French biathlete Julian Simon claimed a fourth medal of this Winter Olympics with silver in the final race of the Games, the women’s 12.5km mass start.
Simon had already won the women’s 15km individual, as well as the mixed and women’s relays in Antholz-Anterselva in the far north of Italy.
The 29-year-old served a one-month ban with a further five months suspended after being convicted of credit card fraud in October, having stolen the cards of a team physiotherapist and her own teammate, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, between 2021 and 2022.
The story came out in 2023, and after much denial – including an initial defence that she had had her identity stolen – and two years of this rumbling in the background, she finally admitted it in court, receiving a three-month suspended prison sentence as well as a suspension by the French Ski Federation (FFS).
Simon took to the start line alongside Braisaz-Bouchet, who was the defending champion from Beijing 2022.
Braisaz-Bouchet has struggled for form in the last couple of seasons and shot poorly in the four-shoot race, missing six targets, and ultimately finished 27th to leave the Games empty-handed.
The mass start was won by another Frenchwoman, 23-year-old Oceane Michelon, who upgraded her silver from the 7.5km sprint, with Simon 6.6 seconds behind.
Michelon – who won the overall under-23 World Cup title last season – was overcome with emotion as she crossed the line, wrapping herself in a French flag, and was in tears on the podium.
Czechia’s Tereza Vobornikova won a surprise bronze, her first major championship medal, and finished 7.4 seconds off Michelon’s pace.
She missed two shots in the 20-shot race, completing two additional penalty loops, but skied brilliantly to come back into the lead on the final lap – overhauling Vobornikova – and had daylight between her and the chasers down the final straight.
Simon and Vobornikova both missed one shot, with only one athlete – fourth-placed Anna Magnusson of Sweden – shooting clear in difficult conditions in Antholz, with heavy snowfall affecting visibility on the range.
The mass start marked the final race for Germany’s Franziska Preuss, the overall World Cup winner last year, and Italian veteran Dorothea Wierer, a four-time Olympic medallist and four-time world champion.
The pair enjoyed a lap of honour in front of the packed grandstand, while fans held up signs reading “Danke, grazie, thank you”, and Wierer’s family mobbed her with flowers at the finish.
Wierer finished fifth in her final mass start despite two misses, while Preuss – who has had a difficult season – missed seven shots and finished 28th of 30 starters.
