Julia Simon led France to gold in the women's 4x6km biathlon relay at the Milano Cortina Olympics with flawless shooting on the final leg. The team upset defending champions Sweden, securing France's first victory in the event in 34 years.
In the women's 4x6km biathlon relay at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics on Wednesday, the French team claimed gold with a combined time of 1 hour, 10 minutes, 22 seconds. Julia Simon, anchoring the team, downed all five targets rapidly in the final standing shoot, bowed, and skied across the finish line carrying a large French flag. This marked her third gold of the Games.
Defending champions Sweden overcame shooting errors to earn silver, 51.3 seconds behind. Norway faded late but secured bronze, 1:07 back.
France's lead-off skier Camille Bened incurred one penalty loop in the standing shoot, dropping to 16th. Lou Jeanmonnot climbed to third by the third exchange. Oceane Michelon overtook the leaders on the course and used one spare round, handing Simon a strong lead that held.
Simon and Jeanmonnot also won gold in the mixed relay with Eric Perrot and Quentin Fillon Maillet, and took gold and silver in the 15km individual. Jeanmonnot added bronze in the 7.5km sprint.
After her world championship relay win two years prior, Simon said, 'In my leg, the most difficult part was staying focused. When you take the relay in the lead, it's easier to think that it's a win, but not. So I really want to stay real focused. The last lap was very nice, a lot of pleasure, a lot of fun. Once they gave me that flag, I felt like we did it. It was something really special.'
France's last women's relay gold came at the 1992 Albertville Olympics on home snow, with 7.5km legs.
Sweden's Hanna Oeberg and Norway's Maren Kirkeeide entered the final shoot together. Oeberg used one spare, while Kirkeeide needed two, costing about 20 seconds she couldn't recover. Oeberg said, 'When I went out on the last leg, I felt that France was a bit ahead, so my main thing to do was to beat Norway. I felt pretty confident coming into the last standing shooting, and I’m just happy I managed to do it. It was a big bonus that it was Norway that we pushed into bronze.'
Kirkeeide, with prior gold and silver this Olympics, noted, 'I was just hoping that I would do good races and see what that could lead to. But this has been much more than what I expected.'
Germany's Vanessa Voigt shot clean and chased Norway but finished fourth, 1:29 behind, after Franziska Preuss's penalty on leg two. Voigt said, 'This fourth place hurts a lot. I know that when I come to the hotel room there’s still a bronze medal from the mixed relay and this will make me smile again, I hope. But nevertheless, I’m disappointed.'
