After the catastrophic 2019 Worlds in Östersund (Sweden), where he had not brought back any medals (a first since 2010) and a generally complicated last winter, Martin Fourcade signed in his best way his comeback. At the top. And in the legend of French sport.
Two years after his last world title on pursuit in 2017 in Hochfilzen (Austria), the Catalan won his eleventh solo world title Wednesday afternoon (the twelfth counting in the mixed relay in 2016) and equal the record of the Norwegian Ole Einar Bjorndalen, the legend of biathlon. This victory also allowed him to take comfort in the general classification of the World Cup over Johannes Boe, his runner-up, and to secure the small crystal globe on the individual.
Before a good part of the race, Martin Fourcade was able to rely on a near-perfect shot, with a single fault on his very last ball, and therefore overall mastered his subject, finishing 57 seconds ahead of the Norwegian Johannes Boe (2 faults), who quickly understood after the last shot that he would not be champion and therefore eased off.
"I humbly walk in the footsteps of Bjorndalen"
“It's beautiful biathlon, rejoiced the native of Céret, aged 31, at the microphone of the TV team, there is this last ball which calls the whole race into question, then this good news in the cabin of changes when I am told that Johannes (Boe) also missed one. It's a big emotion, I left to fight for the world of the specialty today, it was very close to my heart. Unconsciously I therefore think that I released the pressure a little during the last shot because I knew that it was enough for me to get this globe, but I had the rage to have missed this last ball on a caddy error. I'm happy, I'm happy! It may seem too easy, too beautiful, it's my 82nd World Cup victory, and it has been so hard each time. I walk slowly and humbly in the footsteps of Bjorndalen with this 11th world title. "
The Frenchman, who said he was thinking about whether or not to continue his career after this season, was also asked about the progress of his thinking: "There are too many things to look for this season, and it's so difficult to recover every time in question to think about the result now. I am focused on the end of the season, on Saturday's relay with my friends, I will enjoy during the Marseillaise, because this last year has changed everything for me and will allow me to appreciate it differently from the others. "
The biathlete remains in two trials in these world championships to further enlarge his prize list, the relay on Saturday, but especially the mass start on Sunday, which could allow him to definitively pass Bjorndalen. Before perhaps concluding this year in style with the last three stages of the World Cup and a crystal globe reaching out to him.
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