Fillon Maillet and Olsbu Roeiseland underline status as Olympic favourites with biathlon pursuit victories in Ruhpolding

BySportsbeat

Updated 16/01/2022 at 15:47 GMT

Quentin Fillon Maillet and Marte Olsbu Roeiseland have continued their dominance on the biathlon World Cup circuit. The duo underlined their status as Olympic favourites by winning the men's and women's pursuit respectively in Ruhpolding. For Fillon Maillet it was a fourth successive men's pursuit victory.

Quentin Fillon Maillet of France competes during the Men's 12.5 km Pursuit Competition at the IBU World Cup Biathlon Ruhpolding at Chiemgau Arena on January 16, 2022 in Ruhpolding, Germany.

Image credit: Getty Images

Quentin Fillon Maillet and Marte Olsbu Roeiseland underlined their status as the top biathletes in the world this season as they were victorious in the men's and women's pursuit respectively in Ruhpolding.

Fillon Maillet missed just two targets on his way to a fourth successive men's pursuit victory -- a feat only the greats Ole Einar Bjoerndalen and Martin Fourcade had previously achieved.

He finished 8.8 seconds clear of Russia's Alexander Loginov with Anton Smolski of Belarus completing the podium.

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With the victory, Fillon Maillet is up to 581 points, 97 clear of Sebastian Samuelsson, who finished seventh, while Emilien Jacquelin limited the damage as he moved from 53rd to 20th and is third overall, 14 points further back.

Earlier in the day, Olsbu Roeiseland cemented her position at the top of the overall standings with a sixth win of the season.

Setting off 22 seconds behind Elvira Oeberg, the Norwegian World Cup leader shot clear across the four shoots to ease into first place and take victory by 20.8 seconds from the Swede.

Hanna Oeberg moved ahead of her sister only to miss on the final standing shoot as she had to settle for the final rung of the podium, with Anais Bescond finishing fourth.

The victory extends Olsbu Roeiseland's lead at the top of the World Cup standings, she now has 651 points, 88 clear of Elvira Oeberg, with Dzinara Alimbekava third just ahead of Hanna Oeberg.

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