French biathlete Justine Braisaz-Bouchet achieved her fifth career Biathlon World Cup victory after winning the 7.5km sprint in Lenzerheide (Switzerland). For her, this is her first victory in a competition with only two shots, as her previous successes were either in the individual discipline or in the mass start. She is also the Olympic champion in the mass start from Beijing 2022.
In Lenzerheide, where the Biathlon World Cup is being held for the first time, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet was faultless on the firing line and set the second fastest time on the course to win by 12.2 sec over general classification leader Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold. The Norwegian also made no mistakes in both of her shots, but her pace was not enough to trouble Justine Braisaz-Bouchet.
The top three with a passive of 17.2 sec was completed by Lisa Vittozzi (Italy), who also knocked down all ten targets. Reigning Grand Crystal Globe winner Julia Simon (France) placed fourth, finishing 39.7 sec behind her compatriot after spinning a penalty lap in her prone shooting.
Elvira Oeberg also spun an extra 150 meters on her first visit to the finish line to finish fifth, 52.0 sec behind the winner. Also finishing less than a minute behind were Marit Ishol Skogan (Norway) and Franziska Preuss (Germany), who were faultless at the finish line, but were 55.7 sec and 59.5 sec behind Justine Braisaz-Bouchet.
In the general ranking for the World Cup, Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold remains in the lead with 346 points, Lisa Vittozzi is second with 309 points, and Elvira Oeberg forms the top three with 273 points. Today’s winner Justine Braisaz-Bouchet is sixth with a total of 247 points.
In the standings in the sprint discipline, the leader is again Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold with 205 points, followed by Justine Braisaz-Bouchet with 167 points and Elvira Oeberg with 150 points. The next women’s sprint in the World Cup will be on January 5 in Oberhof (Germany).