Michelon storms to women’s mass start gold as France shine at Winter Games

ANTERSELVA, Italy: France’s Oceane Michelon delivered a stunning final lap to claim gold in the women’s mass start biathlon at the Winter Games on Saturday, capping the last event of the Games with a thrilling finish.

Michelon’s fellow French biathlete Julia Simon fought hard over the final stretch to take silver, while Tereza Vobornikova of the Czech Republic secured a well-earned bronze.

The 23-year-old Michelon, visibly stunned at the finish, crossed the line 6.6 seconds ahead of Vobornikova after a brilliant final kilometre that saw her overtake the Czech athlete in a dramatic finale.

This gold marked Michelon’s second of the Games, following her triumph in the mixed relay, and added to a silver in the sprint, cementing her emergence as one of the sport’s brightest rising stars.

The 30 competitors completed five laps of the 2.5-km course, with two prone and two standing shooting stages, each miss forcing a 150-metre penalty loop. Light snow and blustery winds added to the challenge, turning the final race into a gripping test of nerve and skill.

Several top-ranked athletes faltered on the shooting range, sending them into penalty loops and allowing Vobornikova to take a surprise lead out of the final shoot, closely followed by Sweden’s Anna Magnusson. But Michelon’s superior skiing saw her overtake both challengers, with Simon following to secure a one-two finish for France. The nation ended the Games with an impressive haul of 13 biathlon medals.

“Oceane is someone who comes across as very fresh, with the desire to be the best biathlete in the world,” Simon told French TV. “She arrives without any complexes, she kicks our backsides a little and it’s deserved. We’re going to have Oceane Michelon for years to come. I think she has a very bright future ahead of her.”

Michelon’s remarkable performance in the mass start has firmly established her as a dominant force in women’s biathlon, and fans will be watching her closely in the seasons ahead.