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Kenten Fillon-Maye | Photo: Teller Report
French biathlete Kenten Fijon-Maye won the 12.5-kilometer race in the sixth stage of the World Cup in Rupolding on Sunday, while Lithuanian Vytautas Stroll lost his place on the podium in the last lap.
Fijon-Maye won the ten-kilometer sprint on Thursday, starting with a seven-second handicap over German Benedict Doll. The mistake of the first shot dropped the Frenchman to second place 15 seconds behind Dolla. Also, the leading duo remained unchanged after the second fire, but the Dolls made a mistake twice in the third, returning Fion-Maye to first place. In the last shooting, the French biathlete did not close a single goal, but it was enough to protect the leading position and win.
After the last shooting, the vice-leader was Stroļa, who took the fourth place in the sprint, losing to Fijon-Maye in half a minute, but the Lithuanian’s four followers were less than 14 seconds away. In the last lap, the southern neighbor was overtaken by the Russian Alexander Loginov, the Belarusian Anton Smolsky and the Frenchman Simon Destier. Fyon-Maye’s Loginov, who scored one penalty lap, was 8.8 seconds ahead, while Smolski, who made two mistakes in shooting, was 13.1 seconds slower.
Fijon-Maye has 265 points in the World Cup, followed by Sebastian Samuelson of Sweden with 222 points and Emilien Jacques of France with 179 points. In all disciplines, Fijon-Maye has 581 points, 484 points for Samuelon, and Jacqueline third with 470 points.
Norwegian biathlete Marte Ulsbu Reiselanna also won the six-kilometer race of the sixth stage of the World Cup in Rupolding on Sunday, while Latvia’s leading representative of this sport Baiba Bendika decided not to start. Sweden’s Elvie Eberja, who won the sprint on Wednesday, was the first to start the chase, but Reiselanna started 22 seconds later. In the first line of fire, Eberja made a mistake once, but Reiselanna shot flawlessly and the athletes only split for two seconds.
In the next shoot, Reiselanna closed all the targets again and became the leader, finishing in the first place. The Norwegian shot all 20 goals and reached the finish line in 30 minutes and 55.0 seconds. Elvira Eber lost 20.8 seconds in two free laps, while her sister Hannah Ebera lost 32.4 seconds, making one mistake in the shooting. Bendika was in 50th place in the sprint and decided not to start driving.
Reiselanne is the leader in driving with 283 points, while Elvira and Hannah Eberja are second and third with 234 and 228 points. Bendika with eight points is in 63rd place. Reiselanne is also the first in the sum of all disciplines, accumulating 651 points, the second with 563 points is E. Ēberja, and the third place with 499 points is taken by the Belarusian Dzinars Alimbekava. Bendika scored 85 points and is in 38th position.
The next stage will take place in Antholca-Anterselv, Italy. The Olympic Games will be held in Beijing in February, and the Kontiolahti stage will start at the end of the month, after which the World Cup stage will take place on the Otepää track in Estonia for the first time. The season will traditionally end in Oslo.
