My First Ever Flower Ceremony

I had trained all summer for this moment, but definitely wasn't expecting it in such hard circumstances ! Join me for my first two IBU Cup events.

International events are as much fun as they can be stressful. The feeling of lining up on the start line against some of the world's biggest nations is very hard to describe. You feel anxious but also so excited to get the race started. Even though I had raced on the IBU Junior circuit for the last two years, the IBU Cup is a massive step up. I hadn’t been back to this level of racing for the last two years. Rejoining this circuit was my objective throughout the summer, and I couldn’t wait to get the races going. You’ve all seen the results by now (or at least I hope you have), but you probably don’t know how it feels from the inside to travel across Europe, get used to a new venue, race and then pack up and do it all again in a new location less than 48h later. So join me as I take you on a journey to Arber and Osrblie.

First impressions of Arber (GER)

As the races were happening the week straight after my races on the French Cup in Prémanon, I wasn’t allowed to travel home. We spent the night at the French National Training Center and then left straight from there the next morning with Julien Robert, one of the coaches from the IBU Cup team. Arber was 800km from Prémanon, which meant we had about eight hours of driving ahead of us. It had been a very long time since I last drove that far in a minibus, but it isn’t unusual for us in France. We are probably the European nation with the most travel hours because we always prioritize the minibus over the plane compared to some nations who often fly. During a trip like this, we need to stay hydrated and eat properly so that when we arrive we can be up and running straight away. Some school work and one very quick lunch stop later we had arrived.

We were staying about 15mins below the circuit in a small German village called Bodenmais. Beautiful little village which some of my teammates had been to previously, having already raced here in the years prior. We arrived a good hour before everyone else, so we went on a short run to shake off the travel time and discover where we were staying for the week. We were so far east into Germany that we could easily run into Czechia from our accommodation. We were in a beautiful spa and wellness hotel with some amazing facilities. It’s always nice having somewhere calm to stay because it helps us relax and recover before and in between the races. The two other buses arrived, and I got to meet up with the rest of the team. That evening, I was also handed a Team France race suit. It’s always an exciting moment putting on a national team suit, you feel an immense sense of pride and accomplishment (I was also quick to send a snap into the WhatsApp family group).

Seeing the village is nice, but I’m here to race, so I was impatient to discover the race course. The girls got the morning race slot this week, which meant a lot of late starts for us and no naps in the afternoon because that would be the time during which our races are held. So, after a great night's sleep and a short morning run, we drove up to discover the stadium. I had been briefed by some of my teammates that Arber was one of the hardest courses on the IBU Cup, and they weren’t wrong. I turned up and discovered what had to be the longest continuous uphill section I had ever seen, followed by a very fast and windy descent back onto the shooting range. It was horrible. Race tracks on the French Cup are so much easier than on the IBU Cup, so I knew it would be hard, but this was on another scale of hard. For my first time back, I was going to need to be at the top of my form.

We had two days to get accustomed to the tracks and the shooting range before the races, which wasn’t very long. So you have to optimise what you want to focus your energy on, doing some race simulations on the long,g uphill section or getting to know the last few hundred meters before the shooting range and the range itself. I chose to focus on the uphill because I was scared about how to approach it so that I wouldn’t die on the last lap come race day. I was happy with how the days before the races went but it was now time to focus on the task at hand.

3 races, what a rollercoaster of a weekend

Before the first race and after each event, I recorded my raw and unedited thoughts about the races. Here they are written out for you to experience what I’m feeling from the inside.

• Pre Race Weekend

So, we are about three and a half hours out from my first race on the International Biathlon Union’s IBU Cup circuit. Just below the World Cup, it’s the most elite level of racing I can do in my sport. It’s a big deal. This is the circuit I’ve wanted to race on all year, the circuit I’ve trained to be on, and also the circuit I failed to qualify for at the beginning of the year. But I finally made it. I’m here.

Between me and the start line, there are only a couple of big hours, lunch, ski testing, and warm-up, and that’s it. Then I’m off. Am I excited? Very. Am I a little too excited? Yes. I need to calm down, focus some of my energy, but I can’t wait. It’s going to be a good race. Yes, I’m stressing a little, but it’s good stress, the kind you want before a big event like this.

Right now, the weather is beautiful. Lovely day. But by the time I start my race, it’s supposed to rain, be really windy, and just be horrible. So, not the best. But the last few days have been good. I’ve had some solid sessions. Yesterday’s pre-race session was good as well. I’m feeling happy, anxious, stressed, but ready to get the party going and get moving.

It’s going to be a fun race. There are some really great racers on the start line with me, top-notch athletes, very high level. I know I can do it. I know I can beat the people in my team, and the people in my team are good. So let’s see. It’s time to focus, time to finish getting ready. I just can’t wait.

