The French team could not start worse at the Biathlon Worlds: penalized from the start by Julia Simon's failure to fire, the Blues finished only 7th in the mixed relay won Thursday by Norway. The first act of the long-awaited Franco-Norwegian duel therefore came to an end. If Johannes Boe and his gang responded well to the meeting by succeeding themselves in the charts of the specialty, the Tricolores (Julia Simon, Justine Braisaz, Martin Fourcade, Quentin Fillon-Maillet) totally missed their exit and lived a ordeal. The serious things will not start until Friday with the individual events and the sprint ladies but it is to be hoped that this failed race does not plummet the atmosphere in the group and does not set the tone for the continuation.
Julia Simon snaps and ends up in tears
In the days to come, we will have to watch out for the reaction of Julia Simon, the principal responsible for the French fiasco. The young biathlete from Les Saisies (23) squandered her chances by being penalized with a penalty round from her first shot lying down and it was in tears that she finished her stint. Justine Braisaz was not more successful thereafter with 3 rifle errors, making the task of Martin Fourcade and Quentin Fillon-Maillet impossible.
Julia Simon, who only competes in her second World Championships, assured that she had not been overcome by stress. But it still fell apart at the worst moment, when it attacked the competition in the shoes of the French N.1 with a 5th place in the general classification of the World Cup and two first podiums on the clock this season.
"I didn't feel it coming, I didn't feel like I was stressed," she said. I felt like I was in a good attitude on my first laps. I felt good. I do not understand. I am in delicacy with my shot lying for a little while. I find it hard to understand but we are working. There are ups and downs in shooting and I'm in a good mood. This penalizes the team, I am disappointed. I didn't mean to throw it like this. It will be hard to forget, but we will have to turn the page. ”
"We are not at our level, and we are not holding our rank."
Martin Fourcade, launched in 3rd torchbearer without any chance of catching the head of the race, could only see the damage. "It has to be very disappointing," he said. There were three big favorite teams: France, Norway and Italy. We are the only one of the three not to do so today. We are not at our level, and we are not holding our rank. It's sad to start the World Championships like this. For my part, by leaving at 1:45, there was not much to hope for. There is little adrenaline from the competition. ”
For the Norwegians (Marte Olsbu Roeiseland, Tril Eckhoff, Tarjei Boe, Johannes Boe), winners ahead of Italy (Lisa Vittozzi, Dorothea Wierer, Lukas Hoffer, Dominik Windisch) and the Czech Republic (Eva Puskarcikova, Marketa Davidova, Ondrej Moravec, Michal Krcmar), however, the start is ideal. Johannes Boe thus adds an 8th world title to his collection and it is with an inflated morale that he will challenge Martin Fourcade during the sprint on Saturday.
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