Biathlon: Emilien Jacquelin wins again
On Friday afternoon, Villardien’s Emilien Jacquelin was back on top. Winner of the biathlon world cup sprint in Kontiolahti (Finland) at 10/10 and with a fantastic ski time, the Frenchman has effectively won on the world circuit for the first time since 19 December 2021.
The Dauphiné biathlete put in an outstanding performance to end his run of 57 races without a victory.
“It’s a full race, he told La Chaîne L’Equipe in the mixed zone. I’m not going to say that I’d checked off this sprint, but for two days I’d been frustrated by what I’d done in the individual races. It was a case of mental laziness at the shooting range when there was everything to do. I stupidly let some small mistakes go by. Today, I told myself that I had no right to do that. That’s what I wanted to do, a clean race from start to finish.”
Emilien Jacquelin was in his element from the very start , concentrating on the task ahead. “I knew what I was there for,” he confirms. From his vantage point, Jean-Pierre Amat even said that his colt had the dark eyes of a certain Raphaël Poirée.
The other Frenchmen in his wake
“Since 2020/2021, I’d lost a bit of rank. Then it started to come back. Since the start of these preparations, I’ve been hungry, he says. I want to do what I’m capable of doing without putting any barriers in my way. It’s races like this that I want to set up.”
He went on to explain that his performance on the day, which gave him his fourth career individual victory, was no mean feat.
“These are the standards that I need to have and that the French team needs to have this winter. It’s only the beginning, that’s normal. I’ve trained hard and put a lot of things in place to achieve this result. There’s nothing exceptional about it, says Emilien Jacquelin. If I’ve been able to do this kind of race, [my team-mates] can do it too. That’s the truth. We train together all year round and there are only guys with a lot of talent who work very hard. I think this will serve as an example.”
- The full programme for the Kontiolahti World Cup, the first stage of the 2024/2025 season
- Corinne Niogret: my best memory of… Kontiolahti
- Top 3 nations cup target for France: the hunt for Olympic quotas for Milan/Cortina 2026, the other key issue of the 2024/2025 season
- World Cup overall leaders celebrated: this season, the IBU is introducing a yellow bib award ceremony
- World Cup: IBU logo replaces start number on distinctive bibs
- After the opening relays, what is the programme for the second week of the Kontiolahti World Cup?
- Kontiolahti: where does Emilien Jacquelin’s “Night Night” celebration at the relay finish line come from?
- “I can’t wait to see how he performs”, “He’s progressed, he deserves it”: Emilien Claude’s return to the World Cup is a source of great joy to those close to him, Anna Gandler and Fabien Claude.
- “It’s time for me to come into my own and become the biathlete I was a few years ago”: Fabien Claude, the winter of affirmation at last?
- Kontiolahti: Endre Stroemsheim, at 20/20, beats Johannes Thingnes Boe in the individual short, Quentin Fillon-Maillet and Eric Perrot with the flowers
- Kontiolahti: for the first time in his career, Endre Stroemsheim will don the yellow World Cup leader’s bib
- “My best race ever”: Endre Stroemsheim and the Norwegians put everyone in agreement at Kontiolahti
- “With a full house, we could have been ahead…”: satisfaction, but also frustration for Quentin Fillon-Maillet and Eric Perrot, in the top 6 of the individual short in Kontiolahti.
- Ukraine’s Vitalii Mandzyn, sensation of the individual short with his fourth place: “I hope this is just the beginning”.
- “A dream come true”: ninth in the individual short in Kontiolahti, Thierry Langer scored his first World Cup top 10 finish
- “It’s performances and results that count”: in Kontiolahti and Hochfilzen, the seven girls in the French team are fighting to take part in the Grand-Bornand World Cup.
- Lou Jeanmonnot is about to embark on the season of all possibilities: “Playing the globe honestly, trying to keep a jersey and manage the pressure”.
- Kontiolahti: Julia Simon undergoes an MRI scan early this afternoon
- Kontiolahti: still uncertain about Julia Simon’s state of health on the eve of the individual short race
- Kontiolahti: despite injuring her left calf on the relay last Sunday, Julia Simon is taking part in the individual short race.
- Kontiolahti: on cloud nine with a 20/20, Lou Jeanmonnot dominates the individual short and gets her season off to an ideal start
- Kontiolahti: after wearing it for the first time in Hochfilzen in December 2023, Lou Jeanmonnot takes the yellow bib once again
- Kontiolahti: in Saturday’s sprint, Océane Michelon will become the first Frenchwoman to wear the blue number
- Lou Jeanmonnot’s satisfaction after her success in the Kontiolahti individual short: “I’m relieved to see that I’m not out of my depth”.
- “I didn’t feel any pain”: despite a modest 31st place in the Kontiolahti individual short, Julia Simon was reassuring about her left calf.
- “Beyond anything I could have imagined”: Ella Halvarsson, tears over her first World Cup podium in the individual short in Kontiolahti
- “I still can’t believe it”: the joy of Poland’s Natalia Sidorowicz, fourth in the individual short at Kontiolahti
- Frozen fingers, rifle problems, 92nd at the finish: Anamarija Lampic had one problem after another in the individual short at Kontiolahti.
- “It’s good for my head”: Anna Gandler explains why she does juggling sessions before her World Cup races
