Biathlon: the end of winter for Anaëlle Bondoux
The relay run and won by Grenoble’s Anaëlle Bondoux last Wednesday at the world junior biathlon championships in Östersund (Sweden) was the last race of her winter.
In a tricky season marked by illness and injury, the 20-year-old from Isère never gave up… until she played in the U22 World Championships three weeks after rupturing the ulnar collateral ligament in her left thumb.
“It’s true that it hasn’t been an easy season and that it wasn’t easy to get to this point. As a result, I’ve tried to approach the races by only looking at the positives and telling myself that it’s already a bonus to be here, because a month ago, I was injured, and then even the months before that, it was a bit of an ordeal. I’m really happy with what I’ve done,” she told Nordic Magazine.
She finished her season well in Sweden
In Sweden, Anaëlle Bondoux, outside the top 10 in the individual and then the sprint, finished the competition with a bang, taking silver in the mass-start and gold in the relay.
“It was a real relief to come second in the mass start. It did me a world of good and I think it also freed me up to be fully present in the relay,” she says. It’s really an enlightenment in this winter and these last few months, which have been extremely difficult.
I’ve really been able to see that being less physically fit has freed me up for shooting,” she continues. It also forced me to do some real biathlon by doing the shooting and, as a result, a little less skiing. I’m really proud to have been able to do that. It allows me to end the season on a high note.
Away from the shooting ranges, Anaëlle Bondoux is now going to take a break, drawing a line under the end of the season : “I’m going to take the time to rest, recharge my batteries and really recover for next year,” she concludes.
- Östersund: despite a ruptured ulnar collateral ligament in her left thumb, Anaëlle Bondoux will be lining up at the start of the World Junior Championships
- In the wind of Östersund, Anaëlle Bondoux is runner-up in the Junior 60 mass-start, Sara Andersson takes gold on home soil
- Junior Cup: second in Östersund, Anaëlle Bondoux wins the small mass-start globe
- “It was a complete ordeal, it even crossed my mind to stop racing…”. Anaëlle Bondoux tells Nordic Magazine about her Mass-Start 60 in Östersund, which ended with a silver medal and the small globe.
- Östersund: hot favourites Célia Henaff, Voldiya Galmace-Paulin, Anaëlle Bondoux and Amandine Mengin are crowned world junior relay champions
- “Moments we’ll remember forever”: Célia Henaff, Voldiya Galmace-Paulin, Anaëlle Bondoux and Amandine Mengin, world junior relay champions in Östersund, tell us about their memories
