Ruhpolding – Mass Start – “He never gives up”: Emilien Claude, the youngest has grown up a lot

We were no longer expecting it, and now it struck. Émilien Claude changed dimension this week in Ruhpolding (Germany). The 25-year-old Frenchman scored his first World Cup podium on Wednesday (2nd). “It's a lot of emotion and pride, but also a relief. I don't feel like my life is changing, but that the work is paying off after 4 complicated years“, reacted the man from the Vosges.

The youngest of the Claude brothers didn't stop there. Selected to launch the French relay for the first time, Emilien signed alongside his brother Fabien, his very first success. “The first claudium”, this is how bib number 1 named the performance that he hopes to one day repeat. This Sunday, it is on the mass start that he will have the opportunity to decorate his bouquet of flowers a little more in the white temple of Bavaria.

Like his brother Fabien (30 years old) and the eldest Florent (33 years old, who runs with Belgium), Emilien logically fell into biathlon near Basse-sur-le-Rupt (Vosges). “He has two biathlete brothers so we also use that, explains his mental trainer Pier Gauthier. From the moment his brother, Fabien, made a podium a few weeks before (3rd again in the sprint on Monday) we can discuss together to get inspiration from that“.

For a year and a half, the strong 1m83 biathlete started this mental work, after following a roller coaster trajectory. Gold medalist at the Lillehammer Youth Games in 2016, the Vosges native arrives as the French hope of his generation. Formidable among the juniors, Emilien Claude breaks everything at the Obertilliach Worlds in 2021: two individual coronations (sprint and pursuit) and one in relay, the kid is already making a name for himself.

The sequel is far from being as brilliant. “Emilien was very strong as a youngster, but he does not confirm immediately on the pro circuit, continues Pier Gauthier. In addition, he went back and forth between the World Cup and the IBU Cup, which could have shaken the confidence he had in himself“. Capable of beating the best Norwegians on the secondary circuit, the young man is too irregular at the higher stage. Aside from his first top 10 in Ostersund and a 20/20 in November 2023, this fan of tennis and of Rafael Nadal doesn't have much to eat, and is having a hard time with it.

That week, the youngest of the siblings Claude even had to take part in his first relay before a health problem prevented him from doing so. Not the last. “Last year, when I finally put my finger on what was wrong, my intestinal problem which had been bothering me for several years, I felt that I still had some great biathlon races to do in my careerexplained the person concerned. But if I hadn't had the support of my sponsors and those close to me, I might have already stopped my career“.

The one who started STAPS studies owes the pursuit of his career and recent successes above all to his self-sacrifice. “For me it is a great inspiration. When he has bad races, he always finds the positive and never gives up. It's amazing and I'm sure it helped him“, explained to Nordic Magazine his partner Anna Gandler, also a biathlon professional under the Austrian banner.

With her, Emilien Claude shares shooting sessions, which he particularly appreciates and where he performs to the point of feeling emotion when he achieves a flawless shot. Recently, he had to resolve a technical problem with his rifle which “almost made him cry”. In the end, it was worth it since it was a 20/20 which allowed him to shine on the Ruhpolding individual and to finally reveal himself to the eyes of the world. And now ? “When you do a performance like that, you can hear things like “the hardest part is confirming“So he can put additional pressure on himself” continues his mental trainer. For Fabien Claude, the trigger is irreversible. “Today he proves himself to himself, he proves to everyone that he is there and that we will have to count on him for the next few years“, explained the big brother.