Quality Quentin hails resilience after scooping first World Cup victory of the season
BySportsbeat
Published 12/12/2020 at 18:51 GMT
The French star went one better than his Friday second-place finish to lower the colours of Norway's Johannes Dale in Austria
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
Quentin Fillon Maillet reckons gritting his teeth and staying focused helped him improve on Friday's second-place finish and soar to a maiden Biathlon World Cup victory of the season in Hochfilzen.
The French ace finished behind Johannes Dale in the 10km sprint but turned the tables on Saturday as he won the 12.5km pursuit ahead of compatriot Emilien Jacquelin.
Dale finished third on the Austrian slopes and Maillet, a two-time World Championship gold medallist in 2016 and 2020, says keeping his composure held the key to his triumph.
The 28-year-old said: "I feel very happy. The second place was good yesterday, but today I fought harder on the track and on the shooting range. It is so good to have this victory.
"Emilien and the two Johannes [Dale and Johannes Thingnes Bo] came back to me a little. I knew then that all I had to do was shoot well and stay focused on my race, and I did that.
"I remained focused in shooting, especially in the last, and I was fighting for the victory. I could have lost the race there, so I kept all of my energy for that. The feeling is so good!"
Fillon Maillet's second-place Friday finish marked his best result of the season but he improved on that in style over the 2.5km further distance.
He stopped the clock in 32 minutes 38.7 seconds in Hochfilzen to finish 25.5 seconds ahead of Jacquelin, who nevertheless celebrated his first podium finish of the season.
Dale was 24 seconds behind the Jacquelin while Johannes Thingnes Bo, who tops the overall table, was fourth ahead of Friday's third-place finisher Fabien Claude.
Bo's lead at the summit of the table now sits at exactly 50 points over Sweden's Sebastian Samuelsson, who could only muster a tenth-place finish in Austria on Saturday.
Fillon Maillet is third in the standings on 237 points, while Dale is fourth just 15 behind the resurgent Frenchman.
Jacquelin, a 2020 World Championship gold medallist, still has work to do but revelled in his second-place finish in the sixth event of the season.
The 25-year-old said: "It was a great day.
"I was focused on my skis, tried to ski well, and just think about me on the shooting range, and be calm with fast shooting."
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