on the wire, the French beat the Norwegians again in relay

The Norwegian Vebjorn Soerum had to take a penalty lap on the eighth and final shot of the race, while Emilien Jacquelin went for victory.

There is strength in unity. Beaten in individual events by the Norwegians in the sprint on Friday and in the pursuit on Saturday, the French took, together, their revenge on the relay in Hochfilzen (Austria), Sunday December 15, by winning ahead of their rivals (+49 “0). Sweden (+1'59″2) completes the podium, far from the high altitude duel between the two expected teams. Two weeks after their victory in the first relay of the season, the Blues left their mark on the start of the season, while the Norwegians had gotten into the habit of leaving only crumbs to other nations in these races in previous years.

This time, the Norwegians let victory slip away on the last shot, Vebjorn Soerum going to visit the penalty ring after four missed balls on the stand. Emilien Jacquelin, who had let his opponent escape on the prone with two faults, took the opportunity to snatch a victory which had eluded him the day before, after a fall in the last lap, then neck and neck with Johannes Boe on the chase. Before this happy outcome for the Blues, the two teams had remained back to back, alternating at the head of the race in front of competition a notch below.

The French even missed more balls than the Norwegians with a pickaxe for Fabien Claude, two for Quentin Fillon-Maillet, three for Eric Perrot then four for Emilien Jacquelin, without ever committing the irreparable and having to take a penalty round in a race in difficult weather conditions marked by some snowfall.

With eight members of the top 10 of the general classification of the World Cup French or Norwegian, including the four tricolor torchbearers, the two nations largely dominate the world of biathlon. An accentuated supremacy during relays where density pays off. The Blues therefore have two victories out of the two relays contested this season, while the Norwegians had won each of the five contested the previous season on the world circuit. The French public of Grand Bornand will not be able to benefit from this new hegemony during the next stage with only individual races on the program.