Biathlon | “There’s a confidence that’s built up over the start of the season”: after two races in Le Grand-Bornand, Simon Fourcade talks about the season’s progress

Biathlon: Simon Fourcade had a great time in the pursuit in Haute-Savoie

As a coach, there was plenty to be pleased about on Saturday lunchtime after the pursuit at the Biathlon World Cup in Le Grand-Bornand (Haute-Savoie). With podium finishes fromEric Perrot and Emilien Jacquelin, the French biathletes put a smile on coach Simon Fourcade‘s face.

In the mixed zone after his team’s performance, the Pyrenees native spoke about the French performance and the closing mass-start scheduled for Sunday.

• You can imagine the sense of satisfaction after this double podium finish…

It’s very satisfying. They didn’t start far away, but they weren’t far off either. We had to play with that and they did it intelligently by building their race right to the end. Emilien [Jacquelin] had a great race and Eric [Perrot] added another stone to the edifice of his career. To come away with 20/20 with the public screaming at every ball is really something. As a French biathlete, you almost feel more pressure here than at the World Championships or Olympic Games.

• You mentioned the fiery atmosphere. Do you work on that in training to get a better grasp of it?

We try to find situations but we’re never faced with them as they are in real life. Everything we’ve done in training can fall apart here with one last shot if our nerves aren’t strong enough.

• In this pursuit, how do you explain your athletes’ two strategies?

Eric built up his race from start to finish. Emilien had said on Friday that he needed to be on the attack at the start of the race to get into it and try to get back into the lead. He cracked a bit at the end but he played his game and it paid off.

• Your athletes can aim for great things in the mass-start…

You have to keep a cool head because in biathlon, everything is put right after each race. We’ve got a lot of confidence and even those who have been at the back of the field, with good ski times all the same, will be out for revenge. We’ll have to put the balls in the air.

• Your group’s excellent start to the season should give you a certain amount of confidence…

Today, if Emilien and Eric are managing to come away with these results, it’s because there’s a confidence that has built up over the start of the season and we’re surfing on it at the moment. We’ve already put the slump in the sprint behind us, and that promises great things for the mass-start.

• How did you experience your first visit to Le Grand-Bornand (Haute-Savoie) as a coach?

I think I was as tense as the athletes in the sprint [Laughs]! Once you’re past the first one, you feel more liberated, you communicate more with the public and it’s easier to talk to them. I saw attitudes at the start that I hadn’t seen before the sprint. The athletes played with the crowd and let themselves go. There were some great emotions.

_{(With Florian Burgaud, at Le Grand-Bornand)}

Read also

• Le Grand-Bornand: Eric Perrot and Emilien Jacquelin claim a podium finish in the pursuit, dominated by Johannes Thingnes Boe
• “Magical emotions”: Eric Perrot celebrates his first podium finish in the pursuit at Le Grand-Bornand
• 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”.

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