- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,151,159
- Reaction score
- 59
You must be registered for see images attach
France's Quentin Fillon Maillet celebrates his gold medal with his partner Lydie in front of fans after the Biathlon men's 4 x 7.5 kilometer relay at the Anterselva Biathlon Arena, as part of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games. Hendrik Schmidt/dpa
Quentin Fillon Maillet claimed his third gold at the Milan/Cortina Games as France rebounded from an early penalty loop to claim a first ever triumph in the Olympic biathlon men's relay on Tuesday.
Fabien Claude had to ski the extra loop in the first leg for 15th at the exchange but Emilien Jacquelin made up the whole deficit to put France ahead at the halfway mark of the 4x7.5 kilometres race.
Fillon Maillet and World Cup leader Eric Perrot then had the better end in a thrilling three-way battle with the past two winners Norway and Sweden in snowy conditions.
Perrot needed two spares and left the last shooting 8.5 seconds ahead of Norwegian anchor Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen to clinch the gold with an advantage of 9.8 seconds.
The Swedes led by pursuit winner Martin Ponsiluoma trailed by almost one minute for bronze.
Perrot said: "It is so big for me, for the whole team. The French biathlon team has for so many years pushed really hard to win the relay gold medal, and today we represent all those guys who pushed hard for it. I am so proud to be a part of this team."
Fillon Maillet added gold to that from the sprint and the mixed relay where Perrot had also been part of the team.
Norway's Sturla Holm Lægreid meanwhile made it four medals from four men's races with a second silver plus two bronze.
"It is always good. Winning this fourth medal as part of a team is always better. Our objective was gold of course, but we had to fight for silver," Lægreid said
Ponsiluoma praised his Swedish team for "a really good relay" in Anterselva.
"Every leg was super good so we were really happy to send Sebastian Samuelsson out in the lead. It was a super relay," he said.
"We knew we had a really good chance of a medal and Sebastian did really well. It was an amazing feeling."
Germany had to settle for fourth using 12 spares under the eyes of former Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool football coach Jürgen Klopp, who also rang the bell for the final lap.
The women's relay is scheduled for Wednesday.
You must be registered for see images attach
France's Fabien Claude, Emilien Jacquelin, Quentin Fillon Maillet and Eric Perrot celebrate with their gold medals at the award ceremony after the Biathlon men's 4 x 7.5 kilometer relay at the Anterselva Biathlon Arena, as part of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games. Hendrik Schmidt/dpa
You must be registered for see images attach
(L-R) France's Eric Perrot, Quentin Fillon Maillet, Emilien Jacquelin and Fabien Claude celebrate their victory after the Biathlon men's 4 x 7.5 kilometer relay at the Anterselva Biathlon Arena, as part of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games. Hendrik Schmidt/dpa
Continue reading...
