Three competitors doubled at their National Summer Championships this weekend, with Oceane Michelon taking the sprint and pursuit at Les Tuffes. At the same time, Johan Olav Botn and Karoline Offigstad Knotten claimed in the sprint and mass start in Lillehammer.

Michelon unchallenged

Speedy Oceane Michelon was not invited to compete in the Martin Fourcade Nordic Festival Biathlon Mass Start 3 weeks ago. But just like her teammate Lou Jeanmonnot last year, she won in the cross-country race over an international field. This weekend, the 2024 IBU Cup Total Score winner was just as fast, taking her first National Championships Gold with a clean-shooting sprint win on Saturday followed by a pursuit win on Sunday. Lou Jeanmonnot and Jeanne Richard matched her shooting in the sprint, finishing 32.8 and 49 seconds back, respectively. Switzerland’s Lean Haecki-Gross and Julia Simon both with two penalties finished fifth and eighth, respectively.

Michelon went 17-for-20, winning the pursuit in 30:30.4, admitting to Nordic Magazine, “I tried to stay calm, not think about my lead or the race.”

With Jeanmonnot not starting, Simon finished second with one penalty, 24.4 seconds back. Richard with two penalties finished third, 30.5 seconds back after a hard battle with fourth-place Haecki-Gross.

Jacquelin and Perrot Top Men’s Podiums

Emilien Jacquelin’s one penalty was enough to win the Short Sprint National Championship in 16:33. Clean-shooting Antonin Guigonnat, relegated to the IBU Cup team this summer won Silver. Quentin Fillon Maillet and Eric Perrot both finished third and fourth with two penalties, respectively.

Jacquelin fell to fifth while Perrot with three penalties won Sunday’s pursuit in 30:05:7. Fillon Maillet also with three penalties, 15.5 seconds back finished second with Oscar Lombardot, third, 1:18.7 back.

Botn and Knotten Double in Lillehammer

In Lillehammer, Johan Olav Botn and Karoline Offigstad Knotten doubled up with victories in Saturday’s sprint and Sunday’s mass start. With Johannes Thingnes Boe, Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen, and Endre Stroemsheim sitting out the weekend, Botn, who was second in last season’s IBU Cup Total Score, took control as did Knotten in the women’s competitions. Botn opened with a two-penalty sprint win in 22:58, for his first National Championship title. He was three and six seconds up on Vebjoern Soerum and Espen Uldal with two and one penalties, respectively. On Sunday, Botn went 18-for-20, taking the mass start in 34:16., 40 seconds up on Martin Uldal and 1:03 up on Soerum, with four and two penalties, respectively.

Knotten dominated the two women’s competitions, starting with a clean-shooting sprint win in 18:48.4, followed by a two-penalty mass start win in 35:04. Ragnhild Femsteinevik finished second in both competitions, with two penalties each day. Frida Dokken, with one penalty, finished third in the sprint, while Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold after a disappointing sprint roared back to a two-penalty third place in the mass start.

Photos: Nordic Focus