Biathlon: the last chance season for Paul Fontaine
In the spring, following a second difficult season in a row, Bornandin biathlete Paul Fontaine, 24, was dropped from the French Ski Federation (FFS) squad. “I wasn’t lying, he tells Nordic Magazine. I knew very well that I was no longer eligible to join the FFS. The question was whether it was time to stop or whether I’d go back for another year.”
After a logical period of reflection, the native of Angers decided, with his family, to continue his career as a top-level sportsman with Haute-Savoie Nordic Team (HSNT). Paul Fontaine explains his decision in a number of ways.
“My path in top-level biathlon wasn’t over, he begins. I still had things to prove to myself. Last winter, I had some poor results, mainly because of a problem with the barrel of my rifle, which has since been sorted out. I shot badly, but there were extenuating circumstances and I didn’t see myself stopping there. The final reason is that I still have a year of study left, which means I can still combine sport with a life on the side.”
A clear objective: the IBU Cup
In the ranks of the HSNT, with Jacques Jefferies, Judicaël Perrillat-Bottonet, Mathieu Perrillat-Bottonet, Gaëtan Paturel and Alexis Colomban as team-mates, the Montblanc native was reunited with a coach he knows well: Aymeric Deschamps.
“I trained under him for five years before joining the French team. We had the basics down and I found someone I could trust again, he enthuses. We had some interesting training sessions, including one in Corsica where we cycled the whole way. Overall, I had a very good summer.”
He may not have had an ideal Summer Tour on ski-wheels, but Paul Fontaine has nonetheless reassured himself on the shooting range. As a result, he is approaching the selections in Bessans (Savoie), scheduled this week over two sprints and a mass-start, with ambition.
“I want to move up to the IBU Cup and perform there, otherwise it will be my last season, he says. I’m in agreement with that, so all that’s left is to perform. For the moment, I’ve got a pretty good feeling on the skis and I’ve got a decent shot, so I think I’m on track.”
Damien Levet’s comeback as an example to follow
As well as results, the biathlete from SC Le Grand-Bornand wants to “enjoy himself”. “In recent years, it’s been pretty hard to find that pleasure, says the European junior pursuit champion and 2022 world junior relay champion. I want to prove to myself and to others that I’m still here and that I can return to my best level. As far as I’m concerned, I clearly wasn’t at my best over the last two winters and I deserve better.”
So Paul Fontaine will be trying to follow in the footsteps of Damien Levet, a member of the Haute-Savoie Nordic Team in the summer of 2023 and at the start of all the rounds of the IBU Cup circuit over the winter.
“It’s not because you get kicked out of the [federal] groups that you become a nobody. In that respect, Damien [Levet] is a good example to follow. It’s up to me to show that I have the same ability to bounce back,” concludes the man who won the Junior Cup small globe in the pursuit in 2022.
- European Junior Championships in Pokljuka: Paul Fontaine crowned pursuit champion
- Col de Porte: Paul Fontaine and Jeanne Richard win the sprint
- Soldier Hollow: the Junior Cup pursuit globe for Paul Fontaine
- Flaine: Mélissa Gal’s Pays Rochois and Paul Fontaine’s Le Grand-Bornand are French club champions
- Les Saisies : Paul Fontaine and Noémie Remonnay win the mass-starts
- Paul Fontaine, back in the IBU Cup despite a difficult start to the season: “I’ve come a long way”.
- The Haute-Savoie Nordic Team line-up for the 2024/2025 season… with the notable arrivals of two former junior world champions
