Frenchman Benjamin Daviet, from Haute-Savoie and flag bearer of the delegation, won gold on Friday in the individual biathlon (standing category) at the Beijing Winter Paralympics, his second title at these Games.
On the slopes of the northern site of Zhangjiakou, the native of Annecy dominated the Canadian Mark Arendz and the Ukrainian Grygorii Vovchynskyi.
“I mastered this race from start to finish,” said the 32-year-old athlete. “I felt so good on the skis, so good shooting. I believe that nothing could reach me today. »
French flag bearer at the opening ceremony, Benjamin Daviet had already won the Paralympic title in cross-country sprint skiing on Wednesday. “I was so relieved with my first gold medal that I feel like I’m having perfect races. I feel like I’m flying a little on my skis, it’s really cool to have those feelings,” he reacted.
“We really all have the rage to win”
There are still two races to go for Benjamin Daviet, including a relay. “The state of mind is at the top. We are really all in. We all really want to win, to do things well. All the lights are green, ”said the athlete. “In the relay, we really want to go for gold. »
Thanks to this medal, and to the title gleaned by snowboarder Maxime Montaggioni (32) in banked slalom (UL category), France now has nine medals (including six gold), which places it in 4th place in the ranking of countries. .
For the five-time world champion, who had to return hastily from the Pyeongchang Games four years ago (rupture of an anterior cruciate ligament), it is a great revenge. Especially since at the beginning of the week, he had been eliminated in the quarter-finals of the cross.
“The work pays off,” he savors. World medals are cool (he has five titles), the Paralympic medal remains the Holy Grail. Besides, I blubbered. I didn’t understand why people cried when they had a medal at the Games; there I understood, it is an incredible emotion. »
