Although Quentin Fillon Maillet did not defend his Olympic 20 km Individual Gold medal two days ago, he bounced back this afternoon, shooting clean to win the Milan/Cortina Men’s 10 km Sprint in 22:53.1. Fillon Maillet took the lead just before the prone stage, at 2.9 km, then blazed through both shooting bouts almost unchallenged for the fourth Olympic Gold medal of his career.

In an exciting battle for the other two medals, Norway’s Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen shot clean, finishing 13.7 seconds back for the Silver medal, his second career individual Olympic medal after 2022 Mass Start Bronze. Christiansen was just seconds ahead of teammate Sturla Holm Laegreid throughout the competition with the clean-shooting Laegreid winning the Bronze medal, 15.9 seconds back.

Fillon Maillet’s teammate Emilien Jacquelin shot clean, finishing a close fourth, .2 second slower than Laegreid. Sweden’s Sebastian Samuelsson shot clean, finishing fifth, 25 seconds back; the same place as in the 2022 Olympic Sprint. Norway’s Johannes Dale-Skjevdal, with two penalties, finished sixth, 43 seconds back.

Fillon Maillet Jumps Out Front

The men had a bit better conditions for their sprint than in the individual; a very cold night brought fast tracks, with again light winds under a partly cloudy sky. Fillon Maillet entered the range faster than anyone else, shot conservatively but clean for the lead. Jacquelin then matched, 7 seconds faster. Laegreid cleaned prone, 14 seconds behind his French rivals. Christiansen then got in the mix with the third fastest time, just ahead of Laegreid.

The eventual Gold medalist shot brilliantly fast in standing, putting him on top of the leaderboard, only to be outshot by Jacquelin, 6 seconds faster. Laegreid’s solid cadence and clean stage moved him to third momentarily, until Christiansen did the same, moving 3 second in front of his teammate.

Jacquelin Fades; Christiansen Skis to Silver

With 1200 meters to go, Fillon Maillet closed the gap on his teammate, going 4 seconds ahead. Jacquelin continued fading, finishing 16 seconds behind his teammate. At 8.8 km, Christiansen remained ahead of Laegreid, who pushed hard, moving past Jacquelin at the finish. True to what was happened on the range, Christiansen held his margin over his teammate, grabbing the Silver medal.

Photos: IBU/Vianney Thibaut, Ola Wizor, Nordic Focus