Biathlon: the fall that could have prevented Camille Bened from winning the IBU Cup globe
Camille Bened could have lost everything on Wednesday in her quest for the IBU Cup crystal globe, which she was finally able to lift in the skies over Otepää (Estonia) on Friday afternoon. Although she had a 76-point lead over Voldiya Galmace-Paulin with two races to go, the Chablais native suffered a huge scare during the warm-up for the individual short.
“A Ukrainian rider overtook me on a descent and then fell in front of me. She cut me off and I had to get off the track, otherwise I’d run into her, which wasn’t the best option. So I ended up in the mud,” she tells Nordic Magazine. That obviously stopped my skis and I got a little sun. I hit my whole right side, including my shoulder, in the dirt. I stuck my elbow in my stomach at liver level and took a good impact on my arm… I lay on the ground for two or three minutes until I recovered. The Ukrainian woman was so sorry.
After a while, Camille Bened managed to find the strength to reply to her colleague, indicating that she was “fine”. It was then that the Haut-Savoyard came to her senses.
“I took off my skis, one of which was broken, and ran to the hut to get a pair of warm-up skis. I went back out to warm up as if nothing had happened,” she says. My back was a bit sore, but I didn’t feel much from the adrenaline.
“My back was killing me, I couldn’t even lift my arm”.
Third in this individual short despite this unfortunate mishap, Camille Bened thought she was out of the woods. But her body reminded her of the situation later in the evening.
“I was starting to feel a bit tired and the next day it was downright catastrophic. My back was aching, I couldn’t even lift my arm,” she recalls. “I had aches and pains all over my right side and I thought it was going to be complicated, but I was able to see an Estonian physio. I have tape [bandages, editor’s note] from the middle of my right hamstring to the back of my neck – I’m covered!
It was in this state that Camille Bened took part in the Otepää sprint on Friday. She finished the race in second place, giving her the big trophy she was looking for. “I was still in pain in the morning, but I went away thinking that I’d have to grit my teeth for an hour. My brain was focused on other things, so I didn’t feel any pain”, she enthuses.
Given the way the last 48 hours have gone, I’m really very happy to win this globe,” sums up the biathlete from Chablais Nordic. I don’t really realise it yet, especially as I’ve been dreaming about it for so long! It was such an objective this season to win it, it’s crazy. Above all, this epic journey towards the crystal trophy came so close to stopping on a piece of Estonian soil.
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- Camille Bened, overall leader of the IBU Cup with two small globes already in her pocket, ahead of the final stretch of the season: “We’re going to have to race hard”.
- “I just want to enjoy myself”: how Voldiya Galmace-Paulin, second overall, is approaching the final stretch of the IBU Cup season.
- Otepää: Sivert Guttorm Bakken wins the IBU Cup individual short, Gaëtan Paturel excellent fifth
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- IBU Cup: at just 19, Voldiya Galmace-Paulin wins the small globe in the individual event
- “I’m really proud”: Voldiya Galmace-Paulin’s joy at winning her first career IBU Cup Petit Globe
- IBU Cup Otepää: Johan-Olav Botn wins the sprint, Damien Levet and Théo Guiraud-Poillot in the top 10
- IBU Cup Otepää: Voldiya Galmace-Paulin dominates the sprint ahead of Camille Bened and Paula Botet, Gilonne Guigonnat fifth
- Camille Bened becomes the third Frenchwoman to win the IBU Cup crystal globe
- “It’s an immense source of pride”: Camille Bened reflects on her IBU Cup overall victory, synonymous with the crystal globe
- IBU Cup: the small globe in the sprint for Paula Botet, as in 2023
- Firsts for Camille Bened and Amandine Mengin, the boys’ sevens: the French team selection for the Oslo-Holmenkollen World Cup finals
