Lotte Lie, close to the front all evening at Dresden City Biathlon, cleaned the last standing, left second, battled back to the front, and in a wild finish outsprinted Karoline Offigstad Knotten for the two-penalty 31:56.2 photo-finish victory. An hour later, Eric Perrot, with three penalties, trailing Quentin Fillon Maillet by 20 meters into the home stretch, sprinted past the stunned Fillon Maillet on the line for the 33:27.6 victory.

Lie Surprises in Women’s Mass Start

Knotten, with three penalties, finished second with the same time as third place Milena Todorova, also with three penalties, 1.1 seconds back. Vanessa Voigt, shooting clean and leading out of the last standing, finished fourth, 5 seconds back.

Voigt blew away the two prone stages, easily cleaning; Todorova and Lie stayed within striking distance. The German made quick work of the first standing, closing the five targets easily. Her challenger’s penalties gave Voigt 8 and 21 second cushions over Lie and Jeanmonnot. Five perfect cautious shots in the last stage sealed what looked like the win for the 27-year-old. Lie also cleaned, 6 seconds back, with Knotten following third.

Everything changed in the last loop when Voigt seemingly ran out of gas, falling behind the Lie, Knotten, Todorova trio. The last 50 meters was a mad sprint, with Lie flying up on the right side, nipping Knotten at the finish line for the win.

Perrot Stuns Fillon Maillet

Fast-shooting Justus Strelow kept the French duo at bay with two clean prone stages. Perrot moved into the lead after he and the German missed a shot in the first standing, with Fillon Maillet 5.6 seconds back.

The top three all missed a shot in the second standing stage; Fillon Maillet left a second ahead of Perrot and Strelow 3 seconds back. The teammates went shot-for-shot in the third standing; Perrot shot a bit faster leaving 2.4 seconds up on Fillon Maillet with defending champion Fak 27 seconds back.

The 2022 double Olympic Champion moved past Perrot early and followed the whole last loop, 20 meters in arears going into the home stretch. Fillon Maillet, sensing victory looked back near the line only to see Perrot sprint furiously past him for the win.

Fillon Maillet with three penalties finished .2 seconds back, while Fak with 4 penalties finished third, 32.8 seconds back.

Before these sprint finishes, Johanes Thingnes Boe, his brother Tarjei and Benedikt Doll gave the fans one last thrill, “competing” in the Legends Race, mainly a smile-filled trip down memory lane.

Photos: IBU/Leo Authamayou