Attention, rain of medals expected! If the boss of the tricolor background, Stéphane Bouthiaux, is measured - "Over the past ten years, we have won between five and eleven medals, the objective is to be in the high range" - the tricolor delegation is preparing to live off great World Championships.
Especially since we got used to the exploits of five-time Olympic champion Martin Fourcade, it is now for the whole of the French team that we are passionate about. And for good reason, eight of them have climbed on an individual podium this season. In total, the Blues have already won 33 medals.
"We form a team of biathletes happy to live together, we put our heads and our hearts in it and that gives strength to the collective," believes Quentin Fillon-Maillet. We encourage each other, we are sincerely happy when one of us climbs on a podium. Seeing everyone with a huge smile at each stage of the World Cup, both the athletes and the managers, it creates real emulation. "
"These results pull everyone up"
The girls, a little further back, however participate in the harvest. "The future is before them," assures Stéphane Bouthiaux. Julia (Editor's note: Simon) and Justine (Editor's note: Braisaz) are 23 years old and are only at the start of their careers. In the men, apart from the sprint at Ostersund, at the start of the season, there was a Frenchman on the "box" each time. "These results pull everyone up, and it makes me very proud to be French," said Quentin Fillon-Maillet.
If Martin Fourcade currently at the top of the general classification of the World Cup remains the leader, "no race instructions are given", specifies Stéphane Bouthiaux. "No one is privileged," says the coach. Each one benefits from an individualized training program according to their state of form and their sensations. But the day of the race is that the best wins! "
"We realize that we impress"
The adversaries ended up getting annoyed. "We are starting to see spite in the eyes of the technicians when after the shots, the positions are displayed, and that's new this season," says Stéphane Bouthiaux. "We make an impression," says Simon Desthieux. We realize that we impress, we receive more congratulations from our opponents, especially the Norwegians. "
The relative decline of Martin Fourcade allowed other French people to express themselves. “They were progressing, maturing and at one point said to themselves: Why not me? "Says Stéphane Bouthiaux, who recalls that Simon Desthieux and Quentin Fillon-Maillet already shone among the juniors.
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"We are in our best years and this group dynamic means that we must always be efficient," says Simon Desthieux. There is a turnover in the results, there is no frustration. What we are doing is extraordinary, but we must not lose sight of the fact that there is competition and that the level of these Worlds will be raised. "