France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet is a biathlete. He was born on August 16, 1992.
He was the 20 km individual and 12.5 km pursuit Olympic champion at the 2022 Beijing Games, becoming the first biathlete.
And the first French athlete to win five gold at a single Winter Games. He has won the Biathlon World Cup for 2021–2022.
Quentin Fillon Maillet Wins Gold in Beijing 2022 Biathlon Men’s 12.5km Pursuit
Quentin Fillon Maillet wins his second gold medal of Beijing 2022 in a record-breaking effort in the men’s 12.km biathlon pursuit.
Which was held on Sunday, February 13, at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre.
Along with winning silver in the 10km sprint and the mixed relay this past week, the Frenchman also won the 20km individual Olympic gold on Tuesday, 8 February.
With a timing of 39:36.1 to Fillon Maillet’s 39:07.5, Tarjei Boe of Norway won the silver medal.
Passing Evgeni Latypov of the ROC (39:42.8) on the racetrack to place second and third, respectively.
Boe defeated his younger brother Johannes Thingnes Boe, whose chances of earning a seventh Olympic medal.
And moving closer to Norwegian biathlon legend Ole Einar Bjrndalen (13 medals, eight gold) vanished after he missed seven shots on the range.
Boe was forced to settle for fifth place after a sudden gust of wind prevented him from hitting his target.
Quentin Fillon Maillet Ready to Fill Martin Fourcade’s Big Boots
Before competing in his second Olympic Winter Games, the first since his fellow Frenchman’s unexpected retirement over two years ago.
Fillon Maillet leads the World Cup biathlon standings by more than 100 points.
Fillon Maillet believes he can fill the vacuum left by Fourcade, who won five gold and two silver medals during a glittering Olympic career.
The 29-year-old Norwegian star believes the Beijing course is ideal for him and declares that he will be the “King of the Games” after winning 13 Olympic medals in all, eight of which were gold.
Bjoerndalen ought to be aware because he is the Chinese team’s coach and is the expert on the Hualindong Ski Resort’s course, which is part of the Zhangjiakou complex of competition sites.
Conclusion
The only other Frenchman to win the gold medal in the competition at the Olympic Winter Games was Martin Fourcade in Sochi 2014 before Fillon Maillet.
The 29-year-old added to his weekend silver medal in the mixed 4x6km relay.
After shooting poorly on the range and losing two minutes by missing two targets on the first standing and second prone sections, Fillon Maillet was forced to rely on a skiing blitz.
