Biathlon | Emilien Jacquelin tells Nordic Magazine after his resounding victory in the Kontiolahti sprint: “On the podium, I saw myself three years ago in Le Grand-Bornand…”

Biathlon: Emilien Jacquelin talks to Nordic Magazine

Emilien Jacquelin won the biathlon world cup sprint in Kontiolahti (Finland) on Friday. Raising his arms for the first time in almost three years, the Villardien skier put in a full race with a 10/10 score in the shooting and was quick on his skis to achieve it.

A few minutes after the official ceremony, following his doping test, Emilien Jacquelin took the time to talk to Nordic Magazine about his achievement. Interview.

• You’ve just won your first Biathlon World Cup in almost three years. What do you think when you think about that?

There’s a sense of pride after some complicated months. At one point, I didn’t want to do biathlon any more. I just didn’t have that determination any more. On the podium, I saw myself again three years ago in Le Grand-Bornand… It was already emotional there, but for a different reason. I’d broken my wrist a few months before and it was very complicated to get back to the top level. I was too happy to have done better than I expected. This is different again! It just goes to show that no matter what happens, you always have to keep moving forward and one day it pays off.

• In fact, despite the doubts of the last few months, did you think you could get back to the level that enables you to win in the World Cup?

In all sincerity, since the end of last season, I’ve felt something click in Canmore. Over there, I felt the urge to go out and play up front in the middle of the race. It was the first time in a long time that I hadn’t felt that determination, that will. I think that everything that was put in place during the preparation was part of that continuity. I always gave 100% and, little by little, there was this desire to reassert myself and to go for the top, unlike last year.

• Is this victory in the sprint, the biathlon’s benchmark format, the embodiment of the new Emilien Jacquelin, the one with a different mindset?

In any case, he really comes up with the idea of doing things before thinking about the result. I’m not trying to say that I want to win this or do that. It’s fine to say it, it’s important to have goals and a desire to succeed, but above all you have to do the job 100% to exist in biathlon. So I put the emphasis on work and nothing else.

• It’s the second time in a few days, after the relay, that you’ve managed to beat the Norwegians: is that special?

To be honest, it’s quite something to beat the Norwegians in a relay. Here, as individuals, we’re all giving the best of ourselves and we know that if we give 100%, we’ll be ahead. It’s still a very tough competition with a huge density, but we’re also capable of doing great things. This win shows that and paves the way for the other guys in the team.

• From both a personal and collective point of view, this triumph opens up new prospects for the rest of the winter…

Absolutely! For me, it shows that it can be done, even in a sprint where I’ve never managed to win before. For the others, they have to go back to the hotel and tell themselves that they can do it if I’ve managed to do it. That’ll give everyone a boost!

• This sprint was also marked by the tenth place of your friend Antonin Guigonnat, who returns to the elite of world biathlon…

We’re back in 2018 with Antonin [Guigonnat] tenth [laughs]! I haven’t had time to talk to him, but he has incredible qualities. In all honesty, I didn’t think he was going to do this race. He’s so full of surprises and qualities, he’s incredible!

• This first stage of the World Cup finishes on Sunday with a mass-start: what are your expectations?

I think it’s going to be really interesting! I’m really looking forward to it. Yesterday, I said that I wanted to be in the top 5 in the sprint and win the mass-start. Even if it’s the other way round, I’ll be satisfied, but this victory will perhaps take a little weight off my shoulders and allow me to concentrate more on the task in hand and not on hoping for a podium or a win.

• The full programme for the Kontiolahti World Cup, the first stage of the 2024/2025 season
• Corinne Niogret: my best memory of… Kontiolahti
• Top 3 nations cup target for France: the hunt for Olympic quotas for Milan/Cortina 2026, the other key issue of the 2024/2025 season
• World Cup overall leaders celebrated: this season, the IBU is introducing a yellow bib award ceremony
• World Cup: IBU logo replaces start number on distinctive bibs
• After the opening relays, what is the programme for the second week of the Kontiolahti World Cup?
• Kontiolahti: where does Emilien Jacquelin’s “Night Night” celebration at the relay finish line come from?
• “I can’t wait to see how he performs”, “He’s progressed, he deserves it”: Emilien Claude’s return to the World Cup is a source of great joy to those close to him, Anna Gandler and Fabien Claude.
• “It’s time for me to come into my own and become the biathlete I was a few years ago”: Fabien Claude, the winter of affirmation at last?
• Kontiolahti: Endre Stroemsheim, at 20/20, beats Johannes Thingnes Boe in the individual short, Quentin Fillon-Maillet and Eric Perrot with the flowers
• Kontiolahti: for the first time in his career, Endre Stroemsheim will don the yellow World Cup leader’s bib
• “My best race ever”: Endre Stroemsheim and the Norwegians put everyone in agreement at Kontiolahti
• “With a full house, we could have been ahead…”: satisfaction, but also frustration for Quentin Fillon-Maillet and Eric Perrot, in the top 6 of the individual short in Kontiolahti.
• Ukraine’s Vitalii Mandzyn, sensation of the individual short with his fourth place: “I hope this is just the beginning”.
• “A dream come true”: ninth in the individual short in Kontiolahti, Thierry Langer scored his first World Cup top 10 finish
• “It’s the performances and results that count”: in Kontiolahti and Hochfilzen, the seven girls in the French team are fighting to take part in the Grand-Bornand World Cup.
• Lou Jeanmonnot is about to embark on the season of all possibilities: “Playing the globe honestly, trying to keep a jersey and manage the pressure”.
• Kontiolahti: Julia Simon undergoes an MRI scan early this afternoon
• Kontiolahti: still uncertain about Julia Simon’s state of health on the eve of the individual short race
• Kontiolahti: despite injuring her left calf on the relay last Sunday, Julia Simon is taking part in the individual short race.
• Kontiolahti: on cloud nine with a 20/20, Lou Jeanmonnot dominates the individual short and gets her season off to an ideal start
• Kontiolahti: after wearing it for the first time in Hochfilzen in December 2023, Lou Jeanmonnot takes the yellow bib once again
• Kontiolahti: in Saturday’s sprint, Océane Michelon will become the first Frenchwoman to wear the blue number
• Lou Jeanmonnot’s satisfaction after her success in the Kontiolahti individual short: “I’m relieved to see that I’m not out of my depth”.
• “I didn’t feel any pain”: despite a modest 31st place in the Kontiolahti individual short, Julia Simon was reassuring about her left calf.
• “Beyond anything I could have imagined”: Ella Halvarsson, the tears of her first World Cup podium in the individual short in Kontiolahti
• “I still can’t believe it”: the joy of Poland’s Natalia Sidorowicz, fourth in the individual short at Kontiolahti
• Frozen fingers, rifle problems, 92nd at the finish: Anamarija Lampic had one problem after another in the individual short at Kontiolahti.
• “It’s good for my head”: Anna Gandler explains why she does juggling sessions before her World Cup races