“Stratospheric” for some, “hallucinating” for others… Quentin Fillon Maillet, the “starved to death” who became a legend in Beijing

Henri Oreiller, Jean-Claude Killy, Martin Fourcade and Anaïs Bescond must bow. By winning the pursuit in Zhangjiakou on Sunday February 13, Quentin Fillon Maillet rose above the others by becoming the most decorated Frenchman in a single edition of the Winter Olympics thanks to his four medals.

“You’re the fucking boss”struck the young Eric Perrot (20 years old) to his teammate when the latter crossed the finish line as the winner, in front of twenty French people gathered for history. “It’s way beyond all my dreams, it’s just amazingslipped Quentin Fillon Maillet in a press conference after the race. I wanted to mark the history of biathlon, that’s what drives me and has driven me so far.”

Since the start of the Olympic fortnight, the Jura player has been walking on water with four medals and above all two Olympic titles (individual and pursuit). “In 2014, I was released because I had reached my goal, but Quentin is much more serene and cool. He is in an innocence, a simplicity of the moment”, explains Martin Fourcade, who had collected three medals in Sochi, renewing this performance four years later. In Zhangjiakou, the Franc-Comtois is at home, responding to the predictions of Norwegian legend Ole Einar Bjoerndalen (13 Olympic medals) who, before the start of the events, had seen in him the future “king of these Games”.

The first Olympic title of his career, acquired on Tuesday on the individual, could have caused him to suffer a backlash, in particular linked to the decompression and the fatigue accumulated by the numerous requests. It would be misunderstanding the character. “He never relaxes. He manages to keep this state of form and he will not let go until the end of the Games, even if he has to crawl”laughed Stéphane Bouthiaux, the director of the French teams, after his silver medal in the sprint on Saturday.

The snow, which had fallen all day on Sunday, had made the track even slower and more demanding. Gaps widen more easily and “the best are even better”, as explained on Saturday by the coach of the Blues Vincent Vittoz. With the 10th ski time, “QFM” was certainly not transcendent on the snow. But he knew how to tame the firing point better than anyone in dantesque conditions. While the wind was mild during the women’s pursuit, it suddenly picked up, with very strong and irregular gusts from left to right.

“How do you manage to shoot 20/20 in these conditions?”, spontaneously asked substitute Antonin Guigonnat, just seconds after he crossed the finish line. With the Italian Lukas Hofer (4th), he is the only one to have achieved 100% behind the rifle. “Stratospheric”according to Fabien Claude (16th), “hallucinating”for Simon Desthieux (7th).

So, of course, luck can sometimes invite itself. “Johannes Boe really didn’t have any on his first standing shot”, replays Martin Fourcade. Arriving in the lead, the Norwegian left two balls on the way because of a strong gust of wind carrying snow in its wake, a concern from which Fillon Maillet was spared. But his self-confidence was a big part of ensuring he didn’t miss a single target, even when he wasted time on the second shot as his magazine didn’t withdraw properly. A serenity that illustrates the very great biathlete he has become.

However, the little guy from Saint-Laurent-en-Grandvaux, in the Jura, was not particularly the most talented on his debut in the World Cup, during the 2013-2014 season. “I’ve never seen him get to this leveladmits Martin Fourcade. If someone had asked me if he was capable of doing that, I would have said no.” “Quentin was not necessarily the best in juniors, he was not the one who dominated everything”completes his teammate and roommate at the Olympic Village Simon Desthieux.

On the other hand, Martin Fourcade had quickly “detected his mental qualities of combativeness and cantankerousness”. To the point of being nicknamed “the morbac” within the France team, to understand “starved to death”. He won the following season, 2014-2015, his first individual podium (a second place) on the mass start of Ruhpolding (Germany) with (already) a 20/20 in shooting.

Since always, Quentin Fillon Maillet “is 200% invested in his sport”, says Emilien Jacquelin. Meticulous, almost to excess, on every detail that can help him achieve his goals. “I don’t believe in fate, it’s me who does things, who’s an actorhe corrects. It’s such an investment that it’s a real great reward.”

His head and his body are permanently turned towards biathlon. An example ? When he receives an SMS, the sound of a bullet hitting the target acts as a ringtone. It is not enough ? He designs his own rifle, collects statistics sheets during training or takes advantage of his days off to go kayaking. “We bedroom him a lot with that”, laughs Antonin Guigonnat. But all of his teammates salute, or rather admire, the work ethic of their 29-year-old leader.

“He’s an example of work, he works all the time. He always wants to do more that sometimes we complain about summer.”

Fabien Claude, teammate of Quentin Fillon Maillet

at Franceinfo: sports

The efforts have paid off in recent years and even more this season, with five World Cup victories out of the 11 in his career before the start of the Games. “He learned from the last two seasonsconfirms his trainer Vincent Vittoz. His weak point was to do too much, to want too much.” Martin Fourcade’s retirement in 2020 and Johannes Boe’s poor form during the season allowed him to turn a corner. “I had never detected this dominating profilecontinues Fourcade. He demanded it a lot for four years, but I often found that he put words before actions. Today, he puts actions before words.

Already in history, he could continue his quest in the men’s relay on Tuesday and the mass start on Friday. Several records are in his sights. He currently co-holds the record for medals in one edition (four) for a biathlete with Ole Einar Bjoerndalen and Marte Olsbu Roeiseland. He could also join the most successful Tricolores on an edition of the Games (summer and winter combined), Roger Ducret (1924, fencing) and Julien Brulé (1920, archery), holders of five medals. Or join the six athletes to have won five medals in an edition of the Winter Olympics in all disciplines.

“I won’t stop as long as it workshe admits with overwhelming simplicity. I want to continue to write my story and that of French biathlon.” Already prepare the qualifiers to describe “QFM” in case of a new medal.