Biathlon | Martin Botet talks to Nordic Magazine after his European bronze medal in the mass-start 60: “I managed to free myself and reproduce what I do in training”

Biathlon: a first international medal for Martin Botet

At the end of October, Martin Botet spoke to us after putting in some magnificent performances at the Summer Tour d’Arçon (Doubs). At the time, he said that he wanted to “make the most of [his] season with full races and nothing going wrong”.

As soon as the snow arrived, he managed to stay on his mark and win selection for the IBU Cup in Geilo (Norway) and then the Junior Cup in Goms (Switzerland). Selected for the European Junior Championships in Altenberg (Germany), he won bronze in the mass-start 60 on Sunday. Martin Botet talks to Nordic Magazine. Interview.

• After a difficult start to the competition, how did you feel going into the Mass-Start 60 of the European Junior Championships in Altenberg (Germany) last Sunday?

I approached this race like a training session… even if it was a bit stressful. I put less pressure on myself and managed to let go. I was calmer and more relaxed, and I wanted to enjoy the end of the event. I really managed to soak it all in!

• Can you tell us about your race?

I did my race by staying focused on myself and what I wanted to do, but without thinking too much. When it came to the shots, I applied myself without wanting to concretise, and it went pretty well! As I’ve already said, I wanted to do what I did in training. I was always with the other Frenchmen at the start of the race, so I had some reference points. I arrived on the last stand at target 4 and the frontrunners were leaving, so I told myself that I wouldn’t be able to get on the podium anyway.

• And, in the end, if…

I didn’t think about it and just went for it. I came out with a full shot at the same time as Léo Carlier, who came out of the ring. I could see the two frontrunners a good fifty metres ahead, so I told myself that it was finally possible to win a medal! In the last few laps, I’m able to accelerate at the moment so I went flat out. At the top of the bumps on the track, I managed to close on [Sondre] Slettemark, but on the descent, I didn’t manage to catch him. The main thing for me was that I was really happy to have had a good race. I couldn’t really believe I was on the podium.

• What does this first international medal represent?

I’m really happy and I’m enjoying it. It’s the reward for a lot of hard work and it also validates the fact that I’m on the right track to progress. To achieve this, I’ve managed to free myself up and reproduce what I do in training, putting the result into perspective.

• More generally, how would you sum up the first part of the winter, when you discovered the IBU Cup and then the Junior Cup?

This winter, I’m getting to know myself thanks to these new situations and environments that are different from usual. I’ve discovered a lot of things and met new people with different views. I’ve achieved goals I’ve had for a long time! The results themselves were disappointing until this mass-start, but I’ve got a lot out of it. It’s helping me to progress because I’m putting my finger on the problems I have. In particular, I’m finding it hard to manage my stress when it counts and to reproduce in the race the technical points I’ve seen in training.

• The medals table for the 2025 European Junior Championships in Altenberg
• “I’m really motivated”: this week in Altenberg, Féclazienne Coralie Perrin discovers the Junior Cup
• Junior Cup in Altenberg: Antonin Delsol individual European junior vice-champion, Camille Grataloup-Manissolle fourth, one tenth behind bronze
• “I threw myself into the unknown”: how, on the day of his first international start, Antonin Delsol won a silver medal in the individual event at the European Junior Championships.
• Altenberg: Bulgaria’s Valentina Dimitrova wins gold in the individual event at the European junior championships, Anaëlle Bondoux fourth
• European Junior Championships in Altenberg: Camille Grataloup-Manissolle, Antonin Delsol, Lola Bugeaud and Louise Roguet win silver medals in the mixed relay
• “When I got up, I didn’t think I was going to run”: from substitute on the mixed relay to silver medallist at the European junior championships, Louise Roguet’s crazy day at Altenberg
• Altenberg Junior Cup: Léo Carlier and Célia Henaff runners-up in the European junior mixed singles relay
• European junior runner-up in the mixed singles relay with Léo Carlier, Célia Henaff recounts the mano a mano finish with Germany: “I gave 100% of myself”.
• Junior Cup in Altenberg: Camille Grataloup-Manissolle takes bronze in the sprint, Germany’s Fabian Kaskel wins on home soil
• “I’m happy, but we need to keep on working”: bronze medallist in the sprint at the European junior championships, Camille Grataloup-Manissolle is not getting carried away.
• Altenberg Junior Cup: Anaëlle Bondoux crowned European junior sprint champion ahead of Savoyard Coralie Perrin
• “I was very reluctant to run”: Anaëlle Bondoux, the European junior sprint title despite illness
• Coralie Perrin, the unexpected European junior sprint silver medallist: “I was so happy I was crying with joy”.
• European Junior Championships in Altenberg: another gold medal for Grzegorz Galica, winner of the mass-start 60 ahead of Sondre Slettemark and Martin Botet, with a bronze medal.
• “One of my greatest successes”: another historic performance for Greenland’s Sondre Slettemark, European junior vice-champion in the Mass-Start 60.