After the postponement of the sprint (resulting in the cancellation of the pursuit) on Friday due to degraded weather, there was no longer too much suspense. But we still had to finish the work on the Oslo track. Julia Simon, 26, had only 37 points left to score (between sprint and mass start on Sunday) in order to win for the first time in her career the big crystal globe which rewards the best biathlete of the season, all specialties combined. . And succeed Sandrine Bailly, the last Tricolore crowned in 2005.
It was enough for the Savoyard to finish in the worst sixth of the event to get ahead of the Italian Dorothea Wierer, the only one able to challenge her for the precious trophy… who missed out on her race. And to make many girls speak while the boys, despite Quentin Fillon Maillet’s 2nd place of the day, completely missed a season that they ended up falling out with their staff.
A 5th place just behind her compatriot Chloé Chevalier is more than enough for the happiness of the Habs. “At the finish, I was disappointed with my time and to see that I was going to miss the podium, blows the Frenchwoman at the microphone of the Team. I gave my maximum, but I still felt a little pressure when shooting standing up. I was divided at the start between the desire to go there and at the same time the feverish legs because it was the moment to concretize and to show that it was not a chance. »
The consecration in Norway, homeland of the discipline, comes to crown a magnificent season where the leader of the Bleues also won the title of world pursuit champion, her first individual medal in a one-day event. The reward in particular for an impressive regularity in prone shooting (after having rebuilt all his technique) and a maturity which made him pass in a few months from the status of a supporting role to that of a solid headliner.
“It even goes well beyond that,” continues Julia Simon. All of this is built over the long term. It’s four, five years of work. I have always worked to be among the best. It’s a dream to get up here. There have been ups and downs. People will say it sucks but it’s the culmination of a monstrous winter. I went through the disease, I learned to listen to my body, I managed to take a step back and have an incredible season. »
This wood enthusiast, holder of a CAP in carpentry and who fashioned one of the parts of her rifle herself, carved out a foolproof brain by collaborating with Marie-Laure Brunet, bronze medalist in pursuit at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and mental trainer.
“She is a formidable athlete, Brunet explained to us a few weeks ago. I sometimes hear it said that it is first in a context where some athletes are missing, Russians and Belarusians (Editor’s note: suspended since the start of the war in Ukraine), Roiseland at the start of the season, Tiril Eckhoff… but, given what she shows, it would be the same, I think. She didn’t steal anything. »
Even on the roof of the world, the resident of the Les Saisies sports club (where she grew up with her two little sisters and her farming parents) should not be dizzy. “I try to manage it simply by staying in what I know how to do and by remaining the person that I am”, explains the one who hates being called Juju.
“She’s someone who asserts herself, who knows what she wants and what she doesn’t want,” continues Brunet. The dyslexic little girl who is a fan of Raphaël Poirée has found in sport a way to gain self-confidence and impose herself. In every sense of the term.
The Habs will have a hard time letting go before the end of the mass start on Sunday but has planned to toast with the staff on Saturday evening. With in mind the image of his parents encouraging him on the course. “It’s only the second time they’ve come to see me abroad,” she smiles. IM shy. It’s cool. They have always been present without overdoing it and today is a great moment…”