For her first season in the Biathlon World Cup, Océane Michelon (22 years old) will cross paths with the legend Johannes Boe. And in particular this week on the Grand-Bornand stage where the Frenchwoman received a nice gift from the Norwegian when she was only 11 years old.
Océane Michelon will discover for the first time the slopes and the shooting range of Grand-Bornand and its popular fervor. Winner of the IBU Cup last season, the 22-year-old Savoyard is one of the revelations of the French team at the start of the World Cup season, with a good eleventh place in the general classification before this French stage.
>> Follow the biathlon races in Grand-Bornand
But this is not the first time that the Habs have set foot in the stadium. In 2013 she was already there as a spectator and she has particularly vivid memories of it.
“Johannes (Boe) gave me her winner’s bouquet after the chase,” she remembers before the races in France. “It was his second career victory and he gave me the bouquet. I still have it!”
“I had just started biathlon and it really motivated me”
A cult object carefully preserved eleven years later. “It’s very good! It was painted with my mother, we did everything well so that it is still beautiful today”, enthuses Océane Michelon again. “He’s still alive and I have the little photo in the phone.”
At the time, Océane Michelon was 11 years old. “It was his debut, he was the youngest at the time to have a victory in the World Cup. I had just started biathlon and that really motivated me,” adds the Frenchwoman. “It’s cool to be here today with him, talking about it and laughing about it.”
Boe confident for Michelon
A story that she also told in a video from the International Biathlon Federation posted on social networks. A publication commented on Instagram by Johannes Boe himself.
“Great story,” exclaims the seven-time Norwegian overall World Cup winner. “I’m sure you’ll win your own bouquet this weekend! The top 6 are coming.”
Océane Michelon took a seventh place in the first race of the season in Kontiolahti, one place ahead of the “flower ceremony” which in biathlon rewards the first six in each race.
France
