Biathlon-Fillon Maillet storms to gold for France in 'perfect race'

ANTERSELVA, Italy, Feb 13 : French biathlete Quentin Fillon Maillet was the earliest of the seeded racers to go out in the men's 10km sprint on Friday and he took the opportunity to remind the sport's young pretenders that he is still a force to be reckoned with as he stormed to Olympic gold. 

The 33-year-old joined retired French biathlon great Martin Fourcade on seven Olympic medals and may eclipse him in Sunday's pursuit race. 

"It means a lot, because it was hard to be on my top level the last three, four years, especially on the shooting range and to realise a perfect day, perfect race. It's incredible and it's more than (becoming) Olympic champion today, because I'm awaiting a baby with my girlfriend," a delighted Fillon Maillet said. 

The Frenchman's coach Simon Fourcade, brother of Martin, told Reuters that once he saw Fillon Maillet hit his first five shots in the prone position, he knew he would win, and the gold medallist agreed. 

"I feel quite similar - it's not over when you shoot on the prone shooting, but I knew I was strong on the skis," he explained. "It's especially hard to have a victory, but to win today, it's a lot of emotion - it's a perfect race at the perfect time."

When Fillon Maillet won two gold and three silver medals at the Beijing Games he did so in front of a silent stadium as, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were no fans in the stands, but Friday's victory was met with raucous cheers from the travelling French supporters. 

"I was dreaming of this moment when I was pushing out, doing the training, especially in the summer, and it's very special here, because I realised what I realised today," Fillon Maillet said.

"Because when I share the emotion with friends, teammates, the wax-men and the