Fillon Maillet takes second in mass start to clinch overall crystal globe

Quentin Fillon Maillet became the fourth Frenchman to win the overall biathlon crystal globe with second place in the mass start in Otepaa enough to clinch the title. The Frenchman was all but guaranteed to take the overall World Cup title, needing to finish in the top 23 to be certain of doing so this weekend. Ad/> He went much better than that though, with only a miss on his first standing shoot denying him a fourth successive World Cup win since the Olympics where he won five medals including two golds.

BiathlonSimon flies to sprint victory in OtepaaYESTERDAY AT 14:44 It was Norway's Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen who took advantage of the miss to take the victory, with another Norwegian, Sivert Guttorm Bakken, coming third. Fillon Maillet follows in the footsteps of Patrice Bailly Salins, Raphaël Poirée and the legendary Martin Fourcade in winning the overall title. But the 29-year-old insists that he is not about to ease off with the small crystal globes still up for grabs in the sprint and the mass start next week – he leads in both, having already wrapped up the pursuit crown.

Fillon Maillet said: «It was more or less official, my aim wasn't to finish 23rd, it was to win. My goal of the big crystal globe was gone. Now the objective is to win the mass start crystal globe, it's a good day even if there was some frustration because the Norwegian was not far away.

»I won't celebrate necessarily, I've still got some things to go and get. I've got my whole life to enjoy the medals. The aim is not to finish with some average performances.

I love what I do, I enjoy skiing and training more than partying. I'm happy when I give it everything on the skis. Until the final race of the season, I will be giving it 100 percent."