With the victory of the Swede Elivra Öberg in the biathlon mass start in Ruhpolding, a French woman, Jeanne Richard, once again made it onto the podium behind the overall World Cup leader Franziska Preuß – which once again underlines the strength of the team this year.
The French women’s biathlon team is also in top form in the 2025 calendar year. This was impressively demonstrated by the performances at the World Cups in Oberhof and Ruhpolding.
In numbers: The French women have already achieved ten individual podium places in the 2024/25 season. Only twice, in the Kontiolahti sprint right at the beginning of the biathlon winter and at the local mass start in Annecy shortly before Christmas, did no ski hunter from the neighboring country make it onto the podium.
Thanks to Jeanne Richard’s podium finish at the end of the World Cup in Ruhpolding, the sixth (!) French woman has now made it into the top three in 2024/25 – the specialist portal “Nordic Magazine” even calls this a new record. The podium has so far been out of reach for Océane Michelon alone – although she has already finished fourth twice.
Biathlon star Jeanmonnot loses connection to Preuß
In Ruhpolding, Lou Jeanmonnot initially won the individual race ahead of Franziska Preuß. After the German relay victory last Saturday – in which France took third place – the closest competitor of the top athlete of the German Ski Association (DSV) was unable to improve in the race for the overall World Cup.
The currently second-placed team only finished ninth on Sunday, meaning Preuß’ lead is now a whopping 142 World Cup points.
After a three-day break, we’re now off to the World Cup dress rehearsal in Antholz, Italy. The women start on Thursday with the 7.5 kilometer sprint, before the pursuit on Saturday and the relay on Sunday. A large part of the team will then complete the final preparation for the highlight of the year in South Tyrol: the World Championships in Lenzerheide will take place from February 12th to 23rd.