. Minkkinen and Elvira Oeberg each missed once over the first two shootings, while Hanna Oeberg had two misses right on the opening prone. Vittozzi, on the other hand, missed steadily at every stage and, with four penalty minutes, was no longer in contention. Maren Kirkeeide fared even worse with five misses.
For some, the shock and disappointment came on the final standing stage: Hauser missed three times — that could have been silver — while Preuss had two misses, which cost her even a chance to fight for gold.
Julia Simon, however, proved to be the fastest in this 15-kilometer race despite one miss. It is her first individual Olympic medal.
The only athlete for whom two misses were not a major issue was Lou Jeanmonnot. Finishing 53 seconds behind the winner, she secured the silver medal.
And of course, amid the struggles of the established favorites, the miracle that did not happen yesterday for Finland’s Olli Hiidensalo happened today for Laura Hristova. The 22-year-old Bulgarian, who had never won a World Cup race and whose best result had been 13th place in last season’s individual, claimed her first career medal.
| Click on the flag to select team | Shooting | - | Time | ||
| 1 |  |
Julia Simon | 0+1+0+0 | 1 | 41:15.6 |
| 2 | |
Lou Jeanmonnot | 0+1+1+0 | 2 | +53.1 |
| 3 |  |
Lora Hristova | 0+0+0+0 | 0 | +1:04.5 |
| 4 |  |
Vanessa Voigt | 0+0+0+0 | 0 | +1:17.4 |
| 5 |  |
Dorothea Wierer | 0+1+0+0 | 1 | +1:33.9 |
| 6 | |
Camille Bened | 0+0+0+1 | 1 | +1:36.7 |
| 7 |  |
Lea Meier | 0+1+0+0 | 1 | +1:37.4 |
| 8 | |
Janina Hettich-walz | 1+1+0+0 | 2 | +2:03.3 |
| 9 |  |
Linn Gestblom (persson) | 0+1+1+0 | 2 | +2:12.6 |
| 10 | |
Franziska Preuss | 0+0+0+2 | 2 | +2:19.9 |
| 11 |  |
Tereza Vinklarkova | 0+1+0+0 | 1 | +2:20.6 |
| 12 | |
Anna Magnusson | 1+0+0+1 | 2 | +2:24.3 |
| 13 | |
Karin Oeberg Elvira | 1+1+0+0 | 2 | +2:26.4 |
| 14 |  |
Alina Stremous | 0+0+0+0 | 0 | +2:30.9 |
| 15 | |
Tereza Vobornikova | 0+1+0+1 | 2 | +2:31.9 |
| 16 |  |
Krakstad Johansen Marthe | 0+0+0+1 | 1 | +2:37.2 |
| 17 |  |
Oleksandra Merkushyna | 0+0+0+1 | 1 | +2:48.3 |
| 18 | |
Kristina Dmytrenko | 0+0+0+1 | 1 | +2:50.5 |
| 19 |  |
Lotte Lie | 0+0+0+1 | 1 | +2:57.2 |
| 20 |  |
Suvi Minkkinen | 1+1+0+0 | 2 | +3:00.8 |
| 21 |  |
Margaret Freed | 0+1+0+0 | 1 | +3:04.3 |
| 22 |  |
Baiba Bendika | 0+1+2+1 | 4 | +3:05.2 |
| 23 |  |
Natalia Sidorowicz | 0+1+0+1 | 2 | +3:06.4 |
| 24 |  |
Pascale Paradis | 0+1+1+0 | 2 | +3:14.9 |
| 25 | |
Offigstad Knotten Karoline | 0+1+0+1 | 2 | +3:18.5 |
| 26 |  |
Fanqi Meng | 0+1+0+0 | 1 | +3:21.4 |
| 27 |  |
Theresa Hauser Lisa | 0+0+0+3 | 3 | +3:22.1 |
| 28 |  |
Susan Kuelm | 1+0+0+0 | 1 | +3:27.5 |
| 29 | |
Sonja Leinamo | 1+2+0+0 | 3 | +3:29.2 |
| 30 | |
Hannah Auchentaller | 0+1+1+0 | 2 | +3:31.8 |
| 31 | |
Lucie Charvatova | 0+2+0+1 | 3 | +3:32.4 |
| 32 | |
Anna Gandler | 0+2+0+0 | 2 | +3:34.5 |
| 33 | |
Maya Cloetens | 1+1+0+0 | 2 | +3:36.5 |
| 34 | |
