Maren Kirkeeide wins Olympic sprint, two French athletes on the podium

Another strong day for the French team, with two representatives on the podium once again — but not on the top step, as Norway’s Maren Kirkeeide proved to be faster.

All the main medal contenders started from the middle group, with Lou Jeanmonnot the first among them. She missed once in the standing shooting, but it did not push her too far back, and given her speed, she remained in contention for a medal.

However, a whole group of strong biathletes started behind her, and as expected, some of them avoided penalty loops altogether. Hanna and Elvira Oeberg were skiing well, but both missed twice in the standing stage and ultimately failed to make even the top ten.

At the same time, everything went perfectly for young Oceane Michelon. The Frenchwoman gained 17 seconds over Jeanmonnot after the standing shooting and even increased her advantage slightly by the finish.

But the final word belonged to Maren Kirkeeide. The Norwegian was the last of the real medal contenders to start, trailing by nine seconds before the final lap. She then skied the last lap 12 seconds faster than the Frenchwoman and claimed victory.

Lou Jeanmonnot eventually finished third. Suvi Minkkinen had the same time as her after the final shooting, but lost as much as 20 seconds on the last lap. Lisa Vittozzi, even with clean shooting, was unable to challenge for the medals.

One of the biggest surprises — and perhaps the most bittersweet result — came from Milena Todorova. With one miss, the Bulgarian finished just 40 seconds behind the winner and placed fourth. The Bulgarian women’s team appears to be in outstanding form at these Games. Laura Hristova, who won bronze three days earlier, finished the sprint in tenth place.

Another notable performance came from Denmark’s Anna de Besche. Earlier this season, she only managed to secure a World Cup quota by Ruhpolding, finishing around 70th place there. Now she delivered a 16th-place finish — even with one miss.

		Click on the flag to select team	Shooting	-	Time
1		Maren Kirkeeide	0+0	0	20:40.8
2		Oceane Michelon	0+0	0	+3.8
3		Lou Jeanmonnot	0+1	1	+23.7
4		Milena Todorova	1+0	1	+40.0
5		Lisa Vittozzi	0+0	0	+40.6
6		Suvi Minkkinen	0+0	0	+49.6
7		Franziska Preuss	0+1	1	+1:00.1
8		Kamila Zuk	1+0	1	+1:09.3
9		Anna Andexer	0+0	0	+1:09.4
10		Landmark Tandrevold Ingrid	0+2	2	+1:11.8
11		Lora Hristova	1+0	1	+1:13.3
12		Vanessa Voigt	0+0	0	+1:14.0
13		Lea Meier	0+0	0	+1:16.5
14		Offigstad Knotten Karoline	0+0	0	+1:19.2
15		Baiba Bendika	0+2	2	+1:22.7
16		Estere Volfa	0+1	1	+1:26.8
16		Anne De Besche	0+1	1	+1:26.8
18		Hanna Oeberg	0+2	2	+1:27.0
19		Tereza Vobornikova	1+0	1	+1:29.0
20		Julia Tannheimer	2+0	2	+1:32.3
21		Lena Repinc	0+0	0	+1:32.8
22		Linn Gestblom (persson)	0+2	2	+1:32.9
23		Michela Carrara	0+2	2	+1:33.5
24		Yuliia Dzhima	0+0	0	+1:34.6
25		Polona Klemencic	0+2	2	+1:36.7
26		Maya Cloetens	0+0	0	+1:37.0
27		Karin Oeberg Elvira	0+2	2	+1:37.9
28		Joanna Jakiela	0+2	2	+1:40.2
29		Amy Baserga	0+1	1	+1:46.2
30		Theresa Hauser Lisa	1+1	2	+1:50.4
31		Yuanmeng Chu	0+0	0	+1:51.9
32		Anna Gandler	0+1	1	+1:54.4
33		Krakstad Johansen Marthe	0+2	2	+1:54.5
34		Julia Simon	0+2	2	+1:55.8
35		Anna Magnusson	2+1	3	+1:57.1
36		Anastasia Kuzmina	0+1	1	+1:59.8
37		Susan Kuelm	1+0	1	+2:03.1
38		Sanita Bulina	0+0	0	+2:07.4
39		Lotte Lie	0+1	1	+2:08.0
40		Paulina Batovska Fialkova	1+2	3	+2:09.8
41		Natalia Sidorowicz	0+2	2	+2:10.0
42		Oleksandra Merkushyna	0+1	1	+2:11.0
43		Hannah Auchentaller	1+1	2	+2:11.6
44		Dorothea Wierer	2+1	3	+2:12.9
45		Anna Maka	0+2	2	+2:14.4
46		Lucie Charvatova	0+2	2	+2:14.7
47		Deedra Irwin	0+0	0	+2:18.7
48		Fanqi Meng	1+0	1	+2:19.0
49		Judita Traubaite	1+0	1	+2:19.4
50		Tereza Vinklarkova	0+2	2	+2:20.4
51		Maria Remenova	1+0	1	+2:21.0
52		Selina Grotian	2+1	3	+2:22.6
53		Ema Kapustova	0+1	1	+2:22.7
54		Kristina Dmytrenko	1+0	1	+2:23.8
55		Aita Gasparin	1+0	1	+2:24.1
56		Benita Peiffer	1+0	1	+2:27.7
57		Tuuli Tomingas	1+0	1	+2:33.2
58		Ekaterina Avvakumova	1+0	1	+2:37.5
59		Anastasia Tolmacheva	0+1	1	+2:38.1
60		Lena Haecki Gross	3+1	4	+2:39.5
61		Nadia Moser	0+3	3	+2:41.8
62		Justine Braisaz-bouchet	2+2	4	+2:43.6
63		Venla Lehtonen	1+1	2	+2:55.3
64		Lidiia Zhurauskaite	2+0	2	+2:59.1
65		Manca Caserman	0+1	1	+3:01.0
66		Margaret Freed	0+3	3	+3:02.4
67		Pascale Paradis	3+0	3	+3:05.9
68		Anika Kozica	0+0	0	+3:09.8
69		Regina Ermits	1+1	2	+3:10.1
70		Sonja Leinamo	3+2	5	+3:11.4
71		Keita Sabule Annija	1+1	2	+3:19.5
72		Joanne Reid	0+1	1	+3:21.1
73		Alina Stremous	1+2	3	+3:23.4
74		Eve Bouvard	1+1	2	+3:25.5
75		Anna Juppe	2+1	3	+3:28.0
76		Olena Horodna	0+2	2	+3:30.5
77		Inka Haemaelaeinen	3+1	4	+3:40.6
78		Anamarija Lampic	3+3	6	+3:44.9
79		Lucinda Anderson	0+3	3	+3:47.9
80		Shilo Rousseau	2+1	3	+3:51.2
81		Marketa Davidova	3+1	4	+4:01.3
82		Johanna Taliharm	0+2	2	+4:02.4
83		Maria Zdravkova	1+3	4	+4:03.4
84		Sara Urumova	0+0	0	+4:09.1
85		Valentina Dimitrova	2+1	3	+4:15.3
86		Astri Slettemark Ukaleq	1+2	3	+4:18.2
87		Darcie Morton	1+2	3	+4:29.0
88		Milana Geneva	1+2	3	+4:37.7
89		Shawna Pendry	1+1	2	+4:47.0
90		Natalija Kocergina	3+2	5	+4:55.1
91		Aisha Rakisheva	2+3	5	+5:11.5