Biathlon : in front of the French public, Eric Perrot wore the red bib for the very first time
Eleventh in the mass start of the biathlon world cup in Le Grand-Bornand (Haute-Savoie) on Sunday, Eric Perrot rounded off his weekend in the Aravis mountains with another solid shooting performance. With a score of 18/20, the Savoyard only missed two shots in all the Haute-Savoie competitions.
It was a performance in the size of a boss that the Tricolore was keen to achieve after a mixed debut in front of the French public in 2022. Speaking to Nordic Magazine, the 23-year-old looks back on his week in Bornand.
- What was it like to wear the red number for the first time?
It was on fire and I made the most of it! A distinctive bib is quite something and I was lucky enough to wear two at the start of the season. It was my first time in red and that’s something special. It makes you want to wear it again! We’re going to have to fight hard now.
- More generally, how would you sum up your week in Le Grand-Bornand?
That’s pretty good! I really wanted to succeed in this challenge of racing in front of the Grand-Bornand public. It’s something I’d missed out on and I came here with my teeth into it to be able to express myself at my best and I think I was able to do that.
- What are your main satisfactions?
On the skis, I perhaps lacked a bit of it over the weekend as a whole, as I had throughout the start of the season. Despite that, I managed to put in some superb performances in shooting and biathlon is a mix of the two, so I probably managed to make up for that little shortfall on the boards with some very good results in shooting. It all adds up to a very good result.
“You have to be capable of going into battle in a race like today’s”.Eric Perrot at Nordic Magazine
- How did you manage the difficult conditions on the day?
I’d say sparkling! It spiced up the race and I like that too. It makes a change, even if I can’t say that I really wanted to get up. But that doesn’t stop it because there are days when you don’t feel like going to work, but that doesn’t stop them from being great days. The public were there in force and that helps us to have good races!
- How would you describe your overall physical state at the end of this first block of the winter?
I think it’s mentally where it’s hard to get into the swing of things, especially when there are demanding races like these. You have to be able to go into battle in a race like today. I lacked a bit of cutting edge and that shows that it’s hard to get back into it at the end of a block. I feel that my body is holding up. Mentally, I need to reset the parameters after each race. It’ll be good to get some rest.
(With Florian Burgaud at Le Grand-Bornand)
Read also
- Le Grand-Bornand: sidelined in the sprint and pursuit, Tarjei Boe triumphs in the Bornand mass-start, Fabien Claude breaks into the top 10
- “Magical emotions”: Eric Perrot celebrates his first podium finish in the pursuit at Le Grand-Bornand
- Le Grand-Bornand: Eric Perrot and Emilien Jacquelin claim a podium finish in the pursuit, dominated by Johannes Thingnes Boe
- Eric Perrot, seventh in the Grand-Bornand sprint: “On the track, I still took a good beating”.
