Quentin Fillon Maillet stretches World Cup advantage while Denise Herrmann returns to top of podium
BySportsbeat
Updated 05/03/2022 at 17:42 GMT
Quentin Fillon Maillet now has a commanding World Cup lead following his latest 10km sprint success. The double Olympic gold medallist shot clean in Finland and came home in 23:21 to secure his second sprint win of the campaign and move to 696 World Cup points, 155 clear of compatriot Emilien Jacquelin.
Quentin Fillon Maillet with yellow bib, World Cup 2022
Image credit: Getty Images
In-form Frenchman Quentin Fillon Maillet stretched his IBU World Cup lead with victory in the 10km sprint in Kontiolahti.
The double Olympic gold medallist shot clean in Finland and came home in 23:21 to secure his second sprint win of the campaign and move to 696 World Cup points, 155 clear of compatriot Emilien Jacquelin, who finished sixth on Saturday after two shooting errors.
"The goal for the end of the season is the Globe and to continue to have good races," said Fillon Maillet.
"That is what happened today. It was not my perfect day but I felt good in the head and was confident.
"I was a little bit lucky in the standing shooting because I had two bullets very close to the border."
Sebastien Samuelsson was wearing the red bib as the overall sprint leader and started strongly, taking a 17-second lead after a quick first loop and clean shooting round.
But the Swede paid for two misses with the rifle second time around to give up the lead on the day and in the overall standings to Fillon Maillet, who secured his victory with a steady final lap.
Norway's clean-shooting Filip Fjeld Andersen claimed his maiden World Cup podium spot in second, 18.3 seconds behind the victor, with German Johannes Kuehn third and Andersen's fellow countryman Sivert Guttorm Bakken also recording a personal best finish in fourth.
The women's 7.5km sprint went the way of Denise Herrmann, who got off the mark for the season.
The German claimed 15km individual Olympic glory in Beijing and credited that confidence-boosting success as key to her return to the top of the World Cup podium.
"I had a good reload at home; relaxed and fresh after the Olympics," she said.
"I was focused but a bit relaxed today. I had a good relay and my main focus was to have the same feelings.
"It was a bit windy; you had to be careful at the shooting range... Kontiolahti is not the easiest range in the world.
"I was lucky with one shot in prone. It worked and I am really happy."
Norway's Tiril Eckhoff finished second, five seconds back, while Sweden's Stina Nilsson claimed her first-ever World Cup podium in third.
"It feels unreal," Nilsson said. "I had a really good feeling in my body the last days but I did not expect to be on the podium today so I am just overwhelmed."
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