Quentin Fillon Maillet won in the men’s biathlon 10km sprint on Friday at Milan Cortina 2026, in a close race where all the front-runners shot clean at the range.
Norway’s Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen finished second 13.7 seconds behind, and Sturla Holm Laegreid finished third 15.9 seconds behind. The French fans erupted in the stadium to celebrate the country's third medal of the 2026 Winter Games, and Maillet's fourth gold medal of his career.
“It is different. (In Beijing) it was a new title. Today, there was a lot of emotion, and it is different," Maillet said before dedicating his race to his girlfriend who is expecting a child.
“I had to dig really, really deep, but luckily, I had trained on that yesterday, on some sprints at the stadium here. Maybe it was the race of my life," Silver medalist Christiansen said after the race.
Laegreid captured bronze at the men’s biathlon 20km individual event on Tuesday. He said he felt prepared for this race and took it one step at a time.
After the 2022 Beijing sprint gold medalist Joahnnes Thingnes Boe of Norway retired, the door opened for other athletes to the top of the podium. The four favorite athletes ahead of the race were the ones that won a sprint race this season, Sebastian Samuelsson of Sweden, Tommaso Giacomel of Italy — considered one of the fastest biathletes — and Norway's Sjaastad Christiansen and Johan-Olav Botn, who won gold in the 20km individual.
The men’s 10km event is one of American Campbell Wright’s best events. He finished 2nd in this event at the World Cup last year and finished 12th at the race at the Winter Games. This will give him a solid starting spot for the 12.5km pursuit race on Sunday.
In the 10km biathlon event, the athletes complete three laps around the course for a total of 10km (6.2 miles). After the first two laps, they stop at the shooting range and if they miss a target must complete a 150m penalty loop.