Biathlon: Sophie Chauveau’s renaissance
Last week, during the individual events at the Biathlon World Cup in Kontiolahti (Finland), Sophie Chauveau suffered two major disappointments. Away from the points in the individual short and then the sprint, she didn’t even qualify for the mass start.
“It’s as if I’ve been training to make a chocolate cake all summer and, when it’s time to make the recipe that I know by heart, I replace the chocolate with anchovies. It makes something completely disgusting (sic)”, she admitted this Friday lunchtime in the mixed zone following the sprint in Hochfilzen (Austria).
The Grand-Bornand native produced a masterful performance in this event. Sophie Chauveau scored 10/10 on the mats and was as solid as ever on her cross-country skis, finishing second. She was beaten only by Germany’s Franziska Preuss (9/10), the new holder of the yellow overall leader’s bib.
A shot recovered
“I was feeling stressed after my week in Kontiolahti and the results I achieved there. I really wanted to set myself some personal goals of working on my technique and forgetting about the results, she explained to Nordic Magazine after her podium finish. We’ve worked a lot with the shooting coaches over the last few days to loosen up behind the rifle and draw my attention to a technical point in shooting. That’s what enabled me to stay focused during the race and do my job.”
Wearing number 5, a personal choice on her part to start early in order to “separate herself from the rest of the competitors”, the Haut-Savoyard delivered a full race, marked by a perfect shot.
“It’s only my second World Cup, she enthuses. After the relay in Kontiolahti, where I missed out on the last one, I felt that I was capable of doing it and that I could do it. Today, I’m happy because I’ve done it and it didn’t seem unusual to do it. I had confidence in myself right up to the last ball and that was a nice feeling. It’s quite rare for me to enjoy shooting so much in a competition.”
“This result gives us a renewed sense of purpose, motivation and pleasure”
After the tensions of Kontiolahti, Sophie Chauveau managed to free herself in front of the targets to show the world her summer progress.
“I know I’ve made progress with my shooting over the summer, she confirms. I’m proud to have been able to show that in a competition. I’m also relieved because I didn’t want to wait until the end of the winter to show my progress. So it’s a mixture of pride, relief and recognition. It wasn’t easy after last week and everyone was there for me, whether it was my family, my loved ones or the team, especially Julia [Simon] and the coaches. It’s not a personal result, it’s a team result.”
Sophie Chauveau, a member of the Ski Club du Grand-Bornand (Haute-Savoie), appears to have punched her ticket for the World Cup, which is due to be held in her village next week. “This result has given me a renewed sense of motivation and pleasure,” she concludes.
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- Corinne Niogret: my best memory of… Hochfilzen
- “It’s like stepping out of the shadows into the light”: between Kontiolahti and Hochfilzen, the World Cup leaves the darkness for the sunshine
- “I just feel super happy to have achieved this”: how did Eric Perrot digest his victory in the Kontiolahti mass-start and his assumption of power in the general standings?
- “It’s like one last shot at victory, until you experience it, you don’t know what it’s like…”: during the Hochfilzen sprint, Eric Perrot will experience his first race with the yellow bib on his back.
- “There’s the Dominik Landertinger climb, which is really hard and long…”: Austria’s Anna Gandler describes the track and shooting range at Hochfilzen
