Silver medalist in the sprint, three days after his individual Olympic title, the French biathlete is savoring his success of the moment, which he wishes to continue on Sunday during the pursuit (10:00 a.m.).
Our special correspondent in China
Quentin, the silver of the sprint after the gold of the individual, you don’t lose your smile over the races…
biathlon-the-confidence-stored-up-for-the-games-quentin-fillon-maillet-wins-the-ruhpolding-sprint/” title=”Biathlon: "the confidence stored up for the Games …" Quentin Fillon-Maillet wins the Ruhpolding sprint”>Quentin Fillon-Maillet: Obviously, the result and the joy are not as strong as for the individual, you imagine. Especially since I’m already well in pursuit of tomorrow. But I’m super satisfied. I approached this race as an individual, as if I hadn’t had this title and that I still had everything to go for. I’m in too good a position to let go of the horses and tell myself that my objective has been achieved. It’s great to get a third medal in three races. Today Johannes (Boe) was too strong for me. Even with a 10 out of 10 shooting, I don’t think there was really a way to go for the gold. But I continue to validate a great season at these Games and it’s just incredible.
Can you tell us how you experienced this sprint?
A bit like the individual, I’m leaving with bib 18 knowing that Johannes left two bibs earlier. It is he who imposes the tempo, who leads the rhythm and I quickly understood that he was in great shape. For my part, I felt that I did not have quite the same form as on the individual. Afterwards, there was this error in the prone shot which made me a little doubt because we are on a sprint and if several were refueling, it became complicated. And then finally, I finished on the podium again, with great shape on skis and in my head. I still really want to continue during the pursuit, which is a format that I like.
How have you managed these three days since your title?
It was quite tiring. After the individual, I gave interviews until around 11:30 p.m. (Chinese time). It was very long. The next day, I was able to rest well but yesterday, I suffered a bit. I felt tired after scrubbing. I then really focused on getting enough sleep to recover. This may explain why I had more difficulty against Johannes in this sprint. But these are the Games and I knew that this gold medal would cause fatigue. Now, as they say, it’s a rich man’s problem.
With Johannes Boe, you are at one title each individually. When chasing, he will dash 25 seconds ahead of you. How do you see this new duel?
It is certain that if he keeps the same form as today, I would only have to hope that he makes more mistakes than me on the shooting range to try to get him. Now, it’s still biathlon, we don’t know what can happen. I’m going to stay fully in my race, and that could still play a big part in the gold if circumstances want to smile at me.
With Johannes and Tarjei Boe, we have the feeling of seeing a podium between friendly boys…
(Smile) Thank you very much already. I am very proud to share the podium with the two brothers because they are really great competitors. They are two very nice guys, very fair play. On the track, we make war on each other but outside, there is a friendship that is created, even if we don’t know each other well enough. It’s great to compete with them.
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