LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland (Reuters) – France’s Justine Braisaz-Bouchet powered to victory in the women’s 7.5km sprint at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Championships on Friday, making light of tough weather conditions to claim the gold medal in a time of 22:08.7.
A silver medallist last year, Braisaz-Bouchet went one better by hitting nine of her 10 shots and storming through the course after the second shoot to beat Germany’s Franziska Preuss by a margin of 9.8 seconds, with Finland’s Suvi Minkkinen picking up the bronze, two-tenths of a second behind Preuss.
With conditions made difficult by blustery winds that sent snow swirling across the shooting range, many of the competitors found themselves having to complete time-consuming penalty loops for missing the target, with Minkkinen the only one of the top three to shoot clean.
There may have been no repeat of France’s 2024 women’s sprint success, where they swept the top four positions, but the 28-year-old Braisaz-Bouchet set the tone for the French team by winning the first individual medal of the 2025 event.
The IBU World Championships continue until February 23, with the men’s 10km sprint event set to take place on Saturday.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; Editing by Toby Davis)
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