When Cyril Burdet, the coach of the French biathlon team, drew up for us before the Ostersund stage the list of Lou Jeanmonnot’s objectives in 2023-24, he perhaps did not expect to see his skier in validate as much from the first fortnight. “Taste the podium again”, check, with the added bonus of a sprint-pursuit double that very few have accomplished. “Confirm your progress uphill”, check also, it was on an uphill section that the Frenchwoman hurt Franziska Preuss at the end of the race, last Sunday, before finishing off the German in a sprint, “one of [ses] strong points “.
As a result, Lou Jeanmonnot will parade in Hochfilzen with the red sprint and pursuit bib, a few months after having paraded in another uniform, that of the army of champions, on July 14 on the Champs-Elysées. The more stressful of the two? “Biathlon, of course,” she said without a shadow of hesitation. 20 minutes. I told myself that if I took a wrong step on the Champs, I would come across as not very intelligent (laughs) but that wouldn’t have bothered me. Whereas the wrong step in a biathlon race really annoys me! »
Demoted from the IBU Cup to the Coupe de France
If Lou Jeanmonnot today gives the impression of skipping steps to the point that her friend and former rival among the juniors, Myrtille Bègue, sees her “winning the general, and that will not be a surprise”, the 25-year-old Jurassian experienced some struggles before breaking through to the highest level.
About four years ago, when she was in the IBU Cup [la D2 du biathlon] with average results, she went back down to the lower floor [la Coupe de France], says the former coach of the Bleues, Frédéric Jean, now a consultant for La Chaîne L’Equipe. It had been very hard mentally, she had been asked to come home. The kind of episode that’s hard to take. »
“It was in 2019-2020, a period to which we must add Covid,” continues the double winner in Ostersund. I was very sad to go down, especially since I didn’t understand this decision, I found it unfair. » Her debut among the seniors contrasts with the golden era among the juniors, which she left with a big globe under her arm in 2018. “If she didn’t confirm right away on the IBU Cup [25e en 2019, 33e en 2020]it was because he had to progress physically,” explains Frédéric Jean.
Jeanmonnot will find a way to get back on track and knock on the door of the Biathlon World Cup in March 2021, in Nove Mesto. At the age of 22, she scored her first points there for her baptism into the elite. In the French team, Anaïs Bescond, “the big sister”, takes her under her wing, charmed by the character and the athlete in whom she recognizes herself. “The difficulties she encountered spoke to me,” confides the Olympic champion. I wanted to help him not fall into traps that I knew. »
A year later, takeoff resulted in hovering. Jeanmonnot gained experience on the main circuit, although limited by the density of talents (Braisaz, Simon, Bescond, Chevalier, etc.), then finally won the general of the IBU Cup and his starting place in the team from France at the same time. Frédéric Jean: “I take my hat off to her, because she could have become discouraged when she saw that things were not progressing and put on the flashing light like others before them” She vaguely thought about it. “I told myself that if I spent two more years plateauing, no longer progressing, I would stop. »
On Martin Fourcade’s shooting standards
Those who know her doubt that she would have been capable of it. Too stubborn, too determined, too good with the rifle, too, to be able to give up. Lou Jeanmonnot grew up near a shooting range, did 10m shooting in college, 50m sports shooting during his adolescence, and we should perhaps see in this precocity with his gun in hand the secret of his crazy success against the targets in Ostersund (97% on prone shooting, 92% on standing shooting, knowing that Martin Fourcade was on average at 91% accuracy). “I have always been good at shooting or at least in the high-average range since I started biathlon. There is a bit of innate and a lot of acquired, I don’t know how to explain it. »
Myrtille Bègue sees clearly what her friend is talking about when she remembers their very young years. “Since she was little, in categories where everyone shoots at 3/10, she was already at 8/10. She had a lot of talent, and I had a lot of difficulty with this exercise, so naturally, I asked her how she did it. Even though she wanted to help me, she couldn’t. She told me “I lie down, I settle in, I shoot and I leave.” It was quite funny. » Frédéric Jean sees in this lightness the strong point of the young Frenchwoman’s shooting.
“She doesn’t let herself be overwhelmed by parasitic thoughts. When I see her shooting, I see someone having fun behind the rifle, who takes it like a real game.” Lou Jeanmonnot on skis like at the funfair? “I haven’t tried it yet, but maybe one day I’ll show up at a funfair and do like in the movies and leave with a big stuffed animal,” she laughs. Or a crystal globe. That wouldn’t be bad too, wouldn’t it?