Biathlon: Célia Henaff, the other Beaufortain biathlete
Last winter, at the age of 19, Savoie biathlete Célia Henaff managed to achieve things she had never done before, notably by being selected for two rounds of the Junior Cup and then the Junior World Championships in Otepää (Estonia). In her first year at U22 level, she shattered the glass ceiling by finishing fifth in the sprint in Pokljuka (Slovenia) and winning the world bronze medal in the relay.
A reward worthy of her season. The other gift she gave herself at the end of the winter was access to the Excellence 2030 group, the new name given to the French junior team.
“In my mind, I had set out to stay on the committee, especially as we’d heard that there wouldn’t be a group for us, Célia Henaff told Nordic Magazine at the beginning of November. When I saw that Rachel [Demangeat] was calling me, I thought maybe that’s why! She explained everything to me and I was surprised, but in a good way because it launched a new adventure.”
Happy to be coached by women
This new path is a ten-strong training group, with Lou-Anne Dupont Ballet-Baz, Voldiya Galmace-Paulin and Eva Laine as female team-mates, bringing together the next generation of French biathlon. A team coached by Rachel Demangeat and Claire Breton, which Célia Henaff greatly appreciated.
“The relationship between a female athlete and a male coach is not the same as with a female coach, she notes. I think it allows us to be a bit closer and we’re more able to confide in each other, to say what we feel and what we think without a filter. They hear everything and that’s really good, it’s a nice change for the better.”
Still little known to the general public, Célia Henaff has always lived in the Beaufortain, the very place where Julia Simon and Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, the two current stars of the French team, cut their teeth. “They’re not idols because I don’t have any in particular, I’m fascinated by all the champions. But they are greats who inevitably inspire younger players like me,” she admits.
She took her big sister’s rifle
A STAPS student at Grenoble University (Isère) after passing her baccalaureate at the beginning of last summer, the Beaufort native, who first discovered the joys of skiing on downhill skis, started cross-country skiing as a child with SC Arêches Beaufort, her long-standing club.
“I wanted to follow in my sister Eloïse’s footsteps, she reveals. At school in Beaufort, I joined the sports section where we started shooting at 50 metres when I was in the fourth year. That’s when my sister stopped biathlon and I took up her rifle to really get into biathlon.“
Following her high school years at the Pôle Espoir in Reinach, working in the ranks of the Savoie ski committee alongside Nora Gaggio, Amélie Broutier and Nathanaël Peaquin, the Savoy native joined the federal Excellence 2030 group this year. Although she does not come from a family where biathlon was the sport of choice, her mother did cross-country skiing when she was young.
A head full of dreams
“Apart from my career, I enjoy going for walks with my family and listening to music, but, to be completely honest, I don’t do much apart from biathlon,” laughs Célia Henaff. Among her wildest ambitions are the feats achieved by her predecessors from the Beaufortain region: winning overall World Cup rankings and Olympic medals.
“It’s my ultimate biathlon dream, she admits. First of all, this winter, I want to take international selections in the Junior Cup and take part in the European and World Junior Championships. But I don’t just want to go there, I especially want to perform there!” And that’s all the best for her.
- “Everyone understands the need to look after young people of this age”: Stéphane Bouthiaux’s satisfaction after the rebirth of the French junior team with the Excellence 2030 group.
- The full composition of the Excellence 2030 group for the 2024/2025 season
- Lou-Anne Dupont Ballet-Baz, member of the brand new Excellence 2030 group: “It was an opportunity not to be missed”.
- Voldiya Galmace-Paulin doesn’t want to miss out: “My main objective is still the Junior Cup”.
- Junior world bronze medallist in the relay, Célia Henaff from Beaufort looks back on her winter: “It was time to turn the corner”.
- Junior Worlds in Otepää: Léonie Jeannier, Fany Bertrand, Célia Henaff and Lisa Siberchicot all bronze medallists in the relay, Germany take the title for good
- “A group medal that means so much”: Léonie Jeannier, Fany Bertrand, Célia Henaff and Lisa Siberchicot were delighted after their podium finish in the relay event at the Junior World Championships in Otepää.
- Coupe de France de Bessans: Fany Bertrand wins the women’s sprint just ahead of Célia Henaff and Coralie Langel
