Lou Jeanmonnot during the sprint event in Östersund (Sweden), for the Biathlon World Cup, December 1, 2023. PONTUS LUNDAHL / AP
It was received 10/10. For the second stage of the Biathlon World Cup, in the polar cold of Östersund (Sweden), Frenchwoman Lou Jeanmonnot won, Friday December 1, the first victory of her career at the high level. Victorious in the sprint event – ahead of the Norwegians Karoline Knotten, second, and Juni Arnekleiv, third – she forged her victory with a flawless shooting.
A year after arriving on the main circuit – quickly signing an individual podium – after having surveyed the second division of world biathlon (IBU Cup, which she won in 2021-2022), the 25-year-old French biathlete is still climbing.
“The levels were jumped quite quickly”, Lou Jeamonnot was surprised last year, after having quickly made his mark at the highest world level. She, who at the start of the season set herself a place in the top 6 in the world at the end of the World Cup, offered the Blues their first individual success of the season on Friday, a week after the victory in the mixed relay for the start of the school year on Saturday November 25.
“It’s very cool, I would do lots of it again like thatrejoiced the Frenchwoman, at the microphone of La Chaîne L’Equipe. On the last lap, it was really hard, because I left quite quickly, and I was really afraid of not holding on. » She completed a race without any errors, where all her competitors failed in shooting.
Holder of the big crystal globe of the World Cup, her compatriot Julia Simon, thus somewhat missed her race. The first Frenchwoman to enter the running, she finished in 16th place, and in fourth position for the Bleues – behind Jeanmonnot, Gilonne Guigonnat (8th) and Chloé Chevalier (12th).
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