Paris 2024 Olympic torch - Once in a lifetime honour for French biathletes

BMW IBU World Cup

02 Jul 2024

Paris 2024 Olympic torch - Once in a lifetime honour for French biathletes

Encapsulating the spirit of the Olympic Games, the Olympic Torch Relay is a special honour for the torchbearers. French biathletes Vincent Jay, Vincent Defrasne, Martin Fourcade, Anais Bescond and Quentin Fillon Maillet had that privilege in June.

Stage 37 - Vichy: Vincent Jay

Vincent Jay was among the Olympic torch bearers on Friday, 21 June 2024, when the Olympic torch started its journey from the village of Le Mayet-de-Montagne and ended its day's journey in Vichy - a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Jay considers himself a child of the Olympics - he was born in Albertville, the city that hosted the Olympic Winter Games in 1992. When he was 7, he saw his first Olympic competition with the Men's Slalom in his home resort of Les Menuires; his mother was also a volunteer at those Olympics. Vincent won a gold medal in the Sprint at the Vancouver 2010 Games.

A few years since you last competed at the Olympics, what was the feeling of being part of such an event again, even in a completely different way?

I am now very involved in the candidacy of the French Alps for the 2030 Olympics. I live the Olympics, eat the Olympics, sleep the Olympics - it’s an incredible rhythm. But Vancouver 2010 brought me an abundance of experience that I now wish to pass on to the younger generations.

And how important do you think it is for biathlon (and French biathlon) to be part of the run-up to Paris 2024?

There is only one French Olympic and Paralympic team: we form a single family of athletes - winter or summer. I am fortunate to be in the IOC Observer Program with Paris 2024, so I will stay in Paris for one month behind the event scenes, moving through all the services of the OC.

Stage 39 - Haute-Savoie: Martin Fourcade & Vincent Defrasne

On Sunday, 23 June 2024, Haute-Savoie welcomed the Olympic torch on Olympic Day! Martin Fourcade, the most well-known of France’s biathletes and a five times Olympic champion, passed on the Olympic Torch to the first representative of the collective relay. Vincent Defrasne - the Pursuit gold medallist from the Olympic Winter Games in Torino 2006 - was also among the torch bearers. The Olympic torch wrapped up the stage in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc- the town that hosted the first Olympic Winter Games in 1924. Being a torch bearer meant a world for Fourcade:

A few years since you last competed at the Olympics, what was the feeling of being part of such an event again, even in a completely different way?

After competing at three Olympic Winter Games and winning four gold medals, I thought I would never feel as excited and proud as I did in the moments of sporting triumph. But being part of the Olympic Torch Relay and seeing so many excited people along the road made me enormously proud. Being a member of the Paris 2024 OCOG and a member of the IOC Athletes' Commission, I feel like I never really left the Olympics.

And how important do you think it is for biathlon (and French biathlon) to be part of the run-up to Paris 2024?

I am delighted that the Olympic Torch Relay for Paris 2024 includes winter athletes, including biathletes. Additionally, Marie Dorin Habert is a member of the Paris 2024 Environmental Transformation Committee, and I am honored to serve as the President of the Paris 2024 Athletes’ Commission.

Stage 40 - Doubs: Anais Bescond & Quentin Fillon Maillet

The Olympic torch commenced its voyage on Tuesday, 25 June 2024, in Pontarlier, a town near Switzerland. Anais Bescond, a member of the gold-winning French Mixed relay at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, and Quentin Fillon Maillet - the winner in the Individual and Pursuit in Beijing 2022 - participated in the daily adventure that concluded in Besançon, a 2018 French Biodiversity Capital, where Anais lit the celebration cauldron.

A few years since you last competed at the Olympics, what was the feeling of being part of such an event again, even in a completely different way?

It was a crazy moment for me - crazy in a good way! It was very warm: high temperature, a warm welcome from the people there, and warm next to the cauldron! I felt honoured to finish the ceremony in Besançon, one of the largest cities in the area, where I grew up and trained during my career. It is also a gorgeous city. It was all about my favourite topic: sport and its great values.

And how important do you think it is for biathlon (and French biathlon) to be part of the run-up to Paris 2024?

⁠I think it is fantastic for biathlon to be part of the run-up to Paris 2024 because it proves (as if it needed that) that biathlon is a popular sport, human and concerned with the main message of the run: peace. The French biathlon team is great and successful, and we are happy to share moments like that.

Fillon Maillet beautifully closed the circle from the perspective of an athlete who won the honour by winning medals at the Olympics:

It was an incredible moment. It’s an honour to carry the Olympic flame - even more so for the Olympic Games in my country. The experience is different because, for an Olympic race, there is a challenge, stress, and difficulty. But it is my Olympic medals that allow me to experience these unique moments. Carrying the Olympic flame is only positive—the same as the medal ceremony at the Olympics.