At 25, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet won the first Olympic title of her career during a mass start in which she seemed to have lost everything from the first shot.
Before being put back in the saddle by Mother Nature and the whims of a playful wind.
A deserved consecration for the Savoyard, whose talent often came up against internal torments and serious crises of confidence.
But this Friday, the little boost of fate changed everything for her, which brings France a 5th title in Beijing and a 14th medal.
Just before the men's mass start and the entry into the running, in particular, of a Quentin Fillon-Maillet in search of a full box with a 6th podium in 6 races.
To discover
The Olympic medal table: Norway already in the lead, France unlocks its counter
Full results of the 2022 Winter Olympics
The complete program of the Beijing Olympics 2022
The mass start of the last chance for some Blue.
From the start of the race, if the Norwegian Marte Roieseland was in charge of driving the pace, she found Justine Braisaz-Bouchet nestled behind her.
Eager to regain her splendor on skis and save her Games, since she had not been selected for the inaugural silver mixed relay, the Frenchwoman left quickly.
But fell on a bone from the first prone shot, committing two faults, like her compatriot Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet who, in a way, completed the Games there, started at full speed with two silver medals, before completely disappearing from the circulation on the last events.
Pity.
To maintain the hope of a medal on the French side, it was then necessary to rely on Julia Simon.
In the leading pack, the native of Albertville was solid on the second exercise lying down with a single fault, which allowed her to come out in third position.
Lonely now, about twenty seconds from a Norwegian tandem Roieseland-Tiril Eckhoff who could take turns on skis and widen the gap.
Until the big turning point of the race.
Arriving on the firing line for the first standing exercise, the Scandinavian duo had the misfortune to be swept away by a gust.
For twenty very long seconds for them, they had to wait, unable to stabilize their rifle.
Julia Simon, she arrived without asking questions, but she misplaced three balls off the targets,
Arriving almost a minute later, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet had Eole with her as the wind calmed down, and she could manage a five out of five which, improbably, put her in the lead of the race, in contact with Marte Roieseland .
Coming out of nowhere, the Frenchwoman then decided to give it her all on the skis and she literally deposited the Norwegian, in an impressive way.
And even if she made a mistake on the last shot, no one could come back on the Savoyarde since none of her pursuers managed to achieve a clear round.
In the end, it was with an incredibly comfortable margin that Justine Braisaz-Bouchet crossed the line with a blue-white-red flag, fifteen seconds ahead of Tiril Eckhoff and no more tent before Marte Roeiseland.
A triumph for the Frenchwoman.