Biathlon: Emilien Claude at his best… after finding out what was wrong with his rifle
A few days before Christmas, we left Emilien Claude disappointed by his results at Le Grand-Bornand (Haute-Savoie). Far from the top 10 he was aiming for, he just couldn’t manage to hit the right shots on the mats.
As a result,he began to question himself on the subject. “I could see something was wrong, he tells Nordic Magazine. I couldn’t work out what… and it was getting worse and worse. I was doing everything right and nothing was working! “When he arrived in Oberhof (Germany) at the start of 2025, he inspected his 22 long rifle with Jean-Pierre Amat, Les Bleus’ weapons master.
“He found the problem straight away, reveals Emilien Claude. One of the screws on my barrel was too long and so my barrel wasn’t sitting in the biding, the part that holds the barrel in place. Every time I fired, the shot went off randomly… It’s been sorted out for two days now and it’s night and day both in training and racing. When I shoot in the middle, it now goes in the middle.”
Now he wants to move on
On Friday afternoon, he clocked a 10/10 on the mats in the Oberhof sprint. Eighth at the finish, he even achieved his best ever World Cup result.
“I’ve been chasing this great result since the start of the season, we’re coming up to the start of 2025 and we had to go for it, even if everyone could see that I wasn’t far behind. It’s great for the rest of the season and, what’s more, the whole team is performing well”, he enthused, while Quentin Fillon-Maillet won ahead of Fabien Claude, his older brother, and Emilien Jacquelin.
“I could see the glass as half empty and say to myself that my start to the season would have been different if I’d seen [this problem] beforehand, but I prefer to see it as half full, continues the Vosgien. If we hadn’t solved this problem, it would have made for a really difficult season [for me] because it was almost impossible to get a clean shot! Now, I’m going to be more serene about the rest of the season because I know it will be positive if I do things right.”
Emilien Claude hopes that this magnificent performance will act as a wake-up call for his winter. “We’ll see where it takes me, he confides. Saturday will be the first time I’ve started at the front in a pursuit. I’ve got my teeth into it and I hope to be in the photo at the flower ceremony!” An ambition that is a pleasure to read.
Live data from the men’s sprint
- “What I lack, as usual, is the shot”: Emilien Claude, a lacklustre first half to the season in search of a breakthrough
- The full programme for the Oberhof World Cup, the fourth stage of the 2024/2025 season
- Corinne Niogret: my best memory of… Oberhof
- Oberhof: Paula Botet, with 10/10, dominates the sprint and wins her first World Cup title
- “I realise it, but I think it’s crazy”: Paula Botet recounts her improbable victory in the Oberhof World Cup sprint
- “With the difficulties she’s faced over the last two seasons, this is exceptional”: Cyril Burdet touched by Paula Botet’s performance at Oberhof
- Oberhof: the photo album of Paula Botet’s first World Cup victory
- Oberhof: Paula Botet, the thirteenth Frenchwoman to win individually on the World Cup circuit
- “Her victory is proof that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”: Paula Botet’s first World Cup success as seen by Chloé Remy, a lifelong friend and former team-mate.
- Oberhof: third in the sprint, Bulgarian Milena Todorova gives Bulgaria its first women’s World Cup podium since… 13 March 2004
- “I wanted to fight with the weapons of the day”: Océane Michelon, who was suffering from flu, won her very first flower ceremony in the Oberhof sprint.
- Oberhof: victory for Quentin Fillon-Maillet in the sprint, Fabien Claude and Emilien Jacquelin give France a treble
- Paula Botet to replace Sophie Chauveau: the French selection for the Oberhof World Cup
- “She completely deserves to go up”: why the team staff decided to replace Sophie Chauveau with Paula Botet for the Oberhof World Cup
- “I can’t ski with the athletes”: Simon Fourcade, coach of the French men’s team, ruptures the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee
