Justine Braisaz-Bouchet makes it four wins on the bounce with Biathlon World Cup sprint success at Oberhof

Justine Braisaz-Bouchet credited a restorative Christmas break for her sprint victory at Oberhof.

The French biathlete pulled off a hat-trick of wins at Lenzerheide in the last three races before the Christmas pause.

After making the most of the holiday season, Braisaz-Bouchet picked up where she left off with a commanding first win at the German resort, making it four victories in a row.

“I was really tired after Lenzerheide,” she said. “The Christmas break was a lot of recovery time, quality recovery. I had a good training camp in my hometown of Les Saisies and it paid off.”

Braisaz-Bouchet missed two shots in the prone stage but was fast and clean in the standing stage to emerge victorious in a time of 22 minutes and 43 seconds.

“I felt really good, powerful on the track,” she said. “It helped a lot today because my race started really badly with prone but still, it is part of the game.

“It is still a good result and a good position for tomorrow.”

Germany’s Franziska Preuss shot clean to take her second silver medal of the season, 4.4 seconds behind Braisaz-Bouchet.

Sophie Chauveau ensured French domination of the podium with bronze, the best performance of her career.