After having conquered Olympus, the world is at the end of Quentin Fillon Maillet’s rifle. And nobody seems to be able to stop the Frenchman. At the top of the general classification of the World Cup, he has a good margin on the competition, starting with Emilien Jacquelin (2nd) with whom he shared the baton of Kontiolathi this Friday, or Tarjei Boe, absent during this weekend. end of competition. Similarly, his Russian and Belarusian adversaries, excluded by the international federation following the Ukrainian conflict, are missing in the same way as Johannes Boe who ended his season at the end of the Olympic Games.
For his return to competition, the Jura player will probably have a hint of bitterness. Because Emilien Jacquelin counted up to thirty seconds in advance during the second stint. And when Quentin Fillon Maillet took over in the lead, he found himself flanked by Christensen (Norway), Samuelsson (Sweden) and Nawrath (Germany) alongside him. Cautious in shooting, the Habs remained solid with only one pickaxe ball, without consequence. On skis, quickly picked up by the Norwegian, he managed his effort. Not feeling able to go for the victory, ‘QFM’ withstood the sprint to the German Philipp Nawrath in order to finish third. At the end of his race, he, on L’Equipe TV, seemed satisfied with his performance: “I was worried about my recovery after Beijing, and in the end I felt in rather good condition. »
His objective is now clear: “I’m not going to calculate and think about the Big Crystal Globe, I’m going to try to keep looking for good performances. “Capable of ensuring good results in difficult times, such as during the relay, this Friday. He is also the one who has triumphed the most this season, with five wins.
Regularity, more than ever the leitmotif of the five-time medalist in Beijing. Author of ten individual podiums this season, the best total World Cup and Olympics included, Quentin Fillon Maillet was able to assume his role as leader of French biathlon, in the post Martin Fourcade era. He even ended up disgusting his opponents like Sebastian Samuelsson, fourth in the general classification who announced “that he would no longer fight to try to get the crystal globe. »
A total success especially since his luck was also that of seeing his Norwegian competitors, winners of the World Cup relay ranking, shared the individual podiums. Regularly supported this season by Emilien Jacquelin, still performing well in skiing today, Quentin Fillon Maillet has all the assets to be crowned. And her first big crystal globe is closer than ever.
