This weekend, in Sarthe, a biathlon competition was organized… on the grass! At the Lac de Mansigné leisure base, the Even’Mansigné association was finally able to organize the first biathlon competition without snow in the west of France.
Running instead of skiing
A surprise for many people from Sarthe, many of whom came to test this discipline, which is normally practiced on snow, on skis. Instead, in Sarthe, participants ran before firing rifles at targets.
This competition was open to beginners, and even children. “We are a little surprised by the world, the enthusiasm and above all the very positive feedback, explains Pascal Habert, president of the Even’Mansigné association. I think there are a lot of people who know snow biathlon, but who were curious to see it in Sarthe.” He was looking forward to this first edition: it has been constantly postponed for two years because of the Covid.
Loïs and Marie Habert, two great sponsors for this first edition
And this weekend, for this competition, there were great sponsors. Indeed, Pascal Habert is the uncle of Loïs Habert, himself the husband of Marie Habert, both champions in this discipline. They wanted to be present, to try to democratize this sport, often reserved for mountain dwellers. “We realized a few years ago that biathlon attracted a fairly impressive public, explains Lois Habert. MBut it remains an audience that will have infinitely little chance of being able to practice this sport. So, we like to be able to open the doors of this discipline, which is very elitist, and allow anyone to be able to practice it in suitable conditions.”
According to the organizers, approximately 2000 people were present around the Lac de Mansigné this weekend to attend this race. They now hope to be able to reorganize it every year.