The winner was a disappointed with missing the one shot in the last standing that made her day a bit harder than she had hoped for. ‘I wish I would have made the 20-out-of-20 to be a bit more chill in the last loop. I had to push hard to not be second to Julia. Being alone was a bit long but, finally it was good.”
With her win Jeanmonnot tied Justine Braisaz-Bouchet and Sandrine Bailly for the most wins by a French woman in a single season. “That is truly meaningful to be one of the best French athletes, because we are all strong at the moment, so being on the top is really meaningful.”
Jeanmonnot’s teammate Julia Simon, shooting clean, gave France a 1-2 finish in second place, 24.1 seconds back. Germany’s Franziska Preuss with one penalty put in a final lap push, securing third place, 53.6 seconds back.
France dominated the Flower Ceremony with Jeanmonnot, Simon and teammates Jeanne Richard fourth and Oceane Michelon fifth, both with one penalty, 58.1 seconds and 1:25.2 back. Preuss’ teammate Selina Grotian, with two penalties, finished sixth, 1:36.7 back.
Simon was pleased with her clean shooting. “It seemed like a perfect race, because Lou was incredible today. I had my race and am really happy with it. It is a nice feeling when you do not go on the penalty loop…It was a lot of fun…I enjoyed this moment so much.”
Light winds and some clouds on a mild day set up the last women’s individual competition before next month’s IBU World Championships, with Jeanmonnot leading the field out of the stadium. The leader shot slowly but clean in the first prone while Preuss and Grotian picked up penalties. Simon moved to second after her clean stage, 34 seconds back.
The second prone was a repeat of the first, clean and gone before anyone else fired a shot. Simon cleaned again, but fell to 41 seconds back, 17 seconds ahead of Preuss, Grotian and Richard.
The first standing stage went much quicker than the prone stages with the same perfect result. Simon remained 41 seconds back, Richard next and Preuss on her shoulder, both 1:08 behind.
Jeanmonnot missed her first shot in the last standing, but it made no difference; victory was secure. Simon matched, remaining 15 seconds back in second. Richard and Preuss went shot-for-shot, cleaning in a battle for the final podium place. On the last uphill before the stadium, Preuss made one final push, breaking her young rival, securing third place, with Richard finishing fourth for the third time this season.
Photos: IBU/Yevenko, Nordic Focus