Biathlon : Simon Fourcade moved to see his brother Martin win another gold medal
On Tuesday morning, in a joint press release, theBiathlon Integrity Unit (BIU) and theInternational Biathlon Union (IBU ) revealed that “the CAS Appeals Chamber confirmed the findings of the CAS Anti-Doping Division, which determined that Mr Ustyugov had committed an anti-doping rule violation on the basis of the anomalies identified in his athlete’s biological passport”.

The decision confirmed Evgeny Ustyugov’s four-year suspension, but also meant that the medals he had won would be reallocated if he did not lodge another last-ditch appeal with the Swiss Federal Court (SFC).
This should enable Martin Fourcade, who finished second in the mass start at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver (Canada), to win a sixth Olympic title. It’s a decision that has hit his older brother Simon hard, who will now coach the French biathlon team from spring 2023.
Vancouver, a milestone for the Fourcade brothers
Indeed, this Olympiad was one of the high points in the history of the Fourcade brothers. At that very moment, the eldest was leading the World Cup and seemed to be the great favourite to help the French team win medals in the discipline. In the end, it was not to be, as it was his younger brother Martin who revealed himself to the world by taking silver in the mass start.

“My brother is very proud. This silver medal was a turning point in his career and in our history too, Simon Fourcade told Eurosport. I wrote to him yesterday [Tuesday, editor’s note] and he wrote back with a very nice message, talking about the history we shared in Vancouver. At the time, things were a bit harder for us. After that, things calmed down.“
The 40-year-old former biathlete wasn’ t the only one to be marked by this period in their respective careers. “On the podium, I saw my mother and my little brother Brice, my uncle with his camera in his fist and my father masking something with his tricolour flag. I haven’t seen Simon, my four-year-old older brother with whom I’m sharing this wonderful slice of life. I can’t find Simon, but I know he’s there “, wrote Martin Fourcade in his biography “Mon rêve d’or et de neige” published in 2017.

“He arrived in Canada in the position of world number one, convinced that fate was going to give him the consecration of his career, but he went through the Games like a ghost, far, far from his current level. The star of the French team, however, is Simon. When I hugged him in the finish area, I said to him: ‘You’re the one who should have won this medal, he added in the book. Now I want to find him and share this moment with him. My blood ran cold when I finally found him. In tears. Hidden behind my father’s tricolour flag. I’m having the best time of my life while he’s having the worst.“
In 2020, Simon Fourcade apologised to his elder brother in a long post on the Instagram social network. “I know who you were watching that night in Vancouver and I know that I stole part of that moment from you because of my pride as an older brother who sees his younger brother surpass him and doesn’t accept it,” he said. I couldn’t yet imagine what a champion and what a man you were going to become, and when 2 years later, in a waxcabin in Ruhpolding, thanks to a few words from you, you allowed me to go and win my only individual medal in the World Championships, I knew that our adversity in sport would never take precedence over our relationship as brothers. “

For several years now, the two brothers have been putting aside their differences: “From a personal point of view, I think it’s a nice nod to a possible nomination for 2030“, says Simon Fourcade, at a time when his brother could become a six-time Olympic champion.
Read also