Biathlon: fourth victory of the winter for Lou Jeanmonnot
This Thursday afternoon, during the individual women’s biathlon World Cup in Ruhpolding (Germany), Lou Jeanmonnot produced another magnificent performance. Just a few days after winning the pursuit in Oberhof (Germany), she won again.
Her fourth success of the winter was achieved above all thanks to a perfect shot. “Like all individuals, it’s often won by 20/20 and that’s what I wanted to do, she explained afterwards in the mixed zone. I wanted to take a big shot in a red shirt that I hadn’t been able to get to grips with until then. I’m proud of myself for having managed to cope with this pressure, which is different from what I’m used to.”
A frequent performer on the Bavarian facilities of the Chiemgau Arena, Lou Jeanmonnot also had positive thoughts on her mind during the race. “I remembered my first individual here, when I made my first podium. I loved racing and the track. I stayed focused on that,” she admits.
And yet she doesn’t like individuals…
The Doubiste native has now won two of the first two individuals contested this season. All this despite the fact that she explains that she doesn’t like this long, tedious format. “It’s not my favourite race because it’s not the most fun. I tend to get bored with it, in inverted commas, says the Olympic Mont d’Or rider. It’s much more fun to fight on the shooting range, with pressure and race strategy. In an individual, it’s just a race against yourself.”
Cyril Burdet, her coach, takes the opposite view: “She’s the one who says it’s not the format she prefers, but we have to admit that it corresponds rather well to her natural qualities, used to good effect, he analyses. [This Thursday], she was once again royal on the shooting range and, on top of that, very fast on the skis. It makes for a fantastic race!”
In the overall rankings, Lou Jeanmonnot is 101 lengths behind her runner-up for the day, Franziska Preuss. Enough to hope for a magnificent duel for the big globe ? “She’s going very well too, replies the Franc-Comtoise. It’s a pleasure to battle with her. The better she is, the better I’ll become.” The battle continues on Sunday afternoon in the mass start.
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- Emilien Claude on his first World Cup podium in Ruhpolding: “I don’t feel that my life is changing, but that hard work is paying off after four complicated years”.
- “I cried”: how Anna Gandler, his partner in the Austrian biathlon team, felt about Emilien Claude’s first World Cup podium finish.
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