Julia Simon -
Matthias Schrader / AP / SIPA
Julia Simon arrives with confidence at the World Biathlon Championships in Pokljuka.
The Frenchwoman won the Oberhof and Antholz mass start.
It will be eagerly awaited at the world championships.
It is a paradox as sport can offer us.
On the eve of the World Biathlon Championships in Pokljuka, the Frenchwoman to whom all eyes will turn is not the best ranked in the World Cup - this honor goes to Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet, 9th overall.
But Julia Simon (11th) has for her this red bib from the mass start, the result of her two consecutive victories in the specialty at Oberhof and Antholz.
A stroke of radiance necessarily more
flashy
than the regularity to which it aspires in the long term.
In the meantime, she is confident in her ability to extend her virtuous cycle in Slovenia, with the little globe in the back of her head but without obsession.
How were these two weeks between Antholz and the Worlds?
It was rest on the first part.
It was quiet to recover on the start.
Then we set off again on a weight training block at low intensities and then it was already time to set off again.
It goes quite quickly after all.
There was a 15-day break so we will have to make sure to restart the machine.
But all is well and there is no reason for things to be any different from Antholz.
I am rather confident and satisfied with the 15 days spent at home.
You arrive in Pokljuka with two victories on mass start and a bib number leader in the specialty as a bonus.
What has it changed in your season?
It's nice (laughs).
It came after failures and disappointments.
It was a goal to be able to get back on the podiums this winter and there I can capitalize on three great races, which is important.
In the boys too, there is a special thing about the direct confrontation races.
Is it a French particular?
No, I think it's personal.
Concerning myself, it's easier to focus on myself and my race when there are people around.
And that transcends me too, that's what I like about confrontation.
At the moment, I work better on these formats, yes, but I try to be it everywhere and I try to understand why it works better in group races rather than in individual.
The long-term goal will also be to seek consistency in individual races.
How to keep the confidence that you have accumulated before a big deadline like the Worlds with 15 days of break?
I admit that I haven't necessarily talked to those around me about how to capitalize on this.
We know that in biathlon, anything can happen overnight, so once we find good feelings, we get down to keeping them.
On skis for example, I tell myself that I was very good at Antholz and that there is no reason why I should lose 20 seconds on my times two weeks later.
We try to stay on that, but I don't need to be told "you had a good race two weeks ago, it's going to be fine".
On the other hand, I take advantage of the training sessions to find calm behind my rifle, to be concentrated and to apply myself.
I don't really like to rehash what happened two weeks ago.
When we are in front, we must move forward.
I can't tell myself that I won two races to reassure myself.
I try to manage the parameters that I can control as well as possible.
When things go wrong, it's the same, there's no point in constantly remembering it.
If you stay ten days on it, it's wasted time.
We must constantly rebuild and therefore train.
You talk about looking forward.
There are the Worlds but also a small globe of the mass start that is emerging.
Do you think about it?
Of course, it's present in my head.
Everyone talks to me about it.
I did not tick that race at the Worlds.
I don't say to myself "this is the race I have to win".
No, it's putting pressure on yourself.
Whatever the race, as soon as I get behind the gantry I'll do my best.
There will be this red jersey on the mass start, yes, but we must not put all the pressure on it, even if I obviously want to defend this bib.
But I can't handle everything either, I don't know what my opponents will do.
We will see what happens and we will count the points at the end.
There is increasing media attention around you.
You can become the first Frenchwoman to win a small globe since Sandrine Bailly in 2008…
Obviously everyone talks to me about this jersey, this mass start, the Worlds.
But we must not forget that the mass start of the Worlds, it will arrive at the end and I will not think about it before.
I'm not going to start thinking about that, there are a lot of races ahead and you have to put your priorities where they are.
So race after race.
We will see at the end of the Worlds whether or not I can win this jersey.
But that, I will think about it the day before the mass start, not before.
The flip side is the pressure, but the good side is that with the withdrawal of Martin Fourcade, the light is better distributed between the two French teams, right?
Yes, even if I admit not having raced for many years with Martin, I have come to the end of his career.
But we still have the boys who are very good and that's good, I have the impression that we are still talking about biathlon.
Afterwards, do we get more spotlight on us?
I didn't pay too much attention, I don't ask myself these kinds of questions.
But of course we also want to be present, to achieve results and we want to show it.
We're no less good than the boys and it's a great reward to be able to be on a mixed relay where it's boys and girls and it's an honor to be able to represent France in a race like that.
With the desire to do better than at the last Worlds, where it did not go well?
What is past is past.
It was complicated for everyone.
We learned from it and we want to do better.
Like I say, I don't want to think about what happened last year for 15 days, it's no use.
It went badly, but we must especially try to understand why to try not to do it again.
There it is a little different.
I have more podiums than last year, I arrive with more confidence and serenity.
Last year is a thing of the past.
Sport
Biathlon: New queen of the mass-start, Julia Simon likes it when it beats on the skis
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