Biathlon: first day for Paula Botet
This Saturday at 12.30pm, Paula Botet will experience another great dizzy spell. Two days after winning the biathlon world cup sprint in Oberhof (Germany), the Bresse native will be leading the pursuit.
And with a big lead, since Norway’s Maren Kirkeeide, wearing bib number 2, will start 31 seconds behind. “I started my first pursuit in the lead a few weeks ago in Geilo, she recalled to Nordic Magazine a few minutes after her sprint success. It was the first time it had ever happened to me! Fortunately, because it would have been improbable for my first one to be in the World Cup…”
On 7 December, on the lower circuit, Paula Botet found herself in exactly the same situation. Setting off at the front of the pursuit with a lead of over 30 seconds over her first rival, she finished third in the pursuit after clocking 16/20.
“I’m going to try and use everything I learnt at the IBU Cup in Geilo to get through it, she says. I was too emotional, too focused on what was happening behind and not enough on my race.”
It will be up to the Bressaude, who will be pushed by her supporters in a fan zone set up in her Vosges village, to show that she has really grown up in just over a month.
- The full programme for the Oberhof World Cup, the fourth stage of the 2024/2025 season
- Corinne Niogret: my best memory of… Oberhof
- Oberhof: Paula Botet, with 10/10, dominates the sprint and wins her first World Cup title
- “I realise it, but I think it’s crazy”: Paula Botet recounts her improbable victory in the Oberhof World Cup sprint
- “With the difficulties she’s faced over the last two seasons, this is exceptional”: Cyril Burdet touched by Paula Botet’s performance at Oberhof
- Oberhof: the photo album of Paula Botet’s first World Cup victory
- Oberhof: Paula Botet, the thirteenth Frenchwoman to win individually on the World Cup circuit
- “Her victory is proof that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”: Paula Botet’s first World Cup success as seen by Chloé Remy, a lifelong friend and former team-mate.
- Oberhof: third in the sprint, Bulgarian Milena Todorova gives Bulgaria its first women’s World Cup podium since… 13 March 2004
- “I wanted to fight with the weapons of the day”: Océane Michelon, who was suffering from flu, won her very first flower ceremony in the Oberhof sprint.
- Oberhof: victory for Quentin Fillon-Maillet in the sprint, Fabien Claude and Emilien Jacquelin give France a treble
- Oberhof: foreign media impressed by the hat-trick of Quentin Fillon-Maillet, Fabien Claude and Emilien Jacquelin
- Quentin Fillon-Maillet after his success in the Oberhof sprint: “It was a tough road back to victory”.
- The photo album of the magnificent triple win by Quentin Fillon-Maillet, Fabien Claude and Emilien Jacquelin in the Oberhof sprint
- “Every time I fired, the shot went off randomly…”. Eighth in the Oberhof sprint, Emilien Claude found the problem with his rifle and achieved the best World Cup result of his career.
- Paula Botet to replace Sophie Chauveau: the French selection for the Oberhof World Cup
- “She totally deserves to go up”: why the team staff decided to replace Sophie Chauveau with Paula Botet for the Oberhof World Cup
- “I can’t ski with the athletes”: Simon Fourcade, coach of the French men’s team, ruptures the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee
