Biathlon | Cross-country skiing: Léonie Perry and Amandine Mengin, the friends from La Bresse
This weekend, the Vosges village of La Bresse will be buzzing to the rhythm of the performances of its sportswomen competing all over Europe.
Biathlete Paula Botet, who will be competing in theIBU Cup in Obertilliach (Austria), and cross-country skier Delphine Claudel, who will be donning her bib in Trondheim (Norway), will both be competing in the World Cup, as will Amandine Mengin and Léonie Perry.
The biathlete who has been making meteoric progress for twelve months now and the cross-country skier who discovered the most prestigious of circuits a year ago have been close friends for a long time.
We grew up together,” Amandine Mengin tells Nordic Magazine. We were in the club together when we were kids and we competed in La Bresse at the same time.
They tell each other everything and are there for each other through the good times and the bad.
We’ve known each other for a very long time,” confirms Léonie Perry, 21 like her friend, who was born only a month before her. She’s like my best friend and I’m her biggest fan.
A fan who, in theory, knows Amandine Mengin very well: “I honestly think that she knows me better than I know myself and that she has more confidence in my abilities than I do,” says the biathlete with a smile. It’s a friendship that means a lot to me, I love her to bits! I tell her everything, we tell each other everything and she’s there all the time, through the worst times and the best.
It has to be said that the career paths of the two young Vosges women are similar. While they have both burst onto the international scene in recent months, things have not always been rosy.
In recent weeks, for example, Léonie Perry has had to race against the clock to treat a broken thumb, while Amandine Mengin recently confessed in our columns that she had had a tough summer because of health problems she doesn’t want to talk about publicly.
“We motivate each other and each of us does our bit”.
Despite everything, the two friends will be competing in the World Cup at the same time this weekend : the cross-country skier in Trondheim, the biathlete in Östersund (Sweden).
It’s great to see that she’s been selected and that I’ve been selected too, and I think the club is really pleased,” says a delighted Léonie Perry, who had no hesitation in congratulating Amandine Mengin in the finish area at the FFS biathlon selections in Bessans (Savoie) in November. The two of us motivate each other and each of us does our bit.
“To see her succeed in everything she does and to see her manage to perform with all the effort she puts in, it’s just great. It‘s so gratifying to see her succeed and flourish,” says the biathlete. I’m so happy for her and, above all, very, very proud of her! I’m so happy that we can move forward and evolve in our different projects, but in the same way.
If the two friends from La Bresse were to qualify together for the Olympic Games in Milan/Cortina 2026, they would be living the same dream. In two different sports and in two different places, but with the unbreakable bond of friendship to bind them. Forever.
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- Östersund: Jeanne Richard, Océane Michelon, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet and Lou Jeanmonnot dominate the women’s relay, the first race of the winter season
- “It’s a great team effort”: on their first outing of the winter in Östersund, Les Bleues have already won the World Cup
- Östersund: France’s Fabien Claude, Quentin Fillon-Maillet, Emilien Jacquelin and Eric Perrot second in the relay won by Norway
- “A good relay in tempo”: behind the Norwegians in the Östersund relay, the French get their winter off to a good start
- “There’s this desire to go for the greatest medal of all”: beaten by Norway in the first relay of the season, Les Bleus have their sights set on Olympic gold
- Östersund: Sweden win the mixed singles relay ahead of Norway, Fabien Claude and Camille Bened third for France
- “It’s important in a career”: Camille Bened takes her first World Cup relay podium finish in the mixed singles relay in Östersund
- “It’s wonderful to see her so happy and fulfilled”: former biathlete Chloé Bened reacts emotionally to her older sister Camille Bened’s first World Cup podium finish.
- Östersund: Emilien Jacquelin, Eric Perrot, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet and Lou Jeanmonnot win the mixed relay for France
- Östersund World Cup: Corinne Niogret’s debrief (relays)
- Östersund: Dorothea Wierer triumphs in the individual event ahead of Sonja Leinamo and Camille Bened, who takes her first solo podium finish
- “It’s the fruit of a lot of hard work”: an emotional Camille Bened talks about her third place in the Östersund individual event
- Camille Bened as told by her first coach Martin Bouchet after her podium finish in Östersund: “She was already a great fighter who never gave up”.
- Östersund: Johan-Olav Botn takes his first World Cup win by winning the individual, Eric Perrot best Frenchman
- “I’m in seventh heaven”: Johan-Olav Botn, who was ill at the start of the week, ran the perfect race in Östersund.
- “We’re where we should be”: a tricky first individual race for the French team, far from the podium in Östersund
