In Oberhof in Germany, Quentin Fillon Maillet did not win a new title of world champion. The Frenchman came across stronger and faster than him on skis: the Norwegian Johannes Boe. The French double Olympic champion a year ago in Beijing must be satisfied with a tasteless chocolate medal and a fourth place. In difficulty since the start of the season, the biathlete from Jura has long believed he could do much, much better.
The Frenchman was in the lead at the start of the last lap but he made a mistake on his very last shot, a damaging mistake which Boe took advantage of. Fillon Maillet ejected from the podium was overtaken by another Norwegian Sturla Holm Lægreid and the Swede Sebastian Samuelsson. It’s the same podium as for the pursuit of these Worlds. It came to naught for the medal but it didn’t turn out in favor of the Frenchman. “It pisses me off…,” says the Frenchman on the L’Equipe channel. I gave the maximum today, especially in skiing and I finished with the worst place, fourth. I have one last ball that escapes me, the last and the feeling is horrible. This medal, I wanted it.
Already winner of the mixed relay, sprint and pursuit in recent days, the best biathlete in the world in 2023 is in the form of his life and is almost unbeatable, the Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Boe signs a performance and a grand slam in historic gold . The longest race of the biathlon world championships, the individual men took place over a distance of 20 km. Each athlete took off one by one, thirty seconds apart with four shots on the programme: two in a prone position and two in a standing position. The aim of the maneuver was to complete 5 laps of 4 km each.
