There are less than 50 days left until the start of the Winter Olympic Games, and it seems that the form of the currently best Slovak biathlete is graduating at the right time.
After Paulína Bátovská Fialková’s individual best in the first two rounds of the World Cup was 34th place from the sprint in Östersund, she achieved two significantly better results in Annecy within three days.
After the fifth place in the speed race, she repeated the same position in Saturday’s “fighter”, in which she fought for the podium until the last meters. In the end, she missed this goal by 2.8 seconds.
“I have to take the fifth place with all ten. I felt confident on the track, and from that came the well-being on the shooting range,” she said in response to STVR.
She regrets the mistake on the lay
Bátovská Fialková found herself in a similar situation as in January 2020.
Even then, she whitewashed all ten targets in the sprint in Ruhpolding, Germany, and subsequently entered the pursuit race from fifth position.
She also hit 18 out of 20 targets in it, but while almost six years ago she fought for second place behind the Norwegian Tiril Eckhoff, this time she had to settle for a flower ceremony for the top six.
VIDEO: Clip from the women’s pursuit race in Annecy 2025
After the race, she especially regretted the mistake in the initial prone shooting. In an interview with Bátovská Fialková, photographer Igor Stančík, who has also worked for the Slovak Biathlon for a long time, indicated that it was a close mistake, the so-called the edge.
“It was my fault on the layup, I know about it. I’m sorry because if it wasn’t for her, it could have been a podium,” said the 33-year-old Slovak representative.
She also missed one target during the first standing shooting, but she managed the final one, in which everything was at stake, excellently. She also pleased her sister Ivona Zvaríková.
“It was a drama and a lot of stress. Paulína pleased me the most at the last stand, where she held on knowing that she was fighting for the podium places. She went at her own pace and gave zero,” said the STVR expert.
She was losing her rate of fire
While on Thursday, Bátovská Fialková watched the fight for the podium through split times on the phone, this time she fought with her rivals directly on the track.
After the final shooting, she was sixth, losing less than seven seconds to the third Dorothea Wiererová. The Slovakian fought, got past Lisa Vittozziová and had the domestic Julia Simonová within reach.
“I thought that she would overtake Simonová, as she looked like she was having a lot of trouble. Thanks to the audience, however, she mobilized, so Paulína finished fifth.
The track in Annecy is fast and without a long climb. If the track was 500 meters longer, Paulína would have given it,” Zvaríková said with a smile in the STVR studio.
In pursuit races, shooting accuracy is key, so female biathletes often allow themselves a short extra time to aim accurately. Nowadays, however, the differences are so close that every little detail makes a difference.
Bátovská Fialková had the eleventh running time in the “chaser” and thus better than Simonová, the two mentioned Italian women and, for example, the overall runner-up Finn Suva Minkkinenová on the track was 34 seconds behind.
However, what deprived the Slovakian representative of the podium was her shooting speed, which was only the 25th fastest. She lost 25 seconds to Vittozzi in this direction, which corresponds approximately to the length of the penalty lap.
He still has a chance for the podium
Despite the fact that she did not make it to the podium, the positives prevail in the case of the native of Brezno. She admitted that she was more troubled by the poor running performance than the shooting, but even thanks to a small change, things improved in France.
“After the Hochfilzene race, Paulína accepted that she needed to rest, which not every athlete accepts. We changed tactics and thought more about technique.
After the analysis, she realized that there is nothing wrong with it and I am pleased with how she fought here,” coach Martin Bajčičák said after fifth place in the sprint.
Thanks to the excellent results in Annecy, Bátovská Fialková secured participation in Sunday’s race with a mass start for the top 30. Last year, she even won bronze in them, which is her last podium so far.
“It is important that she consistently achieves good results. She felt good on the track on Thursday and today as well. At the beginning of the season, she missed some training sessions and could not get her heart rate into the racing mode,” says Zvaríková.
Remenová was blocked by the Swede
In the pursuit race, in addition to the 20th woman in the World Cup standings, Mária Remeňová also presented herself, who lost three places compared to the sprint.
Despite three shooting errors, she had the chance to repeat the 46th place, but shortly before the finish line she paid the price due to a collision with the Swede Anna-Karin Heijdenbergová.
Mária Remeňová after the pursuit race of the World Cup in Annecy 2025. (Author: Igor Stančík/Slovak Biathlon)
“She blocked me and I think she elbowed me. My legs were already stiff, it derailed me and I crashed there. I lost three or four positions.
I made my typical mistakes on the shooting range, which I also make during training. The sooner I remove them, the better it will be for me,” said Remeňová.
Lou Jeanmonnot was happy with the victory, despite a beauty flaw in the penultimate shot. She claimed her 14th victory in the WC, the second of the season, and leads the overall standings by 51 points ahead of Wiererová.
“It’s very nice to win at home. It’s a special place for me and I’m proud to have done it. The spectators motivated me to perform even better,” said the second home French winner after Justine Braisazova-Bouchetova.
