For the first time in the season: a loud sensation happened at the Biathlon World Championships, and an athlete from Latvia entered the top 5

The French biathlon team made a splash in the second race of the World Championships, which started the day before in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. The Tricolors sensationally took the top four places in the women's sprint, which happened to them for the first time this season.

At the same time, the performance of the main favorites, the Norwegians, ended in complete failure, as they failed to even make it to the top 10, while Baiba Bendika from Latvia unexpectedly made it to the flower ceremony. The 22-year-old athlete climbed to fifth place in the final protocol, setting a personal best.

The winner of the race was Julie Simon, who covered the 7.5 kilometer course in 20 minutes and 7.5 seconds. She was five seconds ahead of Justine Breza-Boucher. "Lou Jeanmonneau took the bronze medal, and the so-called wooden medal went to Sophie Chauvet.

The overall leader Ingrid-Landmark Tandrevold from Norway lost almost two minutes to Simone and finished 25th. Khrystyna Dmytrenko was the best among Ukrainian women. Having knocked out 10 targets out of 10, our compatriot finished the sprint in 12th place, losing almost a minute and a half to the winner.