Beijing 2022's fantastic four and their five medals
Frenchman Quentin Fillon Maillet, the ROC’s Alexander Bolshunov, and Norwegians Johannes Thingnes Boe and Marte Olsbu Roeiseland make up the fantastic four of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. Each of the quartet leaves the Games with five medals around their necks.
Among the plethora of firsts and major feats at Beijing 2022, the achievements of the fantastic four and the five medals they each won rank among the top highlights of these Games.
The quartet shifted the boundaries of their sport and, in the process, joined an exclusive club of Winter Olympians to have won a handful of medals at a single Games.
Fillon Maillet, Boe and Olsbu Roeiseland won 15 medals between them in the biathlon, while Bolshunov was the most successful cross-country skier at the cold-weather showpiece.
Boe with the golden glow
Norwegian sensation Johannes Thingnes Boe won an unprecedented four gold medals and a bronze to make up his collection. His four gold medals were one short of the record five U.S. speedskater Eric Heiden won at Lake Placid 1980.
The 28-year-old Boe won medals in five of the six events he participated in, including four golds in the 15km mass start, 10km sprint, men’s 4x7.5km relay and mixed relay 4x6km. He won bronze in the men’s 20km individual for good measure. Boe is only the second biathlete behind Norwegian legend Ole Einar Bjoerndalen to win four golds at a single Olympic Winter Games.
Boe now has eight career Olympic medals to his name after winning three – one gold and two silvers – in PyeongChang 2018.
"I thought, five medals in six races, four golds. Also the 15th gold medal for Norway during this Olympic Games. No one has ever done that before, so big day for the nation as well," Boe said after winning gold in the final men’s biathlon event of the Games.
"It means a lot. You cannot predict how the Olympic Games will be. My last years as a biathlete have been fantastic but it is the Games that matter and I'm really happy that I did my best biathlon in the Games, not only before and after. Very relieved."
Fillon Maillet, the first to five
Quentin Fillon Maillet was the first of the fantastic four to win five medals at these Games, becoming the first biathlete in history to achieve this feat.
The 29-year-old Fillon Maillet reached the podium in every event he competed in at Beijing 2022, bar one, narrowly missing out on a record sixth medal finishing fourth in the 15km mass start on the final day of competition.
He underlined his status as one of the top biathletes in the world, racing to victory in the 20km individual and the 12.5km pursuit events. Fillon Maillet became only the second Frenchman after Martin Fourcade at Sochi 2014 to win the gold medal in the 20km individual event. In addition to his two gold medals, Fillon Maillet also won silver medals in the 10km sprint, the men's 4x7.5km relay and the 4x6km mixed relay.
What makes his achievements in Beijing even more remarkable is that Fillon Maillet could not even get a sniff of a podium four years earlier in PyeongChang 2018. His best was a 29th place finish in the 15km mass start.
"It's incredible, I never expected it. But today, I didn't fight for the record or myself, I fought for the team," Fillon Maillet said about his historic feat.
"That's important for me because we are all friends. I really wanted to share a good moment with the team, and that's what happened today - a silver medal, a very good moment."
Olsbu Roeiseland's coronation
Beijing 2022 served as Marte Olsbu Roeiseland’s coronation as she bowed out of her second Olympics as the undisputed biathlon queen.
Her five medals include three gold and two bronze medals to give her a career haul of seven medals over two Olympic Winter Games. She drew the curtain on Beijing 2022 finishing the 12.5km mass start in third place becoming only the second athlete – after Norwegian legend after Ole Einar Bjoerndalen – to finish on the podium in all four individual biathlon events at the Olympic Winter Games. The 31-year-old has won individual gold medals in the 7.5km sprint and 10km pursuit events and bronze in the 15km individual race.
She also won silver in the women’s sprint at PyeongChang 2018, finished fourth in the pursuit, and bagged silver in the mixed relay team.
Her career haul of seven medals is one short of compatriot Tiril Eckhoff, who is Norway’s most decorated female biathlete. Eckhoff won eight medals over three Olympics including the three she won in Beijing.
"It has been really amazing. I have five medals — three golds and two bronze — and that's just more than I could dream of. It's incredible," Olsbu Roeiseland said after the mass start race. "To be honest, I don't know how that's happened. My goal was to win one gold medal. Now I have three and two bronze. It's just amazing. I'm really proud."
Brilliant Bolshunov
The ROC’s Alexander Bolshunov is the only member of the fantastic four that is not a biathlete, dominating the cross-country at Beijing 2022.
Bolshunov’s duel with Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo was one of the main storylines of the cross-country skiing at these Games.
The 24-year-old Bolshunov won a medal in all five events he entered – three gold, a silver and a bronze – winning one more than Klaebo with four.
Bolshunov won gold medals in the 30km skiathlon, the 50km mass start and the 4x10km relay. He also won silver in the 15km classic ski race and bronze in the team sprint.
Bolshunov now boasts nine medals across two Olympics after winning three silver and a bronze at PyeongChang 2018.
"It is an unbelievable performance because in all the races that I took part in I won medals — and of these, three are gold. This is a huge accomplishment. I am very happy and I want to say a big thank you to my team,” Bolshunov said.
"After the new year, when we raced at the Tour de Ski, I understood that I am getting closer to the form where I can fight at least for the top three, but now to win gold in three distances, it is unbelievable. Truly. You can say it's a dream, but now it is not a dream because it is already done."
Athletes that have won five medals at a single Olympic Winter Games:
Clas Thunberg (Chamonix 1924), Roald Larsen (Chamonix 1924), Eric Heiden (Lake Placid 1980), Lyubov Yegorova, Yelena Välbe (Albertville 1992), Manuela Di Centa (Lillehammer 1994), Larisa Lazutina (Nagano 1998), Cindy Klassen (Turin 2006), Ireen Wust (Sochi 2014), Marit Bjorgen (Vancouver 2010 and Pyeongchang 2018), Quentin Fillon Maillet, Marte Olsbu Roeiseland, Johannes Thingnes Boe, Alexander Bolshunov (Beijing 2022).