Biathlon: first start in the IBU Cup and already a victory for Amandine Mengin
On Thursday morning in Arber (Germany), 20-year-old Amandine Mengin competed in her very first race on the IBU Cup circuit. The Bressaude rider’s leap into the big time was a masterstroke, as she took first place.
“I’m completely shocked, she told Nordic Magazine later that evening. I don’t have the words to describe how I feel, I don’t realise it at all. I wasn’t expecting it at all, and it’s taking a while to sink in!”
With no pressure at the start of this sprint, contested wearing the number 73 bib, Amandine Mengin’s main aim was to “enjoy herself ” and see what she was capable of on this circuit. All this while producing her “best biathlon”.
“That’s what I did, she enthuses. I was reassured by my 5/5 on the floor, and then I knew I had to do the same on my feet. Hell, I hung on to the last ball, I was afraid I’d miss! On skis, I felt really good, but that didn’t mean I was going to set the fifth fastest time in the race.”
“I’m thinking, ‘Wow, what’s just happened? This isn’t normal!’”
Informed in the final cross-country lap, which she tackled with a 1 second lead over her compatriot Sophie Chauveau, the Vosges native gave everything she had not to be outdone.
“The intermediate was a long way away, over a kilometre, she recalls. It was downhill and uphill, so it was easy to lose time. When I passed the intermediate, Baptiste [Desthieux] told me I’d taken back 8 tenths! At the finish, I saw that I was 3 seconds ahead and I thought: ‘Wow, what’s just happened? This isn’t normal!”
Amandine Mengin quickly realised that she had just triumphed in the IBU Cup… and the tears began to flow. “I didn’t realise at all, she says. It means so much and so little at the same time. It’s just the beginning! I want to do it all over again. On the other hand, it’s my first IBU Cup, and I won. I’m so happy.”
If she managed to achieve this performance, at last, it was thanks in no small part to her composure on the mats. That’s something new for someone who used to stress a lot behind the rifle until last winter. “I had a lot of trouble managing my stress and now I’m still stressed, but it’s good stress. I’m less worried about the result and just enjoy myself, and that works”, explains Amandine Mengin, winner of the French Cup, Junior Cup and IBU Cup this season.
- Arber: Amandine Mengin triumphs in the sprint on her IBU Cup debut, Sophie Chauveau on the podium, five Frenchwomen in the top 6
- The full programme for the IBU Cup in Arber, the fourth stage of the 2024/2025 winter season
- Oscar Lombardot absent, Sophie Chauveau and Gilonne Guigonnat present: eight Frenchmen already selected for the IBU Cup in Arber
- “I hope to return as soon as possible”: affected by compartment syndrome, Oscar Lombardot receives botulic acid injections
- Amandine Mengin, Louise Roguet, Rémi Broutier, Edgar Geny and Jacques Jefferies complete the French squad for the IBU Cup in Arber
- The reaction of 18-year-old Louise Roguet from Haut-Savoie after her first selection for the IBU Cup: “I’m going there without any pressure, with the aim of trying to do the same biathlon as in the French Cup.
- “I’ve made a lot of progress and I’m proud of myself”: this week, Amandine Mengin from Bresse will be taking part in her first IBU Cup in Arber.
