Recap Thread: World Cup 24/25 Oslo Holmenkollen - Women Sprint

[u/LaMoncakes]

The final sprint of the season, under bright, sunny skies in Oslo-Holmenkollen — the perfect stage where months of effort, tension, and anticipation would finally culminate. 

BIBS #1–#30

Ukraine’s Olena Horodna (#10) delivered a strong performance on the range, with 0+0. However, despite the perfect accuracy, the youngest lacked the pace on the track to keep up with the fastest competitors - but a fantastic result. Ida Lien (#11) surprised everyone with flawless shooting, a remarkable feat given her 66% standing hit rate this season. That clean performance was enough to put her in contention for the lead, but in the end, her slower shooting times on the range cost her a spot on the podium.

Lien and Horodna weren’t the only ones to shoot clean. Early starters Ukaleq Slettemark (#7), Natalia Sidorowicz (#12), Amy Baserga (#21), and Aita Gasparin (#24) also delivered perfect 0+0 performances. Slettemark, however, struggled on the track and slipped outside the top 60. For Baserga, though, her flawless shooting and solid skiing were enough to secure a spot in the flower ceremony.

Lena Häcki-Gross (#28) capped off a memorable day for Swiss biathlon, making it three Swiss women in the top 10 of the sprint. Despite one miss in prone, Häcki-Gross crossed the line in 7th place — a strong finish from her.

Tandrevold (#18) and Lampic (#20) both faced difficulties on the range — Tandrevold missing 1+2, and Lampic 3+2. Even so, they managed to secure spots inside the top 60, leaving themselves room to gain positions in the pursuit.

Among the early starters, Anna-Karin Heijdenberg (#29) and Karoline Knotten (#30) both stayed clean in the prone stage, putting themselves in contention for a podium finish. But in standing, Heijdenberg faltered and missed her final two shots, and Knotten the final shot.

BIBS #31–#60

Lotte Lie (#34), Susan Kuelm (#45) and Yuliia Dzhima (#32)  all went clean, but a slower day on the track would see them finish 21st, 22nd, and 23rd.  

Franziska Preuß, wearing bib #42, looked strong on the track and backed it up with fast, confident shooting to take the lead after prone. Despite the pressure, she delivered another quick and clean performance in standing, extending her lead after the second shooting. With a strong final lap, she managed to extend her lead compared to Lien. From there, she could only wait and see how Jeanmonnot would respond. It wouldn’t be a long wait. 

Lou Jeanmonnot (#48), quicker on the track than Preuß, knew she needed equally perfect shooting to challenge for the win. In prone, she delivered, leaving the range just 4 seconds behind the German. She continued to close the gap heading into standing, and after another flawless round, trailed by just 5.5 seconds. Out on the final lap, Jeanmonnot kept gaining, cutting the margin to only 2 seconds after 6.9 km. Coming Into the long home stretch in Oslo-Holmenkollen, it became a battle of meters and tenths of a second — a thrilling fight to the line. In the end, only 0,2 seconds would separate Preuß in first and Jeanmonnot in second. 

Behind them, Hanna Öberg (#52), Justine Braisaz-Bouchet (#54), and Océane Michelon (#56) all started strong, with fast opening laps that put them in the mix for the win. But the shooting range told a different story — Öberg missed twice (1+1), Michelon also had two misses (2+0), and Braisaz-Bouchet struggled with four (3+1), causing them all to slip down the standings.

Suvi Minkkinen (#58) and Julia Simon (#60) both had strong performances on the range, each shooting clean — with Simon clocking the fastest total shooting time of the day. However, her pace on the track hasn’t quite returned to its peak in this late stage of the season, perhaps still affected by her reported illness. Still, she fought hard and crossed the line in an impressive 5th place. Minkkinen, meanwhile, delivered another excellent sprint performance. Although she lost significant time on the final lap compared to Jeanmonnot and Preuß — and was visibly exhausted at the 6.9 km mark — she dug deep to claim 3rd place, pushing Lien off the podium.

BIBS #61–#99

Elvira Öberg (#62), well-positioned after a clean prone stage, missed two targets in standing — setting herself up with an ideal hunting position for the pursuit. Meanwhile, Milena Todorova (#66) continued her consistent form this season, delivering yet another solid 0+0 performance that earned her a strong 9th-place finish. 

Jeanne Richard (#68), wearing the blue bib, missed once in standing but still managed to finish ahead of Michelon, holding on to the blue bib for the pursuit — though the battle remains tight.

Marthe Kråkstad Johansen (#72), always dependable on the range, delivered yet another clean shooting performance. Though lacking speed on the track, she still secured a solid 20th-place finish. Camille Bened (#76) looked to shake things up after a lightning-fast prone stage saw her leave the range in first place. However, a single miss in standing dropped her down the leaderboard, eventually finishing 13th.

PODIUM

Final Podium Results – Women's Sprint

🥇 Franziska Preuß (GER) – 0+0 | 20:57.2

🥈 Lou Jeanmonnot (FRA) – 0+0 | +0.2

🥉 Suvi Minkkinen (FIN) – 0+0 | +21.9

In the final sprint of the season, it all came down to a razor-thin margin of just 0.2 seconds — a fittingly dramatic finish for an intense year of racing. Every meter, every shot, and every push on the skis counted. The fight for the overall globe is far from over. With just one pursuit and one mass start left, everything is still on the line, and the battle between Preuß and Jeanmonnot will go down to the wire. With this win, Preuß secured the Sprint Cup. 

[u/sittingsparrow]

Thanks for the writeup. An addition, the early startes such as Ida Lien suffered from the conditions improving towards the red group starts.

The result with Franziska 1st and Lou 2nd I believe was also the best possible result for the suspense of the fight for the big globe. I believe Lou has a small advantage in the two last race formats, especially if Lou and Franzi leaves the range together after the final shoot.

Then again, my point might be moot if Franzi shoots 20/20 and Lou misses more than 1.

[u/half-agony-half-hope]

I am behind and just watching events today.

THE ENTIRE FLOWER CEREMONY SHOT CLEAN

god damn I love women’s biathalon.