We’re not yet talking about scarcity, because it’s only ever been two stages, but we’ve been so spoiled by this French team that we’re not far from finding the time long. So of course there is the dazzling Julia Simon among the ladies, but on the men’s side, the Blues of biathlon did not raise their arms either in Kontiolahti or in Hochfilzen, and it is not in their habits.
It was perhaps to better shine in front of the French public, from this Thursday at Grand-Bornand. Last year, Quentin Fillon Maillet won the pursuit there, then Emilien Jacquelin the mass-start. The Grenoblois hopes to do at least as well there, he is the strong man of the Blues at the start of the season with his three podiums in a row. Proof, perhaps, that everything is coming together after a preparation that he wanted more muscular than usual. And that he has finally found the right way to live his races. His big quest for the season, as he told us during a meeting just before the first stage in Finland.
What have you changed in your preparation compared to previous seasons?
I did a longer period at altitude, to put my body to the test. Behind you are more tired, but it allows you to chain high intensity efforts more easily. These are choices I made to be in top form at the time of the world championships (February 8 to 19 in Oberhof).
What do you remember from last season, when it started very strong before declining a little?
In fact, I keep everything. Obviously the start of the season is perfect, in December I have the yellow bib (of the overall leader of the World Cup), the rest is less beautiful but I still have two Olympic medals, a podium at the end of the season so that I was bad. I remember that in these difficulties, I fought. This podium in Oslo (3rd in the mass-start, the very last race of the season) is a symbol. I was more inclined, when things weren’t working, to give up. It was important to end on this. I think I’ve turned a corner physically, again, and in shooting I know it’s a question of state of mind. I have all the abilities to do great things. When everything is connected, I don’t limit myself, I’m not afraid of anyone.
Where are you in your mental work? You always feel that frustration when you miss…
Oh yes, crazy! When I don’t succeed it frustrates me a lot. I don’t train to finish 30th, but to be on the podium, to win. When I get there there is a personal satisfaction, but at the same time I worked for it. On the other hand, when I don’t lose, it’s pure frustration, I feel ashamed. It is something that has evolved over time, in the wrong direction. The more I put in great performances, the more I felt like I had a place to hold. This is where you have to be careful, because you put too much pressure on yourself, you tend to see only the negative and never be satisfied. It can become harmful, and that’s what happened to me last year.
The goal this season is to find pleasure, then?
Yes pleasure, relaxation, and above all I will try to find kindness towards myself. Being able to accept that sometimes things go less well, because I’m always too logical to seek the purest performance possible, in every detail. You also have to accept that sometimes you will get a good result without being on top. You can win without having an extraordinary race, but I’m always going to want all the elements to be in place for me to win. I want to be able to give my maximum each time without seeing only the negative.
On a run with 20 shots, if you miss two on the first down, you will ruminate rather than aim for 18/20?
That is exactly the point. Until now, if I take out two I’m going to tell myself that it’s dead for the win. It will be my first thought, and it is not a positive thought, and therefore it is not what will make me move faster on the skis and perform. But already last year I turned a corner, because I managed to better manage my emotions despite sometimes chaotic departures. I have to continue and make further progress on this.
Because physically, you are one of the best…
On this aspect, yes, I know that I now have the level to play all the time in front. But precisely, I have to tame it because it changes the way of seeing the races. When I was younger, I had to try to succeed. Today, I no longer have to. If I just do what I know how to do, it’s ok. So it’s a different state of mind, especially for shooting. Where before they were an ally, a kind of bonus, that is to say that if I put them on it could do something incredible, there it can quickly be seen in the opposite direction: If I don’t put them on, It’s chaos.
So your goal is to approach shooting in a more positive way?
In a more benevolent way, with more hindsight, I would say. But the main thing is the will. Sometimes I lacked motivation. I must dare to have high goals and achieve them. Not hiding behind the fear of disappointing, of not doing as well as I imagined.
What do you think about when you disappoint yourself, because you are seen…
(He cuts) I’m ashamed, disgusted, I tell myself that I’m disappointing everyone, the coaches, my family, the people who follow me, me. It’s terrible in my head, it’s like the sky is falling on me. It’s stupid, because it’s still just sport. And even if my career ended there, I still accomplished great things. But by wanting too much to do well, sometimes you get lost, and that was the case. That’s why this season I really want to reconnect with myself, do it just for myself, not for others, because even though I know that when I have my style on the attack, offensive, that pleases everyone, we must not fall into the side of doing more to please people. No, I’m just doing it for me, that’s how I’m most successful.
How do you explain that you often get a good result right after a failed race?
It’s ego I think. I’m at a point where I’m convinced that sometimes I need to be aggressive, to be angry, against me or someone else, to perform. This is what often happens on the second day of racing. Sometimes I’m a little too soft on the first day. Of course I do my race, I try to ski as fast as possible, to put the balls, but there is not this black look. This thing is missing. And often, on a chase or a mass-start, I’m so pissed off about what I’ve done before, that I have a score to settle with myself. Y’all will be there to watch, but this is me facing myself. The gaze of others is often too important to me. The times I do big errands are when I manage to ignore everything.
How to keep this state of mind?
The problem is that I was always told about the general, and that is logical too. But suddenly I was doing things for others, not for myself. When I have the yellow bib, I tell myself I’m going to behave like a yellow jersey. No. I must behave as I have always behaved. That’s something I learned last year.
Finally, this yellow bib does not correspond to you 100%?
I would love to win it, but between that and a world or Olympic title, I think I prefer titles. Anyway if I want to win the general classification, it will go through being myself in all the races, playing them all really hard. If I calculate, if I start saying to myself “ok I’m 2nd overall, I’m so many points behind, there are six races left”, etc., it won’t work. My strength is being able to put a lot of commitment into each race. I need to be aggressive. I am not like Quentin (Fillon Maillet), or like Martin (Fourcade). It’s my way. And so far it has worked. Some would say it works one out of three times, but if I let myself be the way I am all the time, maybe it would work more often. The goal is really to put that in place throughout this season.