The French biathlon Olympic champion Émilien Jacquelin is changing sports.
As a passionate cycling fan, the 30-year-old emulates his idol Marco Pantani and gets on a racing bike.
The five-time world champion will join the French junior team of Decathlon-CMA CGM from May 1, as the team and Jacquelin announced. “I have a six-month internship contract, although not everything has been finalized yet,” Jacquelin told L’Équipe.
But that shouldn’t be the end of his biathlon career. Jacquelin wants to use the post-Olympic season to “expand my horizons and leave my comfort zone,” he said. Even in his youth he once aspired to a cycling career. The fifth overall World Cup finisher last winter wants to try something different before he starts a new Olympic cycle, it was said.
Biathlon star wants to go on to the Olympics
“This project has been on my mind for a while. Although the 2030 Winter Olympics in France remain my goal, I now want to discover something new and compete in cycling at the highest level,” said Jacquelin. “I’m going to live my biggest childhood dream. I realize how lucky I am.” He doesn’t come into the team “to take someone’s place away.”
At the Winter Games in Antholz, where the impulsive fast shooter won gold in the relay and bronze in the pursuit, Jacquelin wore an earring from the Italian cycling legend Marco Pantani, which his family had lent him. “Marco is the one who made me do sports,” the Frenchman said.
The two-time Olympic silver medalist in Beijing 2022 has had a close relationship with the team, riders and coaches for a long time. “Cycling is already an important part of his biathlon preparation. This year after the Olympic Games, we would like to give him the opportunity to try cycling and thus further develop his skills,” said competitive sports director Jean-Baptiste Quiclet.
