The French biathlon pair of Julia Simon and Fabien Claude convincingly won the exhibition Christmas race in 2023 in the German town of Gelsenkirchen.
The results of the races testify to their victory.
This year's biathlon show traditionally consisted of two stages. First, national pairs competed in a mass start, followed by a pursuit race. Ten teams competed for the prizes.
Ukraine fielded experienced biathletes Yulia Dzhima and Dmytro Pidruchnyi for the Christmas race. In the first leg of the races, they managed to finish in 4th place. However, in the pursuit, they couldn't contend for the medals and concluded the show in 5th position.
In the pursuit race, the Ukrainian team struggled with shooting. In particular, Pidruchnyi incurred 4 penalty loops after two shooting ranges. However, the Ukrainian duo managed to recover after this setback and gained several positions in the final laps of the race.
In contrast, the French team easily triumphed in both parts of the program. In the pursuit race, Simon and Claude "delivered" a lead of almost a minute to the Norwegian team consisting of Ingrid Tandrevold and Sturla Laegreid. In the battle for the "bronze," Slovenian Jakov Fak surpassed the German Roman Rees.
Results of the Christmas Race-2023:
1. Simon/Claude (France)
2. Tandrevold/Laegreid (Norway)
3. Klemencic/Fak (Slovenia)
4. Hettich-Walz/Rees (Germany)
5. Juliya Dzhyma und Dmytro Pidruchnyi (Ukraine)
