It is not his first, far from it, and yet the title of world champion won by Martin Fourcade this Friday during the individual at Antholz has a really special scent. There is the fact of joining Ole Einar Bjoerndalen in the biathlon history books with 11 individual world gold medals (the Norwegian, however, totals 20 by counting the relays, against 12 for the French), of course, but not only. Perhaps, surely even, this title will keep a very special place for Fourcade because it arrives a year after having touched the bottom of the abyss in which it had fallen, with an unworthy 39th place on this same format at the Ostersund Worlds.
🇫🇷😍 Martin Fourcade WORLD CHAMPION!
He won his 25th little globe by the way ... 🔮👀 # lequipeBIATHLON pic.twitter.com/40DqeQ24CY
“My early career may have been too good for me to realize how difficult it was to win a medal. This one, I know all its difficulty ”, he recognized on the set of the L'Equipe chain a few minutes after this coronation. "I struggled last year, I suffered, I took a lot on me," he added later in a press conference. My body and mind were empty and I couldn't find the benchmarks that had made me a good sportsman. It was a big period of questioning, of doubt. I thought I couldn't come back. "
Will all this weigh in his choice to continue or not his career?
Hence the simple pleasure, already, of being there and fit enough to play in front when arriving at Antholz. Something had changed with him since his superb month of January, everyone around him could feel it. Sign among others, Stéphane Bouthiaux, who has coached the Pyrenees since his 17 years, admitted that he had never seen him as happy with a bronze medal as after the sprint, last Saturday. Bouthiaux, moreover, who said he was "more moved" on Wednesday than during his foal's first world title (in 2011). "He struggled so much last year, it hurt me to see him like that. "
💬 “I am perhaps even more moved than during his first world champion title”
The reaction of Stéphane Bouthiaux, director of the French team. # LequipeBIATHLON pic.twitter.com/mIn4F2io8o
Today, he is, once again, the strong man of a great competition. Quentin Fillon Maillet and especially Johannes Boe seemed a little notch above. Result, it is the most regular. Third in the sprint, fourth in the pursuit, and this title, therefore, to top it all and establish a little more his status as a legend in his sport. Pending the relay with friends (Saturday) and the mass-start (Sunday) to conclude. Will all this weigh in his choice to continue or not his career at the end of this season? We won't know right away, but Martin Fourcade has proven himself that he can continue to do what he (almost) always did: win.
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Biathlon: "Martin is someone who doesn't give himself much" ... Does Fourcade compete in his last Worlds?
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