Biathlon | Fany Bertrand reviews her season for Nordic Magazine: “I’ve got the level and now I just need to make the most of it”

Biathlon: Fany Bertrand looks back on her 2024/2025 winter with Nordic Magazine

For the 2024/2025 season, 23-year-old biathlete Fany Bertrand from Savoie has had to contend with the incredible density of the French women’s team. Although she finished on the podium in the IBU Cup individual event in Geilo (Norway) in the early weeks of the winter, she had to give up her place at the start of January. It wasn’ t until March that she returned to the circuit to finish the season.

A few weeks after the end of this trying year, Fany Bertrand, currently on holiday at the seaside, agreed to give Nordic Magazine her assessment of the year . Interview.

• What is your overall assessment of the 2024/2025 season?

First of all, I’d say that this season is special. The French level this year was really great, very impressive, and made all the other nations dream! The results are mixed, even though there’s a lot of good in there. I managed to bounce back at the end of the season after a pretty good start to the winter. It wasn’t enough to stay in the IBU Cup, I’m aware of that, but there’s still some good. I think I just have to hang on to it! I’ve got the level and now I have to make the most of it because you have to aim for perfection if you want to stay on the world circuit.

• As you said, your winter got off to a good start with qualification for the IBU Cup and a podium finish in the individual event in Geilo (Norway). Unfortunately, that didn’t allow you to stay on the circuit. How did you feel about that?

It’s been a very hard descent for me. Even if they weren’t exceptional, I’d still managed to have races that were in the running for this podium and places close to the top 10. The fact that I was the only one to come back down was really hard to accept and understand. But I managed to rebuild myself on that and get myself motivated again for the following races. In the end, I still managed to come back up, so it’s still positive, not in terms of the results per se, but for me. Personally, I’m pleased to have got through this stage. I had to go out there, get back into the fight and get this place.

• How did you manage to pull yourself out of this downward spiral and get back into the swing of things?

The three weeks following the IBU Cup in Obertilliach, the Christmas period, were very complicated. Mentally, I couldn’t get over the hurdle of getting myself together. It wasn’t until the French Cup at Les Contamines-Montjoie in mid-January that I stopped feeling depressed and started to brood a bit. It took care of itself and, at some point, I realised what I wanted: to enjoy racing!

• Was it a group effort with your coaches or a solo effort?

The coaches were always there. We always communicated extremely well together, whether it was the coaches of Group B or the junior group when I was in the French Cup. They couldn’t have done much more than they did. Above all, it was a personal process. It’s something you can only do yourself when you’re ready. I also had my mental coach who was there to help me, as were my parents and friends.

• If we look back at your podium finish in Geilo at the start of the season, before the ups and downs you’ve just explained to us, what did it bring you?

First of all, this race was very complicated because it was extremely cold! I didn’t really enjoy myself that day because of that, but this podium has done me a lot of good. At the same time, it hurt me a bit because I’m on the podium, but I’m still not the top French rider… I was kind of dreaming of leading this French group! It didn’t happen, but I had a great race with a 20/20 score that can’t be taken away from me. Achieving another podium finish in the IBU Cup is mentally a relief and reassuring after a complicated season.

• In February, you scored 20/20 again in the pursuit at La Féclaz (Savoie), which enabled you to return to the IBU Cup for the final stages at Otepää (Estonia)…

The day before, the sprint was a disaster and in the pursuit, I really enjoyed myself! I really enjoyed myself, it was so much fun, and it’s allowed me to go back to the IBU Cup where I got a 20/20 [laughs]. I was really happy to go back, but there was also a bit of apprehension because of the uncertainty and the worry. It’s unfortunate because it shouldn’t be there… So it was complicated and frustrating. I wasn’t able to express myself the way I wanted to because of various problems. I still had a good race, the chase, but I started seventeenth so that didn’t help me get where I wanted to go, even though I was getting close. Mentally, it’s been so hard this season, I’ve drawn so much from my reserves that I was tired in the head at the end of the winter.

• Last October, you explained in our columns that you had learnt to cope well with the hyper-density of the French team. Has this always been the case over the winter?

No, because I wasn’t expecting the level to be so high! We were all taken by surprise by what happened [laughs]. It was a bit moody and complicated to deal with. I’ve learnt to tell myself that it’s going to be like that now, that the level is exceptional and that we’re going to have to be exceptional. It makes what we do more rigorous, but that doesn’t change the ultimate goal. We have to take the good out of all this so we don’t fall into a negative spiral. We have to make the most of it!

• Fany Bertrand on the hyper-competition in the French women’s team: “I’ve learned to live with it, we’re lucky to be French”.
• IBU Cup in Geilo: Camille Bened dominates the individual, Fany Bertrand third
• La Féclaz: Fany Bertrand, with an impeccable 20/20, dominates the French Cup chase
• A first for Antonin Delsol, Fany Bertrand returns: France unveils its first selection for the IBU Cup in Otepää
• IBU Cup Otepää: two days after the sprint, Gilonne Guigonnat wins the pursuit ahead of Camille Bened, Paula Botet and Fany Bertrand with the flowers