Isak Leknes Frey of Norway and Gillone Guigonnat of France won the Pursuit at the IBU Open European Championships in Sjusjoen. It was Frey’s second Pursuit gold medal at the Open European Championships, while Guigonnat completed a golden Sprint–Pursuit double.

Finally a gold medal for Frey

After two silver medals, Frey finally struck gold in the Pursuit, his second title in this discipline at the IBU Open European Championships. Frey arrived at the final shooting with a healthy 45-second lead over Gaetan Paturel but missed two targets. Paturel, trying to speed up his shooting, missed three, allowing Frey to ski a relaxed final lap to victory in 34:44.7. Leonhard Pfund of Germany, sixth after the Sprint and with one miss, claimed the silver medal, 16.9 seconds behind Frey. His teammate Simon Kaiser, seventh after the Sprint and with two misses, secured the bronze—his first individual medal at the IBU Open European Championships—28.1 seconds back.

Daniele Cappellari of Italy, with a perfect 20/20, recorded the fastest Pursuit time as he advanced from 45th after the Sprint to 14th in the Pursuit.

With Vetle Paulsen of Norway falling ill, finishing 98th in the Sprint and skipping the Pursuit, Antonin Guigonnat moved into the lead of the IBU Cup Total Score standings, despite less-than-average Sprint and Pursuit performances, following his win in the Individual.

Guigonnat first of five French women on Flower podium

Firmly in control from start to finish and missing only her final shot, Guigonnat doubled down on her Sprint gold medal and won in 32:07.5. As in the Sprint, Celia Henaff, with 18/20, finished second, 30.6 seconds behind, while Sophie Chauveau, with three misses, claimed her second bronze medal, 38.9 seconds back. Amandine Mengin and IBU Cup Total Score leader Paula Botet finished fourth and fifth for France, with only Marlene Fichtner of Germany joining them on the Flower podium.

Guigonnat also clocked the fastest Pursuit time. Gillone and her brother Antonin won three individual gold medals together.

Photo: M. Nordnes: IBU Photo Pool