Océane Michelon will experience her baptism of fire this Friday afternoon in the Aravis cauldron. Since her beginnings in biathlon in the Bauges and her memories as a young spectator in the finish area of Grand-Bornand, Océane Michelon has dreamed and worked to in turn experience these emotions in a world-level competition.
This month of December 2013 was the one where a certain Johannes Boe revealed himself to the world of biathlon by winning, at the age of twenty, the sprint and the pursuit, beating the then God of the stadium, Martin Fourcade, to the post.
When a biathlon legend gave him a bouquet
At the time, in the finish area, Océane Michelon was 11 years old: “My greatest memory is when Johannes gave me his winner’s bouquet. It was Sunday, time for the chase. At the time, he was the youngest person to have won a Coupe du world. And in fact, I’m going to start biathlon, so it really motivated me. she remembers. Today, Norwegian Johannes Boe has become a biathlon legend: five-time Olympic champion, five-time overall World Cup winner and twenty-time world champion. And when Océane Michelon meets him, she takes pleasure in remembering this anecdote: “It’s really cool to be there with him and chat a little bit about it and laugh about it.” Today.
“Ski the right way, shoot the right way”
And yes, because twelve years later, the young Savoyard joined the big leagues! Better still, she scored her first top 10 during the first sprint of the season in Finland. Today, in this French stage of the World Cup in Grand-Bornand, in Haute-Savoie, Océane continues her learning in front of a hot audience. But without complexes or apprehension. The young biathlete just followed some advice from her friends: “friends told us to really keep it simple. There’s nothing that changes, you just have to take a step back and breathe. And then everything will be fine. What’s most important in the end is to ski the right way and shoot the right way and then the rest is a bonus.” she explains.
The super bonus would be the medal of a podium to join, in the trophy case, the bouquet of Johannes Boe: “it was painted, I did everything well, with my mother so that it always remained alive. I also have the little photo on the phone and that’s it” smiles Océane, ready to challenge the biggest. See you this Friday, from 2:20 p.m., for the women’s sprint.
Program for this biathlon world cup stage in Grand-Bornand
- December 19: men’s sprint (2:20 p.m.)
- December 20: women’s sprint (2:20 p.m.)
- December 21: pursuits for men (12:30 p.m.) and women (2:45 p.m.)
- December 22: mass start for men (12:30 p.m.) and women (2:45 p.m.)
