Next round in the scandal surrounding biathlon Olympic champion Julia Simon: Teammate Justine Braisaz-Bouchet has made new allegations in an explosive interview. This time not directly against Simon, but even more so against the French association.
The Simon scandal is entering the next round: Justine Braisaz-Bouchet spoke in detail in an interview with “L’Équipe” about what was going on behind the scenes and described how, in her eyes, the association failed in the matter.
“I was quiet for three years, didn’t say anything. I kept telling myself that the truth would come out. But when the justice system handed down its verdict, I realized that it didn’t change anything,” said the 29-year-old Olympic champion.
Braisaz-Bouchet and Simon had previously had a legal dispute for years. After various hearings and the trial, the justice system found Simon guilty of credit card fraud and theft. The victim was her own teammate. France’s association also sanctioned Simon, but only officially took her out of circulation for a few weeks. An absurdity for Braisaz-Bouchet.
“Normally there are no actions without consequences. You can’t behave recklessly. For me that’s impossible. That’s the feeling I had,” said Braisaz-Bouchet, describing her view of things.
Braisaz-Bouchet: “That was the only way I could protect my career”
The biathlon team is a small, close-knit community. “It’s like a small company. We spend a lot of time together, we share extreme emotions. And I felt absolutely unappreciated. We always focus on the accused, but never talk about the victims. Society should work differently,” said Braisaz-Bouchet.
She has already spoken about the topic with her good friends within the team, but never with those in charge. “I wanted to keep these relationships purely professional because I felt that was the only way I could protect my career.”
That’s why Braisaz-Bouchet doesn’t train with France’s biathlon team
Braisaz-Bouchet indicated that the broken relationship with the team and the association is ultimately the reason why she is again daring to go it alone in preparation for the 2026/27 season and not training with the rest of the team. “I could no longer function in a dysfunctional group. I bent over backwards for everyone and desperately wanted it to work. But it didn’t work,” she said.
Despite the turbulence behind the scenes, ending his career wasn’t an issue: “That was never up for debate, because that’s what I love it for [den Biathlon-Sport] too much.”