Biathlon: Johannes Boy is masterful, the French men’s team is torn apart

It is a triumphant end of the season for him. It’s time for them to finish. Johannes Boe won the last winter pursuit in Oslo-Holmenkollen on Saturday, March 18. The Norwegian, who was already guaranteed to win the World Cup in the specialty and finish at the top of the general classification, all biathlon disciplines combined, won his 15th.^e individual victory of the season. The youngest of the brothers also won three individual gold medals at the World Championships in Oberhof. His list of achievements has also been extended this winter with several relay victories in which Norwegian teams have dominated. On the other hand, for the French men’s team, second place is not the time to count, but despite the 2, it is heartbreaking.^e Quentin Fillon Maile’s place in the race of the day.

At the end of the season without individual success, the French biathletes and their coaches announced their disbandment. On Friday, March 17, Vincent Vitos and Patrick Favre, the Blue Jays’ five-year coaches, announced their departures at the end of the season and are not considering leaving. “More appropriate [leur] athletes”. “We feel they can’t hear some of our speeches. We were ready to move on, obviously. But today is a break”Confirmed by Vincent Vitos, world champion in skiing in 2005. Italian Patrick Favre, shooting coach of the best French biathletes, drove home the point: “We had many ideas [pour rebondir après une mauvaise saison] But they don’t stop [avec celles des athlètes]. Training is largely about confidence. Today we feel that this trust is lacking. Forcing something is not good. »

“Bankruptcy” of leaders.

The explanations of the two coaches, which is quite rare in high-level sports where communication is generally very framed, were then aimed more directly at the two athletes. Vitoz noted “bankruptcy” By Quentin Fillon Maile and Emilien Jacqueline, who are the leaders of the French national team at the beginning of winter. The Blues have only had six individual World Cup podiums since the start of the season: two for Fillon Maile, three for Jacqueline and one for youngster Eric Perrault.

“Quentin [Fillon Maillet]He never wanted to hear the warning messages [disant que] It won’t be like a year [après deux médailles d’or olympiques en 2022]- says Vitoz. He wanted to show everyone who told him it was going to be a tougher year that it wouldn’t hurt him because he’s a machine. He got the question wrong. We tried to warn him. »

After finishing second in the Oslo-Holmenkollen pursuit, Fillon Maillet described the situation as “Difficult Change” who“works a lot”. “I understand that this is the reaction of the players and the coachesHe said on Saturday at the microphone of La Chaîne L’Equipe. I wish things were more peaceful. We need to change the discourse. » Fillon Maillet, who received his best results, including five medals at the Beijing Games, under the guidance of the Vitoz-Favre duo, said he was very grateful for the work done.

On Friday, Vitóz also expressed his helplessness in the face of the difficulties of Emilien Jacqueline, who ended the season early. “Emilian [Jacquelin] For a year and a half, the athlete we have been accompanying has been depressed– says the French coach. We’ve done more than we could, we’ve put all our energy, sometimes maybe too much, maybe too much into trying to get him back on track. Maybe we didn’t get the right answers either, but we kept going as best we could. »

On Saturday morning, Jacqueline, who is not in Norway with the French team these days, responded to the coach’s comments on Twitter. “It is the doctor’s responsibility to say that someone is depressed or sickBiathlete writes. Making it public without the person’s consent betrays medical confidentiality. Depression is an important, complex topic, and using it to explain lack of performance is awkward. This topic applies to men and women before talking about athletes or shooting levels. And doing good for those suffering from it is not pointing fingers and putting amalgams on a failed athlete. »

1/3 Proving that someone is depressed or ill is a doctor’s job. Making it public without accreditation… https://t.co/nSCFuTWRYl

— EmilienJck (@Emilien Jacquelin)

At the end of her message, Jacqueline believes that Vitose’s explanations were “Probably clumsy with too much emotion”But claims that depression is a “The subject is too important not to talk about it.”