French team with many mistakes
Biathlon star in tears after race
Updated 12/16/2024 – 3:05 p.mReading time: 1 min.
Germany was able to celebrate, France missed out on victory. Also because previous top performers like Justine Braisaz-Bouchet did not deliver consistently.
Joy and sorrow are sometimes close together. The German women’s biathlon relay team was able to celebrate on Sunday. The team led by the experienced Franziska Preuß secured victory in Hochfilzen. It was Preuß in particular who kept her nerve at the shooting range and pushed the French women into second place after the last standing shot.
It wasn’t just the final runner, Lou Jeanmonnot, who had a bad moment with four errors. Before that, things weren’t going well for her colleague Justine Braisaz-Bouchet either. She also had difficulty shooting. The TV camera captured the 28-year-old wiping tears from her cheeks after her race.
ZDF reporter Volker Grube analyzed the situation like this: “She is one of the best athletes of the past few years and things are just not going well for her. She makes far too many mistakes for her standards. In terms of running, it’s still somewhat true. But they are simple too many slices that she leaves behind.”
In the relay, Braisaz-Bouchet made two errors in both the prone and standing stages. As a result, the 19-second lead that Julia Simon had previously achieved almost completely disappeared. The German Julia Tannheimer was subsequently able to significantly reduce the gap to the Frenchwoman.
Braisaz-Bouchet is currently in twelfth place in the overall World Cup ranking. Last season she finished fourth. The Frenchwoman still has the whole winter to prove herself.