Sunday during the pursuit, Quentin Fillon Maillet won his fourth medal of the Beijing Olympics, the second in gold.
The Jurassic appears as the worthy successor of Martin Fourcade.
QFM was however not expected at such a level when he started his career.
From our special correspondent in Zhangjiakou,
Enter here, Quentin Fillon Maillet.
By winning the pursuit on Sunday evening, with a mind-blowing 20/20 in shooting and despite a delay of 26 seconds on Johannes Boe, all in weather conditions at the limit of unbearable for a polar bear, QFM became the first French athlete to history to win four medals in a single Winter Olympics.
The day before, he explained to us that he wanted to make history, the next day he does.
Easy, right?
The worst thing is that he is quite capable of exploding this in the days to come since he still has three races to go (two individual and a relay).
He also warned us in the calmest way possible: “I'm not going to stop as long as it works”.
True, that would be stupid.
Dream games 😭✨🥇
.
📸 K. Voigt pic.twitter.com/19G6GVDfAc
— Quentin Fillon Maillet (@quentinfillon) February 13, 2022
The weirdest thing about all this, when you put the crutch on and pull over to the side to meditate on the passage of time, is that it's hard to see what we missed with Fillon Mallet.
It's true, let's say things to each other, a few years ago, when Martin Fourcade was rolling around the world of the "bibi" and taking all the media light to him, we would not have bet a kopeck on QFM for succeed him.
And then, speaking with those who know him, we realize that we are absolutely not the only ones in this case.
Starting with the boss himself.
Passing through the mixed zone to mark the occasion, Martin Fourcade indulges in confessions: “I would never have seen him reach this level.
If someone had asked me if Quentin would be able to do that, I would have said no.
When I saw him land in 2013, I immediately detected in him mental qualities, combativeness, he was a scabby who never let go of anything.
It's not for nothing that it was called the noughts and crosses!
But I would never have imagined him with such a level of overall mastery of this sport.
Moreover, few are those who can say that they saw it coming ten years ago.
»
A methodical construction towards the peaks of Olympus
This is also what Vincent Vittoz said before the start of the Games: "Quentin was not the most gifted at the start".
That's the thing in fact: unlike a Martin Fourcade who was, as it were, programmed to be a champion, who immediately exploded everything in his path, Quentin Fillon Maillet needed more time to become the monster he is today.
“He built himself by optimizing his potential to its maximum, analyzes the triple gold medalist in Pyeongchang.
Maybe he needed more time to hatch.
Asked on the evening of his silver medal during the sprint, Simon Fourcade held more or less the same speech as his brother about the new boss of the tricolor biathlon.
“I find him brilliant.
He acquired a maturity and a way of doing things that he knew how to build and that he didn't have at the start.
He is someone who has learned from his mistakes to evolve year after year on the world circuit.
Every year, he has been able to tick boxes, a kind of “to-do list”: stop farting on the second race of the week, check.
No longer last two weeks but three, check.
Managing major events without necessarily having bloodshed, check.
He put everything to the end to become what he is today.
For four years, the quadruple Olympic medalist has indeed surrounded himself with a small army of specialists to accompany him and guide him to the heights.
Here a nutritionist, there a mental trainer, QFM has left nothing to chance in its quest for perfection.
“When I was little, I dreamed of being the best biathlete in the world, Olympic winner, winner of the crystal globe.
I wanted to mark the history of biathlon.
It's done today, four medals in four races, it's way beyond my dreams,” he exults in the mixed zone while we dance the sirtaki to warm up.
Before detailing the process that led to all this: “I don’t really believe in stories of fate.
I am the actor of all this, there has been so much investment in the past.
Throughout this preparation, I met people who gave me more confidence in myself.
And today I'm no longer afraid to go play, I'm no longer afraid of having big ambitions.
I'm no longer afraid to win.
»
QFM,
cool as a cucumber
In the game of comparison (inevitable although not always relevant) with its illustrious elder, there is one thing in particular that differs between QFM and MF.
Which ?
“Quentin is much cooler and much more serene than I could be at the Olympics.
It's great to see him collect medals as if he were on the Grand Prix of Saint-Laurent-en-Grandvaux in the Jura!
laughs the young retiree.
Roommate of the Franc-Comtois at these Beijing Games, Simon Desthieux confirms that the man goes through the events (and the medals) like Obélix goes through the pies with the Romans.
“With him it's: the day's race is over, we move on to the next one.
He has this ability to always bounce back and to be mobilized and 200% for each race.
It's quite mind-blowing.
»
We say Obelix, but others have given him a nickname long before us: Robocop.
Simon Fourcade: “These are young people who have gone up to train with group A in recent years who have given it to him by dint of seeing him repeat the efforts without ever slowing down.
He's a metronome, he puts such a commitment training after training, and he always manages to keep this same level of requirement.
He never weakens.
Hence Robocop.
»
As for knowing if he can still go higher – if indeed it is fucking possible – Vincent Vittoz, the coach of the France team, wants to be realistic: “Come on, he has what?
29 years.
Let's say he may have a small margin physically, on the firing line it's starting to be more and more solid.
Afterwards, the margins are tiny.
We tell ourselves that if he stays at this level, it will already be enough!
".
Sport
Olympic Games 2022 – Biathlon: Second Olympic title for legend Fillon Maillet... Relive this fabulous pursuit live
Sport
Olympic Games 2022: Gold for Quentin Fillon Maillet, dream Sunday for Olympic France... Relive the events with us
China
Martin fourcade
Biathlon
Quentin Fillon Maillet
Winter Olympics 2022
Sport
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