After an excellent start to the winter in the IBU Cup, Paula Botet (24) created a surprise by signing the first victory of her career in the World Cup on the occasion of her return to the world circuit this Thursday, in a sprint, in Oberhof (Germany).
So you had to have seen this one coming! That the one who had bet on a victory for Paula Botet (24 years old) for her return to the World Cup raise your hand! In typical Oberhof conditions (downpours and gusts of wind), the Vosgienne, who had not raced at this level since March 2023, amazed everyone. “Something crazy!” », blurted out her teammate Jeanne Richard to The Team Channel.
“Soaked”, “Refrigerated”, the daughter of Véronique Claudel, Olympic relay champion in Albertville in 1992, became the thirteenth French woman to win on the world circuit. “It was a dream of a little girl and a big girl, but it seems crazy to me that it’s happening for real,” she explained for long minutes after being left speechless on television.
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“When I cross the line and I am told that I am in the lead, I tell myself that there are inevitably girls who will pass me in front,” she rewinded. “Afterwards, I go to change, I look at my phone and I see that I am still. I come out, people start to tell me: ”It’s done, you’ve won”. I said to myself: ”There must be one who will pass in front” and that didn’t happen… » Her first pursuer, the Norwegian Maren Kirkeeide failing at 31 seconds!
A “complete biathlete”, a “tremendous competitor”
With twelve World Cup starts, Paula Botet had prepared for the winter of 2023-2024 with Group A before it was spoiled by injuries. “I had trapped popliteal artery syndrome,” she explained. His artery was ”trapped” by a muscle below the knee, which slowed blood circulation. Before continuing with periostitis. “I ended the winter sad, but full of hope. I knew deep down that I was on the right path. »
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His interview after his success
Baptiste Desthieux and Julien Robert, IBU Cup Blue coaches with whom she prepared and ran at the start of winter, remember: “The priority was to get her back on her feet and by the fall she was really in shape and able to play with the older players in the Summer Round. She had a very good start to the season (n°1 in the IBU Cup) and when we saw her level of performance, we suspected that she could achieve a top 10/15 finish in the World Cup. »
“Complete biathlete” and “tremendous competitor”for Baptiste Desthieux, who discovered her in the Junior Cup “when she was barely an adult”, she went “from a very young girl who started in group A, to a young woman who knows who she is , where she wants to go and what she wants. And who can now talk about his dreams of winning the World Cup in the past tense.
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