She had had “shaky legs” at the end of her sprint on Friday, finishing in a disappointing 10th place. But on Sunday February 12, Julia Simon left her opponents no chance, winning as the boss. The Frenchwoman won the pursuit of the biathlon world championships in Oberhof, Germany, well ahead of local Denise Herrmann-Wick (27 seconds behind) and Norwegian Marte Olsbu Roiseland (38 seconds).
A success not so unexpected given the yellow jersey of leader of the World Cup classification that she has worn on her shoulders since the start of the season. But it was acquired at the cost of a crazy comeback, she who had to make up more than a minute behind the head of the race (the runners set off with the delays recorded in relation to the winner at the finish of the sprint race) to win. The Savoyard accomplished this feat in particular thanks to an almost perfect shot (19/20).
At 26, Julia Simon thus achieved a first major success in her career, she who was playing before this winter in the shadow of her teammates in the France team. During the 2022 Beijing Olympics, she had to settle for places of honor while Justine Braisaz-Bouchet won the title on the mass start and Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet, the silver medal on the individual. “Julia has always been Justine’s shadow,” recalled her compatriot Marie Dorin-Habert, five-time biathlon world champion, in early February in Ouest-France. The parallel was all the easier to draw between the two biathletes since they were born in the same year, in 1996.
Long in the shadow of other French people
So far, Julia Simon had to share her medals, like her world title in the single mixed relay in 2021 in Pokljuka (Slovenia), her silver medal in the mixed relay at the 2022 Olympics, and her bronze medal won. in the same discipline on Friday at Oberhof. Far from the successes of a Quentin Fillon Maillet (five medals at the Olympic Games and the big crystal globe, rewarding the winner of the general classification, last season), she could count her individual victories in the World Cup on the fingers of a glove. (four) before this winter which took it to a new dimension.
Often erratic in her previous seasons, Julia Simon has turned into a model of consistency this winter by playing the leading roles in almost every one of her races. Finished the places of honor, she also took advantage of the start of winter to rack up successes in pursuit (two before her arrival at Oberhof) and in mass start (one).
Symbol of this shift: his prone shot. Sometimes failing in this exercise, the Savoyard has completely reshaped her position in front of the targets since 2020 to obtain stunning results this winter. At the start of the season, she even knocked down the first fifty targets she aimed for in the individual race.
“I had an overcommitted [prone] shot, with little knowledge of shooting. I had trouble analyzing why I was missing my balls, said the biathlete in December. It was necessary to demolish everything to find a much calmer, more composed shot, and to be able to understand things better. »
Rid of these errors, she took the lead of a French team deprived of Justine Braisaz-Bouchet this season (the biathlete became a mother on February 3). A role brilliantly assumed, despite wearing the yellow jersey of the leader of the World Cup, often burning the shoulders of the one who wears it.
The rest of the Worlds… and the big crystal globe?
As the races progressed, the quest for the big crystal globe gradually appeared in his viewfinder. “At the start of the season, it wasn’t really a goal, the goal was to go for World Cup victories. But it’s true that the more time passes, the more this jersey becomes a goal, “explained Julia Simon to Europe 1 in January.
In her skis, she takes along a young French generation, like Lou Jeanmonnot (24 years old) and Sophie Chauveau (23 years old). The first finished sixth in the pursuit of the Worlds, just ahead of the second (ninth). Still far behind Julia Simon, who strove to gain positions lap after lap after starting from tenth place. While she chained the balls into the target, her opponents pressed on the penalty ring after making mistakes on the shooting range. As a result, Julia Simon found herself alongside Denis Herman-Wick for the last standing shot.
If she had missed her last two balls on the sprint, this time she did not tremble, shooting faster than her rival, under pressure, causing her to commit two fatal faults (16/20 shooting for the German). She could thus almost savor a final lap completed alone, and ahead of time.
“It’s a great achievement, I was very focused, I’m super happy with my shots. I really took a step in the management of my emotions, confided Julia Simon at the microphone of The chain L’Equipe. I really had a blast, that’s a nice box of ticks. It was a kid’s dream. »
After having unlocked her individual counter at the highest level, Julia Simon is still hungry for victory in these Worlds, to confirm that she is indeed the boss of the circuit. “Take what worked today and replicate it later,” she added at the end of her run. He has two individual races left (the individual, Wednesday February 15, and the mass start, Sunday February 19, at the end of the Worlds) and two relays to fill his trophy cabinet a little more.