Whatever happens this evening, if I put in a good race, if I do what I’ve been doing, serious shooting, proper shooting, I’ll be happy with the outcome, whatever the result is. As long as my intentions were right, as long as I was fighting and didn’t stop until the end. So, let’s go.

© K_voigt_fotografie

• Race One, Sprint 10km

Not exactly the race I was looking for. I was really hoping for a top-20 finish today and to be well placed among the other French athletes, but it wasn’t easy. The conditions turned for the worst, to say the least, as soon as my race started. I was pretty much battling wind and rain the entire race.

But it was a win in some ways, because I was feeling good on the skis. I’m sure that with a better starting bib, I could have pulled off something quite good. But it’s promising. I need to push well and finish among the top French athletes if I want to stay next week. And I know I’m capable of doing it, so I don’t see why not.

I finished 41st, which is better than last time, but not at all what I wanted. I came into prone feeling good, but I was completely lost. My clicks; I didn’t really know where to go with them. Then all my shots landed bottom right, exactly where the wind pushed them, which just means I didn’t adjust enough at all. I should have done much more.

Standing was alright. Missed one, then missed a fourth one. It was all going really well up to that point. But no, I’m looking forward to this weekend. The conditions are going to be much better. I’ll take the evening to cool down and recover, meditate, and focus. Let’s see what we can get going.

• Race Two, Sprint 10km (Highly recommend reading this)

It’s on days like today that it’s hard to fully realize what you’ve just managed to do. Because this is what you train all summer for. It’s what I fought so hard to achieve back in November. And then I finally did it. Early January. I qualified for the International IBU Cup. In Arber.

My first race on Thursday wasn’t great. I was stuck in the top 50. That wasn’t what I came here to achieve. But today, everything worked. Everything clicked. I skied well. I shot well. I did what I know how to do and what I know I’m capable of. And it’s just such an amazing feeling.

A top six finish today. Six. On the IBU Cup. A flower ceremony. My first prize money ever. And it feels incredible. I was so happy at the end of my race because seventh and eighth were just seconds behind, and I managed to push myself to the absolute limit to get what I wanted. I couldn’t be happier.

This top six is for all the people who believed in me. My team. My teammates. My trainer. My parents. Both my sisters. This one’s for them. For always telling me I can do it. And I know I can do it. And I’ve done it. I couldn’t be happier.

But now, focus shifts to tomorrow. It’s a pursuit, and the times are really, really close. It’s going to be hard. I can’t afford to miss. So we’ll see. I’m feeling good. My legs, my arms, everything’s feeling alright. I just need to do what I did today. Focus. One step at a time. And it will work. Because it worked today. And there’s no reason why it can’t work again.

That’s it. Au revoir.

• Race Three, Pursuit 12,5km and Weekend Recap

So, I’m going to take the next couple of minutes to reflect on my race from two days ago. I’ve now changed location, I’m in Slovakia for the second step of my IBU journey. We left Germany yesterday morning after racing the Pursuit on Sunday.

Going into this Pursuit, I was really excited. Starting in the top six, I was hoping for a strong race, feeling good, and everything looked promising. There was no reason for things not to go the way I wanted them to.

The race started off reasonably well, to say the least. I managed to stay with the group I was with on the first lap. But then I started feeling pain in my shins again, which definitely wasn’t something I had planned for.

Then came the first shooting. I won’t go into every detail, but let’s just say they were all bad. Very, very bad. I hit 11 out of 20, which is appalling for a biathlete, especially one aiming for a top ten finish. With a result like that, it was never going to happen.

Why? I don’t know. Lack of seriousness. I wasn’t focused enough. Maybe things that happened before and after the race played a role. I just wasn’t in it at all. A long way off. I wasn’t approaching the shooting the way I should have been. And it’s frustrating because there were really good opportunities to be had, and I was absolutely gutted. This wasn’t at all the result I was looking for, and it wasn’t the result I was capable of achieving that day.

Thank you, Germany, Onto Slovakia

As our next destination was another seven hours driving from where we were staying in Germany, we decided not to travel straight after the races. Instead, we spent the evening chilling in the hotel and travelling for the following morning. The next event was held in Slovakia at a ski resort called Osrblie. Slovakia was a country I had never visited before, so I was really excited to add it to my list of places I’ve been to. I slept most of the journey there, but as we got closer, I got to see the local environment. We were in old URSS, and everything was very run down. The only big building we drove by was a massive metal forgery. There was a big smell of burning coal, and the air wasn’t the cleanest I’d ever seen. We turned up at a hotel 2 minutes from the race track. This is amazing because it means much less travelling to and from our accommodation to get to training and also to wax our skis in between races. The hotel was very old, and because of the energy crisis in that area, it doesn’t open regularly any more. Only for biathlon events.

