Biathlon : a pursuit to forget for Quentin Fillon-Maillet
Quentin Fillon-Maillet could have hoped for a great comeback in the pursuit at the Biathlon World Cup in Le Grand-Bornand (Haute-Savoie), but he missed his chance by making seven mistakes on the mats.
- What did you miss in this race?
The shot. That’s clearly where the race went wrong. There are some questions because I’m finding it hard to do what I want with my shooting. Some days are better than others. In the race, I find that I get a bit tense and that leads to mistakes. My shots were slow but I’m not giving up hope because there’s still a good opportunity tomorrow. If things go well, we’ll be able to play up front. I hope it turns out in my favour. I want to go home with a smile on my face.
- When you talk about tension, are you overthinking things?
No, there’s not necessarily too much to think about. As these races approach, I’m pretty relaxed and I’m happy to be here. When I enter the shooting range, I’m quite clear-headed and when I talk about tensing up, I’m talking about little tensions in the hand or shoulder that are invisible to the naked eye.
- Does the fact that there’s a mass-start this Sunday allow you to move on to something else?
It’s less motivating to play behind. The good thing is that there isn’t too much time to think before the mass-start tomorrow [Sunday]. What happens in the race I don’t feel in training, so it’s going to be a really good workout, in all seriousness!
- To come back to your feelings, are they immediate or retrospective ?
It’s annoying because I really feel like I’m on the same wavelength and involved behind the rifle. However, it doesn’t fit and I’d like to have the fertility of Lou [Jeanmonnot] and Eric [Perrot]. I think we’re very close, so we need to keep putting things in place.
- Le Grand-Bornand: Eric Perrot and Emilien Jacquelin claim a podium finish in the pursuit, dominated by Johannes Thingnes Boe
- Emilien Jacquelin’s joy after his podium finish in the pursuit at Le Grand-Bornand: “I love this kind of atmosphere where you’re all in the same place”.
- “Magical emotions”: Eric Perrot celebrates his first podium finish in the pursuit at Le Grand-Bornand
