Norway's Kirkeeide narrowly wins women's sprint gold

14 February 2026, Italy, Antholz: Olympia, Olympic Winter Games Milan Cortina 2026, biathlon, women, sprint 7.5 kilometers in the Anterselva Biathlon Arena, Maren Kirkeeide from Norway (M, gold), Oceane Michelon from France (l, silver) and Lou Jeanmonnot from France (bronze) cheer with their medals at the award ceremony. Photo: Hendrik Schmidt/dpa (Photo by Hendrik Schmidt/picture alliance via Getty Images)

It was a thrilling nail biter in the women’s 7.5 km biathlon, with Norway’s Maren Kirkeeide winning the gold medal at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics Saturday. She beat French biathlete Oceane Michelon by a hair, with Lou Jeanmannot earning bronze at the Anterselva Biathlon Arena. 

The conditions was perfectly snowy for the women’s sprint as France attempted to continue putting athletes on the podium, with Julia Simon leading the way. The athletes completed three 2.5 kilometer laps, with two visits to the shooting range. The winning medalists of the event would be pursued in the next biathlon event Sunday. 

Jeanmannot set the bar for France, finishing the first lap and shooting clean in 6:53. Vanessa Voigt of Germany went 10-for-10, sending the crowd into a frenzy that would challenge Jeanmannot’s time. Simon went perfectly in the first visit to the range, but sat behind her compatriot. Hanna Oberg of Sweden, an Olympic medalist from 2018, bested Jeanmannot by half a second. 

In the second visit to the range, Jeanmannot had a shocking miss, knowing that she needed to ski for her life to set a time of 21:04, leading by 36 seconds. Simon fell apart after missing two targets, taking her completely out of earning a third consecutive medal. Oberg missed two shots to also take her out of contention. 

Lisa Vittozzi went 10-for-10, sitting just short of Jeanmannot’s time, giving Italy a chance to medal in the discipline for the first time. She ran out of gas to prevent history from happening, finishing fifth. Anastasiya Kuzmina, who won the event twice in 2010 and 2014, and retired in 2018, returned to compete in the event. She placed 36^th but was a welcoming sight to see back in her fourth Olympics. 

Michelon, who hadn’t been a threat to the level of her teammates came in 20 seconds ahead of Jeanmannot for the lead. There was still Norway’s Marin Kirkeeide, who continued to cut into Michelon’s time on the final lap and close in on the gold. She took the gold away by 3.8 seconds, using all her efforts to cross the finish line.