Germany’s Franziska Preuss won her first World Cup overall title in a dramatic season finale in Holmenkollen, Norway, on Sunday after France’s Lou Jeanmonnot fell close to the finish line in the women’s 12.5km mass-start race.
Jeanmonnot had taken a five-point lead in the overall standings after winning Saturday’s 10km pursuit, which earned her the pursuit globe after she had already claimed the individual globe, but she was ultimately denied the overall win by 20 points.
Preuss, who lost the overall lead on Saturday, battled neck and neck with Jeanmonnot until the Frenchwoman fell at the final corner coming into the stadium and the German went on to win the race ahead of Sweden’s Elvira Oeberg, with Jeanmonnot coming in third.
“Right now, it is really emotional. I am really done mentally. It is a strange feeling right now,” Preuss said.
“It was not the ending we wanted. But it was a really exciting race. We were both together in the last loop; it was crazy. It is hard to explain.”
Preuss, who won gold in the 10km pursuit at the World Championships last month, also won the sprint and mass start globes, having previously won one single globe, back in 2015.
Jeanmonnot also fell just short last year, finishing runner-up to Italian Lisa Vittozzi, though she did win the final race of the season, while this time she was consoled at the finish line by Preuss after breaking down in tears.
