Jura’s Quentin Fillon Maillet won first place in the sprint at the Biathlon World Cup in Oberhof on January 10. The athlete returns to victory after a mixed start to the season. He talks about his preparation and his strategy for the future.
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Today’s victory has a special flavor for the athlete who had not managed to win solo since March 2022. “It is a lot d’emotion, that was the path of croix pour return to a victory“, explains the biathlete at a press conference.
The athlete, who had failed to remain at the highest level after his masterful Beijing Olympic Games in 2022, had to face difficulties during shooting for too long. He confides that he had difficulty regaining his feelings for many months on the shooting range. “If I had a card secret, I would have it exited well before. La true problematic since the beginning of season is shooting, as soon as I compete. There are a lot of questions who jostle In my head”, adds Quentin Fillon Maillet.
► Also read: Biathlon: an exceptional Quentin Fillon Maillet wins the Oberhof World Cup sprint!
-Before the end-of-year holidays, the athlete claims to have had “a little taste of bitterness” in view of his results from recent competitions. “Once Noël East passé and that I have recovered of my die, I returned to work. I called my father for a session and also with my coach at home, to be able to evolve, make thingsgoing far enough in this research“, confides Quentin Fillon Maillet.
Among the changes for the World Cup: a new mental approach to the competition and some technical adjustments. With his team, the biathlete chose to add two centimeters to the butt of his rifle, at shoulder level. Before this modification, “I felt moving a lot, I felt my heartbeat and in the prone shooting, it’s very debilitating. I found a lot of stability, it’s perhaps a placebo effect”confides the Jura resident.
With this victory in his pocket, the athlete regained confidence for the rest of the competition. “It’s like a car that arrives a little on the reserve, I was starting to get tired of this level AVERAGE. The World Cup was the first step for me. I have do the square the the car“, he adds.
The World Cup events continue for the biathlete with the pursuit on January 11, 2025. A race that he is preparing with serenity after his victory at the mass start of Prémanon, in the Jura, on January 5 alongside the young shoots of the discipline. “Ça gave me good benchmarks, I hope to do the same tomorrow. With more than ten seconds in advance, I will play it like an individual race and continue to do good laps“, adds the athlete. That’s all we can wish for the Jura native to continue to shine throughout the competition.
