LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland - Norway's Johannes Thingnes Boe turned his anchor leginto avictory lap to claim gold in the men's 4x7.5km relay at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Championships on Saturday, with France powering to victory in the women's 4x6km race.
Quentin Fillon Maillot held firm to take silver for the French team, beating out bronze medallists Germany,while Norway surged out of the pack to silver inthe women's race, and Sweden claimed the bronze.
With warm temperatures and loose,heavy snow making the skiing tough, accuracy on the shooting range was allthe more important. Racers were granted three extra shots at each shoot before having to complete penalty loops to atone for anyfurther misses.
Competing inthe final World Championships relay ahead of his retirement at the end of the season, Thingnes Boe's team gave hima dominant lead of 46 seconds at the final exchange, andthe 31-year-old needednofurther invitation. He ripped through the course, hitting all 10 ofhis shotsin rapid succession at the range as he blazed to his record-extending 23rd World Championship gold.
With the 15km mass startstill to come, the gold medal was the thirdathis final World Championships, and few would bet against Thingnes Boe making the podium inthe final raceon Sunday.
Earlier, Julia Simon anchored atriumphant final leg asFrance cruised to victory inthe women's race, hitting aperfect 10 of 10 shots to claim the gold. Maren Kirkeeide stormed through the field and shot clean onthe last leg tograb silver for Norway,while Elvira Oeberg secured bronze for Sweden, holding offa strong challenge from Germany and Austria.
Such wasthe French lead entering thefinal lapthat Simon could spend most ofit saluting the crowd, andstill they finishedmore than aminute ahead ofthe Norwegians, with the Swedes afurther 40 seconds back. The French team took control early with Lou Jeanmonnot handinga 32-second lead to Oceane Michelon and theynever looked back, with Simon even takingthe time to bow to the crowd afterher final shot before speeding around the last lap.
The only blemish on Simon'slast circuit came when part of ahoarding collapsed as fans sought to give her high fives, but shestill stoppedfor afinal bow before crossing the line.