After judgment
Stolen more? New allegations against biathlon star
October 27, 2025 – 10:57 amReading time: 2 minutes
The Julia Simon case has preoccupied the French biathlon team for years. First she denies everything, then the U-turn follows and now further allegations are made public.
Last week, ten-time biathlon world champion Julia Simon had to answer for allegations of theft and fraud. She had fully admitted her guilt in the credit card affair involving her French teammate Justine Braisaz-Bouchet: she confessed to “all the crimes,” the 29-year-old said in front of the Albertville criminal court.
Teammate Braisaz-Bouchet and another member of the French national team’s staff each filed a lawsuit. Simon was accused of misusing their credit cards for orders. Purchases worth 2,400 euros were delivered to the address of the overall World Cup winner for the 2022/23 season.
Now the scandal surrounding Simon is apparently getting even bigger. Braisaz-Bouchet was not the only athlete who had rejected Simon’s fraud. According to a report in the French “L’Équipe”, the sisters Anaïs and Chloé Chevalier, Caroline Colombo and Lou Jeanmonnot were also stolen by Simon. It’s about personal items and cash.
None of the four victims reported their allegations, so the interviews in the course of the investigation against Simon were not part of the proceedings at the hearing last Friday.
The crimes are said to have occurred mainly during a training camp in Norway in the summer of 2022. After the allegations became known, Simon was temporarily excluded from the French team training in 2023 and was briefly taken into custody in October. The following winter she was reintegrated into the team.
After confessing, she was sentenced to a three-month suspended sentence and a fine of 15,000 euros. The public prosecutor’s office had demanded two months’ probation and 20,000 euros. Simon is not threatened with any sporting consequences in the Olympic winter.
It is “important that the athletes regain their composure in order to dedicate themselves to the sporting challenges that await them,” said Stéphanie Baudot, lawyer for the FFS association. The association had already contacted the disciplinary committee in September, but described the matter as a “personal matter between two athletes”.
Simon apologized to Braisaz-Bouchet and a supervisor from the French biathlon team. She regretted her behavior but said she was unable to “consciously explain” her actions. She said in court that she was working with a psychologist to “understand all of this in order to grow and develop.” Simon also denied any “financial motivation. I wasn’t in need.”
Simon had long denied the allegations and, in turn, filed a lawsuit against unknown persons for identity fraud. She now explained that she was “afraid” for her career and tried to “protect” herself.