Quentin, why didn’t you start the mass-start this Saturday?
“There is a lot of fatigue and a lot of demands after the season. Four years ago, after Beijing, I fell into a deep fatigue to redo the same mistake this year. I anticipate. It’s not a lack of desire to run or participate in the French championships, but choices had to be made. If I had a race to run over the weekend, it was the relay to give young people a chance to have a good race. The format didn’t exist at the time, but I would have been very proud to run with Vincent Defrasne, another great athlete. And this fatigue, I feel like I’m sick because I’m so tired. I don’t want to go too far in this fatigue and manage it for the next four years ahead.”
You are therefore aiming towards the next Olympics and 2030?
“What makes me want to go is to win races and if I commit to four years, it’s not just for the two weeks at the Olympics. It’s really everything that appeals to me, the entire preparation, the entire investment, this project that fascinates me. The first big challenge I set for myself is to reconquer real good shooting statistics, to tame this shooting to really make it a strength and I know that once I have that, then many more opportunities will open up, like I had four years ago. That’s my first challenge. And of course, in general, I think with the form on the skis, I am well able to compete in general.”
“Distance will not be a constraint”
What drives you to start again after winning everything?
“I really love what I do today. I am aware of the challenge, the investment needed to seek four additional years. But why would I stop? Because the French standard has decided that at 33 years, one would be a bit old for sports. That’s not my way of thinking. So there, I love training, I love sports, I love my life, I love this challenge and I love winning even more. So why not continue? In the same way, when I started, when I was little, the chance of succeeding in biathlon was tiny. I hung on to this dream every time and I think I still have the right to dream of a Crystal Globe, Olympic medals, and a World Champion title.”
You are going to be a father in July. How will you function in the future? Will you do fewer training camps, for example, with the French team?
“I’ll start a little later for the season. And then, certainly at the end of July, I won’t be present with the French team. I will be present for those moments with my partner. So it’s about adaptation. I have an overall plan and then I need to refine the details. In training or competition, once I am with my partner and my future child, I think distance will not be a constraint. If I can bring my partner and family more regularly to training camps, competitions, that would be good. I will try not to compromise, but to find solutions that work. And we’ve seen it, Martin Fourcade did it, Johannes Boe did it, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet does it too.”
“Starting fresh with my current shooting and rebuilding”
What do you think of the return of Siegfried Mazet as shooting coach?
“It’s a nice challenge. I worked with him two years before he left for Norway. I think it can be a great asset. I can’t tell you more. We didn’t discuss a battle plan and he himself didn’t know what position he was going to take on (according to our information, he will indeed be the men’s shooting coach). In my vision of shooting, I want to start fresh with my current shooting and rebuild, not something new, but to take back healthy basics and build something solid. We’re not going to deconstruct everything, but try to understand, move forward and find solutions.”
What memories do you have of these Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics?
“I experienced Pyeongchang (in 2018) in difficult family conditions, a complete failure in sports. Beijing where I went really thinking I had to go seek sporting success. There was the Covid bubble that gave even more priority to health over sports. There, in Milan-Cortina everything came together where I appreciated the value of my medals through the eyes of others and thus we found ourselves with the public, family, good weather, a beautiful site and so it was two weeks that were really superb.”
