Vetle Sjastad Christiansen wins pursuit as French women scoop relay at International Biathlon World Cup

Norwegian Vetle Sjastad Christiansen denied Swedish rival Sebastian Samuelsson a third successive victory after taking gold in the men's 12.5km pursuit at the International Biathlon World Cup. Samuelsson had put together back-to-back wins in the 10km sprint but was unable to secure a hat-trick on home soil as he finished 9.4 seconds behind Christiansen in Ostersund. Christiansen won in a time of 30:14.8 with Frenchman Emilien Jacquelin scooping third after finishing 11 seconds further back to complete the podium line-up. The result also moves Christiansen up to 178 points in the overall standings after four races in the season, giving the 29-year-old a three-point lead over the Swede at the top. France dominated the women's 4x6km relay as Justine Braisaz-Bouchet delivered a flawless shooting display to help seal victory and described it as the second-best day of her life. Braisaz-Bouchet skied to the finish unchallenged after a ten from ten shooting performance and together with teammates Anais Bescond, Julia Simon and Anais Chevalier-Bouchet used only four spare rounds. They crossed in a time of 1:10:30.3 ahead of Belarus and Sweden, who made up the rest of the top three. Braisaz-Bouchet said: "After my wedding day, the best day of my life was today. "I just enjoyed it, one of the most emotional wins we [have] had, and I [have] had personally. It was wonderful! "The head coach told us that it had been a long time since we won a relay, three years or more. We had big ambitions; I am so happy for all the team."