It was last spring, somewhere in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. Seated in front of us, Julia Simon discussed the importance of digesting the finished season with a large crystal globe under her elbow before thinking about defending her hard-won property from the fall of 2023. In other words, do better as Quentin Fillon-Maillet, emerged completely rinsed from his superhuman 2021-2022 year. The best biathlete in the world had planned everything to “try to relieve the pressure” and was even satisfied with having managed to unwind in the days following her coronation.
Short-lived joy: in July, daily life The Team revealed that Julia Simon was the target of two complaints for bank card fraud, including that of Olympic champion Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, for facts dating back to the summer of 2022, during the Blink Festival in Sandnes, Norway. Simon is accused of having made several purchases on the internet from her computer, using her email address (but not her credit card), for an amount of around 2,300 euros. For the majority it was Go Pro brand devices, which were then delivered directly to the biathlete. If the story is still awaiting its legal epilogue, it will have put a time in a mess a group which is attacking the new season this Saturday in Ostersund (Sweden).
Chronology of facts
> August 2022: Blink Festival, in Sandnes, where the fraud was allegedly committed
> Winter 2022: Justine Braisaz-Bouchet files a complaint
> July 2023: The affair comes to light
> October 2023: Julia Simon returns to the France group
> October 24, 2023: Julia Simon is placed in police custody for a few hours as part of the criminal proceedings. No other deadline is planned for the time being, the investigation is continuing, and it is completely unknown whether it will interfere with the sporting calendar.
Solo summer preparation for Julia Simon
Back with the professional group after a long maternity leave, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet first turned to her teammate and her federation in order to find a solution that would work for everyone. But faced with the prevailing inertia, the Olympic champion finally filed a complaint.
“I tried to reconcile with her and the federation but it didn’t work,” commented Braisaz at the microphone of the Norwegian channel TV2. […] I think the situation is really sad, but I took responsibility. If I didn’t have proof, I wouldn’t have done anything. It was of course not an easy decision. » For her part, Julia Simon disputes the facts and also presents herself as a victim of this incredible affair. “My name was used without my knowledge,” she declared in a interview at Dauphiné […] I think my identity has been stolen. » For which she filed a complaint against X.
To say that Julia Simon had a rocky offseason is almost an understatement. Given the tense collective climate, the champion ostracized herself at the start of her summer preparation, for her own good and in the interest of the collective. She also cut off all her social networks during this period.
She knew how to manage the period very well, reassures Cyril Burdet, the coach of the French women’s biathlon team. We remained in regular contact for everything related to monitoring the preparation, planning, etc. I saw her whenever possible, even if we didn’t see each other physically much during this period. It was an opportunity for her to work differently independently and to take responsibility for her training. She even managed to work on small details that we hadn’t resolved last year. I spent more time slowing her down than pushing her. »
His return to the group, in October, subsequently took place gradually. We had to be careful and manage the frustrations and enmities brought to light by the media coverage of the affair. Lou Jeanmonnot had thus expressed her weariness in the face of a bickering “which could have been resolved in two months”, as she explained on Norwegian TV. “Last year it was very difficult, we tried our best to stand in the middle between Justine and Julia. […] Now I support Justine. Julia made a lot of bad decisions, instead of accepting the hands we held out to her. It makes me a little angry. »
“Friendship is not necessarily necessary” to perform
The speech, dated in August, evolved as the start of the first stage of the season, in Ostersund, approached. “The context might not seem simple in the group,” confided to Dauphiné the 11th overall for the 2023 World Cup. Despite everything, there is no animosity, it could be better, it could be worse. » Between the two declarations, the director of the French teams, Stéphane Bouthiaux, had whistled the end of recess (“non-sporting matters, we no longer want to talk about them at all”) and communication around athletes, usually easier, has become somewhat blocked. Asked about the atmosphere within the group of which she is the eldest, Chloé Chevalier said she preferred “to stay focused on [ses] performance and not comment on the rest.
Difficult in these conditions to accurately measure the impact of the Julia Simon soap opera on the morale of the troops when attacking the opening mixed relays, even if Simon Fourcade, coach of the men’s group, wants to be reassuring. “Everyone discussed, we had meetings with the leaders of the FFS. There were meetings between the girls and Julia, meetings directly with the girls, meetings directly with Julia, and this communication made it possible to create a serene and peaceful working atmosphere, if not friendly. »
“Cohesion around performance and professionalism are possible,” adds Burdet. Friendship is not necessarily necessary to make good competitive partners. We will have to play, which has already been the case in the past, on emulation and on the level of internal performance which is quite incredible. »
We almost forget that the French women’s collective was crowned in relay last year and that they will have a title to defend. Places there will be expensive, but no one will be deprived of them. “We will make the relay compositions that seem most effective to us,” concludes Cyril Burdet. The extra sport will have no impact. » Julia Simon and Justine Braisaz in the same relay from Ostersund, what a shame?