Biathlon: Julia Simon was unable to defend her chances to the end in the Kontiolahti relay
Late on Sunday afternoon, the French women’s biathlon team was on its way to a well-deserved victory in the World Cup relay in Kontiolahti (Finland). After good performances by Lou Jeanmonnot, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet and Sophie Chauveau, Julia Simon just had to finish the job.
The Savoyard is a specialist in this field, so the end of the race did not inspire any concern in the French clan. Except that biathlon is biathlon andsurprises come thick and fast.
😢 Terrible end to the race for Julia Simon, who suffered cramp on the Kontiolahti wall!
Fortunately, the Frenchwoman managed to hold on to second place in the women’s relay, won by Sweden. #lequipeBIATHLON pic.twitter.com/dUcLFO74ZC– la chaine L’Équipe (@lachainelequipe) December 1, 2024
In the standing shot, La Beaufortaine cracked in astonishing fashion, going so far as to turn once on the penalty ring. Joined by Sweden’s Elvira Oeberg for the final cross-country loop, she was in pain and fell on the course’s big bump, hitting her left calf. Although she courageously managed to finish in second place, the images were worrying.
Cramp or injury?
“I hope it’s just a cramp. We’re going to wait for it to cool down and then do some tests, she told La Chaîne L’Equipe in the mixed zone. I’ve already got a little weakness in that area because I tore it in 2018. I had it in the second round, and I managed to adapt on the skis until this last wall. It’s so steep and so demanding […] that I couldn’t stand on the front of my foot any more. It was too painful.”
“We’ll have to wait and see what the medical staff say. We hope it’s just a cramp,” confirmed his coach Cyril Burdet. We’ll have to wait and see.
Live data from the relays
- Kontiolahti: Sweden beat France’s Lou Jeanmonnot, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, Sophie Chauveau and Julia Simon to the punch in the relay
- Kontiolahti: French relay triumphs for Fabien Claude, Quentin Fillon-Maillet, Eric Perrot and Emilien Jacquelin
- Kontiolahti: the French team wins a men’s World Cup relay for the first time since… 23 January 2021
- The coup de force by the French relay in Kontiolahti made its mark on the foreign press
- “They were exemplary”, “The result of the seriousness of the athletes”: Jean-Pierre Amat, Les Bleus’ shooting coach, overjoyed after his athletes’ success in the Kontiolahti relay.
- After winning the Kontiolahti relay, Fabien Claude wants more: “Now we have to go out and put in the individual performances that the whole team is waiting for”.
- Lou Jeanmonnot, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet and Julia Simon complete two relays in Kontiolahti: “Optimising their preparation before the first individual races”.
- The verdict is in: Emilien Claude and Antonin Guigonnat join Kontiolahti and the World Cup
- “There was no ambiguity”: Stéphane Bouthiaux explains to Nordic Magazine why Emilien Claude and Antonin Guigonnat won their place in the World Cup
- Kontiolahti: Lou Jeanmonnot, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, Eric Perrot and Emilien Jacquelin beat Norway to the finish in the mixed relay
- Kontiolahti: why Emilien Jacquelin was caught by Vebjoern Soerum when he still had a 10-second lead with 600 metres to go
- “I stuck to the plan”: a perfect shot, Eric Perrot had an ideal start to the season in the mixed relay in Kontiolahti.
- Kontiolahti: Quentin Fillon-Maillet and Julia Simon second in the mixed singles relay behind Sweden and ahead of Germany
- Kontiolahti: the technical problem that prevented Simon Eder’s Austria from securing a podium finish in the mixed singles relay
- How Julia Simon experienced her first World Cup race of the winter: “It was a bit like releasing the wildcats, it was electric”.
- The full programme for the Kontiolahti World Cup, the first stage of the 2024/2025 season
- Corinne Niogret: my best memory of… Kontiolahti
- The French mixed relays lining up for Saturday’s World Cup opener in Kontiolahti
- Kontiolahti: an opening day without Johannes Thingnes Boe, Hanna Oeberg, Endre Stroemsheim, Anna Gandler, Sturla Holm Lægreid, Johannes Kuehn or Tarjei Boe
- Kontiolahti: the reasons why the French men’s team is starting the World Cup with just four biathletes
- Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet and Antonin Guigonnat victorious, Italy triumphant, Martin Fourcade rested: what happened the last time mixed World Cup races were held in Kontiolahti
- Top 3 nations cup target for France: the hunt for Olympic quotas for Milan/Cortina 2026, the other key issue of the 2024/2025 season
