"The Olympic medal or the crystal globe, it was not an end for me", slice the five-time medalist of the Beijing Games - two in gold, three in silver - and winner of the general classification of the World Cup l last winter.

On the contrary: the ambitions of the young thirty-year-old are as high as the sky is low above the Finnish forest with its icy branches.

"The objective that I set myself over four years, (it is) to do even better at the Milan Games (in 2026) than in Beijing, and to win the four big globes until then, plus the World Championships ", he unfolds without boasting.

"It's just huge. But that's what I want to do."

"There are always more requirements. I am not less motivated, quite the contrary", warns the Jura, whose first victory in the World Cup dates back only to 2019.

Individual world gold is the only one missing from his prestigious record.

"The more he wins, the more he wants"

"Quentin, he is still in the novelty, he still really wants, his thirst for victory is still there. His motivation is even reinforced: I would say that the more he wins, the more he wants to win. He is driven by this challenge to confirm", according to the coach of the French men's team Vincent Vittoz, interviewed by AFP.

French biathlon champion Quentin Fillon Maillet poses with the discipline's world champion trophy on March 23, 2022 in Paris JOEL SAGET AFP / Archives

"He deeply loves his sport," he continues.

"I define him as curious: he always has this desire to look for details, areas for improvement. He showed last year that he could still pass huge milestones, especially in terms of mental and emotional stability. at the time of major events, and he still has this thirst for discovery and to do even better."

On the strength of his two Olympic titles (individual and pursuit) and five medals in six races in Beijing, the large crystal globe and two small ones (sprint and pursuit), and ten victories in the 2021/2022 vintage World Cup, Fillon -Maillet feels "more armed" than ever.

"Last season, I felt new things that allowed me to go for these victories and", he hopes, "I will continue to take advantage of all this to be even better."

Last winter, it was in Kontiolahti that Fillon-Maillet had released his brand new status as Olympic champion.

Brilliantly, since he had succeeded in the sprint-pursuit double.

At the beginning of March, the first stage of the post-JO-2022 World Cup was then the first without Russian or Belarusian biathletes, dismissed in reaction to the invasion of Ukraine and remained excluded since.

For the first time, all World Cup races will count in the general classification (the two worst results were removed until then).

With the individual on Tuesday, the men's relay on Thursday, then the sprint and the pursuit this weekend, the Finnish week offers him four cartridges.

© 2022 AFP