Biathlon | Oberhof – “It’s a lot of emotions”: Quentin Fillon-Maillet, the resurrection after “the stations of the cross”

The relief and his joy on the podium are commensurate with the famine he suffered. Quentin Fillon-Maillet regained an individual race in biathlon, 1037 days after his last victory in Otepaa (Estonia), already in a sprint. Impeccable in shooting and on skis, the double Olympic champion went through long periods of doubt, as he mentioned in Le Grand-Bornand in December. “As much as I progress over the years in biathlon, sometimes we get lost along the way, even with more experience”he indicated, lucid about his situation.

At a press conference after his victory, shared with his two teammates Fabien Claude and Emilien Jacquelin who accompanied him on the podium for a historic hat-trick, he savored everything while remembering what he has been through in recent years. “It’s a lot of emotions, it’s been the path of the cross to get back to victory. It’s been a while since I’ve had such strong feelings in individual races. I’m very satisfied with this race”exclaimed the Jura resident, relieved that the stars had finally aligned.

Shooting success has eluded him lately, this time he reassured himself with a 10/10 despite conditions that were not always easy. He built his return following a weekend at Grand-Bornand which left him with a bitter taste with just a top 10 in the sprint to get his teeth into. After being ill during the French stage and the Christmas holidays, the Jura native is back in the saddle. “I went back to work and asked myself what my solutions were. I called my father to do a session, because he has a slightly different and outside perspective”he explained.

Last weekend, he lined up at the mass start of Prémanon in the Coupe de France, a sign of his motivation to want to adjust to shooting, even if, on this side, the contract was not fulfilled for this training run. “There was a lot more wind than today, and given that I wanted to find my bearings in terms of shooting, that left me in doubt, knowing that I shot 12 out of 20, but it was a very good exercise”he relates. But if training is important, Quentin Fillon-Maillet modified the settings of his rifle, which would have changed everything.

“I added 2 cm to the back of my butt, at the level where I rest my shoulder because before I had a lot of movement, I felt the beating of my heart, so I lacked stability, so lying down it’s still really debilitating (78% success over the season). It’s perhaps a bit of a placebo, because stability doesn’t bring everything either, but in any case the sensations were much better”detailed the winner of the day who will be able to start at the head of the pursuit tomorrow. A position he knows well, as he recalls. “The pursuit marks, I know them, I have not forgotten them.”

The last time he started first in a pursuit, he won it, just before his sprint in Otepaa, in 2022. He came out of the Olympic Games, crowned with his five medals, including 2 gold on the individual and the pursuit. “I will approach it as an individual race, telling myself that there will be no one to help me on the first lap unless I wait for them, but that will not be my objective”anticipated the Frenchman, who does not consider himself arrived and well-groomed, even if this success brings him a lot.

“It gives me a lot of energy. Because winning in the sprint, a format where I am not the most comfortable, that brings a lot… I refueled the car, let’s say”imagined, philosophically, the native of Champagnole. However, he is the first to know that this great performance will have to be confirmed. “I don’t want to get carried away by thinking that just 10 balls put today guarantees me an exceptional end to the season.” He has the opportunity to prove it tomorrow by transforming this great victory into a warning for his opponents.