Quentin Fillon Maillet of France competes during biathlon men's 20km individual at National Biathlon Centre in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing)
CHONGLI, Zhangjiakou, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- France's Quentin Fillon Maillet managed to ski fast enough to win the men's 20km individual biathlon gold medal in 48 minutes and 47.4 seconds at Beijing 2022 here on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old Frenchman missed the target twice, one from the first standing, another from the second prone, but he skiied quickly to recover from his two-minute penalty.
As the Biathlon World Cup leader, Fillon Maillet regarded the race as hard. "With two misses in the shooting I never expected the victory - maybe the podium. It's hard to relish the victory right now because the race is not finished, but I'm starting to feel the emotions of the victory. It was amazing," he said.
After a fruitless Olympic journey at PyeongChang 2018, where his best result was a 29th place in men's 15km mass start, this gold and the silver in the mixed relay gave Fillon Maillet great comfort.
"Four years ago it was so hard for me at the Olympic Games. I wanted to dream of an Olympics like this. We started very well with the mixed relay, and today [raced] in a good way for the victory."
"It was so good. A lot of work, a lot of energy for this. Thank you to my family, my friends, my partner, my teammates. For all their work and all the people who helped me on my way to becoming Olympic champion," he added.
Belarus's Anton Smolski claimed silver with a clean record, 14.8 seconds adrift of Maillet.
The two-time Olympian was also surprised about his shooting. "I am very happy that I was able to finish a race without misses. That is really cool. I've shot 19, I've shot 18, but never 20."
Smolski was not the fastest skier, but his perfect shooting gave him the chance to win his first Olympic medal.
"I understood that only clean shooting will give me the chance to fight for the top places and when I came to the shooting range, I didn't think about anything and did what I could. After I shot clean, a happy melody played in my head and I understood that now I need to go full blast," the Belarusian said.
Defending champion Johannes Thingnes Boe of Norway crossed the line first, but two penalties dropped him to third place, 31.1 seconds behind the winner.
China's Yan Xingyuan, Cheng Fangming, Zhu Zhenyu, and Zhang Chunyu finished in the race in 39th, 69th, 83rd and 92nd respectively. ■
Quentin Fillon Maillet of France competes during biathlon men's 20km individual at National Biathlon Centre in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing)
Quentin Fillon Maillet (L) of France celebrates after winning the first place of biathlon men's 20km individual at National Biathlon Centre in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Peng Ziyang)
Quentin Fillon Maillet of France trains prior to biathlon men's 20km individual at National Biathlon Centre in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Peng Ziyang)
Gold medalist Quentin Fillon Maillet (C) of France, sliver medalist Anton Smolski (L) of Belarus and bronze medalist Johannes Thingnes Boe of Norway celebrate after biathlon men's 20km individual at National Biathlon Centre in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Peng Ziyang)
Quentin Fillon Maillet of France celebrates after winning the first place of biathlon men's 20km individual at National Biathlon Centre in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Peng Ziyang)
Quentin Fillon Maillet of France celebrates after winning the first place of biathlon men's 20km individual at National Biathlon Centre in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)
Quentin Fillon Maillet of France competes during biathlon men's 20km individual at National Biathlon Centre in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)
Gold medalist Quentin Fillon Maillet (C) of France, sliver medalist Anton Smolski (L) of Belarus and bronze medalist Johannes Thingnes Boe of Norway celebrate after biathlon men's 20km individual at National Biathlon Centre in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Peng Ziyang)
Quentin Fillon Maillet of France rests after biathlon men's 20km individual at National Biathlon Centre in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)
Quentin Fillon Maillet of France reacts after winning the first place of biathlon men's 20km individual at National Biathlon Centre in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Peng Ziyang)
Quentin Fillon Maillet of France competes during biathlon men's 20km individual at National Biathlon Centre in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)
French athletes celebrate after biathlon men's 20km individual at National Biathlon Centre in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Peng Ziyang)
Quentin Fillon Maillet of France competes during biathlon men's 20km individual at National Biathlon Centre in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)
