Simon wins Kontiolahti mass start through clean standing

Julia Simon won the women’s twelve-and-a-half-kilometre mass start in Kontiolahti in 34:40. An opening prone miss left the French athlete behind, but she cleaned the next three stages and outperformed Elvira Oeberg during both standing bouts to take a second consecutive World Cup mass start victory.

Oeberg led through the prone stages before one standing miss surrendered the advantage. The pair returned together for the final shooting, where Simon cleaned quickly and Oeberg incurred another penalty. The Swede recovered on the last loop to finish second, 5.6 seconds behind.

Anna Magnusson placed third at 8.9 seconds after one penalty. Marlene Fichtner improved her personal best to fourth, followed by Tereza Vobornikova and Océane Michelon in a closely grouped finish.