The women's 10km pursuit event kicked off the Saturday of IBU competition in Annecy-Le Grand Bornand, France, followed by the men's 12.5km pursuit. It's the final weekend of World Cup competition before a holiday break for the biathletes.
Unseasonably warm temperatures ushered in the French celebration that the home crowd had been waiting for since Thursday.
Lou Jeanmonnot of France won gold in the women's 10km pursuit in a time of 27:58.8 and waved the French flag as she sailed across the finish line. It was her first-ever World Cup win at home. The French biathlete sits as the overall World Cup leader in the yellow bib.
Sweden's Hanna Oeberg kicked Jeanmonnot out of the top spot by 3.3 seconds on Thursday to win the women's sprint. Now, she's finally able to celebrate victory with the hometown crowd.
The closest finisher to Jeanmonnot on Saturday was runner-up Finnish biathlete Suvi Minkkinen. She finished 30.2 seconds behind Jeanmonnot to narrowly secure second place ahead of Dorothea Wierer.
Italian biathlete Wierer crossed the line just 2.5 seconds later than Minkkinen to snag the final podium spot in the pursuit.
In the men's 12.5km pursuit, the overall World Cup leader, Norway's Johan-Olav Botn, cruised to victory in 31:20.8. The yellow-bib wearer has had an extraordinary start to the World Cup season. The pursuit win in Annecy-Le Grand Bornand is his third victory of the season and his first-ever pursuit gold.
Emilien Jacquelin of France battled to the finish line amid waving French flags, to secure second place after he finished 17.6 seconds behind Botn. Jacquelin just barely beat Norway's Johannes Dale-Skjevdal to the end by just 0.3 seconds for silver.
Dale-Skjevdal claimed the final podium spot after he crossed the line just 0.4 seconds ahead of Eric Perrot of France.
Team USA's Campbell Wright finished 15th overall.
The final day of IBU World Cup competition in Annecy-Le Grand Bornand takes place tomorrow with the women's 12.5km and men's 15km mass start events.