An era or an hour? It is not clear whether the reign started on Saturday by Julia Simon is set to last. This is not common among these ladies, where sixteen biathletes have entered their name on the World Cup list in twenty years (eight for men). But several clues suggest that Julia Simon has a bright future ahead of her.
First element in this sense, his age. 26 years. “It’s the right compromise between experience, experience and quantity of training, believes his coach Cyril Burdet. Julia is in the best period of her career. And we can find points for improvement, small margins of maneuver on certain gestures to make it progress on skis. »
Same with the rifle. “At bedtime, if she holds a level like that (93 %)hat ! says fencing master Jean-Paul Giachino. After, standing (87 %), she can still scratch a few points to be at 90%. But the main thing is to keep this level and this regularity. »
Remain the Oebergs and the Italians
Beyond that, Simon will enjoy a favorable context: Marte Roeiseland, Tiril Eckhoff (the two previous winners of the trophy) and Denise Herrmann-Wick end their careers. Olympic champion Justine Braisaz has certainly planned to make her return, but she has never had the regularity necessary for a winner of the globe. The Oeberg sisters and the Italians Dorothea Wierer and Lisa Vittozzi remain.
But the big positive point is Julia Simon’s temperament: she’s a fighter, a real one. Throughout the winter, she assumed her status as a leader, taking responsibility and leading the peloton in confrontational events, applying her motto: “A yellow bib, it cannot be defended, it will be sought. »
There remains a pitfall to overcome: the digestion of this extraordinary season. ” The challenge, considers Burdet, it is the management of the post-season, especially like the one she has just experienced. The pressures are very important, there are enormous psychological constraints on seasons like that.. Quentin Fillon Maillet will indeed be able to explain to him how difficult it is.