Fifteen individual podiums, eight victories out of fourteen possible, three different winners, four athletes mounted on the box: never has French women's biathlon had such a dense start to a season, and never has it tackled a major championship (Worlds or Olympic Games). Olympic Games) in this position.
Usual in the past for nations like Norway or Germany, this density among the best in the world is a real novelty for France among women.
“The idea is to assume our status.
The girls are having an exceptional start to the season, with a good density of girls capable of playing leading roles
,” appreciates the coach of the women’s team, Cyril Burdet.
“When you show up with such a team at the World Championships, there is ambition.
We will show up at the start of each race to aim for at least a medal.”
An opinion shared by his counterpart among men, Simon Fourcade.
“We are lucky to have a women’s group that operates in a different stratosphere than the rest of world biathlon, so we can rely on their strength.”
The last time the blue ambitions had been so high was in 2016 and they were mainly based on Marie Dorin-Habert, who had met expectations, with two solo titles (individual and mass start), plus the money in sprint and bronze in pursuit, as well as silver in relay and gold in mixed relay.
This season, the French have several bullets in their magazine to achieve a historic harvest in the heart of the Bohemian-Moravian Mountains, at a little over 600 meters above sea level, and improve the 2016 vintage, the best so far (two titles, five individual medals and relay silver).
After Lou Jeanmonnot's double in Östersund in Sweden for the opening of the World Cup, it was Justine Braisaz-Bouchet who signed an extremely rare quadruple, straddling two stages (Lenzerheide in Switzerland in December and Oberhof in Germany in January), before Julia Simon gained momentum (two victories too).
"It's my aim.
I want to raise my level here, to also see for the years to come, if I am capable of putting in more intensity
,” said Julia Simon on Tuesday morning, in search of a
“perfect race.
I would like to go get one, to prove to myself that I can be there on the big day
. ”
“I feel good, determined and really looking forward to racing.
I like being in this position of going to get something.
We have a dense team, it’s a driving force
,” said Justine Braisaz-Bouchet.
Both aged 27 and licensed at the Saisies club, Julia Simon and Justine Braisaz-Bouchet are the driving forces of this French team.
They are at the same time opposed on the legal ground since the filing of two complaints against Simon, including one by Braisaz-Bouchet, for bank card fraud (Simon for his part filed a complaint against X for identity theft).
Confidence breeds confidence, it’s a virtuous circle and I have no reason to get out of it now.
Lou Jeanmonnot
This affair, however, was relegated to the background, with the results of the French women, who also won two of the four relays, including the last in Ruhpolding in mid-January.
With the contribution of Lou Jeanmonnot, a real revelation of the year at 25 years old, she is also ambitious, as confided to Dauphiné Libéré:
“You will never see me announce something in advance because it's biathlon and it's is so easy to release a ball that it's impossible to announce anything.
But physically I feel good, behind the rifle too (…) I don't come here to show off, but everyone is putting themselves at their best for the Worlds, so it's a little difficult to know to what extent I will be in the game.
I have good ski times, but it will still take fueling and a perfect race to get a medal.
I'm capable of it, so there's no problem.
Confidence breeds confidence, it’s a virtuous circle and I have no reason to get out of it now.”
In men, the soup is much more grimacing.
The previous season had already ended without a victory, a first since the 1996/97 season which marked the debut of Raphaël Poirée.
But there, they are approaching the Worlds this season without any individual podium, unheard of in more than three decades.
On three occasions with Émilien Jacquelin and Quentin Fillon Maillet, they were however in the fight for victory until the end, but failed to get on the box.
They must face the voracity of the Norwegians, who left only eleven places on the podium (out of 42 possible) to other nations, with six biathletes among the favorites for gold in Nove Mesto, and in the lead Johannes Boe.
A title that Fillon Maillet lacks
“We must approach these Worlds as a new start, as an isolated event in the middle of the season
,” their coach Simon Fourcade urges them to think.
“The guys are able to achieve good results, it wasn't far, but we weren't on the podium.
We are chasing this dynamic which is slow to get going, but the guys are in a good position to do so.
It’s up to them to clear their minds and calmly look forward to the races that are coming.”
At 31, Quentin Fillon Maillet could save his season by winning the first individual world title of his career, the rare line that is missing from the record of the double Olympic champion and five-time medalist of the Beijing Games in 2022.
“Given that the start season was a bit average, I would like to end this season with at least a smile.
Winning an individual gold medal is now my remaining goal this season.”
Who could therefore be added to a possible raid on the Blues?
The calendar :
Friday February 9: women's sprint (7.5 km) at 5:20 p.m.
Saturday February 10: men's sprint (10 km) at 5:05 p.m.
Sunday February 11: women's pursuit (10 km) at 2:30 p.m. and men's pursuit (12.5 km) at 5:05 p.m.
Tuesday February 13: women's individual (15 km) at 5:10 p.m.
Wednesday February 14: men's individual (20 km) at 5:20 p.m.
Friday February 16: single mixed relay (4x3 km + 1.5 km) at 6:00 p.m.
Saturday February 17: women's relay (4x6 km) ) at 1:45 p.m. and men's relay (4x7.5 km) at 4:30 p.m.
Sunday February 18: women's mass start (12.5 km) at 2:15 p.m. and men's mass start (15 km) at 4:30 p.m.
The French teams:
WOMEN
Justine Braisaz-Bouchet (27 years old, Douane Les Saisies)
Sophie Chauveau (24 years old, Le Grand Bornand Army)
Lou Jeanmonnot (25 years old, Olympic Mont d'Or Army)
Gilonne Guigonnat (25 years old, Villard sur Boëge)
Jeanne Richard ( 21 years old, Les Gets)
Julia Simon (27 years old, Douane Les Saisies)
MEN
Fabien Claude (29 years old, Armée Basse sur le Rupt)
Quentin Fillon-Maillet (31 years old, Douane Grandvaux)
Émilien Jacquelin (28 years old, Douane Villard de Lans)
Oscar Lombardot (23 years old, ES Saugette)
Éric Perrot (22 years old, Peisey Vallandry Army)