Deedra Irwin | 0+1+0+2 | 3 | +3:42.0 |
| 35 | |
Aita Gasparin | 0+0+0+2 | 2 | +3:42.6 |
| 36 | |
Estere Volfa | 1+1+0+1 | 3 | +3:52.1 |
| 37 | |
Lisa Vittozzi | 1+1+1+1 | 4 | +3:53.7 |
| 38 |  |
Polona Klemencic | 1+0+1+2 | 4 | +3:54.3 |
| 39 | |
Amy Baserga | 1+1+0+1 | 3 | +3:54.4 |
| 40 |  |
Paulina Batovska Fialkova | 0+1+1+1 | 3 | +4:02.6 |
| 41 | |
Hanna Oeberg | 2+0+0+1 | 3 | +4:04.6 |
| 42 | |
Lena Haecki Gross | 1+0+0+2 | 3 | +4:05.4 |
| 43 | |
Kamila Zuk | 3+1+0+0 | 4 | +4:23.7 |
| 44 | |
Tamara Steiner | 0+2+0+0 | 2 | +4:45.5 |
| 45 | |
Anna Maka | 1+1+1+0 | 3 | +4:53.0 |
| 46 | |
Anastasia Kuzmina | 0+0+1+1 | 2 | +4:56.2 |
| 47 |  |
Judita Traubaite | 0+1+0+1 | 2 | +4:56.9 |
| 48 | |
Ema Kapustova | 1+0+0+0 | 1 | +4:58.7 |
| 49 | |
Maren Kirkeeide | 2+1+1+1 | 5 | +5:02.1 |
| 50 | |
Regina Ermits | 1+0+1+0 | 2 | +5:03.0 |
| 51 | |
Jessica Jislova | 0+0+1+2 | 3 | +5:08.0 |
| 52 |  |
Astri Slettemark Ukaleq | 0+0+0+1 | 1 | +5:14.8 |
| 53 | |
Yuliia Dzhima | 0+0+0+3 | 3 | +5:15.7 |
| 54 | |
Yuanmeng Chu | 1+1+0+1 | 3 | +5:18.3 |
| 55 | |
Selina Grotian | 0+0+3+1 | 4 | +5:24.2 |
| 56 | |
Inka Haemaelaeinen | 1+0+2+0 | 3 | +5:33.9 |
| 57 | |
Tuuli Tomingas | 1+1+1+1 | 4 | +5:39.1 |
| 58 | |
Sanita Bulina | 1+0+1+1 | 3 | +5:39.9 |
| 59 | |
Milena Todorova | 1+2+1+1 | 5 | +5:47.3 |
| 60 |  |
Anika Kozica | 0+0+0+2 | 2 | +5:55.7 |
| 61 | |
Daryna Chalyk | 1+1+1+0 | 3 | +5:59.2 |
| 62 | |
Anna Andexer | 1+3+0+1 | 5 | +6:01.1 |
| 63 |  |
Ekaterina Avvakumova | 0+0+1+2 | 3 | +6:02.6 |
| 64 | |
Keita Sabule Annija | 1+1+1+0 | 3 | +6:05.5 |
| 65 | |
Michela Carrara | 2+2+0+2 | 6 | +6:28.3 |
| 66 | |
Joanna Jakiela | 1+2+0+2 | 5 | +6:36.5 |
| 67 | |
Nadia Moser | 1+2+2+1 | 6 | +6:49.0 |
| 68 | |
Joanne Reid | 0+2+0+2 | 4 | +6:53.1 |
| 69 | |
Lena Repinc | 3+2+1+0 | 6 | +6:53.7 |
| 70 | |
Anne De Besche | 0+1+1+2 | 4 | +6:56.2 |
| 71 | |
Landmark Tandrevold Ingrid | 1+4+1+1 | 7 | +7:00.9 |
| 72 |  |
Anastasia Tolmacheva | 0+1+1+0 | 2 | +7:14.4 |
| 73 | |
Valentina Dimitrova | 0+1+1+0 | 2 | +7:20.2 |
| 74 | |
Johanna Taliharm | 3+0+0+0 | 3 | +7:46.2 |
| 75 | |
Anamarija Lampic | 4+2+1+1 | 8 | +8:06.0 |
| 76 | |
Maria Zdravkova | 1+1+1+3 | 6 | +8:06.1 |
| 77 | |
Sara Urumova | 1+2+0+0 | 3 | +8:29.7 |
| 78 | |
Shilo Rousseau | 1+2+3+0 | 6 | +8:29.8 |
| 79 | |
Venla Lehtonen | 2+1+1+1 | 5 | +8:29.9 |
| 80 | |
Justine Braisaz-bouchet | 2+2+3+1 | 8 | +8:34.6 |
| 81 | |
Lidiia Zhurauskaite | 1+1+1+2 | 5 | +8:39.6 |
| 82 | |
Maria Remenova | 2+2+0+2 | 6 | +8:46.1 |
| 83 | |
Eve Bouvard | 0+2+2+1 | 5 | +8:58.3 |
| 84 | |
Lucinda Anderson | 2+1+1+4 | 8 | +9:25.2 |
| 85 | |
Manca Caserman | 2+0+1+3 | 6 | +9:49.3 |
| 86 |  |
Aisha Rakisheva | 3+3+1+2 | 9 | +12:37.2 |
| 87 | |
Natalija Kocergina | 2+2+2+3 | 9 | +12:48.6 |
| 88 |  |
Shawna Pendry | 1+1+1+4 | 7 | +12:50.4 |
| 89 | |
Milana Geneva | 1+2+3+3 | 9 | +13:06.8 |
| 90 |  |
Darcie Morton | 3+3+2+1 | 9 | +14:12.7 |
|
Benita Peiffer | 0 |
