France’s Quentin Fillon-Maillet claimed gold in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint at the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games on Friday, February 14, 2026, with a flawless shooting performance.
Fillon-Maillet completed the course in 22 minutes and 53.1 seconds, leaving Norway’s Vetle Sjostad Kristiansen and Sturla Holm Laegreid to settle for silver and bronze, respectively. Kristiansen finished 13.7 seconds behind the winner, while Laegreid was 15.9 seconds back, both likewise with clean shooting records, according to LETA.
Latvia’s Andrejs Rastorgujevs finished 30th, clocking in at 24 minutes and 56.9 seconds – 2 minutes and 3.8 seconds off the pace. He apologized to viewers and journalists for his attitude following a previous race and expressed happiness for his teammates, as three Latvian biathletes will compete in Sunday’s pursuit race.
Sixteen-year-aged Richards Lozbers placed 32nd with a time of 25 minutes and 5.2 seconds, 2 minutes and 12.1 seconds behind Fillon-Maillet, after incurring two shooting penalties.
Edgars Mise finished in 52nd place, recording a time of 25 minutes and 42.9 seconds after one penalty loop. He trailed the leader by 2 minutes and 49.8 seconds.
Renars Birkentals struggled with his shooting, accumulating five penalty loops and finishing in 77th place with a time of 26 minutes and 41.4 seconds – 3 minutes and 48.3 seconds behind the gold medalist. Birkentals admitted that three early shooting errors hampered his chances for a better result.
A total of 90 athletes competed in the sprint event. The top 60 finishers have qualified for Sunday’s pursuit race.
Rastorgujevs previously achieved his best Olympic sprint result in 2014, finishing 16th. This marks the first Olympic Games for Lozbers, Mise and Birkentals.
Four years ago at the Beijing Olympics, Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Boe took gold in the 10-kilometer sprint, followed by Fillon-Maillet and his brother, Tarjei Boe.
The Milan-Cortina Olympic Winter Games continue through February 22.
Photo: Edijs Palens/LETA/IOC
