The quirky Frenchman is already an established name on the World Cup circuit, and not just because of his unmistakable massive moustache. He already has bronze from both the Olympics and the World Cup in his collection. And he was also thinking about medal honors during the weekend in Finland.
“I’ve never been on the podium in a World Cup distance race before. Now I want to put everything into it to get there,” he made ambitions before the start.
And he also managed to fulfill them for part of the race, because he stayed in the best group of elite competitors. But in one moment everything went wrong. The native of Annecy stopped and began to vomit.
Photo: Repro Viaplay
Frenchman Hugo Lapalus vomited on the track during the race in LahtiPhoto: Repro Viaplay
“I don’t know what happened to me at all. I had planned to get it all out, but my stomach obviously didn’t like that tactic. I had to stop in the middle of a well-run race and start throwing up. It couldn’t be stopped,” he complained in an interview with the newspaper Expressen.
It was clear that breakfast was going out
His woes were captured live by television cameras. “It wasn’t well-timed because I felt in great shape today, I had great skis and I love racing here,” the Frenchman regretted.
Understandably, his problems did not escape even his biggest competitors. “He started coughing, stopped and it was clear to me that breakfast was going to go out,” said the third Swede William Poromaa at the finish line.
Despite the great difficulties, Lapalus did not give up the race. But he had to settle for nineteenth place instead of medal places.
