Kirkeeide times her move to perfection
At her Olympic debut, Kirkeeide delivered her defining skiing on the final lap, after a disappointing anchor leg in Sunday’s (8 February) mixed relay that ended with Norway in fourth.
The 22-year-old, who also finished 49th in the 15km on Wednesday, put herself in a strong position for a medal by shooting 5/5 in standing — the second and final visit to the range — even though she still trailed Michelon by 9.2 seconds, with the Frenchwoman already across the line.
Kirkeeide began cutting into that margin immediately. By 7.0km, the deficit was down to 1.1 seconds, and she then unleashed a mighty final sprint to overturn the standings, crossing the line in 20:40.8 — 3.8 seconds ahead of Michelon — before dropping to the snow, spent after her late charge.
Michelon had little to regret. In her first Olympic race, the Frenchwoman delivered the cleanest possible template for a sprint: 10 hits from 10 and a time of 20:44.6 that would have won most days. She was the fastest athlete through the prone stage, and after backing it up in standing, she left the range in first and held that position until the final stretch.
Jeanmonnot completed a French double on the podium, but her bronze came with a clear turning point. She skied aggressively in the opening kilometres and stayed in touch through prone, yet a single miss in standing (0+1) sent her onto the penalty loop and cost her the seconds she needed to stay in the gold fight. She responded on the final lap to secure third in 21:04.5, extending a strong Games run that has seen her claim three medals (gold in the mixed relay, silver in the 15km, and bronze in the 7.5km sprint). She is now only the second Frenchwoman to win three medals at a single Winter Olympics after fellow biathlete Anaïs Bescond at PyeongChang 2018.