At 11:30, I take the first shuttle to the biathlon stadium. The race will only start at 14:25, but all the competitors train during hours before (and sometimes after) the race, this is a good opportunity to see them in a more quiet atmosphere.
Not a lot of French flags (actually only one, apart from mine), I would have expected a few more. The sun is shining on the bleachers, everyone is in Tshirts, it feels weird for a winter sport competition in December, but it is a real pleasure.
When I watch biathlon on TV, I always complain because the camera does not show what I want to see (showing the shooting while you would like to see your favorite biathlete on the ski trail, or showing the trail while you would like to see what is happening for the shooting). It was supposed to be easier in the stadium, because you can look in the direction you chose, but it is just more complicated, because there are too many things to look at the same time: no way you can keep your eyes on the departure line / shooting range / ski track / finish line with the adequate timing. With this excitement of the first race, I struggle to follow the race, and find the good timing. 5 more races before the end of the week, 5 chances to improve the strategy.
By the end of the afternoon, the sun has gone behind the mountain, and the temperature is falling dramatically. When I get back to the hotel, the evening is spent watching the replay on Eurosport, in order to see what I have missed today, and enjoying the swimming pool and sauna of the hotel.
Day 2 - Sprint Men
It looks like the sun is going to shine until the end of the week, today I climb until the castle, in order to visit the museum and enjoy the view. More biathletes, running up and down the hill...
I arrive at the stadium at the same time as the German family that I met yesterday at the swimming pool and at dinner, we sit together. With the very few words of German I speak, the communication is not easy, but with smiles and gestures, we manage to understand each other. They smile when they see my flag (it looks like it is the only French one today, and it will be the case for the rest of the week) and each time they hear me shouting for a French competitor, lost in the middle of the hundreds of German / Norwegian / Russian / Slovenian supporters. :)
The trouble starts with the beginning of the race: full of good will, they tap on my shoulder each time that Martin Fourcade is around, in order to be sure that I won't miss the show. How to explain them that sometimes I am trying the follow the race of someone else?
Fourth place for Martin, and an impressive race for Quentin Fillon Maillet, only 22 years old, who gets the 8th rank
Day 3
On Saturday morning, shuttle at 08:30, no time for a walk today. My German friends got to the stadium before me, and kept me a seat close to them, it looks like I got adopted officially :)
Hour after hour, acrobatics and stiff neck, trying not to miss anything.
In the Pursuit competition, biathletes start in the same sequence and timing as on the finish line on the previous day. So Martin Fourcade starts in 4th position, 30 seconds after the first competitor.
Simon Fourcade will start 41th, with a 1 minute 38 seconds delay.
Nice race by Martin, who will finish 3rd, but the incredible performance of the day is definitely for his brother: after a great race, he will finish 20th, 21 ranks ahead of his departure ranking.
And also congratulations for the last shooting bout of Svendsen, which was part of the most impressive things I've ever seen in biathlon.
Day 4
Today, I get to the stadium before my German friends, and save the seats for them. We are quickly surrounded by a mass of German supporters, who offer to share their hot wine and schnapps with me, in order to cheer up the lonely Frenchie.
The first race of the day is the women mass start. Anaïs Bescond is going to finish 2nd, after a perfect race without a single target missed, only beaten by Makarainen, who manages to win in spite of 2 missed targets. What a smile on the podium! :))
The men mass start will be full of emotions: Jean-Guillaume Béatrix and Martin Fourcade will fight for each centimeter during most of the race. Until the last kilometer it looks like there will 2 French on the first 2 podium steps. But then a Russian gets in the way of Jean-Guillaume, who falls, and Martin stumbles on Jean-Guillaume. Good news: noone is injured, Martin will eventually get the 2nd rank, and Jean-Guillaume the 5th one.
That was an incredible week, looking forward to next races, even if I won't be there...
