Biathlon: Justine Braisaz-Bouchet talks about the end of her career
A year ago, at the time of the on-snow course organised in Bessans (Savoie) just a few weeks before she returned to the World Cup after becoming the mother of a little Côme, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet spoke to us about her future.
“I think I’m more towards the end of my career, said La Beaufortaine at the time. I’ve got three or four years left. I won’t go beyond that, that’s a certainty. It’s the final sprint.”
Twelve months later, the Savoyarde is not quite the same. During her winter return to competition, she broke a number of deadlocks by becoming World Champion for the first time, completing an incredible hat-trick of World Cup races in a single week, wearing the yellow bib and competing in the overall rankings (almost) right to the end of the winter.
“I think it’s been a great season. It’s been effective and rich, she summed up in an interview with Nordic Magazine. Effective, because the results were extremely good. I had some objectives and I managed to achieve them… even beyond my expectations. In particular, I was able to play a general, something I’d never imagined I’d be able to do after returning to competition post-partum. I was also rich in the sense that I was able to take part in the general classification by trying to pick up points by being present in every race.”
Titillated by the 2030 Olympic Games, but…
After all that, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet’s thoughts on the end of her career may have changed.
“I’ll take stock after the 2026 Olympics, and the family will make the decision, replies the Olympic mass-start champion. She has to want to go through all that. I don’t want to talk about sacrifices, but everything revolves around biathlon and, at some point, you have to be aware of that. So everything will depend on my family’s energy, my own, my motivation and what I can achieve between now and the Games. It’s obvious that I’m looking ahead to 2026, that’s my big goal for the next two years.”
What if the organisation of the 2030 Olympic Games in the French Alps, which wasn’t even a reality a year ago, inspired Justine Braisaz-Bouchet to push on for four more winters, until she was 34?
“It’s difficult to think about 2030 because that’s six years away, which is almost half an athlete’s career, she says. It’s hard to think ahead until then, even though it’s a huge event and I’m delighted it’s being held in France. We’ll see, I don’t want to say too much too soon. I’m not on my own any more, I’ve got a little girl. For the time being, she’s coping well with going away for training or competitions, and my husband also has the shoulders for it. For the moment, we’re looking ahead to the 2026 Games.”
After bursting out laughing when asked if she was still interested in the 2030 Olympics being held in Le Grand-Bornand (Haute-Savoie), Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, a “great competitor”, said she was “of course keen to experience such an event”.
“Now it’s hard to say whether that will be the case or not. I’ve already been in the World Cup for ten years! Beyond that, we’ll have to find out whether the family is behind me or not. It’s too early to say,” she repeats, although she hasn’t ruled out continuing her career after 2026, without going on until 2030.
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- Justine Braisaz-Bouchet after her podium finish at the Martin Fourcade Nordic Festival: “This kind of race does a lot to promote winter sports”.
- Justine Braisaz-Bouchet in fine form in the individual event at the Summer Cup in Switzerland
- No skiing in Ramsau with the rest of the French team for Justine Braisaz-Bouchet… who is training in Antholz
- Last season in review, new goals, two projects… Justine Braisaz-Bouchet is the guest of Nordic Magazine: “It’s not always easy to combine my two lives”.
- “Creating a special bond with the site that will host the Games in 2026”: Justine Braisaz-Bouchet explains why she chose to skip the Ramsau training camp to go and train with her family in Antholz.
