Biathlon: a change of breathing on the prone shot for Quentin Fillon-Maillet
Third in the sprint inÖstersund (Sweden) on Saturday, Quentin Fillon-Maillet put in a superb performance. With a perfect shot, he made a lasting impression with the quality of his downhill shot, even though he was struggling with the exercise. For many months, the biathlete had been searching for his best shot, with a 79% success rate last winter and a 2/10 behind the rifle last September at the Summer Tour d’Arçon (Doubs).
Jean-Pierre Amat, the French team’s shooting coach, told La Chaîne L’ Equipe: “We’d been feeling that we were going round and round for a while. There was a recurring problem of instability on these prone shots, due to pulses, due to all sorts of things. We’ve developed our equipment and changed a lot of things.
On Wednesday, in the individual event, he dropped two more shots on his second run through the exercise. To reverse the trend, the double Olympic champion decided to make a technical change to his prone shot.
“The first time Jean-Pierre and I met, we discussed how to approach breathing in the shooting sequence. I used to approach the shot by breathing in, and for the last two days I’ve been trying a shot by breathing out, which brings more relaxation to the chest on the recumbent,” reveals the Jura native at a press conference attended by Nordic Magazine.
He makes no secret of the fact: until now, he’d never felt the change was necessary: “Ever since I was little, I’ve operated in this way and I hadn’t felt the immediate need. But after the second dismount of the individual, I really felt this lack of stability and I wanted to put it in place the very next day in dryland.
“I thought it would take longer”.Jean-Pierre Amat for La Chaîne l’Equipe
Coach Jean-Pierre Amat was literally blown away by his success: “He carried out his plans perfectly. It’s magnificent that he’s managed to do it. I thought it would take longer. I’m very happy, but surprised that it was possible so quickly. [He has done exactly what needed to be done.
The shooting specialist took the opportunity to underline the hard-working nature of his protégé: “We often say that Quentin is a hard worker, but during the World Cup, we see it a little less. And yet, whether it works or not, he’s there, he’s looking, we talk, we try things out.
The adjustments that paid off in the sprint will be seen in the pursuit on Sunday. “I think that’s a pretty convincing result. We’ll just have to hope that it takes hold over time,” concludes the coach.
Read also
- Biathlon | “It’s a podium that means a lot to me”: Quentin Fillon-Maillet talks after his third place in the Östersund sprint
- Biathlon | Östersund: first podium of the winter for Quentin Fillon-Maillet, third in the sprint dominated by Johan-Olav Botn
- Biathlon | Jean-Pierre Amat explains Quentin Fillon-Maillet’s 2/10 shot in the sprint at the Summer Tour d’Arçon: “He wasn’t at his best and came out firing on all cylinders”.
