After her one-year baby break, biathlon Olympic champion Justine Braisaz-Bouchet wants to attack again in the 2023/24 World Cup season. The association gives her the time she needs for this. The 26-year-old will not rejoin the team just in time for the start of training.
In about four weeks, the best time of the year for the French biathlon women will be over. Then the preparation for the coming season begins. There is no exact date yet, but the association announced the start for the end of May.
However, Olympic champion Justine Braisaz-Bouchet will not be available to the team again. The gold medalist from Beijing will be delayed in training. Her comeback should really pick up speed at the end of July at the earliest.
The doors for Braisaz-Bouchet were already open beforehand, coach Cyril Burdet explained to “Nordic Magazine”. “But we are in a transition year for Justine who will not return to the World Cup until she is ready and able to perform.”
According to her trainer, the Frenchwoman is currently working a lot with her physiotherapist. “The second step will then be to build her athletics back up. We will take the time to do things thoroughly so that she is ready to train at a high level. We all agree that she is getting the time that it takes”, Burdet asked the fans for patience when looking at the comeback of the Olympic champion.
Will the Olympic champion return to the biathlon stage in November?
The coach explained that he cannot yet say whether Braisaz-Bouchet will be fit enough to return to the big biathlon stage in November. “And I’m not pressuring her either. I prefer that we take our time rather than just wanting her to come back, although there’s no need for it.”
The fact that the Frenchwoman hasn’t forgotten anything despite her months-long break is beyond question for her trainer. “Just because she took a year off her skills didn’t go away,” said Burdet, who believes internal competition for Braisaz-Bouchet in team training is strong enough to show if the new mum is ready for the World Cup return.