The tracks out in Slovakia were also very hard, but nothing compared to what we had the week before. We arrived on the Monday evening, and our first race was on Wednesday, so that really only left us Tuesday to get used to the course and the range. The range was a little hard to get used to; there was a flat rise before a sharp turn and then a very small descent onto the shooting mats, so it was really important to keep a good skiing rhythm up the long flat so you didn’t lose any time. The course also didn’t have a proper warm-up loop, and for someone like me, who often starts near the end because of my poor starting group, this is annoying because it means I have nowhere to ski to warm up. The course was in amazing condition because of great work from local volunteers and a lot of artificial snow, but the surrounding area was lacking a little bit.

Before my first race of the week, here is what I had to say:

So, tomorrow is race day number one. First race here in Slovakia. Individual 15km. A really challenging race. One that, to be honest, I’m quite scared of. My shins have been really painful today, and I don’t know how they’re going to hold up over 15km. So, better just focus on my shooting. One target at a time, one bullet at a time. Get in the proper mental frame. Good mindset. Be where I need to be when I need to be there. But it’s going to be hard. Really hard.

That being said, today went well. Good training session. I’ve got to get everything dialled in for tomorrow. I’m going to wake up reasonably early and get my dry shooting in. I’ve put some tape on my shins to try and make things feel better. We’ll see how it is in the morning. Might be worse, but hopefully better.

Focus is on tomorrow. Excited, as always. And yeah, let’s get this party started, man.

• Race One, Sprint 10km

So, yesterday’s individual race didn’t really go well. 15 out of 20 on the range, average ski time, and I ended up top 35 at the finish line. Not really what I was looking for, sadly. I want to say two mistakes, definitely two mistakes more than I wanted. And that kept me out of the top 20, which is what I was aiming for. I was just disappointed because a good race was possible like it is every single day, and I just wasn’t capable of delivering it at all.

(talking about the day after the race)

Today hasn’t gone great either. I’ve got a nerve somewhere in my hip that’s getting pinched, and it’s really painful. This morning, I woke up with a sprained neck. My shins; compartment syndrome; everything just seemed to fall apart today.

So now, it’s about remobilizing, refocusing, and locking in for tomorrow’s second sprint. 10km. 10 bullets. 5 prone, 5 standing. Simple. The course is good, the weather looks great, so let’s just focus on what we can control. Everything should be alright.

I am scared. Scared of the outcome. Scared of what’s coming next. There are relays on Saturday, and I’d be really pleased to race in them. I love relays. They’re a great event, and I generally do quite well in them. So we’ll see. For now, I’m trying to get an early night. Sleep better. Get my neck in the right position so I don’t wake up with more tension that I really don’t need. We’ll see. Let’s go.

Sadly, the second sprint didn’t go well either. I woke up that morning still feeling all the pains and disturbances that I had the day before. The race was extremely hard and not enjoyable. My ski times were a long way off my teammates, which, when compared to two days ago and the week before when we were all skiing the same, showed that I was completely off the pace. Even with some good shooting, I wouldn’t have been able to produce a good result that day. I was picked for any relays the day after, which was for the better. My body was shattered, and I needed some time to rest before the next events.

Cheering on my teammates during the mixed relay was a lot of fun, however. The girls had been doing amazing over the last two weeks, often claiming one or two spots on the podium during each event, so getting to watch them race up close was very cool. Team France didn’t claim any podiums during the relay, which was a massive disappointment. Overall, we were the second nation on the start line behind the very strong Norwegian team, but everyone was just too strong for us that day. Following the races, we quickly packed everything up because we had a very long journey home ahead of us.

We had a total of 15 hours of driving to get home. Leaving straight after the races would have got us home the next morning, but that also meant a team of coaches driving through the night, which, after a long day standing and working during the races, was not a safe option. We split the journey in two by driving 5 hours to Vienna after the relay and then finishing the trip home on Sunday. It was great to get home finally. Back to some good food, fresh air and a decent bed.

Thoughts and thanks

After my two weeks of racing, what is the conclusion? It’s positive, even though some of the races weren’t great, I proved to myself and to everyone watching that I’m capable of getting in the top 6. I’m one of only three French males to have achieved that for now this year and the only one to have managed it during a sprint race, which is the flagship event. My ski times were good during most of the races, apart from the last one, where my body had decided it had had enough.

What’s next for me now isn’t in my hands. The Open Europan Championships are next, and that was my big objective of the year after joining the IBU Cup. I believe I’ve done enough to compete in this event. I’ve beaten my teammates on multiple occasions and proved I can reach the flower ceremony.

Whatever happens though, I’d like to thank my three coaches and the three technicians who were with us during the last two weeks. Without their experience and hard work, we wouldn’t have had the perfectly gliding skis during each race or the great zeroing skills from my shooting coaches. It’s always a great time on the international circuit and I can’t wait to come back. Also a massive thank you to everyone reading this and supporting me through this journey. I can’t achieve this alone and your help is essential to my success.

Thank you.