In the 2023/24 season, French young biathlete Anaelle Bondoux knocked on the World Cup door thanks to strong performances in the IBU Cup. After a training fall in autumn 2024, a complicated winter followed, which ultimately ended in a long forced break. She doesn’t know whether the now 21-year-old will ever reach her best form again.
After the winter of 2023/24, there was much to suggest that Anaelle Bondoux would soon be making headlines on the World Cup stage. The Frenchwoman finished the season in fourth place in the overall IBU Cup rankings, leaving current Olympic champions Maren Kirkeeide and Océane Michelon behind, among others.
But the rise of the now 21-year-old was slowed down – first by a fall in training in autumn 2024, then by a thumb and finally a knee injury. Her last international race start was almost 15 months ago. The end of her suffering is not yet in sight, as she described to “Nordic Magazine”.
Biathlon talent speaks openly about training mistakes
It was only last November that she was able to complete a light training session on skis again. “And that wasn’t so easy because I was still in pain,” she reported. She is now following a new training program that is tailored to her needs and limited physical abilities.
In the course of her rehabilitation, she recognized mistakes in retrospect. “I realized that everything that has happened to me in the last year came from too much training combined with an energy deficit. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in sport and it is important to talk about it,” explained the young Frenchwoman.
“I’m still walking on a tightrope”
She feels better now, “but I haven’t fully recovered yet. And I don’t know if I’ll ever be 100 percent again. I’m still walking on a tightrope and know that I have to be careful,” she couldn’t and didn’t want to give a rehab prognosis.
It is possible that she will dare to make her first racing start in the French Cup this season. “Depending on how things develop, that is possible, but nothing is guaranteed,” she said, but was only cautiously optimistic about this.
