Biathlon: Eric Perrot talks after his victory
This Sunday afternoon in Kontiolahti (Finland), Eric Perrot entered the big leagues once again. Winner of the mass-start of the first stage of the 2024/2025 World Cup thanks to a 19/20 score and great speed on his cross-country skis, the Peiserot was all smiles as he debriefed his day.
“It’s the first time I’ve crossed the line first in a World Cup, and it’s a unique emotion, he told Nordic Magazine by videoconference a few minutes after the official ceremony. I didn’t know what to do and it was a bit special. I really enjoyed it, it gives you a lot of emotion and energy. I was really happy to take that moment and enjoy it, because it’s quite unique.”
Eric Perrot came out on top after a hard-fought race, including a final 5/5 shot after a mistake by Sturla Holm Lægreid.
“I didn’t rush. I’m ambitious and, on the last two laps when I was in the lead, I had to face up to my ambitions. I had to take responsibility, he explains. That’s why I went for target 1 against Sturla [Holm Lægreid], so that I could face up to what I wanted and not play small. I stayed focused on my plan. Facing up to my ambition allows me, at times like this, to be present. Beyond the victory, I’m happy to have achieved this. It’s important for me to meet this challenge.”
A “plan” followed to the letter
To achieve this, the Savoyard has concentrated on what he calls his “plan”. “Since the summer and the start of the season, I’ve set myself a precise plan to stay focused on what matters when I have important moments to negotiate, confirms the Franco-Norwegian. I’ve just tried to stay focused on those points when it really counts. They’re simple: being able to put my ski down even when I feel it’s going in, and putting my shot down even when I think the others are shooting better. It’s a natural thing and the aim is to try and keep all those thoughts at bay.”
This brilliant victory comes two days after Emilien Jacquelin ‘s sprint victory.Eric Perrot was obviously inspired by his Dauphinéteam-mate .
“We’re on a good run and it was good to see Emilien [Jacquelin] at that level, having that drive and pushing us to do the same, he reveals. Feeling all that energy obviously helped me to take on my role today [Sunday]. I’m very happy to be contributing to the team’s good results.”
In yellow in less than a week
Next Friday, Eric Perrot will don the yellow bib for the first time in his career at the sprint in Hochfilzen (Austria). An honour that will make him the ninth Frenchman to wear it.
“When you dream a lot like I do, you tell yourself during the autumn that you might be able to take it thanks to a good start to the season… I was lucky enough to get a little taste of it on the podium – it was magical! The last time I wore a yellow jersey was when I was a kid, the one worn by Raphaël Poirée, who must have hung around my house. This is the real thing and it feels strange. But I’m going to make the most of it and I feel like I can live my dream,” concludes the French biathlon prodigy.
Eric Perrot on the cover of Nordic Magazine: CLICK HERE TO BUY THIS ISSUE
- 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
- 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 things possible: “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, tears over 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
- Kontiolahti: Emilien Jacquelin, with a 10/10, takes the sprint and wins the World Cup for the first time in almost three years
- Kontiolahti: Emilien Jacquelin takes the red sprint bib, Johannes Thingnes Boe in yellow
- “There’s nothing exceptional about it”: after his magnificent success in the Kontiolahti sprint, Emilien Jacquelin is not getting carried away.
- Emilien Jacquelin tells Nordic Magazine after his resounding victory in the Kontiolahti sprint: “On the podium, I saw myself again three years ago in Le Grand-Bornand…”.
- “A private joke with a friend”: after the relay’s “Night Night”, Emilien Jacquelin celebrated his success in the Kontiolahti sprint with a finger on his mouth.
- “I had tears in my eyes”: Ole Einar Bjoerndalen was marked by Emilien Jacquelin’s return to favour
- “It did me good to get away from group A”: Antonin Guigonnat returned to the World Cup top 10 in the Kontiolahti sprint
- Kontiolahti: fourth in the sprint, New Zealand-born American Campbell Wright came close to pulling off a huge coup
- “Make it my strength, not my weakness”: Lou Jeanmonnot’s state of mind as he tackles the Kontiolahti sprint with the yellow bib on his shoulders.
- Kontiolahti: the renaissance of Czech Marketa Davidova, winner of the sprint, Océane Michelon best Frenchwoman
- Kontiolahti: Lou Jeanmonnot loses her yellow bib (already), Elvira Oeberg takes it over
- “I was already off the mat mentally while I was still on it physically”: how Lou Jeanmonnot got out of her standing shot in the Kontiolahti sprint
- Kontiolahti: tenth in the sprint, Océane Michelon keeps her blue bib as best U23 rider
- “The desire is there, but I’m trying to find my way, I can’t seem to put things together”: 47th in the Kontiolahti sprint, her worst result since December 2021, Julia Simon is worried.
- On the eve of his 30th birthday, Suvi Minkkinen takes his first World Cup podium finish
- 52 seconds 6 on the mat, 20 seconds between the fourth and fifth ball: a look back at Justine Braisaz-Bouchet’s interminable recumbent shot in the Kontiolahti sprint.
- Kontiolahti: first World Cup mass-start day for Jeanne Richard and Océane Michelon
- “There’s nothing dangerous”: once again hampered by a heart rhythm problem during the Kontiolahti sprint, Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold isn’t panicking
- Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold withdraws from the mass-start in Kontiolahti and the World Cup in Hochfilzen
