Exceptional French hat-trick at Oberhof: Quentin Fillon Maillet wins ahead of Fabien Claude and Emilien Jacquelin in the sprint

QFM's joy at the finish. MAXPPP

French biathletes shone on Friday, January 10 in the Oberhof sprint, the fourth stage of the World Cup in Germany, won by Quentin Fillon Maillet, followed by Fabien Claude and Emilien Jacquelin.

“QFM”, 32, has won his first individual World Cup victory since March 2022. “It's been a real ordeal to get here. The fight over the last two years to get back into shape on skis, this start to the season where shooting is not going well at all”, recalled Quentin Fillon Maillet on the microphone of the L'Equipe channel.

“It was a questioning, what should I do, am I capable of it or not, there were a lot of questions. Finally this victory, it means a lot to me”, he assured after being credited with a flawless shooting (10/10).

Boe misses

Fabien Claude, also the author of a clear round in shooting, comes second 15 seconds behind the winner ahead of Emilien Jacquelin (+22 sec, 1 penalty round). “Which shows that this is high-level sport, there are ups and downs. When you accept, you hang on and try to move forward, there are always good days to come. That's what this hat-trick proves”, reacted Emilien Jacquelin on the L'Equipe channel.

Five Frenchmen made a place for themselves in the top 10, with Emilien Claude (8th at 40 sec from QFM) and Eric Perrot (10th at 48 sec), time gaps that they will maintain at the start of the pursuit on Saturday. The Norwegian Johannes Boe, leader in the general classification, missed his test with three shooting errors (7/10) and finished 13th, 58 seconds behind the Frenchman.

More information to come…