Winter Olympics: Quentin Fillon Maillet wins biathlon pursuit after disastrous shooting by Johannes Thingnes Boe
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Updated 13/02/2022 at 14:34 GMT
Johannes Thingnes Boe was headed for a third gold medal in Beijing before missing three targets at the third shooting. Quentin Fillon Maillet took full advantage, shooting clean to earn his second gold of the Winter Games. Tarjei Boe finished second to take silver ahead of Russian athlete Eduard Latypov. Watch every moment of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on discovery+
'Incredible' - Fillon Maillet wins second gold and fourth medal at Beijing 2022
Quentin Fillon Maillet secured his second biathlon gold medal of the Beijing Olympics by winning the 12.5km pursuit, taking advantage of a disastrous shooting performance by his rival Johannes Thingnes Boe.
Fillon Maillet started the race 26 seconds behind leader Thingnes Boe after finishing second to the Norwegian in the previous 10km sprint race. But unlike his main rival, the Frenchman was flawless on the shooting range - hitting all 20 targets - to win in a time of 39:07.5.
Tarjei Boe, the older brother of Johannes Thingnes Boe, was 28.6 seconds back to take silver while Eduard Latypov of the Russian Olympic Committee took bronze, 35.3s behind.
Fillon Maillet also won the 20km individual race but had finished second in two other events in Beijing, losing to Thingnes Boe both times. His second gold means he's the first French athlete ever to win four medals at the same Winter Olympics.
It looked like this would be another straight duel between the sport's two biggest stars, with Thingnes Boe still having a big lead over the Frenchman going into the third shooting range. But the Norwegian then faltered by missing three of the five targets - forcing him to ski three laps on a 150m penalty loop.
Fillon Maillet took full advantage, calmly shooting clean to vault into first place - with Thingnes Boe suddenly 55 seconds back in fifth place.
Fillon Maillet still had Latypov to deal with though, as the Russian athlete was right behind him going into the fourth and final shoot. But the World Cup leader once again showed his class - quickly knocking down all five targets while Latypov missed one shot.
Behind them, the fight for silver was suddenly a family affair between Thingnes Boe and his brother Tarjei Boe. They entered the final shoot neck-and-neck, but Thingnes Boe once again missed two targets after rushing his shooting while Tarjei Boe deliberately took more time and shot clean.
That meant Thingnes Boe ended up in fifth place after missing an uncharacteristic seven targets overall, the first time he's missed out on a medal in Beijing.
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Watch every moment of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on discovery+.
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