“Until now, I was afraid of targets”: Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, back from maternity after a blank season, set herself the goal of “finally” asserting herself on the shooting range, the place of his recurring torments. “Clearly, having good shooting statistics is my main objective,” she confirmed before the opening of the Biathlon World Cup season last week in Östersund (Sweden).

“Being someone on the firing line. Oh yes, that makes me itch!”, chirped the 2022 Olympic mass start champion a few weeks earlier during the last preparation camp for the Blues in Bessans (Savoie). “Finally being able to perform against targets, I think that’s what’s most important to me, and that’s why I wanted to come back to competition so much.”

“Until now, I was afraid. I was really afraid, I had no confidence, I was afraid of the targets, she said. And, as a result, in the intention, in the capacity to be present, and the actions that result from it, it was difficult. The clock is ticking, there are external elements, the public, the wind, the opponents who are in the back of my mind… Today, I say to myself: But why are you thinking about all that? Go ahead. Technically, I know how to do it.”

“I feel like I’m putting pressure on myself, by targeting something very specific, but I really want it,” JBB continued. I hope this desire will come true with a bib on my back.”

The Swedish stage at the start of the season showed that there was still work to be done for Braisaz-Bouchet, who made three or four mistakes in each of the first three individual races of the season. As soon as the last race in Östersund was completed, she was already planning for Hochfilzen, in Austria, the second stage of the World Cup from Friday to Sunday. “I think about the sprint (Friday), I tell myself that there is a way to let it flow, to be in the action,” explained the 27-year-old biathlete. “It’s this mental relaxation that will lead me” to success.

In the approach behind the rifle, it is not at all for Braisaz-Bouchet to reproduce his golden mass start from the Beijing Games.

“It was a special context: I arrived with three races, three disappointments. I remember, on the fourth shot, I said to myself: I would have led at least five minutes and I arrived with a lot of detachment,” she remembers. But “I’m not sure that being in this state of mind for a whole winter, or even the three seasons that are coming (until the 2026 Olympics, editor’s note), that gets me anywhere,” believes She.

On skis, however, the biathlete from Les Saisies showed that she had already found very good physical shape, less than ten months after giving birth to her daughter Côme: she has not left the top 5 of best ski times in Östersund, and even set the second best time in the individual at the start of the school year (in which she ranked 21st).

“The body has a beautiful memory. I very quickly regained good mobility and tone too. In terms of intensity, it came back in six months of training,” recalls Braisaz-Bouchet, whose husband took parental leave and will join her regularly with their daughter this winter.

Throughout the summer preparation, the high-level density of the Bleues, notably with Lou Jeanmonnot, “boosted” it. “Lots of times, they pushed me to my limits,” she continues. I said to myself: Ok, I’m less strong than them, that stings a little. What tools can help me improve my level? It’s really driving force.”

As an ambition for his recovery winter, Braisaz-Bouchet hopes to “get on the podium several times” after his 24th and 15th places for the first sprint-pursuit sequence of the season in Östersund. “I imagine myself being in a top 10, and I hope to be regularly. Beyond that, I think I will be disappointed, she continues. I still want to perform well.”

The program for the 2nd World Cup stage in Hochfilzen (Austria):

Friday

(11:30 a.m.) Men’s 10 km sprint

(14h25) Sprint 7,5 km femmes

SATURDAY

(12:15 p.m.) Men’s 12.5 km pursuit

(2:45 p.m.) Women’s 10 km pursuit

. Sunday

(11:30 a.m.) Men’s relay

(2:15 p.m.) Women’s relay